Ukraine-Russia war latest: Suspected assassin of Putin’s nuclear general arrested as North Korea suffer losses
Uzbek citizen held by Russia in connection with chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov’s killing
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia has detained an Uzbek citizen who investigators believe placed the bomb inside an electric scooter which killed General Igor Kirillov on the instructions of Ukraine’s security service, the Investigative Committee said today.
The senior Russian general was killed yesterday in Moscow and Ukraine claimed responsibility of the attack, calling Kirillov a “legitimate target”.
In response, Russia threatened the Ukrainian leadership with imminent revenge for what it described as a “cowardly and despicable strike”.
On the battlefront, North Korea suffered big casualties while fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine in the Kursk border region, a senior US military official said, a much higher toll than one given by Kyiv earlier this week.
“Several hundred casualties is our latest estimate that the DPRK has suffered,” the official said on condition of anonymity. This “would include everything from… light wounds up to being KIA (killed in action)”, the official said, with soldiers of “all ranks” among the casualties.
The North Korean forces don’t appear to be battle-hardened, the official said, suggesting this would in part explain the high rate of casualties.
Report: Grassroots funding for Ukraine’s military declines as groups looks for creative ways to raise money
The concert took place in an old movie studio in Kyiv, the location kept secret until the final moment in case it was the target of a Russian attack.
More than 1,000 soldiers and young people gathered to listen to the artists who joined forces with a military brigade in an innovative effort to raise funds for Ukraine’s embattled troops.
This was the first and only live performance of the charity album “Epoch,” a collaboration between the 3rd Assault Brigade and eight Ukrainian bands.
The project’s ambitious target is to raise 50 million hryvnias (about $1.2 million) to buy an M113 armored personnel carrier to help get infantry to the front and evacuate the wounded for medical treatment. Since it launched on streaming platforms a month ago, the initiative has raised 9 million hryvnias (around $214,000).
Read the full report:
Grassroots funding for Ukraine's military declines as groups looks for creative ways to raise money
Advertisements pasted along the sidewalk in Kyiv ask for donations to help fill financial gaps across Ukraine's military
Zelensky calls for strong action on Russia’s shadow fleet
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on allies to help in “protecting nature” after “yet another environmental disaster caused by Russia”.
In a post on X, he said: “Our sea is facing yet another environmental disaster caused by Russia. But there are even larger and more dangerous Russian tankers operating in your seas. Stopping this fleet is not just about cutting off Russia’s war funding – it’s about protecting nature.
“I urge everyone to take even stronger action. Ensure these shadow tanker fleet and other Russian vessels, including those transporting weapons, can no longer operate in European waters.”
The statement came soon after the UK announced sanctions on 20 Russian shadow fleet ships.
A third Russian oil tanker has sent out a distress signal in the Black Sea, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
It comes after two others were damaged and leaked oil following a storm on the weekend.
A local governor said the oil spill has washed up along “tens of kilometres” of the Russian Black Sea Coast and a regional task force has declared an emergency situation at several locations.
The Baza Telegram channel says the third tanker is a more than 50-year-old Volgoneft ship, which is the same as the other two.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where Putin’s forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine is battling against a “prevailing” Russia in the eastern Donetsk region, Kyiv’s military chief has admitted, as Vladimir Putin’s forces look to secure as much territory as possible before US president-elect Donald Trumpre-enters the White House.
Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi described the fighting as “extremely tough” as he was pictured visiting the Pokrovsk area in Donetsk on Wednesday, where Russian forces have advanced to within just a few miles of the city’s outskirts.
The area is a linchpin of the wider region’s defence and war trackers have expressed concern that should it fall, it could pave the way for Russia to seize swathes of more territory.
“Battles continue in the Pokrovsk direction with the enemy prevailing, first of all, in manpower,” General Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messenger app.
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where Putin’s forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says the fight to hold the eastern region of Dontesk has become ‘extremely tough’
Report: The silent war going on inside a city at Nato’s eastern border – which could be Putin’s next target
Home to one of the few crossing points into Russia, the city of Narva is seen by Estonian border force officials as “the end and the beginning of the free world”.
Located on Nato’s eastern border, the city has become the constant target of hybrid warfare tactics employed by Russia – with the Kremlin sending in surveillance blimps on an almost weekly basis and removing Estonian border infrastructure in the dead of night.
“Everything that is on the other side of the border, I wouldn’t use [the term] ‘free world’ to describe that,” says Egert Belitsev, director general of the Estonian border force.
But not everyone in Narva sees it as Belitsev does.
Political corresondent Millie Cooke reports:
The silent war in a city at Nato’s border – which could be Putin’s next target
Narva, which is home to more than 50,000 Russian speakers, has become the target of constant provocation from Russia
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