Ukraine war latest: Moscow’s airspace closed as ‘Ukrainian drone attack’ hits city building; dramatic assault on Russian training base

By admin On Aug 18, 2023

Key points

Sean Bell analysis

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07:45:44 Are you a Ukrainian refugee in the UK? We want to hear from you

More than 160,000 Ukrainians came to the UK after the outbreak of war – and many have settled here.

If you’re one of them, we want to hear from you about your experiences here in the UK, how you’ve been welcomed, your plans for the future as war rages on in your homeland and your view of the conflict.

You can get in touch via WhatsApp here – and we may feature you in this blog.

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07:55:01 Video shows ‘moment drone hit Moscow building’

A video circulating on social media purports to show the moment debris of a Ukrainian drone hit a building in Moscow overnight.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed the destroyed drone fell on the Russian capital’s Expo Center complex.

In the footage, there is a small explosion followed by smoke billowing from the building.

Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko posted the video – originally from the pro-Kremlin Mash Telegram channel – on social media platform X:

07:35:01 First ship to use Ukraine’s ‘humanitarian corridor’ in Black Sea nears destination

The first ship to travel from Ukraine through a temporary Black Sea corridor is now crossing Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, according to a witness.

The Hong-Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte container vessel left the port of Odesa earlier this week after having been stuck there since the start of Russia’s invasion.

Last week, Kyiv announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release ships trapped at its ports after Moscow pulled out of a UN-brokered deal to allow the safe export of grain from Ukraine to the rest of the globe.

Moscow has not said whether it would respect the shipping corridor, which will primarily be used to evacuate stuck vessels.

Local media suggest the Joseph Schulte will anchor at Ambarli port in southern Istanbul.

07:20:01 US approves sending F-16s to Ukraine – but not yet

Washington has signed off on sending modern F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands, but the move is not slated to happen anytime soon.

The US has said it will expedite approval of transfer requests for the jets when pilots are trained, an official said – a process which could take months.

The F-16 jets are US made, meaning the White House must approve their transfer from allies to Ukraine.

A coalition of 11 countries was scheduled to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the warplanes in Denmark this month. The country’s acting defence minister said last month that “results” from the training were expected in early 2024.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken wrote to his Danish and Dutch counterparts saying “it remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty”.

Yesterday, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said it was unlikely Kyiv would receive F-16s to bolster its counteroffensive this year.

But military analysts have suggested this wouldn’t be a disaster, with the jets unlikely to prove decisive.

07:04:43 Pro-Russia history books coming to schools in occupied Ukraine – MoD

Schools in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine will receive a new textbook praising Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the UK’s defence ministry said.

In its daily update on the war, the MoD said the book will also describe Ukraine as “an ultra-terrorist state”.

Moscow is aiming to “erode Ukrainian national identity” and create a pro-Russian narrative in occupied territory, it said.

The MoD reported that Sergey Kiriyenko, first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, visited schools in occupied Donetsk earlier this week to “check their integration into the Russian education system”.

06:48:54 Ukraine ‘also targeted Black Sea warships’, Russia claims

Reports of a Ukrainian “drone attack” on Moscow overnight came hours after Russia’s defence ministry claimed a separate attempted assault on its Black Sea fleet.

The ministry said two Russian warships repelled a Ukrainian attack with an unmanned boat near Crimea last night.

Patrol ships “Pytlivy” and “Vasili Bykov” reportedly fired at the Ukrainian boat and destroyed it.

06:37:05 Head of Russian military group says Russia ‘won’t topple Ukraine in short term’

The commander of a Russian separatist group said Russia won’t be able to topple Ukraine’s military in the short-term and called for a freezing of the conflict.

Alexander Khodakovsky, who leads the “Vostok” battalion, said Russian forces “are unlikely to easily occupy additional Ukrainian cities”, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

He suggested Russia would need to come to a “truce” and that it would enter a phase of “neither peace nor war” with Ukraine.

But military analysts have long said a ceasefire along current frontlines would only serve to benefit Russia.

The ISW thinktank, which provides daily analysis of the conflict, said: “Khodakovsky suggested that Ukraine would be sufficiently weakened in this state of frozen conflict and that Russia would be able to exert more influence over Ukraine in such a situation than it currently can.”

His comments echoed those made earlier in the year by Wagner paramilitary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, and come after Ukrainian troops managed to liberate the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region two days ago.

They suggest “recent Ukrainian advances may be significantly weakening confidence in the Russian defence along the wider front in southern Ukraine”, the ISW added.

06:25:01 Scene in Moscow after ‘Ukrainian drone hits building’

Pictures have emerged from Moscow this morning after officials claimed Ukraine attempted a drone attack on the city in the early hours.

Investigators are working near a building which was damaged when the drone was reportedly shot down.

Police have also secured the scene near the “attack” site.

06:13:09 UK signs £90m air defence contracts for Ukraine

The British ministry of defence has signed three contracts worth over £90m to provide Ukraine with air defence equipment.

The biggest of the three is a £56m pound contract for uncrewed aerial systems, also called UAS equipment, with Norwegian defence company Kongsberg.

It will pay for vehicle-mounted counter-drone systems for Ukraine to use in order to detect, track, destroy and disrupt Russian UAS.

Uncrewed aerial systems are a broad category, covering electronic warfare, guiding artillery, and night operation equipment.

An example of the equipment the deals will provide is the CORTEX Typhon system, which can be operated by as few as two users. It can be quickly deployed and repositioned at a moment’s notice.

The other two deals are also for air defence, but the defence ministry hasn’t given any specific details.

The deals have been arranged as part of the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), which has so far raised over £770m globally to spend on lethal and non-lethal military support for Ukraine.

Outgoing defence secretary Ben Wallace has said the IFU “highlights the unity and resolve of our allies to work together to provide Ukraine with cutting-edge equipment to meet its capability requirements.”

06:02:30 Good morning

It’s day 541 of the war in Ukraine – welcome back to our live coverage with all the latest updates.

Russian officials claimed overnight that a Ukrainian drone damaged a building in Moscow after being shot down by air defences, briefly halting air traffic around the capital.

No casualties were reported.

Kyiv is yet to comment on the latest accusation that it has targeted Russian territory with drones.

Here’s a round-up of what’s happened over the past day:

Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko claimed Russia is not pushing him into the war, adding that Belarus would only use Russia-supplied nuclear weapons if it is attacked first;NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg gave an apparent slap on the wrist to his chief of staff for suggesting Ukraine may have to give up land for NATO membership – Stoltenberg insisted it’s up to Kyiv to choose when to negotiate;US-supplied vehicles have been hit for the first time in the Donetsk region, according to Russian state media;Russia continued its crackdown on anyone who doesn’t tow the Kremlin line. Authorities opened a criminal investigation into the country’s last independent election watchdog, and fined Google for failing to delete “false information”;And a Ukrainian air force official admitted F-16 fighter jets are not part of the country’s defence plan for the rest of this year, in part because the West has not yet committed to supplying them.

02:32:12 Drone shot down in Moscow, say Russian officials

A Ukrainian drone attack has hit a building in Moscow, causing a blast that was heard across the city’s business district, Russian officials have said.

A witness who was in the area told Reuters it was “a powerful explosion”.

According to Russian state media agency TASS, Moscow’s airspace has been closed as a result.

In a statement the Russian defence ministry said: “The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), after being targeted by air defence weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment area of Moscow.”

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram that “debris of the UAV fell down in the area of Expo centre,” he said referring to a large exhibition space in central Moscow, about 3 miles away from the Kremlin.

It “did not cause any significant damage to the building”, he added.

A video published by Russian media outlets showed thick smoke rising next to skyscrapers.

There has been no immediate comment from Kyiv.

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