British fighter jets intercept three Russian military planes flying near Nato airspace
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles – capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads – will soon be ready for combat duty, as his defence minister insisted the West was waging “real war” against Moscow.
The rollout of the missiles, nicknamed Satan 2, has already been delayed, and the Russian president’s new comments to military academy graduates at the Kremlin come days after he claimed Ukraine had “no chance” in their current counteroffensive, and Moscow had no need to resort to nuclear weapons.
While Kyiv officials claimed “partial success” in operations this week, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky admitted progress in its nascent counteroffensive was “slower than desired”, as he blamed dangerous minefields laid by Russian troops.
Despite his dismissive remarks, Mr Putin’s generals appear to be concerned about Kyiv’s ability to directly strike Crimea, having constructed “elaborate” defences near the occupied peninsula, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said.
Meanwhile, international leaders descended upon a London conference aimed at drumming up funds to rebuild Ukraine, where foreign secretary James Cleverly claimed the UK would be “very supportive” if Kyiv was permitted to bypass a key requirement of joining Nato.
