Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,081
Fighting:
Russian air defence units intercepted and destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. About half of the drones were destroyed over the Kursk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry added.
Ukraine's air force on Saturday said they shot down 67 of 139 Russian drones launched, while another 71 disappeared from radar without reaching their targets.
An underwater Russian Baltic Sea telecoms cable was damaged by an 'external impact', Russia's TASS news agency said, citing the country's state-owned company Rostelecom. Restoration work is under way and the incident did not affect subscribers.
Ukraine's military said it downed a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft near the town of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast on Saturday.
Diplomacy
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will connect to the European Union's power grid on Sunday after they seamlessly severed Soviet-era ties with Russia's network, a shift motivated by security concerns.
US President Donald Trump said he spoke to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the telephone to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, The New York Post reported late on Saturday. 'He [Putin] wants to see people stop dying,' Trump added.
Russia is yet to see any positive steps from the new US administration on disarmament, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, said. However, he added that Russia is 'ready to maintain smooth relations of cooperation with any American administration'.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in line with the treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang, its army and people will 'invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity'.
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Russia, Ukraine begin swap of young and wounded prisoners of war
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