Ukraine war latest: Russia says Kyiv’s ‘terrorist’ drone attack on Moscow thwarted

First Moscow ended a pivotal deal allowing Ukraine to export grain, now it is repeatedly attacking the country’s ports, writes Bel Trew. The consequences will be felt from the poorest in Egypt to kitchens across Britain:

When Russia hits Ukraine’s farmers, it lashes out at the world.

This has been the resounding message I’ve heard over the last year of Moscow’s invasion by Ukrainian farmers from Donbas to Dnipro.

Most recently that warning was relayed near the southern city of Nikopol. “We are just one farm, there are thousands like us,” Vitaly, 29, told me in a crumbling field. “If we cannot produce food, there will be a problem for the world,” he added.

All Russian school children are to be taught the basics of operating combat drones, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today.

The ministry cited Russian senator Artem Sheikin’s announcement that the lessons will include how to conduct terrain reconnaissance and ways to counter enemy uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).

“The UAV lessons join assault rifle training, hand grenade skills and combat first aid in the revised ‘Basics of Life Safety’ syllabus for year 10 and 11 students, due to be mandated from 1 September 2023,” it added.

The British MoD said Russia’s “renewed emphasis on military induction for children is largely an effort to cultivate a culture of militarised patriotism rather than develop genuine capability”.

“However, the addition of UAV skills does highlight how Russia has identified the use of tactical UAVs in Ukraine as an enduring component of contemporary war,” the ministry said.

Traces of explosives have been found on a ship travelling from Turkey to the port of Rostov-on-Don in Russia to pick up grain, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said today.

It claimed that the ship had been docked in the Ukrainian port of Kiliia in May, and that it may have been used to deliver explosives to Ukraine.

The FSB, Russia’s security agency, said the ship had changed its name while in the Turkish port of Tuzla earlier this month and replaced its crew, which had consisted of 12 Ukrainian nationals.

“These circumstances may indicate the possibility of using the foreign civilian ship to deliver explosives to the territory of Ukraine,” it said.

While it did not name the vessel, the FSB Said it had been inspected in the Kerch Strait and was banned from continuing its journey, after which it left Russian waters.

The charges come one week after Russia pulled out of an agreement that had enabled Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, with ships undergoing security inspections.

At least four employees were injured in a Russian overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa which destroyed a grains depot, Ukraine’s southern military command said today.

Based on preliminary information, three drones were destroyed in the attacks, the command said.

An ammunition depot was struck in a Ukrainian drone attack on Dzhankoi in Crimea early today, with Russian air defence forces intercepting or suppressing 11 drones over the area, a Russian-installed official said.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, also said that a residential building was damaged in the area.

It was not immediately clear whether the ammunition depot was directly hit by a drone or if it was damaged by falling drone debris.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has been saying in recent months that destroying Russia’s military infrastructure helps Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

The Russian military air base near Dzhankoi has been a sensitive target in the continuing war as Ukrainian officials have long said the city and surrounding areas have been turned into Moscow’s largest military base in Crimea.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the alleged attack.

The Ukrainian military seemed to confirm it had launched the drone strike, after it claimed that it had destroyed an oil depot and Russian arms warehouses in the Krasnohvardiiske region of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory that Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the bridge linking Crimea to Russia was a legitimate target as it was used by Moscow “to feed the war with ammunition.”

The Russian Defence Ministry has accused Ukraine of launching a “terrorist attack” after Moscow’s air defence intercepted and destroyed two drones in the early hours today.

Fragments of the drone, likely shot down in the thwarting attempt, were found 2km (1.2 miles) away from the Russian defence ministry building, the state news agencies reported.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel that two non-residential buildings were struck during the attack, which happened around 4am (0100 GMT).

It was unclear whether the drones hit the buildings when they were downed, or whether they deliberately targeted the buildings.

Fragments of a drone were found in central Moscow today, some 2km (1.2 miles) away from the defence ministry’s main building, Russian emergency services said.

Komsomolsky Avenue from the centre of Moscow towards the outskirts of the city was closed, said RIA news agency, citing Moscow’s Department of Transport.

At least two loud explosions were heard by witnesses before the drone fragments were found, according to the reports.

No casualties have been reported so far, the emergency services said.

Residents of several districts in Moscow’s southwest and south reported the sounds of explosions, according to the messages on Russia’s FSB-linked Telegram channels.

Russia’s air-defence forces thwarted a Ukraine drone attack on Moscow early early today, Russia’s defence ministry said.

Two drones were intercepted and destroyed in a non-residential area, officials said earlier.

The drones struck two non-residential buildings in Moscow at around 4am (0100 GMT), Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.

“There was no serious damage or injuries,” he said.

The NATO-Ukraine Council is set to meet on wedneday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Sunday.

It is expected that Black Sea security will be top of the agenda, following Russia’s with withdrawal from a year-old deal overseeing grain exports from Ukrainian ports, and the recent bombing of Odesa.

The meeting was first requested by Zelenskiy in a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday.

Zelenskiy said on Sunday the meeting was among several events Ukraine was preparing for in the coming week that would strengthen the country’s defense.

He said new support packages were being prepared, which will include more air defense, artillery, and long-range weapons.