Russia-Ukraine war live: Nato chief warns of no swift end to war; Russian missiles hit agricultural facility in Odesa
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Nato chief: prepare for ‘a long war in Ukraine’
Jens Stoltenberg has warned there will be no swift end to the Ukraine war, in an interview published on Sunday, as Kyiv pushes on with its counteroffensive against Russia, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany’s Funke media group.
“Therefore we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine.”
Kyiv launched its counteroffensive in June, pushing back against entrenched Russian positions in the south and east, but it has made limited gains.
“We are all wishing for a quick peace,” said Stoltenberg.
“But at the same time we must recognise: if president [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians stop fighting, their country will no longer exist.
“If president Putin and Russia lay down their weapons, we will have peace.”
On Ukraine’s ambitions to join the alliance, Stoltenberg said: “There is no doubt that Ukraine will eventually be in Nato.”
Kyiv had “moved closer to Nato” at a summit of the alliance in July, he said, according to AFP.
“When this war ends, we need security guarantees for Ukraine. Otherwise, history could repeat itself,” he added.
At the July summit in Vilnius, Nato leaders agreed that Ukraine could join the alliance once certain conditions are met, and US and German officials made it clear that these would include Kyiv carrying out reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law.
Key events
A series of Ukrainian drone attacks have struck Crimea, and drones also targeted Moscow, disrupting air traffic in the capital, and caused a fire at an oil depot in the south-west of the country, Russia’s defence ministry says.
One of the drones damaged an oil depot in southwestern Russia early on Sunday, sparking a fire at a fuel tank that was later extinguished, the regional governor said, according to Reuters.
Ukraine in recent days has launched a series of strikes on Russian military targets in occupied Crimea and the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet’s facilities, seeking to undermine Moscow’s war efforts in the critical region.
Attacks deep inside Russia, far from the frontlines, have also increased, with Moscow’s mayor saying at least two drones were shot down in the capital region early on Sunday.
Reuters could not independently verify Sunday’s reports and there were no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Russian air defence systems destroyed at least six drones targeting Crimea from different directions, Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday.
The report on the Telegram messaging app did not say whether there was any damage or casualties in the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in a broadly condemned move in 2014, eight years before Moscow’s full-fledged invasion.
At about 1.45 am (2215 GMT Saturday) a drone was intercepted over Moscow’s Istrinsky district, the defence ministry said in a Telegram post.
“There was no damage or casualties at the site where the debris fell,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote in a separate Telegram post.
In southwestern Russia, the governor of the Oryol region, Andrei Klychkov, said on Telegram there were no casualties at the oil depot, either. He did not specify whether the depot was hit by debris or targeted by the drone.
Russian TASS state news agency reported that at least 24 flights were delayed at Moscow’s major airports – a frequent move by aviation authorities during drone strikes on the capital.
Back now to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s rare trip abroad to Russia, where the North Korean leader is continuing his now week-long train journey.
Reuters reports Kim and Russia’s defence minister discussed practical issues to boost military cooperation, North Korea’s state KCNA news agency said on Sunday, in what Pyongyang calls a “fresh heyday” for bilateral relations.
During his visit to Russia, Kim inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, accompanied by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The trip by the North Korean leader comes as “a fresh heyday of friendship and solidarity and cooperation is being opened up in the history of the development of the relations between the DPRK and Russia,” state KCNA news agency said, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Continuing his now week-long train journey, Kim will go to several food enterprises, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Sunday.
Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early on Sunday, targeting chiefly the southern parts of the Odesa region and hitting an agriculture facility there, Ukraine’s Air Forces said on the Telegram messaging app, Reuters reports.
The Air Force said that Russia launched six Iranian-made Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles, with Ukraine’s forces destroying six drones and six missiles before they hit their target, the Air Force said.
The situation in Odesa and its ports has been watched carefully by grain markets. Kyiv said on Saturday that two cargo vessels arrived there to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.
“Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups and other means of attack were involved in repelling the air attack,” the Air Force said.
The extent of the damage was not immediately known and it was not clear what facility was hit. The Air Force said only that emergency services were on the site.
Reuters could not independently verify the report and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
The entire territory of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for several hours.
Nato chief: prepare for ‘a long war in Ukraine’
Jens Stoltenberg has warned there will be no swift end to the Ukraine war, in an interview published on Sunday, as Kyiv pushes on with its counteroffensive against Russia, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany’s Funke media group.
“Therefore we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine.”
Kyiv launched its counteroffensive in June, pushing back against entrenched Russian positions in the south and east, but it has made limited gains.
“We are all wishing for a quick peace,” said Stoltenberg.
“But at the same time we must recognise: if president [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians stop fighting, their country will no longer exist.
“If president Putin and Russia lay down their weapons, we will have peace.”
On Ukraine’s ambitions to join the alliance, Stoltenberg said: “There is no doubt that Ukraine will eventually be in Nato.”
Kyiv had “moved closer to Nato” at a summit of the alliance in July, he said, according to AFP.
“When this war ends, we need security guarantees for Ukraine. Otherwise, history could repeat itself,” he added.
At the July summit in Vilnius, Nato leaders agreed that Ukraine could join the alliance once certain conditions are met, and US and German officials made it clear that these would include Kyiv carrying out reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Christine Kearney and here’s an overview of the latest.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has warned there will be no swift end to the Ukraine war, in an interview published Sunday, as Kyiv pushes on with its counteroffensive against Russia.
“Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany’s Funke media group.
“Therefore we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early on Sunday, targeting chiefly the southern parts of the Odesa region and hitting an agriculture facility there, Ukraine’s Air Forces said on the Telegram messaging app.
More on those stories shortly. In other news:
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The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers and hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles on Saturday, accompanied by Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu in Knevichi, about 30 miles (50km) from the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. Shoigu saluted Kim and they discussed practical issues in stepping up military cooperation.
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North Korea may be able to boost Russia’s supply of artillery munitions for the war in Ukraine, but that is not likely to make a big difference, the top American military officer said as he arrived in Norway for Nato meetings. The head of the US military, Gen Mark Milley, said the recent meeting in Russia between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin will probably lead North Korea to provide Soviet-era 152mm artillery rounds to Moscow. But he said it was not yet clear how many or how soon, AP reported.
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Russia on Saturday denied a Ukrainian claim to have recaptured the devastated eastern village of Andriivka, a stepping stone on the way to the city of Bakhmut. “The enemy … unsuccessfully trying to oust Russian troops from the population centres of Klishchiivka and Andriivka,” the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing.
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Ukraine will be able to conduct more attacks on Russian ships, a Ukrainian minister who has played a key role in building the country’s drone industry told Reuters after a recent series of sea raids. “There will be more drones, more attacks, and fewer Russian ships. That’s for sure,” the digital transformation minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in an interview on Friday.
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Russia will probably be able to build a significant stockpile of air-launched cruise missiles and use them to target Ukrainian infrastructure over the coming winter, the UK Ministry of Defence says. In its latest intelligence update, the ministry said air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) – particularly the modern AS-23a Kodiak – were at the heart of most of Russia’s long-range strikes against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023.
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A body has been found in Ukraine in the search for a British man who was reported missing a month ago. Daniel Burke, 36, from south Manchester, was reported missing on 16 August by family who had not heard from him believing that he had travelled to Ukraine. Officers searching for Burke have been informed by Ukrainian authorities that they have found a body.
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Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said on Saturday they planned to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, including one belonging to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament, said the nationalised properties would be sold “soon” and the authorities had held the first eight auctions for the properties of Ukrainian business figures, Reuters reports.
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Donald Trump enjoyed hearing that he had drawn praise from the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, the former US president and frontrunner for the 2024 Republican White House nomination has said. Told during a recorded interview with the new NBC Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker that Putin had fawned over his stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump replied: “I like that he said that. Because that means what I’m saying is right.”
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