Russia 'thwarts Ukrainian strike' on Black Sea warships

Moscow said it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian warships and civilian vessels in the Black Sea as conflict intensifies in the region.

Russia’s defence ministry said Kyiv had launched three maritime drones against two ships in its Black Sea fleet, the Sergey Kotov and Vasily Kykov.

Several hours later, it said - in an apparent shift - that Ukraine had targeted civilian vessels being escorted by the navy along the Bosphorus Strait. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed the claim as “fictitious”.

The encounter reportedly took place 211 miles south-west of Sevastopol, occupied Crimea’s largest city.

The defence ministry said: “In the course of repelling the attack, all three unmanned enemy boats were destroyed by fire from the regular weapons of the Russian ships.”

It comes after Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea deal, which guaranteed the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports. Britain has suggested Russia could set up a blockade using its Black Sea Fleet.

03:05 PM BST

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03:00 PM BST

Watch: Russian army chief makes rare front-line visit – but stays indoors

Russia’s top general has visited the frontlines in Ukraine’s south, its defence ministry said, as the Kremlin’s troops suffered from battle fatigue and ammunition shortages, Joe Barnes writes.

Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, was shown in a windowless bunker pouring over maps and receiving briefings, in a one-minute video released by the ministry.

The general, who earlier this year took personal command of occupational forces in Ukraine, was then filmed climbing into a helicopter marked with the Russian “Z” symbol.

Read the full story here.

02:47 PM BST

One dead and five wounded in Kherson hospital attack

Five medical workers were injured in the Russian strike on a Kherson hospital that killed a doctor, the regional governor has said.

Oleksandr Produkin said the “terrorist attack” had left staff bruised and distressed, adding that they were now receiving medical care.

02:34 PM BST

Dutch runner raising money for ambulances to send to Ukraine

A Dutch athlete is running from Amsterdam to Kyiv to raise money for ambulances to send to Ukraine.

Boas Kragtwijk, 28, who set off last month, plans to cover the 1,500 miles by running around 30 miles each day for the next 50 days.

He said: “By running from Amsterdam to Ukraine, we can show how close this war really is, and hopefully get people’s attention and raise a lot of money.”

02:26 PM BST

British ambassador 'working underground' after air raid warnings

02:13 PM BST

Pictured: Ukrainians remove hammer and sickle from Kyiv statue

02:01 PM BST

Iceland closes its Moscow embassy as relations nosedive

Iceland has become the first European country to close its embassy in Russia after relations slumped to an “all-time low”.

Its foreign ministry said in a statement: “The decision to suspend the operations of the Embassy of Iceland in Moscow does not constitute a severance of diplomatic relations.

“As soon as conditions permit, Iceland will prioritise the resumption of operations.”

01:48 PM BST

Lukashenko: 'Poland should thank me for keeping Wagner in check'

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that Wagner fighters would have “smashed up” Polish cities without his intervention.

It comes amid growing tension between the two neighbours, with Poland shifting more than 1,000 troops to its border after thousands of the mercenaries moved to Belarus.

Lukashenko said Poland “should pray that we’re holding onto [Wagner] and providing for them”, according to state news agency Belta.

He continued: “Without us, they would have seeped through and smashed up Rzeszow and Warsaw in no small way. So they shouldn’t reproach me, they should say thank you.”

01:31 PM BST

'Don't use drone attack as a pretext', EU tells Russia

The European Union has warned Russia not to use the drone that crashed into a Moscow office block as an excuse to ramp up its war in Ukraine.

“Russia must not use this as a pretext for further escalation,” the spokeswoman said, according to the Tass news agency.

Kyiv has not officially claimed credit for any of the drone attacks on Moscow.

01:11 PM BST

Russian missiles strike Zelensky’s home town in ‘tit-for-tat’ attack

Russia fired a barrage of missiles at Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town on Monday, the day after the Ukrainian president warned Moscow of “inevitable” attacks on its citizens, Nataliya Vasilyeva writes.

At least five people, including a young girl, were killed in Kryvyi Rih, which has largely been spared Russian bombardment, in an apparent tit-for-tat strike.

On Sunday, Mr Zelensky said attacks on Russian soil were an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” in the war. He was speaking after drones smashed into skyscrapers in a Moscow business district earlier that day.

Read the full story here.

12:57 PM BST

US: 'We don't encourage drone strikes on Moscow'

The US has said it does not “encourage” drone strikes on Moscow but insisted there was no comparison with Russian attacks on Ukrainian soil.

Speaking before a drone crashed into an office block in the Russian capital this morning, a state department spokesman said: “We neither encourage nor enable strikes outside Ukraine’s borders.

“But as we have said many times, it is up... to Ukraine to decide how to conduct this war. It has been Ukrainian civilian infrastructure that has been targeted over and over, Ukrainian civilians that have been murdered in this war.”

Kyiv has not claimed credit for any of the drone attacks on Moscow. However, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that war was “returning to the territory of Russia”.

12:36 PM BST

Zelensky adviser: Claim that Kyiv targeted civilian boats is 'fictitious'

Claims that Kyiv launched a drone strike on civilian vessels on the Black Sea “do not contain even a shred of truth”, according to an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mykhailo Podolyak said: “Undoubtedly, such statements by Russian officials are fictitious and do not contain even a shred of truth.

“Ukraine has not attacked, is not attacking and will not attack civilian vessels, nor any other civilian objects.”

It comes after Russia’s defence ministry said Kyiv had attempted a “terrorist attack” on civilian vessels in the Black Sea. Earlier today, it said Ukraine had targeted two warships.

12:26 PM BST

Moscow to ramp up security in response to 'clear threat'

The Kremlin is tightening security to prevent another attack Moscow, a spokesman has said, after a drone crashed into an office block in the Russian capital.

Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The threat does exist and it is clear. Measures are being taken.”

He declined to elaborate on the specific precautions being taken, saying that it would be up to the military to make “expert comments”.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said “additional measures” were being taken to protect Moscow yesterday, just hours before the drone attack.

12:17 PM BST

Pictured: Moscow security services investigate skyscraper damaged in drone attack

12:07 PM BST

70-year-old woman killed in Kharkiv

An elderly woman was killed when Russian forces shelled a village in Kharkiv, according to the regional governor.

Oleh Synyehubov said: “The enemy continues to hit the civilian population. Today, at about 12 o’clock [10am BST] the enemy shelled the village of Pervomaysky, Izyumsky district.

“According to prelimnary medical data, one person about 50 years old was injured and was hospitalised. A woman of about 70 years old, unfortunately, died.”

11:50 AM BST

Second drone smashes into Moscow skyscraper

A Moscow skyscraper hit by a drone attack last week has seen a second drone smash into its 21st floor, according to Russian authorities.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said: “Several drones were shot down by air defence systems while trying to fly to Moscow. One flew into the same tower in the City as last time.”

He added that there was no information on any casualties following the incident, which damaged the facade on the 21st floor.

The drone crashed into the building, located in Moscow’s financial district, after being electronically intercepted, the Russian defence ministry said. Two more drones were shot down by air defences over the region.

11:39 AM BST

Kremlin backs away from 9/11 comparison

The Kremlin “does not” see any similarities between a drone attack on a Moscow office block and the 9/11 attacks, a spokesman has said.

It comes after Russia’s foreign ministry compared the two incidents. A spokeswoman said earlier today: “We are seeing the same picture now, as if it is repeating itself.”

11:23 AM BST

Pictured: Firefighters respond to attack on Kharkiv

10:58 AM BST

Russian blogger casts doubt on Kremlin account of skyscraper crash

A Russian blogger has questioned the Kremlin’s account that it electronically suppressed a drone that smashed into a Moscow office block this morning.

Grey Zone, a Telegram channel with over half a million subscribers, noted that the same building had been hit by a suspected Ukrainian drone on Sunday.

It said: “No one raises questions that for the second time in a row, with the successful suppression of the signal... they crash into the same high-rise building.”

10:28 AM BST

Doctor killed in Kherson as hospital hit

A doctor was killed as Russian forces systematically shelled the “residential quarters” of Kherson, according to the region’s governor.

Oleksandr Produkin said: “The occupiers shelled the residential quarters of Kherson one after another.

“Enemy shells also hit one of the city’s medical facilities. An ENT [ear, nose and throat] doctor was fatally wounded. The nurse has an injured jaw, she is being treated.

“The surgery department was also damaged due to shelling.”

10:22 AM BST

Wagner 'replacing Russia as Belarusian's military trainers'

Wagner mercenaries could be replacing Russia as the Belarusian military’s “key training partner”, according to a think tank.

The group is training mechanised brigades to stay hidden from enemy drones, along with coordinating between companies, platoons, and squads, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.

It has also reportedly taught Belarusian infantry to conduct a combined arms assault with tank and artillery support.

The ISW said: “The Wagner Group’s new role in Belarusian company-level training is notable. The Belarusian military typically conducts such exercises with Russian trainers and relies on Russian planners for any multi-brigade exercises.”

10:06 AM BST

Kremlin likens drone attack to our 9/11

Russia’s foreign ministry has compared the drone that smashed into a Moscow skyscraper to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

A spokeswoman said: “Let’s take a look at another example: the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. It caused an enormous number of casualties but the methods were the same.

“The Moscow City district is a civilian site, which only hosts offices and a business centre... We are seeing the same picture now, as if it is repeating itself.”

The drone crash did not cause any casualties or damage, while the planes flown into the twin towers destroyed both buildings and killed almost 3,000 people in the process.

09:56 AM BST

Russian attacks kill two in Donetsk

Two people have been killed and another three injured in Donetsk by Russian shelling, the regional governor has said.

Pavlo Kyrylenko added that dozens of houses had been damaged, and that four streets in the city of Avdiivka had been hit by tank fire.

09:45 AM BST

Watch: Drone hits tower block in Moscow's financial district

09:36 AM BST

Moscow skyscraper is 'structurally sound' after drone strike

No structural damage was done to the Moscow skyscraper that was hit by a drone in the early hours of this morning, it has been reported.

Emergency services told Tass, a Russian news agency: “Experts are working at the site; they are assessing the damage incurred.

“It has been established that the [building’s] structural supports remained intact and were not damaged as a result of the drone hit.”

According to Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the drone damaged the building’s facade on its 21st floor.

09:25 AM BST

Russia's civil servants working remotely after drone strikes

Russia’s economic development ministry is working remotely after drones hit Moscow’s financial district, according to a government adviser.

Experts are assessing the damage to an office block, which has been struck twice by drones in the space of three days.

09:17 AM BST

Six dead and more than 80 injured in Kryvyi Rih attack

A 10-year-old girl called Daria died with her mother in yesterday’s missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The Ukrainian president said rescue operations finished at 7pm (5pm BST) yesterday after a block of flats in the city was destroyed, killing six people and injuring more than 80.

He wrote on Telegram: “This is terrorism, which no one in the world will call otherwise... Six victims are known, among them a child: a girl, her name was Darya. She was only ten years old.

“Her mother died with her. Her name was Natalia. An ordinary family in an ordinary town, whose life was destroyed by Russian killers.”

09:04 AM BST

'Smashed windows but no casualties' at Moscow skyscraper

An alleged Ukrainian drone attack on a Moscow skyscraper smashed 150 metres of glazing but is not believed to have caused any casualties, Russia media reports.

Baza, a Telegram channel, added that emergency services are “examining the affected floor”.

Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin had previously said the drone had damaged the facade on the building’s 21st floor.

08:57 AM BST

'Moscow is getting used to a full-fledged war'

An adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Moscow is facing a “full-fledged war” after a drone smashed into a skyscraper early this morning.

Mykhailo Podolyak said: “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war, which, in turn, will soon finally move to the territory of the ‘authors of the war’ to collect all their debts.

“Everything that will happen in Russia is an objective historical process. More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.”

His comments echo Mr Zelensky’s after a drones hit Moscow on Sunday, when the Ukrainian president said war was “returning to the territory of Russia”.

08:49 AM BST

Lindsey Graham: Nuclear strike on Ukraine would be attack on Nato

US Senator Lindsey Graham appears to have told Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev to “sober up” after he threatened Ukraine with nuclear retaliation if its counteroffensive succeeded.

Mr Graham said: “To my Russian friends who talk about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: You need to understand that would be an attack on Nato itself, given Ukraine’s proximity to Nato territory.

“Time to sober up, realize that your barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not working, withdraw and save many young Russians from a pointless death.”

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly joked about the alleged drinking habits of Medvedev, a member of Russia’s security council. Earlier this year, the foreign minister suggested he should “drink less vodka”.

08:37 AM BST

Ukraine 'thwarts Russian saboteurs attempting to cross border'

Ukraine has thwarted an overnight attempt by a Russian saboteur group to cross its northern border, according to the interior minister.

Ihor Klymenko said: “Last night, in the Chernihiv region, border guards stopped an attempt by an enemy saboteur-reconnaissance group to cross the state border of Ukraine within the Semenivka community.”

Serhiy Naev, a commander in Ukraine’s armed forces, reported four individuals had attempted to cross the border but were repelled.

08:30 AM BST

Russian senator: Moscow drone attack means 'end' of Zelensky

Drone attacks on the Black Sea Fleet and Moscow are bringing about the “inevitable end” of Volodymyr Zelensky, a Russian senator has claimed.

Grigory Karasin said: “All these night attacks by drone boats on the Black Sea Fleet’s ships and desperate launches of drones in Moscow and the Moscow Region only bring closer the inevitable end of Zelensky.”

Following a line used by the Kremlin in recent days, he claimed the attacks - for which Kyiv has not claimed credit - revealed “the futility of the Ukrainian armed forces”.

08:21 AM BST

63-year-old injured in Kharkiv attack

A Russian attack on Kharkiv with five “kamikaze” drones injured a 63-year-old security guard, the regional governor has said.

Oleh Synyehubov wrote on Telegram that a school had been hit, destroying two floors and causing a fire. No casualties have been reported.

Another building, later named by Ukrainian media as a sports complex, was also damaged. A security guard was wounded in the attack and sent to hospital.

08:08 AM BST

Pictured: Russia launches missiles on Kharkiv

08:04 AM BST

Ukraine attempting to make inroads south of Bakhmut

Ukrainian troops are continuing to assault positions to the south of the city of Bakhmut, a spokesman for the general staff has said.

They are also said to be holding back Russian attempts to advance north of the city in the direction of Kupyansk and Lyman, which Kyiv recaptured last year.

The spokesman added: “Heavy battles are going on, the enemy is putting up strong resistance, using reserves, and suffering significant losses.”

07:56 AM BST

Russian shelling kills four in Kherson

Four people have been killed across Kherson by Russian shelling, the region’s governor says.

Oleksandr Produkin reported Moscow’s forces had fired 61 shells on the main city in the past day, hitting “residential quarters of the populated areas of the region”.

He wrote on Telegram: “As a result of Russian aggression, four people died, another 18 were injured, one of them was a child.”

07:52 AM BST

Watch: Soviet emblem cut off Ukraine's Motherland Monument statue

Ukrainian workers are replacing a Soviet hammer and sickle on a 335-ft statue in Kyiv as they give it a post-invasion makeover.

The Motherland Monument, one of the tallest statues in Europe, depicts a woman holding a sword and shield - which measures 1,000 square feet on its own - aloft.

Footage has emerged of workers cutting away the shield’s decorative laurel leaves, which surround a globe bearing the mark of a hammer and sickle.

Read the full story here.

07:50 AM BST

Moscow airport reopens after drone attack

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport has resumed flights, having closed after reports of a drone attack over the city.

A source told Russia’s Tass news agency: “The airport is operating in line with the schedule, all previously imposed restrictions have been lifted.”

Russian authorities said two drones had been shot down over Moscow region, while a third crashed into an office block in the financial district.

07:47 AM BST

MoD: Russia 'struggling with battle fatigue and attrition'

Russian forces are likely to be “struggling with battle fatigue and attrition” as they attempt to fend off a renewed Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

It reported in an intelligence update that Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army had been “intense combat for over eight weeks” near Orikhiv in the south.

The MoD continued: “Further east... elements of the 5th Combined Army are likely to be under particular pressure, and probably also feel that they are long overdue for a rotation out of the front-line.”

07:45 AM BST

Russia's Gerasimov inspects front line in Zaporizhzhia

Russia’s chief of the general staff has visited troops tasked with repelling the main thrust of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Zaporizhzhia.

Valery Gerasimov inspected a command centre and underscored the importance of preemptive strikes against Ukrainian forces, according to Russia’s defence ministry.

He has been previously the target of savage criticism from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who launched a coup with the intention of arresting him in June.

There were questions as to whether Mr Gerasimov would keep his job after the short-lived mutiny, with more than a fortnight elapsing before he was seen in public.

07:37 AM BST

Pictured: Skyscraper under guard after second drone strike

07:36 AM BST

Elon Musk 'refuses to turn on Starlink' for Crimea drone attack

Elon Musk reportedly forced Ukraine to drop a planned naval drone strike in the Black Sea by refusing access to the Starlink satellite network, Joe Barnes writes.

The Ukrainian military was not able to remotely pilot a drone laden with explosives into a Russian ship in occupied Crimea following the decision of the SpaceX chief executive.

Mr Musk, the 52-year-old South African-born billionaire, has previously said he does not want Starlink used to conduct long-range offensive strikes.

Read the full story here.

07:34 AM BST

Russia: Two Black Fleet vessels attacked by naval drones

Russian authorities claim to have destroyed three maritime drones that attacked two vessels of its Black Sea fleet.

Ukrainian forces targeted the Sergey Kotov and Vasily Bykov with “unmanned naval motor boats” 210 miles south-west of Sevastopol in Crimea, the Kremlin said.

Britain has previously suggested Moscow could use the Sergey Kotov to enforce a blockade on Ukraine. Kyiv allegedly launched a drone strike on the vessel last month.

Russia said all three drones had been destroyed by the ships, which “continue to fulfil their assigned tasks”.

07:28 AM BST

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