Closing summary
Nato member Romania said it has begun building air raid shelters for residents near the Ukraine border, after drone fragments were found there last week.
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of major industrialised countries condemned the staging of what they called “sham elections” by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Polish government reportedly agreed to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports unilaterally, even if the current EU restrictions expire on 15 September.
The Swedish government is considering donating Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine to help repel Russian forces, Swedish public radio (SR) reported on Tuesday.
Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine was only likely to start peace talks when it ran out of resources and would use any potential cessation of hostilities to rearm again with western help. Speaking at an economic forum in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok, he said Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had so far failed and that the Ukrainian army had sustained heavy losses.
Putin appeared to rule out any further conscritpion or mobilisation to help the war effort, claiming that 1,000-1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military every day.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived to Russia by armoured train to meet Putin, Pyongyang said, with face-to-face talks potentially focused on weapon sales. Experts suggest Putin is seeking artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea, while Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation. The meeting between the two leaders could be on Wednesday.
Ukraine has recaptured several Black Sea oil and gas rigs that were seized by Russia in 2015, the country’s military intelligence service said earlier.
Updated
Romania builds air raid shelters for residents near Ukraine border
Nato member Romania said it has begun building air raid shelters for residents near the Ukraine border, after drone fragments were found there last week.
Romanian soldiers on Saturday found fragments of a drone “similar to those used by the Russian army” in the Plauru area across the border from Ukraine, AFP reports.
Bucharest has already increased measures to strengthen monitoring and airspace security after repeated Russian attacks close to its border.
Approximately 50 Romanian soldiers began building two shelters on Tuesday, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The concrete shelters are aimed at “protecting the residents” of Plauru and will be handed over to local authorities once completed, it added.
The move follows a decision by the Romanian National Committee for Emergency Situations to adopt “protection measures on the national territory in the immediate vicinity of the conflict zone in Ukraine”.
Funding defence companies should count as ethical investment because military spending “helps prevent war”, the UK’s defence secretary has said.
Defence companies have long been excluded from so-called “environmental, social and governance” (ESG) ratings, limiting their access to investors who wish to spend their money sustainably.
In a written ministerial statement on Tuesday, Grant Shapps said the exclusion of the defence industry from ESG ratings was an “error”.
He said:
Defence companies are being excluded from access to debt and equity capital, citing environmental, social and governance grounds.
The defence secretary added that this “threatens an important part of the economy” and “fails to recognise that the UK’s defence industry is essential to protecting our way of life”.
Defence companies have previously suggested ESG requirements have reduced interest from investors, although BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn said earlier this year that this had become less of an issue since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
BAE’s share price has risen about 75% since the invasion, PA Media reports.
G7 condemns 'sham elections' held by Russia on Ukrainian territory
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of major industrialised countries condemned the staging of what they called “sham elections” by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories.
“We … unequivocally condemn the staging of sham ‘elections’ held by Russia on sovereign Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts and Crimea,” the G7 statement said in a statement, published by the UK’s Foreign Office, on Tuesday.
“These sham “elections” are a further violation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and of the UN Charter.
“Russia has no legitimate basis for any such actions on the territory of Ukraine. The sham “elections” are a propaganda exercise aimed at legitimising Russia’s illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.”
The overwhelming vote across Russia and in the annexed regions for the dominance of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has delivered on the Kremlin’s long-repeated domestic message that he is by far the strongest guarantor of stability.
But in the regions voting, electoral competition was limited, as strong candidates, including some from Russia’s main opposition Communist party, were blocked from running by authorities, Reuters reports.
Updated
Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will be in China from Wednesday to Friday this week as part of a diplomatic push to facilitate peace in Ukraine, the Vatican said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Vatican said:
The visit represents a further stage in the mission desired by the pope to support humanitarian initiatives and the search for paths that can lead to a just peace.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Zuppi was likely to meet “top institutional leaders” in Beijing, including Chinese premier Li Qiang. The Vatican statement did not give details about his agenda.
Zuppi has said the initial focus of his mission is to help the repatriation of children that Ukraine says have been deported to Russia or Russian-held territories, rather than a full-scale mediation effort, Reuters reports.
Poland agrees to extend ban on Ukrainian grain imports
The Polish government has agreed to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports unilaterally, even if the current EU restrictions expire on 15 September, AFP reports.
“Regardless of the (European) commission’s further decision, we will not open the border to Ukrainian grain after that date,” the government said in a statement.
The statement said the government was still looking to extend the ban at the EU level but would do so in any case.
“If Brussels does not keep the embargo, we will introduce these measures ourselves … The interests of the Polish countryside are most important to us,” it said.
The war in Ukraine and the problems with Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea have resulted in the EU becoming a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.
In June, the EU agreed to restrict imports of grain from Ukraine to five member states seeking to protect their farmers who blamed those imports for the slump in prices on local markets.
The five member states are Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – they have asked for the restrictions, which expire on Friday, to be extended.
Updated
Denmark will donate a package worth 5.8bn Danish crowns (an estimated $833m) to Ukraine, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, tank ammunition and anti-aircraft guns, the ministry of defence said.
The full amount is to be distributed over three rounds – 4.3bn this year, 1.4bn in 2024 and 52 million in 2025, the ministry said.
Foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said:
After more than a year and a half of war, we have almost exhausted our defence stocks. Therefore, we are now looking into more targeted joint procurement and international cooperation, tailored to Ukraine’s needs here and now.
This is the twelfth and largest donation package Denmark has sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the ministry added.
Updated
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would encourage its partners to deliver available air defence systems to Ukraine for this winter.
Her comments were made during an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper published on Tuesday.
“We need to stretch a winter air defence shield over Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” Baerbock said after her visit to Kyiv on Monday, according to Reuters.
Citing Vitaliy Barabash, a military official in the region, Suspilne is reporting that yesterday Avdiivka was struck by Russian cluster munitions. It writes:
On 11 September, the Russian military shelled Avdiivka with cluster munitions, hitting a five-story building. The fire spread from the second floor and rose higher. The shelling was in the central part of the city. There were no civilians there, so there were no casualties.
Earlier today Vladimir Putin criticised Ukraine for the deployment of cluster munitions and depleted uranium armaments during the war.
Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, has this report on Vladimir Putin’s earlier comments today:
President Putin has described the recent indictments of Donald Trump as “political persecution” as the Russian leader waded back into a US presidential campaign for the third consecutive election cycle.
“Everything happening to Trump is political persecution of a political rival. That’s what it is. And this is happening before the eyes of the United States public and entire world,” Putin said during a question-and-answer session.
“As for the persecution of Trump, I believe that everything happening at the moment is good. Because it demonstrates the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.”
Putin said Trump’s offers to negotiate with Russia over its war in Ukraine had “pleased him” but said he thought that US policy toward Russia would not change, regardless of whether Trump became president in 2024.
“Even though they accused him of having a special relationship with Russia, which is complete nonsense, he imposed sanctions on Russia more than anyone else while he was president,” Putin said. “Therefore, it is difficult to say what to expect from the future president, no matter who the president is, but it is unlikely that anything will change radically.”
You can read more of Andrew Roth’s report here: Legal action against Trump shows ‘rottenness’ of US politics, says Putin
Updated
Here is our video report on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to Russia, including the moment earlier today when Vladimir Putin was rather coy about what they might discuss.
A Russian state television correspondent has published a video clip of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, disembarking from his train in Russia and being greeted by Russian officials, Reuters reports.
Separately, Russia’s natural resources minister said he had met Kim, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
The North Korean leader is expected to have talks during his visit with Vladimir Putin, who is now visiting Russia’s far east region.
Britain’s BAE Systems has won a further £130m order from the government for munitions, Reuters reports.
Britain had already signed a £280m munitions contract with BAE, Britain’s biggest defence company, in July, before it exercised an option to increase its supply on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Defence & Security Equipment International arms fair in London, Steve Cardew, BAE’s business development director for munitions, said: “The conflict in Ukraine has forced a global rethink around munition priorities.”
Britain is a key defence supplier for Ukraine and in May became the first country to start supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles.
Updated
A Russian passenger Airbus A320 flying from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to the Siberian city of Omsk made an emergency landing in a field on Tuesday, officials said.
AFP reports:
A total of 170 people including 23 children were on board, the domestic carrier Ural Airlines said.
Russia’s aviation sector has been hard hit by western sanctions over Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and struggling to get new parts to repair planes.
Authorities released footage of the plane in a field next to a forest in the Novosibirsk region, saying there were no casualties.
Updated
Sweden to consider sending fighter jets to Ukraine - reports
The Swedish government is considering donating Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine to help repel Russian forces, Swedish public radio (SR) reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
The government wants to know, among other things, how a handover would affect Sweden’s defence capabilities and how quickly Sweden could get new Gripen fighters, SR reported.
The government may formally ask the armed forces as early as Thursday to officially consider the issue, according to the report.
The Netherlands and Denmark have led a push to supply Ukraine with US-made F-16 fighter jets to help counter Russia’s air superiority in the war.
According to the SR report, Ukraine hopes to receive one division of Gripen jets, made by Sweden’s Saab, or between 16 and 18 planes.
In June, the Swedish government said it would give Ukrainian pilots the opportunity to test its Saab-made Gripen fighter jet, but it has also said it needed all its planes to defend Swedish territory.
Sweden has been aiding Ukraine’s war efforts by supplying weapons such as tanks, anti-aircraft systems and armoured Type 90 infantry fighting vehicles.
Updated
Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that western efforts to “restrain” China’s ascent as a global power were doomed to fail as he hailed Moscow’s “amazing” relations with Beijing.
The Russian president said cooperation between Russia and China in the areas of security and defence were also booming, Reuters reports.
Speaking at an economic forum in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok, Putin said:
Today the west is trying to restrain the development of China because it sees that China, under the leadership of our friend (president Xi Jinping) … is developing by leaps and bounds. This leaves them shocked.
They are doing everything to slow down the development of China but this will not be possible, they are too late. That’s it, the train has left.
Moscow has focused increasingly on boosting trade, energy, military and other ties with China after its decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
China has declined to blame Moscow for the war and has condemned sweeping western sanctions imposed on Russia.
Updated
Lim Soo-suk, South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said Seoul was maintaining communication with Moscow while closely monitoring Kim Jong-un’s visit, the Associated Press reports.
Lim said during a briefing:
No UN member state should violate security council sanctions against North Korea by engaging in an illegal trade of arms, and must certainly not engage in military cooperation with North Korea that undermines the peace and stability of the international community.
Updated
Vladimir Putin has said he will only comment on whether he will run for re-election in 2024 after the ballot is officially announced later this year, AFP reports.
Putin has led Russia since the turn of the century, winning four presidential elections and briefly serving as prime minister, in a system where political opposition has become virtually nonexistent.
“According to the law, parliament must make a decision at the end of the year,” Putin told the audience at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port of Vladivostok.
“When the elections are announced, when the date is set, then we will talk about it,” he added.
Presidential elections in Russia are officially set by parliament and held every six years, after the term limit was lengthened from four years previously.
They may enter a second round if no candidate is able to secure more than 50% of the vote, but in practice this has never happened, with Putin winning by large margins.
Updated
China is willing to share development opportunities and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, China’s vice premier, Zhang Guoqing, was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
China and Russia have maintained a high level of strategic partnership, with cooperation in various fields gaining momentum, Zhang said when meeting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said in July that Putin planned to visit China in October at the time of its third “Belt and Road” forum.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has commented on what could be discussed in the talks expected to be held between Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un (see earlier post at 06.32).
He said:
It will be a fully fledged visit. There will be negotiations between two delegations, and after that, if necessary, the leaders will continue their communication in a one-on-one format.
Discussions could also include humanitarian aid to North Korea and the UN security council resolutions imposed against Pyongyang, Russian officials said, according to Reuters.
US officials, who first said the visit was imminent, said arms talks between Russia and North Korea were actively advancing and the two leaders were likely to discuss providing Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine.
Putin is keen to secure North Korean artillery shells and antitank missiles, while Kim is hoping the Kremlin will reciprocate with technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, officials have told the New York Times.
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until 7pm (UK time). Please do feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
Summary of the day so far …
Vladimir Putin has declared that Ukraine’s counter-offensive has delivered no results. The Russian president gave a lengthy speech and participated in a Q&A session at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.
Putin appeared to rule out any further conscritpion or mobilisation to help the war effort, claiming that 1,000-1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military every day. He also said that over the past six or seven months, 270,000 people have signed voluntary contracts. That is a figure slightly lower than the 280,000 that former president Dmitry Medvedev stated earlier this month.
The Russian leader accused Ukraine and the west of a crime in deploying cluster munitions and utilising depleted uranium in armaments as it seeks to repel the invasion of Ukraine which Putin ordered in February of last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived to Russia by armoured train to meet Putin, Pyongyang said, with face-to-face talks potentially focused on weapon sales. Experts suggest Putin is seeking artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea, while Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation.
A US spokesman said the meeting indicated Putin was desperate over the Ukraine conflict and renewed warnings that any arms deal could trigger US sanctions. “Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterise it as him begging for assistance,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday he had vetoed a parliamentary bill that sought to retain closed asset declarations for officials. Parliament voted last Tuesday to restore a declaration rule that was suspended after Russia’s 2022 invasion as a security precaution but, in an important loophole, to keep the disclosures closed to the public for another year.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the Black Sea grain deal was on hold, and that there had been no progress in restarting it. Reuters cited Tass for the report.
Moscow quit the deal in July, claiming the west was failing to enable the shipment of Russia’s own grain and fertiliser exports.
Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that 1,000-1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military every day.
Putin was responding to a question about whether Russia needed to introduce a new compulsory mobilisation to boost its military effort in Ukraine, something the Kremlin has repeatedly said is not necessary.
Over the past six or seven months, 270,000 people have signed voluntary contracts, Putin said. Reuters notes that is a figure slightly lower than the 280,000 that former president Dmitry Medvedev stated earlier this month.
Yesterday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence briefing that Russia would probably seek to avoid a forced mobilisation before next year’s presidential elections, due to be held in March.
Here is a little bit more, via AP, on what Vladimir Putin had to say on Tuesday morning about the legal situation of Donald Trump. The former US president is facing multiple trails in the US over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to subvert the electoral process. He was also vowed to lock up his political enemies if he is president again.
Putin commented:
As for the persecution of Trump, for us, in the current environment, it’s good because it shows the rottenness of the American system. It is a politically motivated persecution of one’s competitor.
And this shows who we are fighting … as they said in Soviet times: ‘the bestial face of American capitalism.’
Current authorities have directed American society in an anti-Russian spirit. They’ve done it and now somehow turning this ship in the other direction will be very difficult.
Putin claims Ukrainian counteroffensive 'has not made progress'
Vladimir Putin has directly addressed the war in Ukraine during the Q&A session at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. He has said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has not made any progress. He accused British secret services of being involved in training Ukrainian saboteurs to launch attacks on Russian infrastructure. He said the deployment of cluster munitions and armaments that utilise depleted uranium by Ukrainian forces is a crime. He said that he believed Ukraine would eventually seek peace talks when it was close to running out of resources.
Updated
There are unconfirmed reports and video clips circulating on social media that appear to show an explosion has occurred near the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
More details soon …
Updated
As part of the Q&A session at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin was asked specifically about the legal woes of former US president Donald Trump.
He said the prosecution of Trump was good news for Russia, and illustrated that the US system was corrupt.
Putin has been asked what he expects from the 2024 US election. He said that whoever wins he does not expect any significant change in foreign policy towards Russia from the US, which he says views Russia as an enemy despite there being many people there who would prefer to have decent businesslike relations.
At the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin has again opted not to confirm that he will run again for Russian president next year. Elections are expected in March 2024.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is continuing to speak at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. He is currently participating in a Q&A session.
During the course of it he has spoken about Arkady Volozh, the co-founder of Russian technology company Yandex who has been critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin said the Israel-based businessman had the right to express his position – which is somewhat in contrast to the judicial process in Russia where opposition to the war has been punished.
In other comments likely to make headlines, Putin was asked specifically in relation to the failed Luna-25 moon mission whether more private businesses should be involved in Russia’s space programme, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX business cited as a precedent. Putin went on to describe Musk as talented and distinguished.
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday he had vetoed a parliamentary bill that sought to retain closed asset declarations for officials.
Parliament voted last Tuesday to restore a declaration rule that was suspended after Russia’s 2022 invasion as a security precaution but, in an important loophole, to keep the disclosures closed to the public for another year.
“Declarations should be open. Immediately. Not in a year,” Reuters reports Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine has applied to become a member of the European Union, and has embarked on an anti-corruption drive as part of an attempt to speed up the process.
Updated
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has issued its morning news bulletin on Telegram. It notes that in the past 24 hours one civilian has been killed in Donetsk region, and six have been injured in Kherson region as a result of the war.
Updated
Here is a still image of Vladimir Putin addressing the economic forum in the far east of Russia, where he has delivered a speech almost exclusively devoted to domestic concerns.
So far Vladimir Putin’s speech in Vladivostok at the eastern economic forum has almost exclusively focused on statistics and boasts of strategic investment in the region.
Reuters reports that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has officially confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia, reiterating earlier reports. It cited the Interfax news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently addressing an economic forum in the far east of the country. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Russia has “recalibrated” its missile defences around Moscow as it faces near daily drone attacks, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.
As well as being aimed at improving its defences, the changes are likely also meant as a “high-profile reassurance” to the public, the MoD said.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 12 September 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 12, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/Mv8cRZoCV8
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Bx8Qaiz3tN
According to a Reuters source, Kim Jong-un briefly got off his train at the Russian border station of Khasan to meet local officials.
#NorthKorea Kim Jong-Un's train is already in traveling inside #Russia as per RIA's Kremlin Pool pic.twitter.com/RFub3MX0f6
— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) September 12, 2023
Kyiv carried out a drone strike on the city of Enerhodar near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Monday, Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said on Tuesday, Reuters has reported citing Russia’s Ria news agency.
Likhachev said six drones were launched at the city, and all were destroyed.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Reuters has put together this list of officials who may be accompanying Kim Jong-un on his journey to Russia. It’s a mix of defence and economic officials and diplomats, which suggest Kim may be looking to discuss economic cooperation and food aid in return for weapons.
Defence leaders
Ri Pyong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party’s powerful Central Military Commission and marshal of the army, the country’s top military rank, was seen waving alongside Kim aboard the train. Overseeing North Korea’s defence industry including its nuclear and missile programmes, Ri travelled to Russia with Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
Among other delegates were Marshal Pak Jong Chon, new head of the party’s military political leadership; Pak Thae Song, a party secretary and chairman of a national space science and technology committee involved in a spy satellite program; and Jo Chun Ryong, director of the Munitions Industry Department, who assisted Kim during his recent visits to a munitions factory and missile plant.
Defence minister Kang Sun Nam is also likely to have gone on the trip to Russia, according to Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center, though his face was not clearly identified in the photos.
Power players
Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui also shook hands with other officials in a receiving line at the train station. A longtime nuclear negotiator and seasoned diplomat, Choe was instrumental during Kim’s summits with former US president Donald Trump, and promoted to the current position last year after a brief demotion following their failed 2019 summit in Vietnam.
Kim’s powerful sister and a senior party official, Kim Yo Jong, was seen standing beside the train, though it was unclear whether she boarded.
Economic officials
These included O Su Yong, a party secretary and director of the economy department; Pak Hun, vice premier of the cabinet responsible for construction; and Han Kwang Sang, chief of the party’s light industry department.
Updated
Former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl, who famously danced with Vladimir Putin at her wedding, will move to St Petersburg to work at an academic centre there which she heads, the Russian Tass state news agency has reported.
Kneissl heads the Gorki centre – the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues at St Petersburg University, Tass reported.
“I co-founded the Gorki center and manage it,” Tass quoted Kneissl as saying. “Since there is a lot of work there and it requires a lot of attention, I cannot do this in passing, I decided to move to St. Petersburg for this work.”
In a previous report last month, Tass said the ex-minister was holidaying in the village of Petrushovo in the Ryazan region. It also quoted her as saying in June that she was “seriously considering moving to Russia.”
Updated
Ukraine recaptures strategic oil rigs near Crimea
Ukraine has recaptured several Black Sea oil and gas rigs that were seized by Russia in 2015, the country’s military intelligence service (GUR) has said.
In a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Monday, the GUR said that Kyiv’s forces had retaken the drilling platforms known as the “Boyko Towers” near the occupied Crimean peninsula in a “unique operation” and that their capture was of “strategic importance”.
“Russia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this makes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea,” it said.
It was not possible to verify the report.
During the operation, GUR said, there was a clash between Ukrainian special forces on boats and a Russian fighter jet, which was damaged and forced to retreat.
GUR also captured other “valuable trophies” such as helicopter munitions and a radar system that can track the movement of ships in the Black Sea, it said.
Read the full report:
Photos have been coming through on the wires of a train that resembles Kim Jong-un’s – green with yellow trimmings – near Khasan, on the border between Russia, North Korea and China. Khasan is about 130km south of Vladivostok, where Kim is expected to meet Vladimir Putin.
Updated
If you’ve ever wondered what it was like on board Kim Jong-un’s armoured train, the Guardian’s Justin McCurry has some answers and they involve pink leather chairs and singers known as “lady conductors”. Here’s an extract:
Kim does not reportedly share the fear of flying that forced his father, Kim Jong-il, to travel long distances exclusively by rail – he flew to his 2018 summit in Singapore with Donald Trump and to a meeting with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, the same year in the Chinese city of Dalian.
But the armoured train, which includes bedrooms and a meeting room fitted out with wall-mounted lighting, dark wood panelling and reddish-pink leather armchairs, appears to be Kim’s preferred mode of transport. It took him 4,500 km through China for his second summit with Trump, in Hanoi in 2019 – a journey that lasted two-and-a-half days.
Only a select few have seen the inside, including a Russian official, Konstantin Pulikovsky, who in his book Orient Express recounted fine-dining menus during a trip across Russia’s Far East with Kim Jong-il.
Passengers could choose from an eclectic range of dishes, including those from Korea and Japan, and a wine list that included Bordeaux and Burgundy, Pulikovsky wrote, adding that entertainment was provided by young female singers referred to as “lady conductors”.
Updated
Kim Jong-Un arrives in Russia for talks on expected arms deal with Putin
Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia for a rare summit with president Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine.
Kim’s armoured train arrived at Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s Far East from North Korea, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed Russian official source.
The meeting is expected to be held on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived.
Kim’s trip to Russia and meeting with Putin will be a full-scale visit to strengthen ties, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a video posted online.
The meeting comes amid concerns in the west that Pyongyang plans to provide weapons to Moscow to replace stocks that have been heavily depleted during 18 months of fighting in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Peskov dismissed US warnings on any arms deal, with Russian news agencies quoting him as saying: “As you know, while implementing our relations with our neighbours, including North Korea, the interests of our two countries are important to us, and not warnings from Washington.
“It is the interests of our two countries that we will focus on.”
Read our full report:
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to discuss an arms deal with president Vladimir Putin after arriving in the far east of Russia on his armoured train. The US has warned that any such agreement would violate UN Security Council resolutions and that it would respond with fresh sanctions.
It also said the meeting, during a rare trip abroad for Kim, indicated that Putin was desperate over the Ukraine conflict.
“Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterise it as him begging for assistance,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
In other developments:
The Ukrainian military said it had recaptured strategic Black Sea gas and oil drilling platforms, the so-called Boyko Towers, that were seized by Russia in 2015. “Russia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this makes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea,” the Main Intelligence Directorate said.
Ukraine said its troops had regained more territory on the eastern and southern fronts in the past week of its counteroffensive. Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said in televised comments that Ukraine had retaken nearly 2 square km (0.77 square mile) of land around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russia in May. She later added on the Telegram messaging app that the Ukrainian army had in the past week also recaptured 4.8 square km in the southern Tavria sector.
The Biden administration is close to approving the shipment of longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, Reuters reported citing four US officials.
The “decision-making process in Germany is moving forward” regarding the supply of Taurus missiles to Kyiv, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after a meeting with the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, had urged Berlin to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Baerbock said Ukraine’s place was in the EU during her unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday morning. Ukraine can “rely on us and on our understanding of EU enlargement as a necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia’s war,” Baerbock said upon arrival. Ukraine already has candidate status, said Baerbock. “And now we are preparing to take a decision on opening EU accession talks.”
Russia’s Central Election Commission said that the country’s ruling party had won the most votes in elections held in occupied Ukrainian regions, as Kyiv and the west denounced the ballots as a sham. The votes in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia and on the Crimean peninsula were held as Russian authorities attempt to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.
Russia’s military targeted a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with “multiple missiles” last month but they were successfully intercepted by Ukrainian forces, Britain said citing intelligence. A vessel in Russia’s Black Sea fleet fired the missiles, which included two Kalibr cruise missiles, towards the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa on 24 August, according to the UK government.
