Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv launches attack on Putin’s Black Sea naval base as 1 killed in Kharkiv strike
Kyiv fired two drones at Novorossiysk, which were shot down by Russian defences, officials said
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Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea naval base where Moscow’s once revered fleet is hiding.
Kyiv fired two sea drones at Novorossiysk, which were shot down by Russian defences, according to the Russian ministry of defence.
Satellites detected large fires in the area of the Novorossiysk port, which is one of Russia’s largest and serves as a major outlet for crude oil and oil products exports and transit in Russia’s south.
It comes as one person was killed and another four were wounded in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said.
Kharkiv regional prosecutors said one person was killed and two wounded in an attack in the village of Borova that also damaged ten homes, stores and an administrative building.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky’s senior aide Andri Yermak said Kyiv was not ready to compromise with Russia and it would never give up any territory seized by Putin’s forces since February 2022.
“We are not ready to go to the compromise for the very important things and values... independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty,” he said.
Richard Tice refuses to back Nigel Farage’s Ukraine comments in fiery clash with BBC’s Nick Robinson
Reform chair Richard Tice refused to endorse Nigel Farage’s views on the Ukraine-Russia conflict in a tetchy clash with the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
Mr Tice was asked on Radio 4’s Today programme if he thought it was a mistake for Reform’s party leader to say that the West provoked Russia’s war with Ukraine.
He said: “Let me tell you what’s a mistake, it’s a mistake to pretend we’ve got everything right. To pretend that we’ve never made any foreign policy mistakes whether its this country or other countries. You look at what Nigel talked about, Libya, Syria, we’ve made serious foreign policy mistakes.”
Tice refuses to back Farage’s Ukraine comments in clash with Nick Robinson
Heated exchange came hours before second Reform candidate defected to Tories, claiming party’s candidates ‘racist, misogynistic and bigoted’
Viktor Orban urges Ukraine ‘to consider quick ceasefire’ during first trip to Kyiv
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to the war-torn country since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion.
After crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, during which the two countries pledged to strengthen relations, Mr Orban urged Ukraine to halt fighting and enter negotiations with Russia, adding that the war was having a “very intense effect on the security of Europe”.
“We highly appreciate all the initiatives of President Zelensky for the sake of achieving peace,” he said. “I told Mr President that these initiatives take a long time. It is precisely because of the rules of international diplomacy that they are very complicated.
Orban urges Ukraine ‘to consider quick ceasefire’ during first trip to war-torn Kyiv
Ukraine maintains it cannot agree to a ceasefire until Russia completely withdraws its forces from its territory
Trump’s claim he could ‘end war in one day’ dismissed by Putin’s UN ambassador
Russia’s UN ambassador has responded to Donald Trump’s claim that he could solve the war in Ukraine in one day,
Vassily Nebenzia told reporters Monday that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”
At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he keeps repeating the claim on the campaign trail.
During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed, “If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin ... he would have never invaded Ukraine.”
Nebenzia said the war could have ended in April 2022 in Istanbul when Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to an agreement.
The Russian ambassador blamed Ukraine’s Western backers for blocking the April 2022 peace deal and telling Kyiv to keep fighting Russia. Now, he said, Zelenskyy “is running around with his so-called peace plan which, of course, is not a peace plan but a joke.”
Russian forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
Russia is conducting a new recruitment drive for fighters in Africa for its war in Ukraine after suffering heavy casualties on the ground in lethal combat, according to Western intelligence officials.
The enrolment campaign has intensified following the rapid spread of Moscow’s influence on the continent, boosted by the overthrow of pro-Western governments in several countries by military regimes and the subsequent withdrawal of US and European forces.
Mercenaries formerly with the Wagner Group – which was disbanded after the failed coup attempt by its Russian leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was subsequently killed along with his senior hierarchy in an air crash – are training young men, some from tribal militias, for battle in Europe.
Kim Sengupta has more:
Putin’s forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
Exclusive: Moscow is turning to a new mercenary group, Africa Corps, to train paid fighters from across the continent to fight its war in Ukraine
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visits Ukraine and invites Zelenskyy to Olympic track meet
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visits Ukraine and invites Zelenskyy to Olympic track meet
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv over the weekend
Kyiv hits back at UN as Russia assumes presidency of Security Council
Ukraine has hit back at the “mockery” of Russia taking over the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council while it is still waging a war against them.
Olena Shuliak, head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said the security council was now being run by “a country that is the exact opposite of security”
You can read her full comment below.
The UN security council, of which Russia, China, the UK, US and France are permanent members with ultimate veto powers, handles the organisation’s global response to issues of conflict.
Earlier, Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said Ukraine would not be on the agenda for this month.
Instead, he said, the Security Council will discuss the conflict in the Middle East, particularly the situation in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
We have some more photos from the frontline
Below we have some more photos from the frontline in the northeast Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.
US to announce a multi-billion weapons package to Kyiv
The US will soon announce an additional $2.3 billion (£1.8 bn) in weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, the US secretary of defence has said.
Lloyd Austin made the announcement after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov in the Pentagon. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s key advisor Andriy Yermak was also in attendance.
The additional package comes a little over two months after US Congress belatedly approved $61 billion in military support, having blocked the bill for seven months.
That delay caused Ukraine’s armed forces to suffer significant ammunition shortages on the frontline, ultimately handing the fighting initiative to Russia, who proceeded to take back territory throughout Ukraine. A potentially fatal advance, however, was prevented.
Orban: Peace is important not only to Ukraine
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has said peace between Moscow and Kyiv is “important not only to Ukraine but to the security of the whole of Europe”.
“My first trip as the president of the European Union led to Kyiv, because the question of peace is important not only to Ukraine but to the security of the whole Europe,” he wrote on Facebook after a visit to Kyiv, where he spoke with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine to get ‘good news’ on air defence at Nato summit, US official says
Ukraine is expected to get “good news” in its quest for more air defence systems at a Nato summit in Washington next week, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.
“We hope we’ll be able to get to the summit and make some new announcements on air defence,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You’ve heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we’ll have some additional good news for them on that front.”
The official did not provide any further details.
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defence systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Leaders gather for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington from July 9 to July 11, intended in part to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.
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