A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has collided with a US military drone over the Black Sea, causing the drone to crash, according to the US military. The American MQ-9 Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets conducting a routine operation in international airspace when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.
The White House spokesperson John Kirby has called the intercept “unsafe and unprofessional”. Nato’s top military commander, Gen Christopher Cavoli, has informed allies about the incident over the Black Sea involving a Russian fighter jet and a US military drone, according to a Nato official. The US State Department said it was summoning Russia’s ambassador over the drone incident.
Russia’s defence ministry in a statement said that its fighters “did not use airborne weapons and did not come into contact” with the US drone. The ministry said that fighters from its air defence forces were raised into the air to identify the drone which the ministry said was heading “in direction of the state border of the Russian Federation.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his military chiefs have agreed to keep defending the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian leader’s office has said. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, said the defence of Bakhmut was of “paramount strategic importance”. “It is key to the stability of the defence of the entire front,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine are at odds over the length of the extension of the Black Sea grain deal, with Moscow seeking to extend for 60 days, and Ukraine insisting that 120 days is the minimum permitted extension. Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said the deal had been extended on the previous conditions for 60 days, however Ukraine argues that the July 2022 agreement clearly states that extensions are possible for a minimum of 120 days, and the original agreement should be amended if parties want a shorten terms.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted to his Telegram channel to confirm that one person has been killed and three people injured in the shelling of Kramatorsk in Donetsk region on Tuesday morning. He wrote that “six high-rise buildings were damaged”, and that “The evil state continues to fight against the civilian population. Every strike that takes an innocent life must result in a lawful and just sentence that punishes murder.”
Vladimir Putin addressed workers at an aviation factory, where he said the “survival of Russian statehood” was at stake in Ukraine. Repeating his argument that the west was determined to pull Russia apart, he added that the Russian economy had proved stronger than expected following western sanctions.
Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, reported that another civilian had been killed Tuesday morning as a result of Russian military action – a 55-year-old woman whose car was hit in Vovchansk.
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said his country could supply Ukraine with MIG fighter jets in the coming four to six weeks. Western countries that have provided Ukraine with weapons have so far declined to send fighter jets. Poland has said it would be willing to send war planes as part of a coalition of countries.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday Russia does not recognise the jurisdiction of the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague. Peskov was being asked about reports the ICC was expected to seek its first arrest warrants against Russian individuals in relation to the conflict in Ukraine shortly.
Nataliya Humenyuk, head of the joint coordination press centre of the southern defence forces of Ukraine, has claimed that over the past day, Ukrainian forces destroyed eight units of equipment and killed 14 Russian soldiers on the islands of the Dnieper River delta. Suspilne reports she said on television that the Russian army had tried to deploy observation points on them in order to see what the defence forces on the north bank of the river were preparing.
Ukraine’s defence ministry claims in its latest update that in the last 24 hours its forces have killed over 700 Russian troops. It also says that it has destroyed ten tanks, 15 armoured combat vehicles, 16 pieces of artillery and 11 drones. The claims have not been independently verified.
In its latest daily intelligence briefing, the UK’s Ministry of Defence asserts that “In recent weeks, Russian artillery ammunition shortages have likely worsened to the extent that extremely punitive shell-rationing is in force on many parts of the front. This has almost certainly been a key reason why no Russian formation has recently been able to generate operationally significant offensive action.”
The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on Tuesday that the likelihood that Finland would join the Nato military alliance before Sweden had increased, though Swedish membership was only a matter of time.
Hungary’s ruling party lawmakers want to postpone next week’s parliament session, which means a further delay in its ratification of Finland and Sweden’s Nato admission, an opposition party lawmaker said on Tuesday.
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has backed an amendment that would punish those found guilty of discrediting “volunteer” groups fighting in Ukraine, in a move that would include fighters working for the private mercenary Wagner mercenary group. The amendment will need to be approved by the parliament’s upper house, before passing to Putin for final approval.
Lithuania’s parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to designate Russia’s Wagner mercenary group “a terrorist organisation”, accusing it of “systematic, serious crimes of aggression” in Ukraine.
Authorities in the Indonesian island Bali have asked the government to cancel a visa on arrival policy for Ukrainians and Russians, citing concerns that citizens of the two countries were violating local laws and regulations.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, is planning to visit Russia as soon as next week, according to sources speaking to the Reuters news agency. Xi also plans to speak with Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since the start of the war, according to the Wall Street Journal. China’s president is to speak virtually with his Ukrainian counterpart, probably after a visit to Moscow next week, the paper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The Italian government has said Russian mercenary group Wagner is behind a surge in migrant boats trying to cross the central Mediterranean, as part of Moscow’s strategy to retaliate against countries supporting Ukraine, Reuters reported. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to the claims, saying, “We have no idea what’s happening with the migrant crisis, we don’t concern ourselves with it.”
The international criminal court intends to open two war crimes cases tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will seek arrest warrants for several people. The cases are the first international charges to be brought forward since the start of the conflict, the newspaper reports.
Serbian economy minister Rade Basta called for sanctions to be imposed against Russia. Basta said Serbia, which has traditionally had a close relationship with Russia, had paid a “high price” for having delayed.
Partisan group Atesh claims to have killed the deputy head of the military administration of Nova Kakhovka just after midnight on Monday for collaborating with the Russian occupation. The group claims to have detonated a bomb as he approached his car outside a cafe on Pobedy Avenue and that no civilians were injured. The claims have not been verified.
