Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces suffer ‘second day of record casualties’ as Kursk fight intensifies
Ukraine’s military claims Russia suffered nearly 2,000 casualties in past 24 hours as fighting rages on
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia has suffered record losses for a second consecutive day, Ukraine has claimed, as Vladimir Putin’s forces seek to advance in Donbas and repel Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk.
Just 24 hours after Ukraine claimed Russia had suffered a record 1,770 losses, Kyiv’s military claimed this grim total had been surpassed by 1,950 casualties on Monday – which would mark Russia’s worst single day since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The totals given by Ukraine’s military do not specify between troops killed, wounded or captured. Ukraine now claims to have inflicted a total of 712,610 casualties upon Russia – which is broadly in line with estimates given by Ukraine’s Western allies. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv provide statistics on their own losses.
Russia appears to be stepping up its efforts to claw back territory in Kursk, after Ukraine’s daring cross-border raid in August. With reports of North Korean troops also being deployed to the Russian region, war monitors said on Monday that both Kyiv and Moscow appeared to have made recent gains in the region.
Russian power creeps across West Africa with Equatorial Guinea mission
Russia has deployed up to 200 military instructors to Equatorial Guinea in recent weeks to protect the presidency, sources told Reuters, showing Moscow is expanding its footprint in West Africa despite a recent defeat in Mali.
The sources said the Russians were training elite guards in the two main cities of the tiny oil-exporting country of 1.7 million people, where U.S. energy firms invested billions of dollars in the first decade of the century before scaling down.
The deployment fits into a wider pattern of waning Western influence and increasing Russian interventions in West and Central Africa, where Moscow has sent thousands of mercenaries to protect military regimes and help them fight insurgents.
For Russia, the assignments are a way to make money from government fees and economic opportunities in mining or energy, while defying the West as part of a global geopolitical confrontation playing out most dramatically in Ukraine.
Macron reiterates call for ‘strong Europe’ in apparent reference to Trump reelection
French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated his call for a "strong Europe" as being key to NATO but also as a response to "what the US administration rightly expects" in an apparent reference to the election of Donald Trump for a second term.
During his first in the White House, Trump pushed the European NATO allies to spend more on defence, up to and beyond 2 per cent of gross domestic product, and to be less reliant on US military cover.
"For too long, Europe has avoided bearing the burden of its own security, believing that it could, in a way, receive the dividends of peace without any time limit," Macron said on
Trump eyeing China hawk Mike Waltz as national security adviser
Donald Trump has asked Republican Florida congressman Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser, multiple news outlets report.
“President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon,” Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Trump transition team, told The Independent. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”
The Independent has contacted Waltz for comment. Reacting to the reported offer, former Florida governor Jeb Bush praised Waltz on X as a “great choice” and a “patriot.”
If Waltz joins the Trump White House, he’ll confront a number of complicated national security issues, including Israel’s expanding regional war with Hamas and Lebanon, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and competition with China.
Our US reporter Josh Marcus has more details:
Trump eyeing China hawk Mike Waltz as national security adviser
Florida congressman and former Green Beret has called for new accounability at Pentagon more aggressive posture towards Iran and China
More than 1,000 Russians implicated in criminal cases over speaking out on Ukraine war
More than 1,000 people have been implicated in criminal cases in Russia on charges related to speaking or acting out against the war in Ukraine, according to one of Russia’s leading rights groups that tracks political arrests.
The data from OVD-Info comes as a doctor accused of criticizing the war in Ukraine in front of a patient was convicted on Tuesday of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
"Spreading false information" about the army has been a criminal offence since March 2022, when Russia adopted a series of laws prohibiting any public expression about the invasion that deviated from the official narrative. Authorities started actively using them against critics and protesters.
UK will not have air supremacy over enemies in future wars, RAF chief warns
The UK will not enjoy supremacy in the air in future warfare but will have to fight against an “ever-improving enemy” for control, the head of the Royal Air Force has warned, as he claimed that the UK faces the most difficult strategic environment in decades.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, chief of the Air Staff, suggested the era of unchallenged Western dominance in the air had come to an end, adding that it was imperative the RAF modernise its efforts to stay ahead of the likes of China and Russia.
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling reports:
UK will not have air supremacy over enemies in future wars, RAF chief warns
Chief of the Air Staff Sir Richard Knighton says the UK faces the most significant sets of hostile states in decades
Russian strategic bombers fly over neutral waters of Black sea, RIA reports
Russia's defence ministry said two Tu-22M3 strategic bombers made a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Black sea, state news agency RIA reported on Tuesday.
The Tu-95s flew for more than five hours, escorted by SU-30SM and SU-27 fighter jets, the ministry said.
The ministry said earlier on Tuesday that two Tu-95MS strategic bombers made a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Barents sea.
British troops may have to be deployed to Ukraine if Trump pulls support, Boris Johnson claims
British troops may have to be deployed in Ukraine if Donald Trump cuts Kyiv’s funding, Boris Johnson has warned.
Mr Johnson said: “If Ukraine goes down, then we face an even bigger threat on our borders, the borders of the European continent wherever the democracies butt up against Russia.”
He told GB News that the knock-on effects would be felt in the Baltic states and the South China Sea, adding: “What I’m saying is for people watching, thinking ‘why are we supporting the Ukrainians?’
“It’s because otherwise our collective security will be really degraded by a resurgent Russia threatening all sorts of parts of Europe, and we will then have to pay to send British troops to help defend Ukraine.”
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Johnson says UK troops may have to be deployed in Ukraine if Trump drops support
The former prime minister has said that if Vladimir Putin gains the upper hand in the conflict, the UK may have to deploy troops to defend Europe
Nato chief issues warning over growing Russian cooperation with China, Iran and North Korea
Russia’s growing economic and military cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran is threatening Europe, the Indo-Pacific and North America, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has said.
In what appeared to be a message to the incoming Trump Administration, Mr Rutte underlined the importance of transatlantic unity and continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, describing what he saw as the dangers posed by North Korean and Iranian military assistance for Russia.
“At the same time, China backs Russia’s economy, enables its defence industry and amplifies its narrative all over the world stage,” Mr Rutte said, ahead of talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron.
“Russia working together with North Korea, Iran and China is not only threatening Europe, it’s threatening peace and security, yes, here in Europe, but also in the Indo-Pacific and in North America.”
Full report: Doctor convicted for alleged criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine
A doctor accused of criticising the war in Ukraine in front of a patient has been jailed, as part of an unrelenting Kremlin crackdown on dissent.
Dasha Litvinova has the full report:
Doctor accused of criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine is convicted and given over 5 years in prison
A doctor accused of criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine in front of a patient was convicted of spreading false information about the military and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison
Nato chief says alliance must back Ukraine for ‘the long haul'
As he held talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Nato chief Mark Rutte stressed the need to back Ukraine for the “long haul”.
Highlighting the “importance of keeping up the support as Ukrainians prepare to face what could be their harshest winter since 2022”, the new Nato secretary-general said: “We must recommit to stay in the course for the long haul. And we must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.
“We need to raise the cost for Putin and his enabling authoritarian friends, by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict.”
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