Related: Ukraine’s attack is only way to force Russia to negotiating table, Zelensky aide says
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A senior Nato official has condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian and Latvian airspace with its attack drones targeting Ukraine.
Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets to monitor the drones, which were detected in the early hours of Sunday morning, while Latvia shared photos of a crashed drone in its eastern region. Residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover.
Mircea Geoană, Nato’s outgoing deputy secretary general and Romania’s former top diplomat, said: “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
Meanwhile, CIA director William Burns said Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk has caused Russian elites to question Vladimir Putin’s war.
Speaking in London alongside MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore, who praised the “audacious” incursion, the CIA chief said he did not see any evidence that Mr Putin’s grip on power was weakening as a result, but that “it did raise questions on the part of people we could see across the Russian elite about where is this all headed”.
He warned that Britain and the US face “an unprecedented array of threats”, citing Russia, China and the crisis in the Middle East, and warned that staying the course in resisting Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine “is more vital than ever”.
Key Points
Show latest update 1725854800
Nato backlash as Russian violates Romania and Latvia’s airspace with drones
A senior Nato official has condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian airspace after the European nation scrambled F-16 fighter jets for Russian drones.
Mircea Geoană, Nato’s outgoing deputy secretary general and Romania’s former top diplomat, said: “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
In a similar stance, Latvia’s military said there were no indications that Moscow or Minsk purposely sent a drone into the country.
While the incursion into Latvian airspace appeared to be a rare incident, Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, as recently as July this year.
Arpan Rai9 September 2024 05:06
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What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
Since 6 August, when Ukraine began its cross-border attack, Russian forces have advanced several miles towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
If Russia eventually seizes it, it will be the largest population centre it has taken since Bakhmut last May, after months of heavy urban warfare.
Nevertheless, the loss of Pokrovsk could have an even costlier effect.
The city, a logistical hub for the country’s military, sits at the junction of two major roads through the region. Its capture is seen as key to the Russian military prosecuting Vladimir Putin’s objective of taking the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, known as Donbas.
Russia’s military appears to have thrown resources at the effort, possibly at the expense of defending its own civilians in Kursk. As one analyst put it, Putin’s “eye of Sauron”, a reference to Lord of the Rings, has been trained on Donetsk, and particularly Pokrovsk, even as his own country is being invaded.
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has more in this report:
Andy Gregory9 September 2024 05:01
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World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.
In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.
Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”
“There is no question that the international world order – the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity – is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the cold war,” they wrote.
Arpan Rai9 September 2024 04:45
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Romania, Latvia report Russian drones breach airspace
Romania and Latvia are investigating instances of Russian drones breaching their airspace before being downed, officials in both countries said.
While Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the attack and residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover, Latvia shared photos of a crashed drone in the eastern part of the country.
In Latvia, president Edgars Rinkevics posted on social media platform X that a Russian military drone had crashed in the eastern part of the country, which at one time was part of the Soviet Union.
“There is an ongoing investigation. We are in close contact with our allies,” Rinkevics wrote. “The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of Nato and we must address them collectively.”
The Romanian defence ministry said the “radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine.”
“From existing data, the possibility of an impact zone on national territory was identified, in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava,” the ministry added.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, also writing on X, described the incidents as “a stark reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine“ and called for maximum support from Ukraine’s allies in the conflict.
Nato member Romania shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone fragments stray into its territory repeatedly over the past year.
Arpan Rai9 September 2024 04:13
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ICYMI: World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.
In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.
Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”
You can read more in this report:
Andy Gregory9 September 2024 04:00
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Russia claims it has captured Ukrainian town in advance on Pokrovsk
Russia said its forces had taken full control of a town in eastern Ukraine as they advance on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken the town of Novohrodivka, which lies 12km (7 miles) from Pokrovsk, an important rail and road hub for Ukrainian forces in the area. The town had a population of 14,000 before the war.
Yuri Podolyaka, an influential Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, published maps showing Russian forces attacking beyond Novohrodivka in at least two places less than 7km (4 miles) from Pokrovsk.
However yesterday evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military gave details of fighting throughout the Pokrovsk sector, including Novohrodivka.
It said 29 attempted Russian advances had been repelled, with seven skirmishes continuing. “Our troops are taking measures to maintain designated positions,” it said.
An interview with a Ukrainian officer broadcast last week by US-funded Radio Liberty said Ukrainian forces had abandoned Novohrodivka on the basis that it was becoming too difficult to defend.
Popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState said Russian forces had also captured the village of Nevelske, to the southeast.
Arpan Rai9 September 2024 03:59
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Two men killed in Russian strike on Donetsk hotel, officials say
Rescue teams pulled the bodies of two men from the rubble of a hotel destroyed on Saturday evening by a Russian air strike in Donetsk, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
Andy Gregory9 September 2024 03:01
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Death toll from Poltava strike rises to 58
The death toll from a massive Russian missile strike on Tuesday that blasted a military academy and nearby hospital in the eastern city of Poltava rose to 58 on Saturday, regional governor Filip Pronin reported, as funerals were held for those killed in the attack.
More than 320 other people were injured in the Russian strike.
Air raid sirens rang out on Saturday as funeral rites took place.
(AP)
Andy Gregory9 September 2024 02:00
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Analysis | Zelensky’s latest reshuffle has one major aim
Dmytro Kuleba is one of Ukraine’s most recognisable faces to Western officials, seemingly never afraid to speak his mind.
It is that independence that has contributed to the foreign minister becoming the highest-profile member of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet involved in another major shake-up of Ukraine’s top brass. One which will end up the largest of the war.
Kuleba has offered his resignation as part of what is seen as a political “reset” for Kyiv engineered by Zelensky and his close circle. A number of other ministers also submitted their resignations on Tuesday.
Zelensky has said that the cabinet overhaul is part of an effort to “give new strength” to Ukraine’s government and, in the process, solidify Zelensky’s ability to guide policy.
Our international editor Chris Stevenson has more details here:
Andy Gregory9 September 2024 01:01
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Analysis | Ukraine’s attack on Russia started as a triumph – but could turn into a catastrophe
Ukraine took more than 300 square miles of the Kursk region in the first month of its counter-invasion of Russia, raising morale at home and challenging a growing sense in the West that stalemate was the best Kyiv could hope for. Yet as a daring incursion looks set to become an open-ended occupation, doubts are growing about its long-term wisdom.
Russian historian and author Mark Galeotti shares his concerns in this piece:
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 23:59
