Russia-Ukraine war – live: Kyiv launches mass drone assault on Putin’s forces on Crimea and southern Russia
Putin warns South Korea against making a ‘big mistake’ of giving military aid to Ukraine
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Ukraine has launched a “mass” drone assault on Russian infrastructure and military targets in the Black Sea, Crimea and southern Russia, officials and Kyiv’s military said.
Ukraine’s military said its drones struck four oil refineries, radar stations and other military objects in Russia on Friday morning, as Russian officials reported a “mass” drone attack in Krasnodar and claimed to have shot down 70 drones over the Black Sea and Crimea.
It came as South Korea summoned Russia’s ambassador over the new pact signed by Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin during the latter’s visit to North Korea this week, which the Russian president said included a mutual defence clause.
Departing Pyongyang, Mr Putin claimed that Russia supplying weapons to nuclear-armed North Korea will reflect how the West is arming Ukraine.
But with the move having angered Seoul, Mr Putin simultaneously warned South Korea against making a “big mistake” if it decides to aid Ukraine with arms, threatening a “painful” response.
Watch: Putin waves goodbye to Kim Jong-un through window of private jet as he departs North Korea
South Korea summons Russia ambassador over North Korea pact
South Korea’s foreign ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador in protest of the pact between Moscow and North Korea signed in Pyongyang this week.
First vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun conveyed Seoul’s stance on the pact and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea to Georgy Zinoviev, the top Russian envoy to Seoul, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.
Mr Kim told Mr Zinoviev that Russia’s military support for North Korea harms South Korea’s security and would inevitably have a “negative impact” on relations between Seoul and Moscow. He also urged Russia to “act responsibly,” according to the ministry.
South Korean National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said on Thursday that Seoul would review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the landmark pact.
Ukrainian author and soldier warns the West: ‘War is coming to you’
A junkyard of burnt cars. Shattered glass and shell fragments. Bodies lining the streets.
This is Oleksandr Mykhed’s language of war. This is the language of Ukrainians. This is, he says, what we should be ready for: “Because this might happen in your country, and you’d better be prepared for that.”
Mykhed – one of Ukraine’s most prolific authors – is in London promoting his tenth book, The Language of War. His once floppy blonde hair is gone, shaved into a military-style buzz cut instead; it is a nod to his second job, the one he did not choose.
My colleague Tom Watling has more in this report:
Ukrainian author and soldier warns the West: ‘War is coming to you’
Tom Watling speaks to Oleksandr Mykhed about his new book describing the reality of Russia’s invasion of his homeland
Russia says it downed 70 Ukrainian drones over Black Sea, Crimea
Russian air defences downed 70 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Crimea overnight, the Russian defence ministry has claimed via the RIA news agency this morning.
The ministry also said Russian forces destroyed six Ukrainian sea drones in the Black Sea.
What's known, and not known, about the partnership agreement signed by Russia and North Korea
What's known, and not known, about the partnership agreement signed by Russia and North Korea
Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un say the strategic partnership they have signed is a breakthrough
Ukraine’s use of US-given weapons in Russia not limited to near Kharkiv, Pentagon says
Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons to hit Russian forces that are firing on Ukrainian troops anywhere across the border into Russia and not just in Russian territory near Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Pentagon said yesterday.
Last month, president Joe Biden quietly authorised Kyiv to launch US-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia.
But officials said at the time that Biden’s decision applied only to targets inside Russia near the border with Ukraine‘s eastern Kharkiv region.
Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that while there had been no change in policy, Ukraine’s use of weapons against Russian troops was not limited to near Kharkiv on the Russian side.
“The ability to be able to fire back when fired upon is really what this policy is focused on... as we see Russian forces firing across the border, the ability for Ukraine to fire back at those ground forces using US-provided munitions,” Ryder said.
“It’s self-defense and so it makes sense for them to be able to do that,” he added.
Trial of US ballerina accused of treason begins in Russia
The trial of US ballerina Ksenia Karelina, 33, who was accused of high treason after sending a meagre $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity, has begun in western Russia today.
The 33-year-old, originally from Yekaterinburg but who moved to the US, sent money to the Ukrainian foundation Razom for Ukraine on the third day of the war in 2022. When she then visited her family at the start of this year in Russia, she was detained.
The press service of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court reported that Karelina “initiatively carried out a transfer of funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently sent for the acquisition of tactical medicine items, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Judge Andrei Mineev, who is also considering the case of jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich, closed the trial to the press.
You can read more about the case here.
Zelensky lists measures to preserve Ukraine’s energy system
Volodymyr Zelensky announced a set of measures to protect Ukraine’s energy system, including protection for plants coming under Russian fire and the development of alternative renewable energy sources.
“Life in Ukraine must be preserved and that includes in particular energy security,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address.
Mr Zelensky outlined plans to minimise the effects of such attacks, including a programme of developing solar energy and energy storage facilities and a schedule for critical infrastructure sites to come up with alternative energy sources.
The work, he said, must be completed before winter and the increased energy demand associated with the change in seasons.
Mr Zelensky said the government would “continue to work on creating new energy generation and new decentralised energy capacities”. Also planned was “the construction of new balanced and manoeuvrable capacities for energy”.
“This process is quite challenging in wartime conditions, but we must implement it just as we have already implemented many difficulty projects,” he said.
And work was proceeding, Mr Zelensky said, on measures to protect existing energy sites.
Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy system in the first winter of the war, launched in February 2022, and renewed its assault on energy targets last March as Ukraine was running low on stocks of Western air defence missiles.
Drone and missile strikes have knocked out half of energy generating capacity since March, according to official accounts.
Attacks yesterday overnight hit four regions and cut power to more than 218,000 consumers, the Energy Ministry said.
South Korea says it could supply arms to Ukraine after Russia signs ‘absurd’ deal with North Korea
South Korea could supply arms to Ukraine after Putin’s ‘absurd’ deal with North Korea
South Korean president says agreement signed by Putin and Kim Jong-un is a deal between ‘two parties with a history of launching wars of invasion’
US says Putin remarks about possible weapons for North Korea ‘incredibly concerning’
Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Russia may supply weapons for North Korea after signing a defence pact with Pyongyang are “incredibly concerning,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Putin suggested after a visit to North Korea this week that such weapons supplies to the isolated nuclear-armed country would be a mirror response to the Western arming of Ukraine.
He also warned that US ally South Korea would be making “a big mistake” if it decided to supply arms to Ukraine, and that Moscow would respond to such a move in a way that would be painful for Seoul.
“It is incredibly concerning,” Miller told a news briefing when asked about Putin’s remarks about possible arms supplies to North Korea.
“It would destabilise the Korean Peninsula, of course, and potentially... depending on the type of weapons they provide, might violate UN Security Council resolutions that Russia itself has supported.”
The treaty signed by Putin and Kim on Wednesday commits each side to provide immediate military assistance to the other in the event of armed aggression against either one of them.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called it a cause of concern but no surprise. He said Russia’s need for such foreign assistance was a sign of desperation.
“We’ve been talking about this and warning about a burgeoning defence relationship between these two countries now for many months through a series of downgraded intelligence that we’ve put out there,” he said.
“Obviously it’s something we’ve taken seriously.”
Kirby said the US also believed the Russia-North Korea pact would also be a concern to China, which the United States has urged to do more to reign in Pyongyang.
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