Ukrainian forces have recaptured the tactically important village of Klishchiivka on the southern flank of the key frontline city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian president said on Sunday night. Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the soldiers fighting near Bakhmut and singled out those who had retaken Klishchiivka, saying “Well done!” in his address. The battle inflicted “powerful damage” on Russian forces, Ukrainian troop spokesperson Ilia Yevlash said.
Russian forces downed three Ukrainian drones over south-western Crimea on Sunday evening, the Russia’s defence ministry said. Air defence systems destroyed one drone an hour after it said its forces downed another two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the same area. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, home to Russian’s Black Sea Fleet, said debris from the downed third drone fell over farmland and no damage was done.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was on his way home from Russia on Sunday, ending a six-day trip that triggered global concerns about weapons transfer deals between the two countries. Kim began his journey back onboard his armoured train from the Primorye region in Russia’s far east after a farewell ceremony at the train station, Russian state news agency RIA said. After entering Russia on Tuesday in his first overseas trip in more than four years, Kim met Russian president Vladimir Putin, visited key military and technology sites and pledged to step up military and economic cooperation.
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. US army Gen Mark Milley, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said the recent meeting between Kim and Putin would 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.
US oil and gas multinationals are facing fresh questions over their trade with Russia after Russian customs records revealed that more than $7.1m (£5.7m) worth of equipment manufactured by Halliburton has been imported into the country since it announced the end of its Russian operations. Last September Halliburton, one of the world’s largest providers of products and services for oil and gas exploration, sold its Russian office to local management amid pressure on all US companies to cease their trade after the invasion of Ukraine.
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.
The US expects to announce additional aid to Ukraine next week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, while announcing that the US president, Joe Biden, would host Zelenskiy next Thursday at the White House. The Ukrainian leader was also expected to meet with congressional leaders from both political parties.
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.
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) were at the heart of most of Russia’s long-range strikes against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023.
Poland is set to ban the entry of passenger cars registered in Russia starting on Sunday, state-run Polish news agency PAP has reported. Poland’s interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said the ban was a further part of sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Moscow has dismissed as “politically motivated” the conviction of Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin in a US court for participating in a $93m insider-trading scheme, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.
