For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
The US has hit back after Volodymyr Zelensky said Western partners are “dragging out” a decision over Kyiv’s request to strike Russia with its long-range weapons.
“We need sufficient quantity and quality of weapons, including long-range weapons, that, in my opinion, our partners are already dragging out,” Mr Zelensky said alongside new Nato chief Mark Rutte yesterday. “We will continue to convince our partners of the need to shoot down Russian missiles and drones,” he said.
The Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh reacted to Mr Zelensky’s remarks. “We have a limited supply of long-range missiles” and “we are not dragging it out,” she said.
On the war frontline, the Ukrainian military chief said he has ordered defences to be strengthened in the eastern Donetsk region after pulling out of Vuhledar. Ukraine’s armed forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi said he was working on “one of the hottest front sectors” with the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade.
Mr Zelensky acknowledged the loss of Vuhledar, saying moving troops out and preserving lives was the critical issue.
Ukraine’s military says it hit fuel storage facility in Russia’s Voronezh region
The Ukrainian military has said it hit a fuel storage facility in Russia’s Voronezh region during an overnight attack.
“Russian air defence systems were observed operating in the area. It was confirmed that at least one of the vertical tanks was hit,” according to the statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian offensive to peak in ‘months, if not weeks’
Vladimir Putin’s offensive in eastern Ukraine is likely to culminate in the coming months, a US-based think-tank has assessed.
“Russian forces do not have the available manpower and materiel to continue intensified offensive efforts indefinitely, however, and current Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine will likely culminate in the coming months, if not weeks, as Ukrainian officials and ISW have previously assessed,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment.
Ukrainian forces, it said, also face serious operational challenges and constraints, which are providing Russian forces with opportunities to pursue tactically significant gains.
But the current Russian offensive, which was started in autumn last year, has not yielded operationally significant gains for Russian forces and only offered gradual tactical gains in specific sectors of the front, the ISW said.
Ukraine’s “effective defence in depth along the frontline” has caused Russia significant losses and prevent Mr Putin’s troops from making more rapid gains on the battlefield, it said.
Russia attacks Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with 19 drones overnight
Russia attacked Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with 19 drones overnight, the country’s air force said.
Air defences shot down nine drones with seven more likely impacted by electronic jamming, the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram, without saying what happened to the remaining three.
Kursk nuclear power plant ‘safe’ after claims of Ukrainian attack nearby
Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant is operating as usual and radiation levels remain within normal limits, the plant’s operator, Rosenergoatom, said after unconfirmed Russian media reports of an attempted Ukrainian attack.
Several Russian Telegram channels claimed there had been a Ukrainian attack in the vicinity of the plant, which they said had been thwarted by air defences but had resulted in a fire several miles from the facility.
Ukrainian forces entered Kursk in a cross-border incursion on 6 August and have bedded in, still controlling scores of settlements despite a Russian counterattack.
Russian defence ministry confirms capture of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine
Russia’s Defence Ministry has confirmed reports that its forces had taken control of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, crediting what it called decisive action taken by units in its “East” military grouping.
The town, which Russia calls Ugledar, had resisted Russian assaults for more than two years.
Russian fuel depot on fire in Perm region
A fuel depot was on fire in Russia’s Perm region this morning, Russia’s emergencies ministry said on Telegram.
The ministry said the fire had engulfed fuel tanks, but no one has been hurt. The cause of the fire in the region located near the Ural mountains was unclear.
Russian officials never disclose the full extent of the damage suffered in strikes and explosions.
In pictures: New Nato chief, Zelensky meet in Kyiv
Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new head of Nato Mark Rutte who affirmed a commitment that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato.”
“Ukraine is closer to Nato than ever before, and it will continue along this path until it secures Nato membership,” Mr Rutte said.
Full report: Vladimir Putin wants to wipe us off the map, Ukraine’s top tennis player warns
New Nato chief makes Ukraine support top priority, hits out at China
The new head of Nato Mark Rutte vowed to help shore up Western support for war-ravaged Ukraine as he took charge yesterday.
The former Dutch prime minister expressed confidence that he can work with whoever is elected president of the United States, the alliance’s most powerful member, in November.
“There can be no lasting security in Europe without a strong, independent Ukraine,” Mr Rutte said in his first speech on taking office.
He also affirmed a commitment made by the organisation’s leaders in 2008 that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato.” He added: “The cost of supporting Ukraine is far, far lower than the cost we would face if we allow Putin to get his way.”
Mr Rutte singled out China, and particularly Beijing’s support for Putin. “China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war in Ukraine. China cannot continue to fuel the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War without this impacting its interests and reputation,” he said.
Russia intercepts drone near Kursk with no damage to nuclear plant, governor says
Russian forces intercepted a Ukrainian drone on Thursday near the Russian town of Kurchatov but there was no damage to the nearby Kursk nuclear power plant, the regional governor said.
Governor Alexei Smirnov said debris from the drone caused explosions in a building unrelated to the plant.
Several Russian Telegram channels earlier reported the alleged Ukrainian attack, which they said had been thwarted by air defences but had resulted in a fire several miles from the nuclear plant.
The plant’s operator, Rosenergoatom, said the facility was operating as usual and radiation levels remained within normal limits.
Source: independent.co.uk
