Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russian troops launch offensive to retake Kursk as Zelensky says Kyiv committed to peace

Russia’s air defence items destroyed 88 Ukrainian drones in a single day with no accidents or harm reported, Russian authorities stated on Sunday.

The Russian defence ministry stated that 52 of the drones had been destroyed over the border Belgorod area, whereas 13 had been over the Lipetsk area and 9 had been over the Rostov area, each in Russia’s southwest.

The remainder of the Ukrainian drones had been downed over Russia’s Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan and Kursk areas.

Governors of the Lipetsk and Ryazan areas stated in a single day that their areas had been underneath air raid alerts however they didn’t report any harm or accidents.

Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia stated on Telegram that the airports of Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan had been closed for visitors for a number of hours in a single day to make sure air security.

Unofficial Russian information Telegram channels reported that the Ukrainian assault on Ryazan and Lipetsk focused native oil refineries.

Ukrainian Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, who heads the Middle for Countering Disinformation, a part of the Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, stated, with out offering proof or saying instantly that Ukrainian drones had been concerned, that the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant in Lipetsk was underneath assault.

The stories on what was focused within the assaults couldn’t be independently verified.

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 73 of 119 drones launched by Russia in an in a single day assault on Sunday, the air power stated.

It stated that 37 drones had been “misplaced”, in reference to the navy’s use of digital warfare to redirect them. The navy stated harm was recorded in six Ukrainian areas however supplied no fast particulars.

Rishi Sunak warned that Kyiv could possibly be left with out help and compensation if Russian property should not seized.

The previous prime minister reiterated his requires ministers to grab frozen state property to assist Ukraine within the conflict and put extra stress on Russia.

Writing within the Sunday Occasions, Mr Sunak stated that Moscow “will undoubtedly owe Ukraine reparations for the horrific harm it has inflicted on the nation”.

He stated that “Ukraine wants monetary help immediately because it continues to defend itself in opposition to this brutal assault”, and warned “there’s a hazard that if these property should not seized now, Ukraine might by no means get the help it wants and the compensation it deserves.”

“Now’s a time for motion,” Mr Sunak added.

“We should transfer to grab Russian state property and switch them to Ukraine so it will probably defend itself at its second of most want.”

Defence secretary John Healey is predicted to affix talks with counterparts subsequent week, because the UK and France lead efforts to get nations to decide to a “coalition of the keen” to again a peace deal in Ukraine.

The UK’s diplomatic push on securing a peace deal continued on Saturday, as Keir Starmer welcomed a dedication from Australia to “think about contributing” after a name together with his counterpart Anthony Albanese.

A readout of the dialog from a Downing Avenue spokesperson stated: “He welcomed prime minister Albanese’s dedication to think about contributing to a coalition of the keen for Ukraine and appeared ahead to the chiefs of defence assembly in Paris on Tuesday.”

Officers from about 20 largely European and Commonwealth nations took half within the talks concerning the peacekeeping coalition earlier this week.

Not all of the nations within the plan would essentially present troops to a peacekeeping power however they might probably contribute in different methods.

Russian troops have launched a large-scale offensive to retake swaths of the western Kursk area from Ukrainian forces, conflict bloggers and a senior Russian commander stated.

Ukrainian troops stormed into Russia’s Kursk area final summer time, taking chunks of territory in an surprising lightning assault greater than two years after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered tens of hundreds of troops into Ukraine.

“In all instructions of the Kursk part of the entrance, all items have launched a large-scale offensive,” Main Common Apti Alaudinov, commander of a Chechen unit preventing for Russia in Kursk, stated on Telegram. “The enemy is abandoning its positions.”

Ukraine’s navy didn’t instantly remark.

Open supply maps confirmed this week that Ukraine’s positions in Kursk have deteriorated sharply and its troops are almost surrounded by Russian forces.

The precarious state of affairs for Ukraine follows a pause in US navy assist and intelligence sharing with Kyiv as US President Donald Trump places stress on Kyiv to conform to a ceasefire with Moscow.

Professional-Russian conflict blogger Two Majors stated on Saturday Russian troops had begun an assault on Sudzha, a city about six miles (9.5km) from the border with Ukraine, and that the state of affairs for Ukrainian troops there was “near important”.

Main Common Alaudinov stated Russian airborne brigades, motorised rifle regiments and the Akhmat particular forces had been participating in “fierce battles” and “our guys are shifting ahead very nicely”.

Russian troops recaptured three villages in Kursk – Viktorovka, Nikolaevka and Staraya Sorochina – from Ukraine on Saturday, the defence ministry stated. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm its report.

At the least 25 folks have been killed in Ukraine following a wave of Russian strikes, officers stated, with the deadliest assault hitting the Donetsk area city of Dobropillya late on Friday. Two ballistic missiles struck residential buildings and a buying centre, killing a minimum of 11 folks.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated Russia then launched one other strike focusing on emergency responders. “Such strikes present that Russia’s targets are unchanged,” he wrote on Telegram.

Elsewhere in Donetsk, 9 extra folks had been killed and 13 injured between Friday and Saturday, in keeping with native officers. Within the Kharkiv area, drones hit an organization in Bohodukhiv, killing three and injuring seven, whereas one other assault in Odesa broken vitality infrastructure. Officers stated it was the seventh assault on the area’s vitality system in three weeks.

David Lammy has condemned the newest Russian strikes on Ukraine as “abhorrent”, as Moscow continued its barrage.

The international secretary stated the “barbaric aggression solely strengthens our resolve” to help Kyiv, after additional strikes over the weekend.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated yesterday additional Russian strikes show “they aren’t desirous about how one can finish the conflict” and that he’s “grateful to all of the leaders, diplomats from associate nations, and civil society figures who help Ukraine”.

In a submit on X, Mr Lammy stated: “This barbaric aggression solely strengthens our resolve to face with Ukraine.”

Mr Zelensky had earlier stated that 11 folks had died in a strike within the metropolis of Dobropillya, and that there had been additional assaults in Donetsk, Kharkiv and the southern areas.

He added: “Russia continues to show with its cruelty, day after day, that nothing has modified for them in Moscow – they aren’t desirous about how one can finish the conflict, however how one can destroy and seize extra whereas the world permits them to proceed. After all, we’re doing all the things we will to guard lives.”