Russia Ukraine war live: Putin launches overnight barrage of drones

Russia launched 12 drones and a cruise missile at Ukraine overnight, with Ukraine’s air defence systems destroying 10 drones before they reached their targets, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday.

The cruise missile was not destroyed but did not reach its target, the air force said without giving further detail. It did not say what happened to the two drones that there were not destroyed.

The Iranian-made Shahed drones were headed towards Ukraine’s north-west, the air force said. Most were downed in the Mykolaiv region in Ukraine’s south.

“In accordance with the decree of Russian president signed on November 29, 2023, the maximum size of the armed forces of the Russian Federation has been increased by 170,000 military personnel to 1,320,000 military personnel,” the defence ministry said.

Ukraine‘s security service said it had prevented former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country on grounds that Russia planned to exploit a planned meeting with Hungary’s prime minister to hurt Ukrainian interests.

Mr Poroshenko’s political party, European Solidarity, said the former president had scheduled only meetings in Poland and the US and warned the SBU security service against becoming involved in politics.

Mr Poroshenko was turned away at a border post on Friday.

The SBU said yesterday he had planned to meet Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who maintains ties with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and opposes opening talks on European Union membership with Ukraine.

An SBU statement said Russia was preparing a series of “provocations” to discredit Ukraine among its foreign allies as the war against Russia stretches beyond 21 months.

Of the possible meeting with Mr Orban, the SBU said: “Russia planned to use this meeting (like other ‘working meetings with … representative of countries voicing pro-Russian narratives) in psychological operations against Ukraine.”

The SBU said Orban “systematically holds an anti-Ukrainian position”, was a “friend of Putin” and sought the removal of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Orban, who is open about his friendly ties with Putin, opposes the start of EU membership talks with Ukraine, to be considered at the bloc’s forthcoming summit. He called this week for the creation instead of a “strategic partnership” with Kyiv.

Russian forces eased their attacks on the beleaguered eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, as unofficial reports from the region indicated that they were unsuccessful in capturing the devastated town of Maryinka to the southwest.

Russian reports on Friday suggested Moscow’s troops had taken control of Maryinka, 40 km (25 miles) to the southwest, engulfed in fighting for well over a year. But unofficial Ukrainian reports yesterday said its forces were holding some districts.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun told national television that Russian attacks on Avdiivka had halved over the past 24 hours, largely as a result of heavy losses.

“The coking plant is controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces,” Mr Shtupun said. “Enemy forces are trying to make their way inside, but are suffering losses in infantry and equipment.”

Fighting was still intense, he said, in an adjacent area outside the town centre known as the “industrial zone”.

Russia’s popular war blog Rybar said the zone had fallen under Russian control.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of the town’s military administration, told Channel 24 television that Avdiivka was “starting to look like Maryinka, a settlement that basically no longer exists. It has been razed to its foundations”.

There were no official Ukrainian reports on Maryinka, but military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said reports of its capture by Russian troops were untrue.

“We acknowledge that there was an advance there of the Russian military,” Zhdanov said in an online presentation.

“But the southwestern and northwestern parts of the town are under the control of Ukrainian forces.”

Russia‘s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova and Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets plan to conduct several mutual visits to prisoners of war, Russia‘s RIA news agency reported on Sunday.

“Russian military personnel will be visited on the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian military personnel will be visited on the Russian side. There will be several of these visits, we have a schedule,” RIA cited Moskalkova as saying.

US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, vowed to not let Hammas or Russia win in their respective wars as he delivered a lengthy address to defend the US’ support of Ukraine and Israel.

He criticised those endorsing “an American retreat from responsibility” at the Reagan National Defense Forum and stressed the necessity for consistent US leadership to contribute to a free and safe world.

“In both Israel and Ukraine, democracies are fighting ruthless foes who are out to annihilate them,” Mr Austin said.

“And we will not let Hamas or Putin win. And we will not let our enemies divide or weaken us. So as we surge support into Israel, we remain focused on Ukraine.”

Russia launched 12 drones and a cruise missile towards Ukraine’s northwest in overnight attacks, Ukraine‘s air force said today.

But Ukraine‘s air defence systems successfully destroyed 10 drones before they reached their targets, it added.

The cruise missile was not destroyed but did not reach its target, the air force said without giving further detail. It did not say what happened to the two drones that were not destroyed.

The Iranian-made Shahed drones were headed towards Ukraine‘s northwest, the air force said. Most were downed in the Mykolaiv region in Ukraine‘s south.

There were no immediate reports of damage from falling debris or the drones that were not destroyed.

Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization.

Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid, local media reported.

Eyewitnesses told journalists that clubgoers’ documents were checked and photographed by the security services. They also said that managers had been able to warn patrons before police arrived.

The International Red Cross on Friday suspended the Belarusian chapter after its chief stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies halted the membership of the Belarus branch after it refused to oust its leader Dzmitry Shautsou. He is accused of having breached the Red Cross’ much-vaunted and much-defended standards of neutrality and integrity. The board of IFRC had given the Belarus Red Cross until Nov. 30 to dismiss him, and said it would suspend the branch if it didn’t.

“The suspension means that the Belarus Red Cross loses its rights as a member of the IFRC,” the Geneva-based international organization said in a statement Friday. “Any new funding to the Belarus Red Cross will also be suspended.”