Ukraine-Russia war – live: Musk ‘joins Trump’s Zelensky call’ as Putin hails ‘courageous’ US election win
Elon Musk promised to support Volodymyr Zelensky with his Starlink satellites
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Your support makes all the difference.Elon Musk reportedly jumped on Donald Trump’s first call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The move potentially reveals how high Trump values the Tesla billionaire and foreshadows a possible role in his administration.
Axios reported that the president-elect told Zelensky he will support Ukraine, but didn’t go into details on a 25 minute phonecall.
Musk also weighed in to say he will continue supporting Ukraine through his Starlink satellites - that have become pivotal to Ukraine forces communications on the frontline.
Musk had previously mocked Zelensky on social media for his attempts to fundraise for his nation’s war effort.
It came as Russian president Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on winning the US election and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with him.
In his first remarks since Mr Trump’s win, Mr Putin said the president-elect had acted “like a real man” during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July.
Mr Trump’s win has caused concern in Ukraine, where the Russian forces have made swift advances of late, over fears that he would curtail US support for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes killed at least one person and injured 34 injured in Odesa and Kharkiv early this morning.
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
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Europe cannot rely on Trump’s protection – it must take the lead on defence
A Trump presidency won’t necessarily be the gift for Putin that Moscow thinks it is...
Russia summons Canadian diplomat over ‘false accusations’ about sabotage plot
The Russian foreign ministry has summoned the deputy head of Canada’s embassy in Moscow to protest over what it called “false accusations” that Russia was behind a sabotage campaign against Nato countries.
Western security officials have said that parcels that exploded at logistics depots in Europe were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. Russia has rejected the accusations.
Trump could easily end Ukraine war with solutions-based approach, claims Turkey’s Erdogan
War in Ukraine could end easily if Donald Trump’s future US administration takes a solution-based approach, Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan has been quoted as saying.
Mr Erdogan also said efforts of the Western countries led by the US to end war in Ukraine would accelerate a solution, based on his reported in-flight interview with reporters on his way back from Budapest.
European countries are spending more on defence, think-tank says
European nations boosted their defences in response to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but much remains to be done for them to be ready to face threats from Russia, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Published as the think-tank opened a three-day gathering in Prague to discuss European and transatlantic military capabilities, the report said: “Nato has not just significantly increased its ambitions regarding its deterrence and war-fighting posture, but European members have sought to address critical capability and readiness shortfalls.
“Unsurprisingly, however, after decades of neglect and underinvestment, much remains to be done and progress has been mixed.”
European countries are spending more on defense, a think tank says
European nations have boosted their defenses in response to the annexation of the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but much remains to be done for them to be ready to face threats from Russia
EU resolute that it must stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, says Ireland’s Taoiseach
Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris has said there was a very resolute view at the European Political Community summit in Budapest this week that the EU must stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“The US had its election and it made its decision but that doesn’t change European values, and European values around the importance of the UN Charter, the importance of territorial integrity remain,” he said.
Putin claims China not pursuing aggressive policy towards Taiwan
Vladimir Putin has described China as Russia’s ally and threw his weight behind Beijing’s claims over Taiwan, while insisting that no countries have anything to fear from their deepening co-operation.
The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, but signed a “no limits” partnership deal in 2022, less than three weeks before Mr Putin sent his troops into Ukraine.
“We do not believe that China is pursuing an aggressive policy in the region,” Mr Putin said at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian resort of Sochi.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite strong objections by the government in Taipei, and regularly holds wargames near the island. But Mr Putin suggested that Taiwan was trying to stir up a Ukraine-style crisis in Asia in order to attract outside support.
“A lot is going on around Taiwan,” Mr Putin said. “Everyone formally acknowledges, yes, Taiwan is part of China. But in reality? In reality, it is acting in a completely different direction. Provoking the situation towards escalation.
“We do support China. And because of this, we believe that [China] is conducting a completely reasonable policy. And also because it is our ally. We have a very large trade turnover, we co-operate in the security sector.”
South Korea says pro-Russia groups responsible for cyberattacks after North’s troop dispatch
South Korea has been targeted with cyberattacks by pro-Russia hacking groups after North Korea dispatched troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, Seoul’s presidential office has warned.
The office held an emergency intra-agency meeting after detecting denial-of-service attacks on some government and private websites in recent days.
Some of the websites experienced temporary outages but there was no serious damage, the presidential office said, adding that the government will strengthen its ability to respond to such attacks.
Putin describes Trump in one word as he breaks silence on Republican’s election victory
Vladimir Putin has described Donald Trump in one word as he spoke publicly for the first time about the Republican’s election victory, my colleague Lucy Leeson reports.
Putin said he had been “impressed” by Trump, before describing him as “courageous” concerning the assassination attempt on the president-elect at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, Putin said: “In his first term as president he was dubbed mostly a businessman, but his behavior when there was an attempt on his life, I was impressed, he is a courageous person.
Russian city of Saratov targeted by Ukrainian drone, says regional governor
The Russian city of Saratov was targeted by a Ukrainian drone overnight, the regional governor said on Friday, saying drone debris had fallen in an industrial zone after it had been destroyed.
The governor, Roman Busargin, made the comments on his official Telegram channel and said that nobody appeared to have been hurt.
Saratov, about 730km southeast of Moscow, hosts an oil refinery.
A major airbase housing long-range strategic bombers is also located less than 16km out of the city and has been targeted by Ukraine in the past.
Russia bombards Kharkiv, injuring 25 in strike on residential building
Early this morning, Russian forces struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, with a guided KAB aerial bomb severely damaging a 12-storey residential building in the Saltivskyi district and injuring at least 25 people.
The blast caused a fire, destroyed multiple floors, and left residents trapped, according to Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov. Search and rescue teams are working to locate anyone still beneath the rubble.
Five of the injured were taken to hospital, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. The attack, launched from Russian-controlled Donetsk Oblast, also damaged nearby buildings, metro entrances, and vehicles.
A separate strike targeted Kharkiv’s city centre, hitting administrative and historic structures as well as residential areas. Another hit impacted a nearby neighbourhood, damaging shops, multistorey buildings, and cars. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in these additional attacks, Mr Syniehubov confirmed.
Russia’s troop losses in Ukraine near 706,000, Ukrainian military claims
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russia has reportedly lost 705,880 troops, according to data shared by Ukraine’s Armed Forces on its Facebook page. This tally includes 1,580 soldiers killed within the last 24 hours alone.
In addition to personnel losses, Ukraine’s General Staff reports that Russia has sustained heavy equipment losses, listing 9,233 tanks, 18,661 armoured fighting vehicles, 28,495 transport and fuel vehicles, and 20,226 artillery systems. Russian forces have also lost 1,245 multiple launch rocket systems, 996 air defence systems, 369 aircraft, 329 helicopters, and 18,526 drones, along with 28 naval vessels and a single submarine.
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