Ukraine-Russia war – live: Drones targeting Moscow shot down as Putin ramps up border defences

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Russian air defence systems shot down two drones heading towards Moscow for a second day straight, officials have said.

The attack disrupted flights at two international airports, with one drone downed in the Kaluga region south-west of Moscow and another near a major Moscow ring road, Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin and the Russian Defence Ministry stated. Officials have blamed the attack on Ukraine.

Domodedovo airport, south of the city, halted flights for more than two hours and Vnukovo airport, south-west of the city, stopped flights for more than two-and-a-half hours, according to Russian news outlets.

The news comes just one day after Russian president Vladimir Putin pledged to ramp up border defences following a surge in drone attacks.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said NATO-member Poland had already announced plans to strengthen its military, and he expected significant NATO forces and weaponry to be deployed in Finland.

On Wednesday, Russia claimed it shot down two Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow, one near a major airport to the south of the city and one to the west of the capital.

Kyiv has never claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russian territory.

1691663572Drones targeting Moscow shot down as Putin ramps up border defencesRussian air defence systems shot down two drones heading towards Moscow for a second day straight, officials have said.

The attack disrupted flights at two international airports, with one drone downed in the Kaluga region south-west of Moscow and another near a major Moscow ring road, Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin and the Russian Defence Ministry stated. Officials have blamed the attack on Ukraine.

Domodedovo airport, south of the city, halted flights for more than two hours and Vnukovo airport, south-west of the city, stopped flights for more than two-and-a-half hours, according to Russian news outlets.

The news comes just one day after Russian president Vladimir Putin pledged to ramp up border defences following a surge in drone attacks.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said NATO-member Poland had already announced plans to strengthen its military, and he expected significant NATO forces and weaponry to be deployed in Finland, which has just joined the U.S.-led Western alliance.

On Wednesday, Russia claimed it shot down two Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow, one near a major airport to the south of the city and one to the west of the capital.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said while one drone was shot down near Domodedovo, where one of Russia’s biggest international airports is located. Another was downed near the Minsk motorway.

Kyiv has never claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russian territory.

(via REUTERS)

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 11:32

1691663429Residents ‘receiving humanitarian aid’ under fire in Russian shelling attack – Ukrainian officialResidents “receiving humanitarian aid” have come under fire in a Russian shelling attack, a Ukrainian official has said.

At least six were hospitalised with their injuries following a strike on Bilozerka in the southern Kherson region.

“The Russian army shelled Bilozerka with artillery. Six people were injured. Residents who were receiving humanitarian aid at that time came under fire,” local governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram.

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 11:30

1691662256Russian drones destroy Ukrainian fuel depot in Rivne region – governorRussian drones destroyed a fuel depot in Ukraine‘s western Rivne region in an overnight attack in the early hours of Thursday, causing a huge blaze, governor Vitaliy Koval said.

There were no casualties, he said.

“Today at night the Rivne region came under a massive drone attack,” Koval said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. In the video, he stood in a field with a large fire raging in the background.

“The chemical and radiation level is normal. We do not plan to evacuate the population.”

The Ukrainian air force said that seven out of 10 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones were shot down during an overnight Russian attack which lasted from 23.00 on Wednesday until 04.00 on Thursday.

Koval said 45 rescuers and 14 units of special vehicles were working on the site to extinguish the fire.

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 11:10

1691662229In pictures: Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in ruins after Russian attackTwo young women and a man were killed and nine other people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia late on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

A Reuters reporter at the scene saw emergency workers lifting a body, putting it on a stretcher, and wrapping it into a black body bag. Rescuers sifted through debris and an ambulance was parked near damaged buildings.

“Three people dead and nine people injured including an 11-month baby – this is the result of the strike on the regional centre,” a statement from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said. “The Russian shell took away the lives of a 43-year-old man and young women who were 19 and 21.”

Officials said two of the people had been killed on the spot and a woman had died overnight at a hospital.

A video posted by Zelensky showed smoke rising from burning and badly damaged buildings next to a church.

Zaporizhzhia city council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said the church had been destroyed and about 15 high-rise buildings had been damaged. The authorities received requests from residents of at least 400 apartments to repair smashed windows and damaged balconies.

(AFP via Getty Images)

(UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP)

(UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP)

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 11:10

1691661362Why did Russia invade Ukraine?Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more:

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 10:56

1691659317Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on verge of blackout – EnergoatomUkraine‘s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant again lost connection to its last remaining main external power line overnight and was switched to a reserve line, state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Thursday.

Energoatom said Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was on the verge of a blackout as the reserve line had less than half the power capacity of the main power line.

“Such a regime is difficult for the reactor plant, its duration is limited by the project’s design and it can result in failure of the main equipment of the energy unit,” Energoatom said on Telegram.

The Zaporizhzhia plant with its six reactors has been controlled by the Russian military since the early days of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.

It has become one of the focal points of the conflict, with both sides blaming each other for shelling around the site. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been trying to set up a safety mechanism to prevent accidents.

None of the plant’s six reactors produce electricity.

Separately, the station’s Russian-installed administration said the Number 4 reactor had been moved from a “hot” to a “cold” shutdown because of signs of a steam leak.

One of the six reactors needs to be in “hot shutdown” to produce steam for the plant’s own needs.

“Plant personnel found signs of leaks in the pipe section of steam generator No. 3,” the administration said on Telegram. “To meet the steam auxiliary needs of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the transfer of power unit No. 6 to a ‘hot shutdown’ state is being considered.”

(REUTERS)

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 10:21

1691658374Yandex co-founder Volozh slams Russia’s ‘barbaric’ invasion of UkraineThe co-founder of Russian internet giant Yandex, Arkady Volozh, on Thursday condemned what he described as Russia’s “barbaric” invasion of Ukraine, days after criticism in Russia over his apparent efforts to distance himself from the country.

Volozh described himself as a “Kazakhstan-born Israeli tech entrepreneur” on a personal website, drawing some criticism in Russian media and on the Telegram messaging platform for apparently playing down his links to Russia.

He has also been criticised by those opposed to Russia’s actions for not speaking out more forcefully against the war.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is barbaric, and I am categorically against it,” Volozh said in a statement. “I am horrified about the fate of people in Ukraine, many of them my personal friends and relatives, whose houses are being bombed every day.

“Although I moved to Israel in 2014, I have to take my share of responsibility for the country’s actions,” wrote Volozh, who holds both Russian and Israeli passports.

Volozh developed Yandex in Russia, creating the country’s largest tech company and ultimately taking it public on the U.S. Nasdaq stock exchange in 2011.

He stepped down as CEO and left the board of directors after the European Union included him on its list of sanctions against Russian entities and individuals in June 2022. Volozh called the EU’s decision “misguided”.

Yandex is pursuing a corporate restructuring that should ultimately see its main revenue-generating businesses inside Russia spun off from its Dutch-registered parent company, Yandex NV.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yandex has sought to balance domestic pressure on one side with its Western investors on the other.

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 10:06

1691657429ICYMI: Ukrainian troops launch surprise raid across Dnipro River and break through some of Russia’s defencesUkrainian forces broke through Russia’s defensive lines after launching a surprise raid across the Dnipro River.

The river divides liberated Ukrainian territory on one bank and Russian-occupied land on the other, and for months it has served as part of the front line in southern Ukraine.

Russian military bloggers said that up to seven boats, each carrying up to six troops, arrived on the Russian-occupied bank, apparently under the cover of darkness, and advanced 800m. Blogger Trinadtsatyi, posting on the Telegram messaging app to more than 150,000 followers, said a number of Russian soldiers were allegedly killed or taken captive during the raid. Images circulating on social media appeared to show captured soldiers.

My colleague Chris Stevenson reports:

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 09:50

1691656589Russia intercepts drones heading for Moscow for the second straight dayRussian air defense systems on Thursday shot down two drones heading toward Moscow for the second straight day, officials said, with the attack disrupting flights at two international airports as Ukraine appeared to step up its assault on Russian soil.

One drone was downed in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow and another near a major Moscow ring road, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and the Russian Defense Ministry, which blamed the attack on Ukraine.

No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

Read more:

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 09:36

1691655648How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?Establishing accurate data on the number of military casualties sustained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 is difficult for two reasons. The severity of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a pivotal new stage.

The Kremlin, in particular, is unlikely to admit to high fatality rates among its troops because to do so would amount to a confession that Vladimir Putin’s spurious war to “de-Nazify” Russia’s neighbour state is not going according to plan and, in fact, represents a monumental miscalculation on the part of its leader, who is already under pressure at home over the attempted uprising by Wagner Group mercenaries.

Moscow is more likely to downplay its own (rarely offered) numbers – putting the official number at around 6,000 – and accuse its enemies of dishonestly briefing against it whenever outside estimates are offered that imply significant Russian losses.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

Eleanor Noyce10 August 2023 09:20