Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow claims it foiled attack on Crimea bridge as ‘three unmanned boats destroyed’

Drone strikes on Russian soil are only set to increase as Ukraine brings Moscow’s invasion home, a senior Kyiv official has said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it has increased strikes on Russian-occupied areas and would also ramp up attacks within Russia itself. Kyiv does not generally directly claim attacks outside of Ukraine, with Mr Podolyak saying such strikes would be carried out by “agents” or “partisans”.

Russian authorities on Friday designated Nobel Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov as a “foreign agent,” a move often aimed at critics of Kremlin policies.

Russian news agencies quoted the justice ministry as saying Muratov, editor of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel peace prize, was one of several Russian nationals added to the list.

So-called foreign agents have been subjected to police searches and other punitive measures. While Muratov is still in Russia, many on the list have left the country since the February 2021 invasion of Ukraine, dubbed a “special military operation” by the Kremlin.

The justice ministry said Muratov “created and disseminated material (produced by) foreign agents and used it to spread negative opinions of Russia’s foreign and domestic policies on international platforms”.

Under Russian law, individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad can be declared foreign agents, potentially undermining their credibility with the Russian public. Those deemed foreign agents must mark their published work with a disclaimer noting their status.

Novaya Gazeta and Muratov earned a reputation abroad for investigative reporting that was often critical of the Kremlin.

The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said that the country has deployed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that president Vladimir Putin once said will make Russia’s enemies “think twice.”

Agency head Yuri Borisov said Sarmat missiles have been placed on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies. Further details were not reported.

The Sarmat is one of several advanced weapons whose development Mr Putin announced in 2018. The silo-based missile, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, is intended to replace the R-36 ICBMs that are known by the NATO reporting name of Satan.

The Sarmat reportedly has a short initial launch phase, allowing little time for surveillance systems to track it.

In 2022, about two months after sending troops into Ukraine, Mr Putin said the Sarmat would “reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice.”

Hundreds of Bosnian Serbs waved flags of Serbia and Russia and banners of Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday as they staged a protest in support of their separatist leader who seeks union with neighbouring Serbia.

The protests were held at the unmarked internal border in Bosnia that separates the country into two entities — the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation — as called for under the US-mediated peace deal that ended the country’s 1992-95 war.

A crowd of dozens thronged and cheered Russian president Vladimir Putin as he made an unannounced visit to a village near Moscow yesterday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that Mr Putin visited the village of Turginovo, where he has ancestral ties, to see places associated with his family.

Video posted by local news sites showed dozens of residents flocking to the beaming president after he emerged from a car in the village square at dusk.

“Good health, strength and good luck,” one woman said. “Thank you for coming to see us. For remembering us.”

During a stop lasting only a few minutes, Mr Putin expressed surprise that a science teacher at the local school was undertaking a doctoral degree and promised improved conditions to attract qualified people to the area.

Residents told him they needed more and better housing.

“Yes, yes, I agree, We’ll do everything gradually,” Mr Putin told them during the encounter lasting only a few minutes.

“My best wishes on the start of the school year.”

Ukraine says its troops have broken through Russia’s first line of defence in several places, though they then encountered even more heavily fortified Russian positions.

Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s troops, in a much-vaunted counteroffensive against Russian forces, were advancing in the Zaporizhzhia region. Washington also said yesterday that Kyiv had made notable progress on the southern front in the last 72 hours.

“There is an offensive in several directions and in certain areas. And in some places, in certain areas, this first line was broken through,” Ms Maliar told Ukrainian television yesterday night.

She added, however, that Kyiv’s troops battling to advance through heavily mined areas for almost three months had now run into major defensive Russian fortifications.

“Our armed forces have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to move forward,” she said.

Russian authorities designated Nobel Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov as a “foreign agent,” a move often aimed at critics of Kremlin policies.

Russian news agencies quoted the Justice Ministry as saying Mr Muratov, editor of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, was one of several Russian nationals added to the list.

So-called foreign agents have been subjected to police searches and other punitive measures. While Mr Muratov is still in Russia, many on the list have left the country since the February 2021 invasion of Ukraine, dubbed a “special military operation” by the Kremlin.

The justice ministry said Mr Muratov “created and disseminated material (produced by) foreign agents and used it to spread negative opinions of Russia’s foreign and domestic policies on international platforms”.

Under Russian law, individuals and organisations receiving funding from abroad can be declared foreign agents, potentially undermining their credibility with the Russian public. Those deemed foreign agents must mark their published work with a disclaimer noting their status.

The Russian defence ministry has claimed this morning that its forces have destroyed “three unmanned boats being used in an attempt to target the Crimea bridge”.

The ministry alleged Ukraine was behind the attack, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Russia has said that Moscow’s RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), nicknamed “Satan II” – capable of carrying ten or more nuclear warheads – has been rolled out on “combat duty”.

The head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said that the missiles had entered active duty, the state-run news agency RIA reported. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Sarmat missiles would be deployed for combat duty “soon”.

Prior to that, defence committee deputy chairman Aleksey Zhuravlyov had used it as a threat when he was interviewed by state broadcaster TV Russia 1 in May regarding Sweden and Finland’s aspirations towards joining Nato in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined the alliance earlier this year, while Sweden is still waiting to be ratified.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met on Friday with a delegation comprised of the heads of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions and reiterated American support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.

“Mr. Sullivan underscored the vital importance to any democratic society of independent, impartial law enforcement and judicial institutions capable of investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating corruption cases no matter where they lead,” the White House said on Friday after the meeting.

“Mr. Sullivan also reiterated steadfast U.S. support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and for Ukraine‘s brave defense of its democracy against Russian aggression.”

Ukraine has made a crackdown on graft a priority as it presses on with a counteroffensive 18 months into Russia’s invasion.

Uprooting corruption is also a key element in the country’s bid to join the European Union and to seek more assistance from partners to support its fight against Russia and its rebuilding efforts that will cost billions of dollars.

Ukraine ranks 116th out of 180 countries on campaign group Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index.

A Transparency-commissioned opinion poll in June found that at least 77% of Ukrainians believe corruption is among Ukraine‘s biggest problems.