New US Abrams tanks will 'burn', says Kremlin

Moscow has vowed to “burn” the US Abrams tanks that arrived in Ukraine yesterday as it downplayed their significance on the battlefield.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “All this can in no way affect the essence of the SVO [special military operation] and its outcome.

“There is no panacea and no one type of weapon that can change the balance of power on the battlefield.

“Abrams tanks are serious weapons, but... these too will burn.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has said the tanks will be used to reinforce brigades, while Kyle Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, claims they will be deployed on “breakthrough operations”.

It is unclear how many Abrams have arrived in Ukraine, but Washington has pledged to deliver 31 in total. Yesterday’s shipment is thought to be less than half that number.

03:35 PM BST

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03:29 PM BST

Russian admiral 'killed in Crimea' appears in Kremlin video

The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, whom Ukraine claimed to have killed in a recent missile strike, has appeared in a video released by the Russian defence ministry.

Ukrainian special forces said yesterday that Viktor Sokolov, Moscow’s top admiral in Crimea, had been killed in an attack on Sevastopol last week.

The strike is also thought to have left two Russian commanders, Col Gen Alexander Romanchuk and Lt Gen Oleg Tsekov, in a serious condition.

While the Kremlin has declined to comment on the claim, the defence ministry on Tuesday published footage of Sokolov apparently attending a conference with other military chiefs via video link.

The admiral was only shown for a few seconds at a time and did not speak in the footage distributed by state news agencies. In one shot, he seemed to be asleep.

03:14 PM BST

Air defence now the priority for Ukraine, says senior US official

Western governments have reportedly placed air defence systems “at the top of the list” of military aid to Ukraine as Russia gears up for winter attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, Joe Barnes writes.

The shift in strategy was pushed by Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, at a recent meeting of Kyiv’s supporters at the Ramstein air base in Germany, according to a senior US official.

“Air defence, air defence, air defence… a key focus for all of the allies that are providing security assistance,” the official said.

They warned that Russians were “big fans” of “starving or freezing Ukrainians to death”.

Read the full story here.

02:51 PM BST

Pictures: Ukraine's 10th Mountain Assault Brigade on the Donetsk front line

02:19 PM BST

Ukraine 'clarifying information' after Sokolov footage released

Ukrainian special forces say they are “clarifying” whether the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet was killed in a missile strike on Sevastopol last week.

The group wrote on Telegram: “Available sources claim that among the dead was the commander... Many still have not been identified due to the disparity of body fragments.

“Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish an answer with an apparently alive Sokolov, our units are clarifying the information.”

It comes after Russia’s defence ministry released footage apparently showing Viktor Sokolov appearing at a military conference via video link.

01:56 PM BST

Suspected spy ring accused of plot to abduct Russian targets

A court has heard how a suspected spy ring is accused of plotting to abduct Russian targets while operating in the UK for two and a half years, Max Stephens writes.

Five Bulgarians, three men and two women, are charged with conspiring to collect information that would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February this year.

Read the full story here.

01:35 PM BST

Pictured: Sokolov seemingly attends military conference

01:17 PM BST

Ukrainian drone strike plunges Russian villages into darkness

Several villages in Russia’s Kursk region were left without power this morning after a Ukrainian drone reportedly struck an electricity substation.

Kursk governor Roman Starovoit said: “A Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on an electricity substation in the village of Snagost in Korenevsky District. Seven settlements were left without power.

“None of the residents were injured. Emergency crews will start restoring power as soon as the situation allows.”

The region, which borders Ukraine, has been a frequent target for drone attacks allegedly coordinated by its eastern neighbour.

Ukraine’s energy minister warned last week that Russia had resumed a campaign against its power stations, which left millions without electricity and water last year.

12:59 PM BST

Watch: Ukraine tests underwater suicide drone

12:46 PM BST

Priest arrested for allegedly selling on Russian weapons

A priest who reportedly attempted to sell on anti-aircraft missiles that he stored in a church has been arrested by Ukraine’s security services.

The SBU said in a statement: “He secretly sold weapons and ammunition that remained after the escape of the [Russians] from the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“It is documented that the cleric kept enemy arsenals in two vaults. One of themis right on the territory of the construction of a new UOC church in Kherson.

“SBU employees arrested him ‘red handed’ - after gradually documenting an attempting to sell two portable ‘Igla’ anti-aircraft missile complexes with accessories.”

12:33 PM BST

Abrams tanks are 'serious weapons', Moscow admits

The Abrams tanks that arrived in Ukraine yesterday are “serious weapons” but will make little difference on the battlefield, the Kremlin has said.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “All this can in no way affect the essence of the SVO [special military operation] and its outcome.

“There is no panacea and no one type of weapon that can change the balance of power on the battlefield.

“Abrams tanks are serious weapons, but remember what the president [Vladimir Putin] said about other tanks made in another country. Well, these too will burn.”

11:59 AM BST

Watch: Inflatable Russian tanks spotted in Zaporizhzhia

11:44 AM BST

Sokolov 'appears in defence ministry photo'

Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, apparently attended a video conference today with the defence minister despite reports of his death.

In footage released by the defence ministry, which has not been independently verified, the admiral was pictured with Sergei Shoigu and other navy and army chiefs.

Ukraine’s special forces said yesterday they had killed Sokolov along with 33 other officers in a missile attack last week.

11:35 AM BST

Kremlin: No comment on reports of Sokolov's death

The Kremlin has declined to comment on Ukraine’s claim that it killed the Black Sea Fleet commander, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, in a missile strike last week.

The Institute for the Study of War noted earlier today that “the Russian command would be able to easily disprove Ukrainian reporting if these reports are false”.

11:21 AM BST

Pictures: Wounded Ukrainian soldier returns from Donetsk front line

11:05 AM BST

Missile that exploded in Poland 'launched from Ukraine'

A missile that killed two people in southern Poland in November was fired by Ukraine, investigators believe.

Rzeczpospolita reports the explosion in the village of Przewodow was caused by an S-300 5-W-55 air-defence missile fired from Ukrainian territory.

One source quoted by the newspaper said: “This rocket has a range of 75 km to 90 km. At that time, the Russian positions were in a place from which no Russian missile could reach Przewodow.”

Ukraine has denied that one of its missiles landed in Poland.

10:54 AM BST

Key crossing to Romania bombed

Two people have been injured and dozens of vehicles damaged in a Russian attack on the port of Izmail, according to reports.

Footage of the strike on Orlivka, which lies just across the Romanian border, shows a fireball engulfing the cargo terminal as the cameraman dives for cover.

Firefighters were later seen hosing down the remains of trucks and shipping containers, which appear to have been melted by the heat of the blast.

A port building, storage facilities and more than 30 trucks and cars were damaged in the two-hour attack, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

It comes as British intelligence warned that attacks by Kyiv on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet was weakening its ability to impose a blockade.

10:33 AM BST

Under half of Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine

Fewer than half of the 31 Abrams tanks pledged by the US to Ukraine have arrived in the country so far, a Ukrainian military official tells The Washington Post.

US defence officials yesterday declined to reveal how many of the armoured vehicles had been supplied, but said it was the first of a number of shipments.

10:22 AM BST

Pictures: War crimes prosecutors visit site of Russian drone strike

09:55 AM BST

Source: Another cargo vessel leaves Black Sea port

Another cargo ship has left a Ukrainian Black Sea port despite Russia’s de facto blockade, an industry source claims.

Two bulk carriers left the port of Chornomorsk last week via a “humanitarian corridor” established by Kyiv through Nato-controlled waters.

09:51 AM BST

'Sanctions can bury the Russian economy'

Stricter sanctions could “bury the Russian economy”, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has said, after Moscow doubled its yearly defence spending target to more than $100 billion.

Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram: “Russia is betting on war and is ready to invest everything it has in killing Ukrainians.

“In such conditions, sanctions can finally bury the Russian economy, because with such expenses for the war in the future, the Russian Federation has no chance to avoid economic collapse.

“Sanctions should accelerate it - lay the foundations of decline.”

09:41 AM BST

Russia 'creating new brigades to break deadlock'

Russia is building up new brigades in a bid to break through Ukrainian defensive lines in the Donbas, according to reports.

Izvestia, a Russian news outlet, said the units will be made up of assault troops intended to pierce layered defences, and will be equipped with tanks, artillery and drones.

It follows the assessment by Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday that Moscow had shown “minimal capability” in launching offensives in Ukraine.

09:31 AM BST

Watch: Russian drone strike hits key Ukrainian crossing to Romania

09:23 AM BST

Black Sea Fleet 'is a chicken without a head'

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is a “chicken running around without a head” after its commander was killed in a missile strike, Ukraine’s navy has claimed.

Spokesman Dmytro Pletenchu said on national television: “At this moment, they [Russia] lost the person who actually manages all of this, and his staff, who manages the fleet together with him.

“This is a large grouping that requires a great number of managers to run all the processes to make it work as a single mechanism. Imagine that the core part of this mechanism becomes inoperable.”

Ukraine’s special forces said yesterday that Admiral Viktor Sokolov had been killed in a barrage on the Black Sea Fleet base in occupied Crimea last week.

09:12 AM BST

Russia launches repeated counterattacks in Donetsk

Ukraine says it has held off repeated Russian counterattacks in Donetsk, as Moscow appears to intensify its attempts to regain lost positions.

The armed forces said in a statement: “In the direction of Bakhmut, our defenders successfully repelled five enemy attacks in the Klishchiivka area of the Donetsk region.

“The Defence Forces repelled enemy attacks in the ares of Avidiivka and Severny settlements of the Donetsk region.

“The enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the Marinka district of the Donetsk region, where he made 10 unsuccessful attempts to dislodge our units from occupied positions.”

08:55 AM BST

Pictured: Trail of destruction in Klishchiivka after intense fighting

08:44 AM BST

Six dead after shelling in Kherson

Six people have been killed in Kherson after Russia targeted “residential quarters” of the region, its governor Oleksandr Produkin has said.

He added that ten others were injured in the strikes, which also hit a pharmacy, a market and a number of educational institutions.

08:38 AM BST

Russian bloggers: Wagner is back in Bakhmut

Former Wagner troops absorbed into Russia’s defence ministry have returned to fight in Bakhmut, according to pro-Russian bloggers.

Fighters with the mercenary group took the eastern city after a months-long siege in May, which has since become a focus of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

The Rybar Telegram said: “The first PMC [private military company] units began to return to Bakhmut to carry out a counterattack on previously lost positions.”

The reports have not yet been verified by The Telegraph.

08:19 AM BST

Watch: Rare film of a camera-shy young Putin on holiday in the Nineties

When Vladimir Putin is away from the Kremlin, his spin doctors like to show him riding on horseback while topless or putting in a man-of-the-match performance at an all-star ice hockey contest, Joe Barnes writes.

But previously unseen footage released by YLE, Finland’s national broadcaster, paints a different portrait of the former KGB spy turned autocratic leader.

In amateur footage, shot in the early 1990s, a young Putin is seen wearing a vest and blue Adidas shell suit, slightly overweight and with unkempt hair.

Read the full story here.

08:16 AM BST

'Orlivka drones did not cross the Romanian border'

A ferry crossing from Orlivka is apparently out of operation following a Russian drone strike that left two wounded and damaged dozens of vehicles.

It connects to Isaccea in Romania via the Danube River, although a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Defence Forces said the drones did not cross the border.

08:13 AM BST

Pictures: Devastation after drone strike on Orlivka crossing

08:07 AM BST

Russia launches waves of 'unsuccessful' attacks on Klishchiivka

Ukraine has repelled counterattacks on its eastern front while attempting to advance in the south, according to its General Staff.

A spokesman said its forces had repelled five assaults in the area of Klishchiivka, a key settlement south of Bakhmut it retook earlier this month.

He added that Ukraine was “continuing their offensive operation, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops... and exhausting the enemy” as it pushed towards Melitopol.

It comes after Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday noted the effectiveness of Russia’s defences but said commanders had shown “minimal capability” in launching assaults.

08:01 AM BST

Ukraine 'reaches Novoprokopivka after artillery strikes'

Kyiv has reached the outskirts of the village of Novoprokopivka, pro-Russian bloggers have said, as it continues its three-pronged attack in the south.

According to the WarGonzo Telegram channel: “In the Zaporizhzhia direction, the Ukrainian armed forces, after powerful artillery strikes, reached the northern outskirts of Novoprokopivka.

“They also move from the northeast through the forest belt.”

According to military analysts, Ukraine is mounting attacks on the settlement from Robotyne, which it recaptured last month. It also assaulting the north and west of Verbove.

07:55 AM BST

Ukraine makes ‘tactical breakthrough’ after breaching Russian defences

Military analysts say Ukrainian forces have achieved a “tactical breakthrough” after punching through Russia’s main defensive line on the southern front, Joe Barnes writes.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a United States-based think-tank, said elements of three Russian divisions were actively defending against Ukrainian assaults, one of which breached Russian defences west of Verbove, in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The breakthrough appeared to be a continuation of an earlier breach late last week, when Western armoured vehicles were filmed penetrating the defensive line for the first time.

Read the full story here.

07:54 AM BST

MoD: Attacks on Black Sea Fleet 'weakening Russian blockade'

Ukraine’s strikes on the Russian Black Sea Fleet have weakened its ability to enforce its de facto blockade on the country, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

It said in an intelligence update: “The physical damage to the BSF is almost certainly severe but localised. The fleet almost certainly remains capable of fulfilling its core wartime missions of cruise missile strikes and local security patrols.

“It is, however, likely that its ability to continue wider regional security patrols and enforce its de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports will be diminished.

“It also likely has a degraded ability to defend its assets in port and to conduct routine maintenance.”

07:51 AM BST

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