Ukraine-Russia war: US intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers; drone fragments found on NATO soil (2024)

The US is looking at establishing logistics hubs in Black Sea countries to speed up the supply of weapons to Kyiv, an aide to Vladimir Putin has said.

Nikolai Patrushev claimed Washington would also seek to deploy modern long-range weapons at the hubs.

Mr Patrushev, the former chair of Russia's Security Council, also said Moscow had foiled plans by NATO to set up a naval base in the Sea of Azov -a body of water connected to the Black Sea.

He did not specify what time period he was referring to.

There is no indication of a deliberate attack on NATO territory, an alliance spokesperson has said, after alleged Russian drone fragments were found in Romania (see previous post).

However, NATO said it pointed to "irresponsible and potentially dangerous" incidents of Russian drones entering Romanian airspace.

The alliance has ramped up its monitoring and surveillance measures, including air patrols, in recent days, the spokesperson said.

"While NATO has no information indicating any intentional attack by Russia against allied territory, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous", they said in a statement.

A picture has emerged which purports to show fragments of a Russian "Geran" or Shahed drone lying on the ground in a rural Romanian village.

Romania's defence ministry said earlier that parts of what was believed to be a Russian drone were recovered near the Danube River and the country's border with Ukraine.

The discovery followed more attacks by Russia on Ukraine over the past two nights, the ministry said, which prompted Romania to deploy warplanes to monitor its airspace.

The picture below, from Romanian news site G4Media, has not been independently verified.

Ukrainian forces have struck and damaged Russia's last operational rail ferry in the Black Sea, the UK ministry of defence has said.

According to the MoD's latest intelligence update, the Slavyanin ferry was one of three rail ships able to transit the Kerch Strait between Russia and the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Following other Ukrainian strikes on 29 May, Slavyanin "had been put back into service as the only rail RO-RO [roll-on roll-off] ferry", the MoD said.

It added that the ferry was "highly likely" transporting Russian gas to customers in the Black Sea.

"Rendering RO-RO ferries non-operational, even temporarily, imposes increased costs as well as reducing Russia's flexibility to transport fuel, munitions and equipment across the Kerch Strait," the ministry said.

It added that the attacks had likely forced Moscow to "change its security procedures".

A former mayor of the Ukrainian city of Uman has been killed on the front line, according to reports.

Ihor Taburets, the governor of Ukraine's central Cherkasy region, where Uman city is located, reported the news of Oleksandr Tsebrii's death on Telegram and described it as a "heavy loss".

He said Mr Tsebrii died "defending Ukraine".

The former mayor reportedly joined the Ukrainian military shortly after the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The Netherlands and Denmark are set to deliver 14 refurbished Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the Dutch defence ministry has said.

Both countries in April last year said they would buy the tanks from a third party and get them ready for battle in Ukraine.

The tanks have been completely brought to battlefield standard by German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall after months of testing.

They will be delivered before the end of summer, the ministry said.

"The Leopard 2A4 tanks can help Ukraine gain the upper hand on the battlefield," it said in a statement.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested over the murder of former Ukrainian MP Irina Farion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

An unidentified man opened fire on the 60-year-old in the street in the city of Lviv last week, before fleeing the scene.

"An 18-year-old boy has been detained," the president said of the case.

"The necessary investigative actions and examinations are under way [and] I have instructed the minister of internal affairs to provide all the details to the public."

Ms Farion was famed for her work to ensure the Ukrainian language was used in Ukraine, rather than Russian.

Three more ships from Russia'sBaltic Fleet will arrive in Cuba on Saturday, official media sites have said.

The visit will be the second by Russian naval vesselssince June.

A brief statement by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forcessaid the visit was routine, but back-to-back naval visits by anycountry to Cuba have not occurred in decades.

The Cuban government previously insisted these are friendly visits, and that ships are carrying no nuclear weapons and "there is no threat to the region".

Reports suggested that the nearby US sent sea drones to shadow the Russian vessels the last time they visited in June.

The Kremlin has said it is open to negotiations with Ukraine on ending the conflict while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains in power - despite publicly questioning his legitimacy to rule.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said yesterday during a visit to China that Kyiv was prepared for talks with Russia provided Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected, but conceded that Ukraine had seen no sign of that.

"Russia is generally open to a negotiation process. But first we have to understand how ready the Ukrainian side is for this and how much the Ukrainian side has permission for this from its handlers," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Because so far you see very different statements being made, and it is not quite clear yet. Besides, in addition to the problem with Zelenskyy's legitimacy, there is also a problem with a [Ukrainian] legal ban on having any contacts and negotiations with the Russian side.

"Therefore, there is still a lot to be clarified and clarifications to be heard," he added.

"From a practical point of view we are open to achieving our goals through negotiations. Therefore, different options are possible here."