Ukraine-Russia latest: Brazil urged to arrest Putin as Zelensky issues new North Korea warning
Kyiv says Putin is planning to involve Pyongyang more directly in his Ukraine invasion in coming months
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Vladimir Putin must be arrested if he heads to Brazil next month, Ukraine’s top prosecutor has said, reminding the South American country of its obligation to uphold an International Criminal Court warrant.
“Due to information that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil I would like to reiterate that it’s an obligation for the Brazilian authorities as a state party of the Rome Statute to arrest him if he dares to visit,” Ukraine prosecutor general Andrii Kostin said.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March last year, accusing him of the war crime of forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia plans to involve North Korea more directly in its invasion of Ukraine in the coming months.
Ukraine has already accused Pyongyang of sending weapons and even personnel to the Ukraine frontlines, and Zelensky said Putin’s war was being prolonged by Russia’s allies.
On the frontline, Ukraine witnessed a night free from drone or missile attacks on its territory for the first time in 48 days, officials said yesterday. The last night free from any Russian air raids was on 29 August.
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Pope’s envoy to Ukraine arrives in Moscow
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, an envoy to Ukraine of Pope Francis, arrived in Moscow on Monday according to the RIA state news agency.
RIA cited a source in the Holy See as saying a visit is possible between Zuppi and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of the Kremlin.
Zuppi last visited Moscow in June 2023.
One killed and two civilian vessels damaged in Russian attack on port
A Russian missile attack has damaged two civilian vessels, killed one person and injured at least eight, Ukrainian authorities said.
The attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa also damaged a grain storage, according to Reuters.
Deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba announced on Telegram that Palau-flagged bulk carrier Optima and Belize-flagged NS Moon were both damaged in the strike.
Two of the injured people were left in a serious condition, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.
Kremlin rejects German claim that Russia could attack NATO by 2030
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has refuted the claim by a German intelligence official that Russian forces “should be in a position to launch an attack on NATO by the end of this decade at the latest”.
Peskov said on Monday that it was actually NATO who threatened Russia, referring to multiple rounds of NATO expansion.
Kremlin: NATO nuclear exercise is fuelling tensions
Russia has accused NATO of fuelling tensions with their annual nuclear exercise in light of the “hot war” raging on in Ukraine.
The western military alliance kicked off the drills on Monday, which will include 2,000 troops and 60 aircraft from eight bases, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday it would not be possible to hold nuclear arms talks with the US, due to what it describes as direct and indirect involvement in Ukraine from western powers.
“In the conditions of a hot war, which is being waged within the framework of the Ukrainian conflict, of course, such exercises lead to nothing but further escalation of tension,” Peskov said according to Breaking The News.
Joe Biden said recently that he is ready to negotiate with Russia, China and North Korea on nuclear issues “without preconditions”.
Russia launches no Shahed drones overnight for first time in nearly 50 days
For the first time in 48 days, Russia did not launch any Shahed drone attacks at Ukraine overnight from Sunday going into Monday.
The Ukrainian Air Force did not comment on why there was a sudden lull in drone attacks from the Russians, who launched 1,300 Shahed kamikaze drones in September according to the Kyiv Independent.
Yurii Ihnat, acting Head of the Communications Department of the Air Force Command, said earlier this month that Russian forces were increasingly using drones of an unspecified type, which have been frequently downed by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.
US ready to talk to Russia about nuclear security, Biden says
The US is ready to talk to Russia, China and North Korea to address security issues, president Joe Biden has said.
Speaking in the Nobel Peace Prize winners’ congratulatory statement, Biden said it is vital to move towards the day that the world can be completely and permanently free of nuclear weapons.
He said the US is ready to negotiate with Russia, China and North Korea “without preconditions” to diminish the nuclear threat, Ukrainska Prava reported.
Biden said: “There is no benefit to our nations or the world to forestall progress on reducing nuclear arsenals. Reducing the nuclear threat is important not despite the dangers of today’s world but precisely because of them.
“These nuclear risks erode the norms and agreements we have worked collectively to put in place and run counter to the vital work of today’s Nobel Laureates."
It came after Japanese nuclear bombing survivors’ organisation Nihon Hidankyo won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in pushing for a nuclear free world and demonstrating that nuclear weapons must not be used.
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Russia will be able to attack NATO by the end of this decade, head of German intelligence says
Russian forces will have the capacity to attack NATO by the end of this decade, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service said on Monday.
“Russian forces should be in a position to launch an attack on NATO by the end of this decade at the latest,” Dr Bruno Kahl, Bundesnachrichtendienstes (BND) chief, told a parliamentary committee in Berlin.
We’ll bring you more detail on his comments as they come.
Five killed and eight injured in past day, Ukraine says
Russian attacks on Ukraine have killed five people and injured eight others in the past day, regional authorities confirmed this morning.
Four people were killed in the region of Donetsk, after attacks on gthe town of Chasiv Yar anf the villages of Zvanivka and Vyshneve, according to the region’s governor. Three more people were killed in the region.
One person was killed and four were injured in the Kherson region, after putin’s forces targeted eight settlements, including the regional capital of Kherson, according to governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Three high-rise buildings, six houses, gas pipelines and a warehouse were all damaged in the region, Prokudin added.
German opposition candidate would consider providing Taurus missiles to Ukraine
Friedrich Merz, an opposition candidate for German chancellor, says he is open to supplying Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles as the current government refuses to do so.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to fear that Ukraine would use Taurus missiles to strike politically sensitive targets in Russia - which could throw Germany into hostilities with Russia.
But Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel - says he would consider supplying the missiles under certain conditions.
First, there should be an appeal to Russia to stop striking civilian targets in Ukraine.
If Putin refuses, Ukraine should be free to use all weapons delivered by Germany however they please.
"And the second step would be to supply the Taurus missiles. Then it is up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to decide how far he wants to escalate this war," Merz said according to N-TV.
Taurus is a German-Swedish cruise missile which has a range of over 500 kilometres (310 miles).
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