Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin accused of ‘violating rules’ as two Russian oil tankers wrecked near Crimea
Fears of Black Sea ecological disaster as Russian tanker sinks while carrying 4,000 tonne of oil
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Your support makes all the difference.Two Russian oil tankers have sustained severe damage in the Kerch Strait, with Ukraine accusing Vladimir Putin of "violating operating rules" for sending old vessels out into the sea during bad weather.
The Volgoneft 212 tanker had 15 people on board and was carrying about 4,000 tonnes of oil when it split in half, with its bow sinking. At least one sailor died in the incident, Russian officials said. The vessel sank, spilling oil into the Black Sea near Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014
Russia deployed tugboats, helicopters and more than 50 personnel to rescue the crew members from the 1969-built vessel, before suspending the rescue operation due to bad weather on Sunday.
The second Russian-flagged ship, the Volgoneft 239, was drifting after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military claimed Russian soldiers were killed by North Korean troops in friendly fire while fighting in Kursk.
The HUR said a group of North Korean soldiers opened fire on and killed eight members of the Chechen Akhmat unit fighting for Russia.
Russia has begun using North Korean troops in significant numbers in Ukraine, Zelensky says
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where Putin’s forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine
Former soldier unlawfully killed by ‘comrade’ in Ukraine, inquest finds
What will it cost to defend Britain from a growing Russian threat?
Sir Richard Shirreff: ‘The time has come for the UK to start gearing up to be ready for war in every respect’
Last week, the UK chief of defence, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, warned us that we are at the dawn of a third nuclear age. He misses the point. The nuclear threat is deadly, but it is our conventional weakness which will invite attack by Russia. We must recognise that Russia’s war in Ukraine is more than a cynical and genocidal assault against a democratic neighbour by a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a signatory of the UN Charter prohibiting the use of force in international relations.
It is a war against the West and all that brings. It is also a war against Ukraine joining the West and it started, not with the full-scale invasion in February 2022, but in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea. As Dmitri Trenin, former head of the Carnegie Moscow Centre and an ex-senior Soviet Army officer, wrote in 2016: “The Kremlin has been at war with Nato since 2014.”
Richard Shirreff writes:
Sir Richard Shirreff: ‘The time has come for the UK to start gearing up for war’
As warnings come of a third nuclear age, the former senior British Army officer and author Richard Shirreff argues that the Kremlin has been at war with Nato for 10 years. Now, in its ‘shaping’ phase, if we don’t act now to get ready for what Russia might do next the cost could be devastating
Full story: Russia has begun using North Korean troops in significant numbers in Ukraine, Zelensky says
Russia has deployed North Korean soldiers in significant numbers for the first time to support its offensive in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said North Korean troops are reportedly being used in assaults on Ukrainian forces defending an enclave in Russia’s Kursk region.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults. A significant number of them,” Mr Zelensky said during his nightly wartime address.
My colleague Namita Singh has the full story:
Russia has begun using North Korean troops ‘in significant numbers’ in Ukraine
Ukraine has accused Russia of deploying North Korean soldiers to the front lines in Kursk, marking a significant escalation in conflict
Russian forces take two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region, says defence ministry
Russian forces took control of the villages of Veselyi Hai and Pushkino in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry also said Russian forces had hit and destroyed four Patriot air defence systems.
The battlefield reports could not be immediately verified.
Russian soldiers killed by North Korean troops, Kyiv says
Russian soldiers have been killed by North Korean troops in friendly fire while fighting in Kursk, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.
The HUR said a group of North Korean soldiers opened fire on and killed eight members of the Chechen Akhmat unit fighting for Russia.
The attack was the result of the language barrier between Russian and North Korean troops, which continues to be a “difficult obstacle” on the battlefield, according to the HUR.
Ukraine slams Fifa over Crimea map
Ukraine has slammed Fifa for an “unacceptable error” after a map displayed during the 2026 World Cup draw appeared to exclude Crimea from the country’s territory.
The map, used to show nations that cannot be drawn to play against each other for geopolitical reasons, highlighted Ukraine but excluded Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of its territory.
Crimea has been under Russian occupation since 2014, though only a few countries recognise it as Russian territory.
“FIFA has not only acted against international law but has also supported Russian propaganda, war crimes, and the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.
Russia spy chief says he’s not in contact with CIA over Kyiv and Moscow’s missiles use, RIA reports
Moscow's foreign intelligence chief said he has not been in contact with the CIA over Kyiv's strikes with Western long-range weapons into Russia and Moscow's use of its new missile in response, Russia's RIA agency reported on Sunday.
"No, I have not been in contact," Sergei Naryshkin told RIA in an interview when asked if he had talked to CIA Director William Burns in relation to Kyiv's strikes into Russia or Russia firing its new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as "Oreshnik" into Ukraine.
Russia downs 15 Ukrainians drones
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones overnight, claimed Moscow this morning.
Thirteen of the drones were downed over the Black Sea and one each over the Russian border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, the defence ministry said in a post on its Telegram messaging channel.
Ukraine destroys 56 Russian drones in overnight strike, air force says
Ukrainian air defences destroyed 56 out of 108 drones launched by Russia during its latest overnight strike, Kyiv's military said on Sunday.
It added that another 49 were "locationally lost", typically a result of electronic jamming.
Debris from the destroyed drones damaged an unspecified piece of infrastructure as well as apartment buildings and homes, the air force said.
Ukraine replaces commander amid Russian push towards Pokrovsk
Ukraine has replaced the commander overseeing its eastern Donetsk forces following significant Russian advances near the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, a military official announced on Saturday.
General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy has been appointed to lead the operational and tactical group, succeeding General Oleksandr Lutsenko. The leadership change follows mounting criticism of General Lutsenko for failing to prevent recent Russian progress in the region.
Russian troops have been reported within 3km of Pokrovsk, according to the Ukrainian mapping service DeepState. The city, located approximately 17km from the border between Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting on Ukraine’s eastern front in recent months.
Pokrovsk holds significant strategic value for Moscow. Its capture would mark a major setback for Ukraine, representing the most substantial territorial loss in months. The fall of the city would also escalate the challenges for Ukrainian forces, which are already struggling under immense pressure on the eastern front lines.
The heightened tensions come as Ukraine faces additional uncertainty over its future military aid from the US. Concerns have grown with the potential return of Donald Trump to the presidency, raising fears that Kyiv’s largest source of support could reduce or withdraw assistance entirely as the conflict nears its fourth year.
How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has led to questions over Russia’s ability to sustain its military adventures abroad. Russia had supported Assad militarily for over a decade, building on longstanding ties between Moscow and Damascus.
But the rapid advance of anti-government forces this month saw Russia apparently powerless to influence the situation beyond a number of airstrikes (as always, apparently mostly delivered on civilian targets) in support of government forces.
That has inevitably led people to draw conclusions about Russia’s ability to project power overseas, and what it may mean for the course of the war in Ukraine.
How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
The end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria has led to many asking questions about Russia’s ability to project power overseas, and what it may mean for the course of the war in Ukraine. Here, Keir Giles explains why we should be wary of any hasty conclusions
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