Summary
It is now approaching 9pm in Kyiv. Here is a summary of today’s main events:
A group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” have tried to breach Russia’s border in the Bryansk region, the regional governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Tuesday, Reuters reports. The attempt was thwarted by Russia’s defence ministry, security services and police, Bogomaz said in a Telegram post. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Russia would remain a “responsible supplier” of food and grain to African countries and could take Ukraine’s place as an international supplier of grain, in recorded remarks to a summit of the Brics countries in South Africa. He also said Putin also said the use of US dollars in trade between Brics nations was decreasing, as the countries move towards national currencies and away from dollars in an “irreversible process of de-dollarisation”.
The international court of justice will hear Russia’s objections to its jurisdiction in a genocide case brought by Ukraine in hearings starting in September, the body said on Tuesday. Ukraine filed a case with the ICJ shortly after Russia’s invasion began on 24 February 2022, which accused Moscow of falsely applying genocide law to justify the attack, Reuters reports.
Denmark has begun training eight Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16 fighter jets as part of its commitment to donate aircraft to the country, the Danish armed forces said on Tuesday. This comes after Denmark and the Netherlands pledged on Sunday to donate F-16s to Ukraine, according to Reuters. The eight pilots have arrived at the Danish military airbase in Skrydstrup along with 65 personnel who will be trained in maintaining and servicing the jets, the Danish armed forces said in a statement. Athens also offered further military and diplomatic support during Zelenskiy’s visit on Tuesday.
The leaders of 11 Balkan and eastern European countries signed a joint declaration backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity at a summit in Athens on Monday. Signed in the presence of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, they expressed their “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders” in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Poland’s president has said Russia is in the process of shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus. Andrzej Duda said the move would shift the security architecture of the region and the entire Nato military alliance, Associated Press reports. “I was telling President [Sousa] about the implementation of the declarations by Vladimir Putin that Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons will be moved to the territory of Belarus,” Duda said. “Indeed, this process is taking place, we are seeing that.”
A prominent Russian journalist said on Tuesday that Gen Sergei Surovikin, former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, had been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces. There was no official confirmation of the report by Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected former head of the now defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, but it was cited by some other Russian news outlets on social media, Reuters reports.
Ukraine said its troops had entered the strategically important south-eastern village of Robotyne, a potentially significant advance in its counteroffensive against Russia. Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Ukrainian soldiers were organising the evacuation of civilians, but were still coming under fire from Russian forces.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the commitment made by some European countries to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will help to minimise the country’s losses and de-escalate the conflict.
Brics leaders are meeting in South Africa for a three-day summit in Johannesburg. The Brics nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a state visit on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, met with leaders of Balkan nations and the head of the European Commission on Tuesday.
In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) makes reference to reports that a Russian bomber was destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike. The MoD tweeted that a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire medium-range bomber was highly likely to have been destroyed at Soltsy-2 airbase in the Novgorod region, 400 miles (650km) from Ukraine’s border, on Saturday. The Russian defence ministry said that an uncrewed aerial vehicle was responsible for the attack.
Russian officials said early on Tuesday that the military had brought down four Ukrainian drones near Moscow and over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, Reuters reported.
We will be back tomorrow with more live coverage. In the meantime, you can read reporting and analysis from Guardian journalists here.
Updated
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the international bloc is set to meet the needs of most of the world’s population on a video call addressing the Brics nations at the summit in South Africa.
We cooperate on the principles of equality, partnership support, respect for each other’s interests, and this is the essence of the future-oriented strategic course of our association, a course that meets the aspirations of the main part of the world community, the so-called global majority.
According to Reuters, the Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – represent more than 40% of the world’s population.
Putin also said the use of US dollars in trade between Brics nations was decreasing, as the countries move towards national currencies and away from dollars in an “irreversible process of de-dollarisation”.
In the video from the Brics summit in South Africa, he said:
The share of US dollar export and import operations within Brics is declining. Last year, it was only 28.7% and in fact, this summit is to discuss the detail of the entire range of issues related to the transition to national currencies in all areas of economic cooperation between our five nations.
The new Brics development bank, which has already become a credible alternative to existing western development institutions, has a great role to play in these efforts.
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Putin tells African nations Russia can take Ukraine's place as supplier of grain
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Russia would remain a “responsible supplier” of food and grain to African countries and could take Ukraine’s place as an international supplier of grain, in recorded remarks to a summit of the Brics countries in South Africa.
He said:
Russia has been deliberately obstructed in the supply of grain and fertilisers abroad and at the same time, were hypocritically blamed for the current crisis situation in the world market.
We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that in a year under the deal, a total of 32.8m tonnes of cargo has been exported from Ukraine, of which over 70% have reached high and upper middle income countries, including the European Union … only about 3% have gone to the least developed countries, less than 1m tonnes.
I have repeatedly said that our country has the capacity to replace Ukrainian grain both commercially and as free aid to needy country’s, especially since our harvest is again expected to be perfect this year.
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The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, also said the US does not see the Brics bloc of nations turning into a geopolitical rival to the US or anyone else.
He told a briefing:
This is a very diverse collection of countries … with differences of view on critical issues.
The US does not think the conflict in Ukraine is a stalemate, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a briefing on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
He said:
We have been clear all along that this battlefield is very dynamic … there is attacking and defending taking place on both sides at multiple points along a very extended frontline.
We are seeing it [Ukraine] continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.
A prominent Russian journalist said on Tuesday that Gen Sergei Surovikin, former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, had been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces.
There was no official confirmation of the report by Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected former head of the now defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, but it was cited by some other Russian news outlets on social media, Reuters reports.
Venediktov said on Telegram that Surovikin had been removed by official decree, without providing any further details.
The general has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny on 24 June by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, against Russia’s defence establishment.
The decision to uphold the 13-year sentence imposed on Maksym Butkevych, a Ukrainian human rights defender, after an appeal at Moscow court on Tuesday, is a grave miscarriage of justice, Amnesty International said.
Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for research, eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
A court in Moscow has upheld the decision made during a sham trial which was held in secret, against a defendant who had limited contact with the outside world, including his lawyer, and was apparently forced to incriminate himself on video for a crime which Maksym Butkevych simply could not have committed …
In contravention of international humanitarian law, Russia has consistently denied the ICRC unimpeded and repeated access to all prisoners of war, despite its own persistent demands and those of the UN and other stakeholders. It has wilfully deprived Ukrainian prisoners of war of the right to a fair and regular trial, which constitutes a war crime, and those responsible must be brought to account.
Russia must fully abide by international law governing occupation. It must end immediately its war or aggression against Ukraine. For all victims of all crimes under international law committed by its forces in Ukraine, Russia must provide full and adequate reparation.
Before the war in Ukraine, Butkevych led a Ukrainian NGO helping refugees find protection in Ukraine. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Butkevych volunteered for the Ukrainian Armed Forces before being put in charge of a platoon. His unit was later captured on the frontline by Russian forces, according to Amnesty International.
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We will hear from some of the leaders of the Brics bloc shortly, but in the meantime, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said the bloc is not meant to rival the US and the G7.
On a social media broadcast from Johannesburg, Lula said:
We do not want to be a counterpoint to the G7, G20 or the United States.
We just want to organise ourselves.
The bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will weigh expanding the group as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the west, according to Reuters.
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Poland's leader says Russia is moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus
Poland’s president has said Russia is in the process of shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus.
Andrzej Duda said the move would shift the security architecture of the region and the entire Nato military alliance, Associated Press reports.
Duda made his comments at a joint news conference alongside the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“I was telling President [Sousa] about the implementation of the declarations by Vladimir Putin that Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons will be moved to the territory of Belarus,” Duda said. “Indeed, this process is taking place, we are seeing that.”
Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, said last month that Moscow had already moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus after announcing the plan in March.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has denounced Moscow’s rhetoric as “dangerous and reckless”, but said in July that the alliance hadn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range.
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The leaders of 11 Balkan and eastern European countries signed a joint declaration backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity at a summit in Athens on Monday.
Signed in the presence of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, they expressed their “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders” in the face of Russia’s aggression.
The document was signed by the leaders of Serbia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Croatia, as well as Greece, which was hosting the event.
The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, also attended the summit, AFP reports.
The leaders also expressed their “support and appreciation for the earnest efforts by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in setting out the principles for peace in line with the UN charter”.
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Denmark has begun training eight Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16 fighter jets as part of its commitment to donate aircraft to the country, the Danish armed forces said on Tuesday.
This comes after Denmark and the Netherlands pledged on Sunday to donate F-16s to Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The eight pilots have arrived at the Danish military airbase in Skrydstrup along with 65 personnel who will be trained in maintaining and servicing the jets, the Danish armed forces said in a statement.
Denmark will supply Ukraine with 19 F-16 jets and will deliver the first six jets at the end of the year.
The Netherlands, which has 42 F-16s, has yet to decide how many jets it will supply.
Denmark has 43 F-16s, but for safety reasons will not disclose how many of them are active, the Danish statement added.
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The international court of justice will hear Russia’s objections to its jurisdiction in a genocide case brought by Ukraine in hearings starting in September, the body said on Tuesday.
Ukraine filed a case with the ICJ shortly after Russia’s invasion began on 24 February 2022, which accused Moscow of falsely applying genocide law to justify the attack, Reuters reports.
In a preliminary decision in the case in March last year, the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately. The rulings of the ICJ, also known as the world court, are binding, but it has no direct means of enforcing them.
The hearings on jurisdiction will start on 18 September, with submissions from Russia and a response from Ukraine the following day.
Thirty-two other nations, including the UK, Canada and Australia, will give their views on the case in the hearings which wrap up 27 September.
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Activists demonstrate at Innesfree Park in the Sandton area of Johannesburg, South Africa as leaders of the Brics nations meet for a summit.
The protesters are calling for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the west, according to Reuters.
The protesters also called for an end to the crackdown on anti-war protesters in Russia and an end to the civil war in Ethiopia.
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Luxembourg has joined the G7 declaration of support for Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said.
The country’s president thanked Luxembourg and its people for their “unwavering support” in a tweet:
I am grateful to Luxembourg for joining the G7 Declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine. I thank Luxembourg and its people for their unwavering support for Ukraine, which is based on shared democratic ideals and the common interests of our Euro-Atlantic family 🇱🇺🇺🇦
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 22, 2023
Updated
A group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” have tried to breach Russia’s border in the Bryansk region, its governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The attempt was thwarted by Russia’s defence ministry, security services and police, Bogomaz said in a Telegram post. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Updated
Here is a picture of the supersonic bomber Ukraine reportedly destroyed in a drone strike over the weekend (see earlier post at 06.10).
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone had targeted a military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, causing a fire and damaging one warplane.
Ukraine has not acknowledged the strike and rarely comments on attacks on Russian territory.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Ukraine said its troops had entered the strategically important south-eastern village of Robotyne, a potentially significant advance in its counteroffensive against Russia. Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Ukrainian soldiers were organising the evacuation of civilians, but were still coming under fire from Russian forces.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the commitment made by some European countries to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will help to minimise the country’s losses and de-escalate the conflict.
Brics leaders are meeting in South Africa for a three-day summit in Johannesburg. The Brics nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a state visit on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, met with leaders of Balkan nations and the head of the European Commission on Tuesday.
In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) makes reference to reports that a Russian bomber was destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike. The MoD tweeted that a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire medium-range bomber was highly likely to have been destroyed at Soltsy-2 airbase in the Novgorod region, 400 miles (650km) from Ukraine’s border, on Saturday. The Russian defence ministry said that an uncrewed aerial vehicle was responsible for the attack.
Russian officials said early on Tuesday that the military had brought down four Ukrainian drones near Moscow and over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
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Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had destroyed a US-made military speedboat near Snake Island in the Black Sea, Reuters reports.
The claim has not yet been independently verified.
Snake island, located off the southern coast near the city of Odesa, became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance after guards refused to surrender to Russian forces on the first day of the war.
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A huge belt of landmines laid by the Russian military in south-eastern Ukraine is hampering Ukrainian soldiers, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Tuesday.
She said Kyiv officials had asked for equipment to enable its troops to safely cross the affected territory, Reuters reports.
“We are currently discussing how we can meet this request, not only as Germans but jointly with other partners,” she said at a press conference in Berlin alongside her Estonian counterpart.
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The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, says the EU has disbursed another €1.5bn (£1.3bn) in financial assistance to Ukraine, taking the total to €19.2bn (£16.3bn).
She also said she had held a productive meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, promising to “continue working together to bring Ukraine’s grain to world markets and to provide economic assistance”.
Productive meeting with @ZelenskyyUa
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 22, 2023
We discussed Ukraine’s progress on the EU path as well as our continued support in the face of Russia’s aggression.
We’ll continue working together to bring Ukraine’s grain to world markets and to provide economic assistance. pic.twitter.com/jwVItCjlyX
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Ukraine gains foothold in strategic south-eastern village, minister says
Ukraine said on Tuesday its troops had entered the strategically important south-eastern village of Robotyne, a potentially significant advance in its counteroffensive against Russia.
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Ukrainian soldiers were organising the evacuation of civilians, but were still coming under fire from Russian forces. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Robotyne is six miles south of Orikhiv, a town on an important road leading to Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.
Tokmak’s capture would be a milestone as Ukrainian troops press southwards towards the Sea of Azov.
Updated
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a state visit on Tuesday before meetings with the Brics group’s other leaders later in the day (see post at 06:48).
The Brics nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Xi is the leading proponent of enlarging the group.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, are also attending the summit, which runs from 22 to 24 August.
Vladimir Putin, wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not travel to South Africa and will instead join virtually, Reuters reports.
“An expanded Brics will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order,” Ramaphosa said in an address before the meetings.
Updated
The defence and economy ministers in Denmark’s centrist government swapped roles on Tuesday.
The move comes a day after Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Danish lawmakers for committing to providing Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets.
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, who is also deputy prime minister in Denmark’s three-party coalition and head of the Liberal party, became economy minister.
Troels Lund Poulsen, who acted as defence minister while Ellemann-Jensen was on a five-month leave of absence for health reasons, now takes over the role full-time.
He was considered the architect of the F-16 donation to Ukraine, AP reports.
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F-16 transfers will minimise Ukrainian losses and reduce 'risks of war expansion', Zelenskiy's adviser says
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the commitment made by some European countries to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will help to minimise the country’s losses and de-escalate the conflict.
Podolyak tweeted:
The transfer of fighter jets (F16) to Ukraine is, first of all, about the full understanding by the donor countries (Nordic countries) of the general nature of the war, and this particular stage.
It is also about de-escalation, significant reduction of the risks of war expansion, and acceleration of a fair ending. It is about minimising Ukrainian losses, optimising offensive operations and increasing the effectiveness of destroying the Russian occupation group.
The countries that are now transferring aviation equipment to Ukraine are openly demonstrating that they are deeply interested in protecting international law, democracy and justice.
All of this is possible only if Russia is absolutely defeated. It is extremely important that Ukraine’s other coalition partners make similar decisions.
The Netherlands and Denmark announced on Sunday they would donate as many as 61 F-16 fighter jets between them once pilot training has been satisfactorily completed.
Russia has warned that supplying the jets to Ukraine will only escalate the war.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a picture of himself with Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, saying the two of them had an “open, honest” conversation at the Ukraine-Balkans summit in which respect for the UN charter was among the topics of discussion.
An open, honest, and fruitful meeting with the President of Serbia @AVucic.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 22, 2023
Good conversation on respect for the UN Charter and the inviolability of borders.
On our nations’ shared future in the common European home.
On developing our relations, that is in our mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/t7d9DdUH7M
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Russia launched a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih, a city in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, on Tuesday morning, the Kyiv Post reports.
At least one person was injured and 20 residential buildings were damaged, according to the regional military administration. These claims could not immediately be independently verified.
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My colleague Jason Burke provides some important context on the significance of the Brics summit in Johannesburg (see earlier post at 06:48).
The group, whose economies account for a quarter of global GDP, may take a clearly anti-western turn at the event, he writes.
This raises the prospect of a new and re-energised economic and political actor against the US and its allies in world affairs.
The Brics nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador at large for Asia and the Brics, said one of the reasons countries were lining up to join the group was a “very polarised world” that had been further split by the Ukraine war, and that countries were being forced to take sides.
“Countries in the [global] south don’t want to be told who to support, how to behave and how to conduct their sovereign affairs. They are strong enough now to assert their respective positions,” said Sooklal.
Among potential new members are Iran and Venezuela, both hit by sanctions and diplomatically isolated.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a picture of himself alongside Nikolai Denkov, the prime minister of Bulgaria, with whom he said he had “fruitful talks” at the Ukraine-Balkans summit on Monday.
Zelenskiy said the two leaders had discussed further cooperation, Black Sea security and alternative grain corridors, adding that he expected to meet more “Balkan colleagues” on Tuesday.
I thanked for Bulgaria’s military and political support.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 22, 2023
Fruitful talks with PM Nikolai Denkov yesterday at the Ukraine-Balkans summit.
We discussed further cooperation, Black Sea security, and securing alternative grain corridors.
Meeting with more Balkan colleagues today. pic.twitter.com/iblbDPD4Nm
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More information has come in about reported drone damage in Russia (see post at 06:21).
A Reuters reporter in the town of Krasnogorsk, in the Moscow region, saw minor damage to tiling on a high-rise residential building and shattered window panes in a few of its apartments.
Police sealed off the scene and investigators from Russia’s FSB security service collected what looked like drone fragments, Reuters reports.
Russia shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region – with no casualties - and two others over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the country’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.
These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Updated
In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) makes reference to reports that a Russian bomber was destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike.
The MoD tweeted that a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire medium-range bomber was highly likely to have been destroyed at Soltsy-2 airbase in the Novgorod region, 400 miles (650km) from Ukraine’s border, on Saturday.
The Russian defence ministry said that an uncrewed aerial vehicle was responsible for the attack.
“If true, this adds weight to the assessment that some UAV attacks against Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory. Copter UAVs are unlikely to have the range to reach Soltsky-2 from outside Russia,” the MoD wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is at least the third successful attack on Long Range Aviation airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country.”
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until 3pm (UK time). Please do feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
The theme of the 15th Brics summit is “Brics and Africa”, Agence France-Presse reports. It comes as the continent emerges as a renewed diplomatic battleground with the US, Russia and China jostling for economic and diplomatic influence.
On the eve of the summit, Ramaphosa said his country would “not be drawn into a contest between global powers” and strongly reaffirmed South Africa’s longstanding policy of non-alignment.
“We will urge the international community to refocus on development issues, promote a greater role by the Brics cooperation mechanism in global governance, and make the voice of Brics stronger,” China’s Xi said in an editorial published in South African media on Monday.
Updated
Brics summit to begin in South Africa
Brics leaders will meet in South Africa today for a three-day summit in Johannesburg.
The Brics nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They represent a quarter of the global economy.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, will host China’s president, Xi Jinping; India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi; Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and 50 other leaders.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, is the subject of an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine and will not attend in person. The country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will attend on his behalf.
Updated
More now on the reported destruction of a Russian bomber:
The Russian ministry said no one was hurt in the attack and the fire was quickly extinguished. The Novgorod region lies north-west of Moscow, hundreds of kilometres from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
“As a result of the terrorist attack on the territory of the airfield, a fire broke out in the parking lot of aircraft, which was quickly eliminated by fire fighters. One aircraft was damaged,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to the BBC, the bomber was situated at the location of the attack, and had been used extensively to launch missiles on Ukraine during the war.
“Images posted on the social media platform Telegram showed a large fire engulfing a jet with the distinctive nose cone of the Tu-22,” the BBC reported.
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Drones damage apartments near Moscow
Reuters: Russian officials said early on Tuesday that the military had brought down four Ukrainian drones near Moscow and over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine.
A Reuters reporter was in the Odintsovo district near Chastsy settlement to the west of Moscow where one drone was shot down and heard four blasts shortly after 3.00 local time (00.00 GMT).
“Windows were shaking,” she said.
Russia’s defence ministry said there were no injuries in the latest attack.
One of the drones was shot down over Krasnogorsk, a town outside Moscow, that hosts the Moscow regional government.
Videos and pictures from the scene published by Russian media outlet Baza showed broken windows in a high rise apartment building, debris on a pavement and a car with a hole in its glass roof hatch.
Air space over the Russian capital was briefly closed and three major Moscow airports suspended flights, TASS news agency reported.
On Monday spokesperson of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Andriy Yusov, asked about the previous drone attack, told RBC-Ukraine news agency: “GUR is working”.
Ukraine reportedly destroys Russian bomber
Ukraine has destroyed a supersonic Russian bomber in a drone strike, according to reports from the BBC and Ukrainian media.
The reports were based on images posted on social media which appear to show the long-range aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-22, on fire. The images were analysed by the BBC, but have not been independently verified by the Guardian.
The burning plane appeared to be located south of St Petersburg, the BBC reported, using visual clues and historical satellite images of the airbase.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone had targeted a military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, causing a fire and damaging one warplane. Ukraine has not acknowledged the strike and rarely comments on attacks on Russian territory:
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Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.
Our top story this morning: Ukraine has destroyed a supersonic Russian jet in a drone strike, according to reports from the BBC and Ukrainian media.
The reports were based on images posted on social media which appear to show the long-range bomber, the Tupolev Tu-22, on fire. The images were analysed by the BBC, but have not been independently verified by the Guardian.
And Russian officials said early on Tuesday that the military had brought down four Ukrainian drones near Moscow and over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine.
Elsewhere:
Posts on Russian social media channels indicate that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has published his first recruitment video for the Wagner group since organising a short-lived mutiny against defence officials in Russia. A video posted Monday on Telegram messaging app channels that are believed to be affiliated with Prigozhin shows a person who appears to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader saying the Wagner group is “hiring real strongmen” and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free”. Prigozhin’s comments and some posts in the pro-Wagner channels suggested it was filmed in Africa.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said Russian war crimes that have taken place in Ukraine “must be punished under international law”. During a press conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday, Mitsotakis added that he “unreservedly condemned” Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Greece will take part in training of Ukrainian air force pilots for F-16 jets, Zelenskiy said on Monday. Denmark and the Netherlands on Sunday announced they would supply the first F-16s to Ukraine. “Today, we have the important result for aviation coalition. Greece will participate in training of our pilots for F-16. I am grateful for this proposal,” Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said during his joint press conference with the Greek PM in Athens.
Denmark’s decision to supply Ukraine with American F-16 fighter jets to fend off Russia’s invasion represents an “escalation” of the conflict, Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, reportedly said.
The Ukrainian president said during a visit to Sweden that Kyiv was “getting closer” to obtaining Swedish Gripen fighter jets. “Our soldiers are already starting to test them,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Sunday, adding that he had discussed the matter with Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson. Sweden, though, has not made any commitment to supply Gripens to Ukraine.
On Monday in Copenhagen, Zelenskiy thanked Danish politicians on Monday for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s president said that if Russia succeeded, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression. “All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail.”
Ukraine’s forces are repelling Russian attacks and have retaken several square kilometres on the eastern front over the past week, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday. Ukrainian forces were advancing south of Bakhmut, the city occupied by Russian forces in May after a bloody months-long struggle, and had liberated another three square kilometres over the past week, she said.
