Ukraine war latest: Kyiv breaks through Putin’s defences in ‘surprise raid’ across Dnipro River

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has repeatedly said that one of the most unexpected outcomes for Moscow after invading Ukraine is that “soft power fought back”.

I hadn’t quite appreciated what she meant until I interviewed her from the heart of Kyiv. There I learned firsthand how soft diplomacy can have an instant impact on the world stage.

Sitting in the bunker-like command centre in Kyiv, Mrs Zelenska was clear that one of the keys to ending this war was ending sanctions dodging by countries trading with Moscow through third nations.

Without cutting this funding to the Kremlin’s war machine, the invasion will drag on endlessly – undermining the money and weapons being poured into Ukraine’s military by Western allies. And, ultimately, meaning Moscow might win.

At least 13 drones headed towards illegally-occuiped Crimea and Moscow, officials in Moscow said.

Of these, two drones were hit by air defences near Sevastopol, the city in Crimea which serves as Russia’s Black Sea navy base, and nine more were jammed and crashed into the Black Sea.

“Today… attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles were thwarted,” the defence ministry said. It said there were no casualties due to the drones.

One drone was shot down as it approached the Russian capital over the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, and another was shot down over the prestigious Odintsovo district of Moscow region, the defence ministry said.

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them.

In recent days, Ukrainian remotely piloted boats, also referred to as drones, have attacked a Russian fuel tanker and a navy base at Russia’s Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea.

Russian drones destroyed a fuel depot in Ukraine’s western Rivne region tdaoy, governor Vitaly Koval wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no casualties from the attack, he said.

Ukrainian 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.

Russian forces downed 11 Ukrainian drones near Sevastopol, the city in Crimea which serves as Russia’s Black Sea navy base, the Russian defence ministry claimed today.

Two drones were hit by air defences and nine more by electronic countermeasures, it said, reported RIA news agency.

Ukraine will be supplied additional Patriot air defence missile systems under a deal with Germany, president Volodymyr Zelensky said last night.

“Today we have good news from Germany – exactly what we agreed upon with Olaf Scholz. We have additional Patriot launching stations. Thank you very much, Olaf, for this – it is necessary to protect our people from Russian terror,” Mr Zelensky said.

Earlier in the day, Germany announced its decision to ship two more Patriot launchers to Ukraine.

“This will definitely bring us closer to creating a full-fledged air shield for Ukraine. This will help people, cities, villages,” the war-time president said.

Raytheon’s Patriot, among the West’s top ground-based air defence systems, are built to intercept incoming missiles.

They are, however, in short supply across Nato since many allies scaled down the number of air defence units after the Cold War.

The Polish government announced Wednesday that it is planning to deploy an additional 2,000 troops to its border with Belarus, twice the number the Border Guard agency had requested, as fears of illegal migration rise:

A blaze near one of Russia’s major airports was reported in the early hours today after an auto repair shop caught fire in Domodedovo, reported RIA news agency.

The size of the fire is 1,000 square metres, the report added.

It gave the address of the repair shop, which is 10 kilometres away from the Domodedovo airport.

Videos of the fire posted online show thick black smoke and a flame, seen from hundreds of metres away.

Two explosions were heard before the fire, according to posts on Russian social media.

At least two military drones headed towards Moscow have been downed in the early hours today by Russia’s air defence systems, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The two combat drones were flying towards the city, the mayor said.

“At about four o’clock in the morning, air defense shot down two strike UAVs flying towards the city. One in the Kaluga region, the other in the Central Ring Road,” the mayor wrote on his Telegram channel.

This is the second such attack in 24 hours as the defence ministry had said a similar interception was made yesterday.

German prosecutors have arrested an officer of the military procurement agency on suspicion of passing secret information to Russian intelligence, the federal prosecutor’s office said.

The German national, whom the prosecutor’s office identified only as Thomas H, repeatedly approached Russia’s consulate in Bonn and embassy in Berlin from May on his own initiative and offered his cooperation, the office said.

“The Federal Prosecutor has arrested a German officer on suspicion of working for a foreign secret service,” wrote Justice Minister Marco Buschmann on social media. “Vigilance is the order of the day.”

Germany, one of the largest providers of military hardware to Ukraine, is a major target of Russian spying operations, which have grown in scale since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, authorities have warned.

On one occasion, the man handed over information obtained during the course of his work with the intention that it be passed to a Russian intelligence service, the federal prosecutor’s office said.