A battlefield video circulated overnight on social media appeared to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.
More than 900 people were killed or injured by cluster munitions in Ukraine last year amid broad Russian use of the widely banned weapons, propelling global casualty figures to record levels, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).
The Kremlin refused to confirm a possible summit between Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which US officials have said they expect.
Ukrainian lawmakers voted to restore a requirement that officials declare their assets, a measure sought by the International Monetary Fund, but included a loophole critics say dampens its effect.
Russia‘s pipeline natural gas exports to the EU may fall to 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, almost two-thirds lower than last year and a more than a six-fold drop from 2021, Russian state bank Veb said in a forecast.
Cuba identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said. It was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there.”
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, spoke of the intense toll of the war on her family as her husband, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has emerged as a “historical figure” during the 18 months of conflict so far.
Kim Jong-un will reportedly travel to Russia this month to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying weapons to the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said details of the expected meeting were still unclear, but added that it was likely to take place in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, given its proximity to North Korea.
Russia shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones early on Tuesday that were targeting the country’s capital, the Russian defence ministry said. The ministry said that its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district of the Moscow region.
Moscow’s two major airports, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, as well as the Zhukovksy airport, resumed normal operations from 7.30am (0430 GMT) after a temporary traffic suspension early on Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said. Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones that were targeting the country’s capital.
Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian aeroplane-style drone over Crimea on Tuesday morning, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. It comes after Russia said it had shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones early on Tuesday that were targeting Moscow.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it did not think Ukraine’s decision to appoint a new defence minister would change the nature of the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was sacking defence minister Oleksii Reznikov and proposed Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and ex-lawmaker, to replace him.
The governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said border guards and security forces had “thwarted” an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage group that tried to cross into Russia. Russia has this year repeatedly reported Ukrainian sabotage attempts on its borders, and sent helicopters to put down a cross-border incursion in the Belgorod region in May.
Gen Sergei Surovikin, who had not been publicly seen since Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny in June, has apparently resurfaced. Ostorozhno Media published a picture, reportedly taken on Monday in Moscow, of the former aerospace commander alongside his wife.
There was no evidence of a breakthrough in the Black Sea grain deal. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, concluded face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin by claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived, but Putin again accused the west of reneging on promises.
Ukraine said its troops had regained more territory on the eastern front and were advancing farther south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reported.
US, British and EU officials are planning to jointly press the United Arab Emirates to halt shipments of goods to Russia that could help Moscow in its war against Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Ukraine said on Monday that Russian drones had detonated on the territory of Nato member Romania during an overnight airstrike on a Ukrainian port across the Danube River. Romania’s government denied its territory had been hit. Reuters could not independently verify either account. It is a rare report of stray fire from the war in Ukraine hitting a neighbouring member of Nato.
Rustem Umerov is poised to become Ukraine’s new defence minister after Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to replace Oleksii Reznikov.
Ukraine on Monday named a Russian helicopter pilot it said defected over his opposition to Moscow’s invasion after flying across the border in a “long-term special operation” led by Kyiv. The intelligence wing of Ukraine’s defence ministry identified him as 28-year-old Maxim Kuzminov from the 319th separate helicopter regiment based in Russia’s far eastern Primorye region.
