Ukraine says it ‘successfully’ hit Russia’s air defence system in Crimea – live

The first US-made F-16 fighter jets the Netherlands will provide to Ukraine will arrive in Romania within two weeks, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said.

“I expect the Patriot missiles to be delivered shortly, to aid Ukraine in the upcoming winter. And the same speed applies to the F-16s,” Mr Rutte said during a video conference with Volodomyr Zelensky posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“The first ones will be shipped to the training centre in Romania within the next two weeks so that day we will get ready for further training.”

Thyroid cancer, Parkinson’s disease, leprosy or declining in the aftermath of a stroke – just a few of the many unproven ailments rumoured to have afflicted the Russian leader in recent years.

Just this week, the Kremlin were forced to deny rumours that Vladimir Putin had suffered a cardiac arrest in his bedroom, months after they were forced to deny that he had soiled himself.

Since gripping the reins of power in 1999, Putin has established himself as one of the most infamous politicians in modern history, with a vicelike grip over Russia.

Read the full story from Holly Evans here…

Ukraine’s Armed Forces have said they “successfully hit a strategic object of the air defence system” in Crimea’s west while Russian military bloggers speculated the US-provided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) behind the attack.

And, the Russian Ministry of Defence said its air defence systems destroyed eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles over Crimea in a fresh assault on the territory which Kyiv claims is a strategic target in its counteroffensive push.

Several Russian sources said that the latest attack was carried out using “combined” long-range assault weapons like ATACMS, Storm Shadow missiles and sea drones between Sunday and yesterday.

If confirmed, this would be the first time Ukraine has used the top-tier missile system provided by the US to hit targets on the Crimean coast.

Citing Russian insiders and military bloggers, the Washington-based think-tank the Institute for the Study of War said that the alleged Ukrainian ATACMS strike damaged vehicles and radar systems near Olenivka and killed or wounded more than 20 Russian servicemen.

“The insider source also claimed that Russian officials did not report on the Ukrainian ATACMS strike but chose to instead issue statements about the downing of Storm Shadow missiles and drones,” it said in its assessment but did not verify the claims.

The Russian air defence systems destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry wrote on Telegram on Sunday, accusing Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist attack”.

In a separate incident, local officials in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region near the Black Sea said an oil refinery was hit and set ablaze in the early hours of Sunday but did not explain what caused the fire. Several local media outlets said that the fire was caused by a drone strike or a crashed drone’s debris.

Officials in Kyiv have not issued a comment on the Russian defence ministry’s claims. The war-hit nation rarely acknowledges responsibility for attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied territories but has admitted that striking targets there helps its counteroffensive.

The recent months have seen drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions and illegally annexed Crimea peninsula as a regular part of the continuing military offensive.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged on Sunday to put an aid package for Israel on the floor this week without aid for Ukraine.

Mr Johnson, whose Republican colleagues unanimously voted to make him speaker on Wednesday, called the package of support for Israel in the wake of a terrorist attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 people a “pressing and urgent need.”

“There are lots of things going on around the world that we have to address and we will. But right now, what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention, and I think we’ve got to separate that and get it through,” he said on Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.

“There are enough problems on both sides and in general the situation is now seriously stalemate: no one can do anything and substantively strengthen or advance their position,” Mr Lukashenko said.

“They’re there head-to-head, to the death, entrenched. People are dying,” he said over the weekend.

This marks the first time the Belarusian president has come forward seeking truce in the conflict and called for a “stop” command.

“We need to sit down at the negotiating table and come to an agreement,” Mr Lukashenko said in a question and answer video posted on the website of the Belarusian state news agency BelTA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that anti-Jewish unrest in Russia showed that Moscow’s moral foundation had become so contaminated by hate that it was no longer capable of scoring a “strategic” victory.

Zelensky said the storming on Sunday of an airport in southern Russia by protesters looking for Jewish passengers was the second time this year Moscow had lost control over events, after an abortive uprising by Russian mercenaries in June.

The airport riot in mainly Muslim Dagestan, Zelensky said in his nightly video address, showed Russia “had contaminated its own territory with such a level of hatred and degradation that for the second time this year in Russia, control over events is being lost.

“When insurgents head to Moscow and no one stops them and there is a breakdown of the power system in Dagestan, a real pogrom occurs,” he said, a reference to unrest targeting a specific group.

“These are all signals that Russia can, for the time being, sustain military action and increase pressure on the front lines in some places, but is not capable of withstanding this confrontation strategically,” he said, referring to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict and “consult on next steps in our support for Ukraine“ with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to London later this week, a White House official said on Monday.

Harris will also attend a summit and deliver a speech on artificial intelligence.

The United States on Monday condemned violent antisemitic events that have been reported in Russia threatening Israelis and Jews after rioters in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region stormed an airport to “catch” Jewish passengers on board a flight from Tel Aviv.

Videos obtained by Reuters from the airport at Makhachkala, the regional capital of Dagestan, showed the rioters, mostly young men, waving Palestinian flags, breaking down glass doors and running through the airport on Sunday evening.

Police said they had arrested 60 people in connection with the unrest and identified 150 of the most active participants.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington condemned the incident, and said he had seen videos of events he said “looked like a pogrom to me.”

“We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia,” Miller said at a regular press briefing.

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia blame Ukraine after Rioters in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region stormed an airport to “catch” Jewish passengers on board a flight from Tel Aviv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the violence was the result of “outside influence” and that “ill-wishers” had used images of suffering in Gaza to stir people up. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, accused Ukraine of a “direct and key role” in preparing the “provocation”.

At least 60 people have been detained after a huge crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters entered the airport in search of Jewish passengers.