Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s Black Sea ship hit by sea drones as Romania issues border warning

NATO member Romania has found new fragments of a drone deemed similar to those used by the Russian army near its border with war-torn Ukraine, in the third such finding in a week, defence officials said.

Two helicopters from the Romanian Air Force were deployed with specialist teams to Nufaru and Victoria in the eastern county of Tulcea where the fragments were spread over an area of “several tens of meters,” the Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.

It said in a separate statement that it has notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations about areas near the border that could be at risk of incidents as Russian forces attack Ukraine’s Danube River ports across the river from Romania.

Boris Johnson has called on Rishi Sunak to give Ukrainians the tools they need to “get on with killing Russians and expelling the invader from their land”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former prime minister detailed meetings he has had with injured soldiers, which made him “feel aghast at the pain” being caused by Vladimir Putin.

And he said he does not understand why the UK is “dragging our feet”.

Writing in The Spectator, Mr Johnson said: “Why are we always so slow? How can we look these men in the eye, and explain the delay?

“Throughout this war we have underestimated the Ukrainians and overestimated Putin, and we are doing the same today.”

Mr Johnson, a hero to many in Ukraine because of his steadfast backing for the country while PM, called for “strategic patience” and “a far greater sense of urgency” in sending military aid.

Referring to sending weapons, he added: “We are talking about a relatively trivial outlay for such extraordinary potential reward.”

“I have asked it before, and I ask it again: what the hell are we waiting for?” he said.

Russia’s influence over Ukraine’s energy supply is “severely diminished” as a major nuclear company continues to diversify its fuel sources, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Nuclear supplies Ukraine with half of its electricity and Energoatom’s success in sourcing and installing Western fuel “is a major waypoint in Ukraine’s long-term decoupling from Russia,” the MoD said in a statement.

The MoD said: “On 10 September 2023, Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, announced it had a successfully refuelled a reactor at its Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) using Western-produced nuclear fuel assemblies.

“All of Ukraine’s NPPs have reactors based on Soviet designs and until February 2022 it relied on Russia for nuclear fuel. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has accelerated plans to diversify its supply.

“With nuclear energy supplying approximately half of Ukraine’s electricity, Energoatom’s success in sourcing and installing Western fuel is a major waypoint in Ukraine’s long-term decoupling from Russia whose influence over Ukraine’s energy supply is severely diminished.”

Russian air defences destroyed 11 hostile drones over Crimea on Thursday morning, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying.

Ukraine said it downed 17 out of 22 Russian drones attacking its territory overnight in the country’s south, centre and north.

“On the night of September 14, 2023, from 9pm to 2.30am, the Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with several groups of Shahed-136/131 type (drones) from three directions,” Ukraine‘s air force said in a post on Telegram.

Russia has increasingly turned to the Shahed, a cheap Iranian kamikaze drone, which is more expendable and can confuse air defences with its smaller size and low speed after initially planning to gut Ukraine with missiles.

At least five Ukrainian sea drones attacked a Russian navy ship in the Black Sea today and were destroyed, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying.

Another 11 hostile drones were destroyed over Crimea this morning by Russian air defences, Russia’s defence ministry said.

This comes just 24 hours after Ukraine fired 10 cruise missiles on Crimea’s Sevastopol city, damaging Russian warship and submarine.

Ukraine damaged two Russian naval vessels and struck port infrastructure in yesterday’s strike on Crimean city of Sevastopol, in what appeared to be the biggest attack of the war on the home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet.

Retired Ukrainian navy captain Andriy Ryzhenko said: “It really is the biggest attack on Sevastopol since the beginning of the war.”

He said Ukraine may have used domestically made Neptune anti-ship missiles that had been modified to work against ground targets. British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles were another possibility, he said.

Sky News cited military sources as saying Storm Shadows were used in the attack, and similar claims have been made by Russian military bloggers.

Sevastopol is home to the Black Sea Fleet which the Kremlin uses to project power into the Middle East and Mediterranean and – during the war in Ukraine – to impose a de facto blockade on Ukraine’s seaborne food exports via the Turkish straits.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he is “especially” grateful to Ukraine’s pilots in his nightly address. Earlier in the day, Russian-backed officials blamed Ukraine for a missile attack on Sevastopol in Crimea.

“One more thing. As always, I want to thank our warriors. Today, I am especially grateful to our pilots. Well done, guys! We are all proud of you,” Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraine said it struck Russian naval targets and port infrastructure early yesterday in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, in what appeared to be the biggest attack of the war on the home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet.

A Ukrainian intelligence official said a large vessel and a submarine struck in the attack were so badly damaged as to be likely beyond repair.

The strike on Crimea, seized and illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, was confirmed by Moscow. It highlighted Kyiv’s growing missile capabilities as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine from afar with long-range missiles and assault drones.

Russian anti-aircraft units downed drones overnight in two regions of southern Russia, Bryansk and Belgorod, the Russian military and news agencies reported today.

At least five drones had been downed over Bryansk region and one over Belgorod region. No casualties or damage were reported. Both regions border Ukraine, Russian news agencies, quoting local officials and the defence ministry, said.

Traffic has been suspended on the bridge connecting the Crimea peninsula to mainland Russia, the RIA news agency reported today.

No reasons have been given for halting the traffic, it said.

A day earlier, the major Crimean naval city Sevastopol came under heavy missile attack from Ukraine, injuring dozens.