Latest news with #TwoMajors
NDTV
3 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Russian Commanders Blamed For Ukraine Drone Attack On Bomber Fleet
London: Russian military analysts are hunting for scapegoats after Ukraine stunned Moscow with weekend drone attacks that destroyed a number of strategic bomber planes, weakening a key component of Russia's nuclear arsenal. Aerospace forces commander-in-chief Viktor Afzalov and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu - now secretary of Russia's Security Council - are among those being publicly singled out for blame. The drone strikes have prompted accusations of negligence, complacency and corruption. How was it possible, commentators are asking, for nuclear-capable aircraft to be left exposed, unprotected by hangars, and for Ukrainian intelligence to smuggle the drones within close reach of air bases and unleash them with devastating effect? Two influential military blogs, Voyenkor Kotenok and Two Majors, said Shoigu had promised as far back as April 2021 to build more than 300 reinforced concrete shelters for aircraft, but this had not happened. Military analyst Vladislav Shurygin condemned the "blatant irresponsibility and negligence" of the aerospace command headed by Afzalov, accusing the top brass of failing to anticipate threats and learn from past mistakes. The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another blogger, Roman Alekhin, said the attacks had demonstrated Ukraine's ability to penetrate deep inside Russia with saboteurs. Moscow had underestimated its enemy, he said, comparing the blow to Japan's 1941 attack on the U.S. navy at Pearl Harbor. The heated online debate contrasts with near-silence from the authorities and scant coverage in state media. The Kremlin has said an investigation is underway. President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday condemned what he called terrorist attacks by Ukraine that killed seven people in southern Russia on Sunday, but made no reference to the strikes on the air bases that took place on the same day. BOMBER FLEET Russia operates two types of nuclear-capable heavy bomber planes - the Tu-160 and Tu-95 MS, which NATO calls the Blackjack and Bear-H, respectively. The Federation of American Scientists, in its annual review of Russian nuclear forces, said last month that it estimates Russia has only about 67 strategic bombers in its active inventory, although there is uncertainty about the numbers. It said Russia had historically housed all its strategic bombers at Engels, in the Volga region, and Ukrainka in the Far East. But in 2022, the first year of the war, it redeployed some bombers from Engels to Belaya in Siberia and Olenya in the northern Murmansk region, apparently assuming they would be less vulnerable there to Ukrainian attack. That assumption was disproved on Sunday, when Belaya and Olenya bore the brunt of the Ukrainian attacks. According to Western and Russian analysts, the aircraft that were hit were Tu-95 MSs and Tu-22 M3s - a type of intermediate-range bomber - though it remains unclear exactly how many were taken out. Satellite images of Belaya, obtained by Reuters and reviewed by military experts, showed at least several strategic bombers there were destroyed or badly damaged. Russian analysts estimated a dozen or more aircraft in total were damaged or destroyed at Belaya and Olenya. To replace them, military blogger Colonel Cassad wrote, it was likely that Russia would have to speed up production of the Tu-160 because it was only making four of those every year. Reuters could not verify that figure. Aviation analyst Alexei Zakharov said even if as many as 15 Tu-95 MSs had been taken out, it would only reduce the number of nuclear cruise missiles that Russia was capable of firing by fewer than 100. He noted that strategic bombers are only part of a much larger nuclear force including ground- and submarine-launched missiles. Even so, he said, Russia had learned a lesson that was "offensive and insulting. The main thing is that the right conclusions are drawn from this lesson".
CNN
4 days ago
- General
- CNN
As Ukraine batters Russia with daring assaults, firebrand pro-Kremlin pundits rattle nuclear sabres
How will Moscow respond to the stunning Ukrainian drone strikes on its fleet of strategic aircraft? So far, the Kremlin has stayed tight-lipped, saying only that it is waiting for the results of a formal investigation into the attacks, which struck air bases thousands of miles from the Ukraine border. But fury is being openly vented across the Russia media, with pro-Kremlin pundits and bloggers seething with calls for retribution, even nuclear retaliation. 'This is not just a pretext but a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine,' the prominent 'Two Majors' bloggers said on their popular Telegram channel, which has over a million subscribers. 'After the mushroom cloud you can think about who lied, made mistakes and so on,' they added, referring to the inevitable Kremlin search for scapegoats for the fiasco. At least one prominent Russian political analyst, Sergei Markov, urged caution, warning in a social media post that using nuclear weapons would 'lead to real political isolation'. But popular blogger Alexander Kots demanded Russia should 'strike with all our might, regardless of the consequences.' Of course, Russian hardliners routinely clammer for the nuclear obliteration of Ukraine, while issuing thinly veiled, but ultimately empty threats of Armageddon aimed at the Western allies. The fact they are doing so again, after such a painful series of attacks, is hardly surprising. But it would be wrong to get too complacent and dismiss all Russian nuclear saber-rattling as mere propaganda. In fact, there are some worrying reasons to take the slim possibility of a devastating Russian response a little more seriously this time around. Firstly, several Russian pundits have commented on how Ukraine's destruction of a significant number of Russian strategic nuclear bombers may be interpreted as breaching Moscow's legal nuclear threshold. Video obtained by CNN appears to show Russian combat planes burning on the tarmac following a large scale Ukrainian drone attack. CNN cannot independently verify the location of the videos but a source in the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said the drone strikes targeted four airbases deep inside Russia. The Kremlin's recently updated nuclear doctrine – which sets out conditions for a launch – states that any attack on 'critically important' military infrastructure which 'disrupts response actions by nuclear forces' could trigger a nuclear retaliation. The Ukrainian operation was 'grounds for a nuclear attack,' declared Vladmir Solovyov, a firebrand host on Russian state TV, calling for strikes on the Ukrainian presidential office in Kyiv, and beyond. Whatever the legality, the barrier for a Russian nuclear response remains mercifully high and such a strike is likely to be dismissed in Kremlin circles as an impractical overkill. For a start, it would poison relations with key Russian trading partners like China and India, as well as provoke potential military action against Russian forces. Inevitable mass casualties would be certain to invite universal scorn, further isolating Russia on the international stage. But here's the problem: the Kremlin may now feel overwhelming pressure to restore deterrence. It's not just the recent Ukrainian drone strikes, deep inside Russia, that have humiliated Moscow. Shortly afterwards, Ukraine staged yet another bold attack on the strategic Kerch bridge linking Russia with Crimea – the third time the vital road and rail link has been hit. The capture by Ukrainian forces of the Kursk region in western Russia last year dealt another powerful blow, leaving the Kremlin struggling to liberate its own land. Meanwhile, weekly, if not daily, drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and airports continue to cause widespread disruption far from the front lines. At the same time, Ukraine's allies have been gradually lifting restrictions on the use of Western-supplied arms against Russia, further challenging what were once believed to be Moscow's red lines. Few doubt the Kremlin is itching to respond decisively, but how? One former Russian minister told CNN the most likely response by Moscow would be more 'barbaric' conventional missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities of the kind that the people of Ukraine have already suffered for years. 'There's no other way to go, because Russia does not have the capacity to launch a massive military offensive. They don't have enough personnel for it,' said Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister now living outside of Russia. 'People talk about potential use of nuclear weapons and so on. I don't think this is on the table. But, again, Putin has shown many times that he is resorting to barbarity and revenge.' In other words, highly unlikely, but the nuclear option can't be entirely discounted. This Ukraine conflict has already taken multiple unexpected turns, not least the full-scale Russian invasion itself in 2022. And while Ukraine and its supporters revel in the stunning successes of recent military operations, poking a humiliated and wounded Russian bear may yield dangerous and frightening consequences.
CNN
4 days ago
- General
- CNN
As Ukraine batters Russia with daring assaults, firebrand pro-Kremlin pundits rattle nuclear sabres
How will Moscow respond to the stunning Ukrainian drone strikes on its fleet of strategic aircraft? So far, the Kremlin has stayed tight-lipped, saying only that it is waiting for the results of a formal investigation into the attacks, which struck air bases thousands of miles from the Ukraine border. But fury is being openly vented across the Russia media, with pro-Kremlin pundits and bloggers seething with calls for retribution, even nuclear retaliation. 'This is not just a pretext but a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine,' the prominent 'Two Majors' bloggers said on their popular Telegram channel, which has over a million subscribers. 'After the mushroom cloud you can think about who lied, made mistakes and so on,' they added, referring to the inevitable Kremlin search for scapegoats for the fiasco. At least one prominent Russian political analyst, Sergei Markov, urged caution, warning in a social media post that using nuclear weapons would 'lead to real political isolation'. But popular blogger Alexander Kots demanded Russia should 'strike with all our might, regardless of the consequences.' Of course, Russian hardliners routinely clammer for the nuclear obliteration of Ukraine, while issuing thinly veiled, but ultimately empty threats of Armageddon aimed at the Western allies. The fact they are doing so again, after such a painful series of attacks, is hardly surprising. But it would be wrong to get too complacent and dismiss all Russian nuclear saber-rattling as mere propaganda. In fact, there are some worrying reasons to take the slim possibility of a devastating Russian response a little more seriously this time around. Firstly, several Russian pundits have commented on how Ukraine's destruction of a significant number of Russian strategic nuclear bombers may be interpreted as breaching Moscow's legal nuclear threshold. Video obtained by CNN appears to show Russian combat planes burning on the tarmac following a large scale Ukrainian drone attack. CNN cannot independently verify the location of the videos but a source in the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said the drone strikes targeted four airbases deep inside Russia. The Kremlin's recently updated nuclear doctrine – which sets out conditions for a launch – states that any attack on 'critically important' military infrastructure which 'disrupts response actions by nuclear forces' could trigger a nuclear retaliation. The Ukrainian operation was 'grounds for a nuclear attack,' declared Vladmir Solovyov, a firebrand host on Russian state TV, calling for strikes on the Ukrainian presidential office in Kyiv, and beyond. Whatever the legality, the barrier for a Russian nuclear response remains mercifully high and such a strike is likely to be dismissed in Kremlin circles as an impractical overkill. For a start, it would poison relations with key Russian trading partners like China and India, as well as provoke potential military action against Russian forces. Inevitable mass casualties would be certain to invite universal scorn, further isolating Russia on the international stage. But here's the problem: the Kremlin may now feel overwhelming pressure to restore deterrence. It's not just the recent Ukrainian drone strikes, deep inside Russia, that have humiliated Moscow. Shortly afterwards, Ukraine staged yet another bold attack on the strategic Kerch bridge linking Russia with Crimea – the third time the vital road and rail link has been hit. The capture by Ukrainian forces of the Kursk region in western Russia last year dealt another powerful blow, leaving the Kremlin struggling to liberate its own land. Meanwhile, weekly, if not daily, drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and airports continue to cause widespread disruption far from the front lines. At the same time, Ukraine's allies have been gradually lifting restrictions on the use of Western-supplied arms against Russia, further challenging what were once believed to be Moscow's red lines. Few doubt the Kremlin is itching to respond decisively, but how? One former Russian minister told CNN the most likely response by Moscow would be more 'barbaric' conventional missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities of the kind that the people of Ukraine have already suffered for years. 'There's no other way to go, because Russia does not have the capacity to launch a massive military offensive. They don't have enough personnel for it,' said Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister now living outside of Russia. 'People talk about potential use of nuclear weapons and so on. I don't think this is on the table. But, again, Putin has shown many times that he is resorting to barbarity and revenge.' In other words, highly unlikely, but the nuclear option can't be entirely discounted. This Ukraine conflict has already taken multiple unexpected turns, not least the full-scale Russian invasion itself in 2022. And while Ukraine and its supporters revel in the stunning successes of recent military operations, poking a humiliated and wounded Russian bear may yield dangerous and frightening consequences.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Russians react to Ukraine's unprecedented drone attack - as Kremlin's silence speaks volumes
Ukraine's drone attack on Russia's long-range bombers was unprecedented, not that you'd know it from reading the Russian papers. Nor from watching the news bulletins here. Monday's front pages were dominated by photos of the wreckage of a road bridge collapsing on to a passenger train in the Bryansk region, after it was blown up late on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the flagship talk show on state TV here on Monday morning didn't even mention the attack. Instead, there was just a breathless build-up to the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul. The lack of visual coverage of the drone attack is partly because of the sensitivities around publishing images of Russian military infrastructure. But I think it's also because the Kremlin wants to play down the assault, which was a hugely embarrassing breach of defences. So where the attack is mentioned in the papers, it's done in a way to reinforce Moscow's narrative - that is the aggressor out to derail the peace process. The Izvestia newspaper, for example, describes it as a terrorist attack, and says it "calls into question Kyiv's readiness for de-escalation". There's no reference to the scale of the damage, and there's certainly no sense of alarm. It's a similar vibe on the streets of Moscow, where we meet Irina. She believes the reports of the attack are "exaggerated". "These planes are very old and hardly anyone needs them," she says. Another passer-by, called Vladimir, says he trusts his namesake Mr Putin to respond when the time is right. "This must be done systematically, confidently, and without any kind of nervous breakdowns, or any shows of soul," he says. There is plenty of soul on show on social media, though, where Russia's influential military bloggers are calling for a rapid retaliation. One popular channel, called Dva Mayora or "Two Majors", even said it was "a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine". Others are directing their anger at Russia's military command, accusing the leadership of complacency for storing the planes out in the open. Read more: It all served to overshadow the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul, where the only concrete outcome was another prisoner exchange and the return of 6,000 dead soldiers from each side. And if anything, the outlook for peace now is even more bleak than it was before the talks began. That's because Russia has now presented its blueprint for a settlement, and it seemingly offers no sign of compromise at all. According to Russian media reports, the document is a list of Moscow's maximalist demands, including neutrality for Ukraine, limits to its army, surrender of territory and the lifting of sanctions. Only then, Russia says, would it agree to end the war. The Kremlin itself still hasn't commented on the drone attack - a silence that speaks volumes. Can you imagine Downing Street doing the same if something similar happened in the UK? There will undoubtedly be repercussions at some point, both externally and internally. So, despite the talk being of peace at the talks in Turkey, the mood is still very much one of war.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia creates security strip after ‘breaking' Ukraine
Moscow's forces are trying to create a 'security strip' in the border areas of Ukraine's Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of Russia's neighbouring Kursk region. Ukraine claims it still has a small foothold in Kursk, but has warned for months that Russia is planning an offensive into Putin said in March that Russia should look to carve out a 'buffer zone' in Ukraine's northeastern region to guard against any future Ukrainian cross-border incursions.'Units of the North group of forces have completed the rout of Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Kursk region,' the Russian defence ministry said on Friday. 'The creation of a 'security strip' in the border areas of Ukraine's Sumy region continues.' Analysts say that up to 52 square miles of Sumy is a contested 'grey zone', referring to an area of the battlefield that neither side fully controls. 'Our paratroopers, having broken the stubborn resistance of the enemy, advanced in the area of Loknya and in the border forest belts' in Sumy, Two Majors, an influential Russian war blogger, referring to the area close to the border. A commander of a Russian airborne assault brigade said Ukraine's troops fighting in Sumy were demoralised. 'We have disorganised their command system,' he told Russia's TASS news agency. Oleh Hryhorov, the governor of Sumy, warned on Tuesday that Russia was having little success in carving out a buffer zone, but acknowledged that four border villages in the region were in a 'grey zone' due to Russian attacks. Thank you for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine and the US withdrawing from formal peace talks. We will be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict. Also available in Ukrainian and Russian. More information here. President Trump hoped to achieve a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine by almost reversing the Biden position in this war. That is, by being tough on Ukraine while taking a more conciliatory tone with Russia. He aspired also to achieve improved long-term relations with Moscow in America's interests. The US put forward a ceasefire proposal which Kyiv accepted, despite indications of serious disadvantages to itself in potential negotiations. Russia rejected it. In recent days Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Putin's position, apparently understanding that he has been strung along. Now he has pulled out of a formal mediation role in the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is changing 'the methodology of how we contribute', no longer playing the role of intermediary. This is a major policy change for the US and it remains to be seen exactly what role it will take up. Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of Nato, has proposed that members of the military alliance boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. He has also suggested members commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending to meet Donald Trump's demand for a 5 per cent target, people familiar with the idea told Reuters. Mr Rutte's proposal could allow the US president to declare a win at a Nato summit in The Hague in June while not committing European nations and Canada to a 5 per cent pledge on military spending that many see as politically and economically unviable. The alliance's current defence spending goal is at least 2 per cent of GDP, met by 22 of its 32 members. But leaders across Nato warn that goal is no longer sufficient in the face of the threat of Russia. Ukraine has accused Russian intelligence of orchestrating an assassination attempt on a prominent Ukrainian blogger. A 45-year-old woman carried out the failed hit on internet personality Serhii Sternenko, who is known in Ukraine for crowdfunding donations for military drones, Ukraine's internal security agency, the SBU, said. The woman had fired several shots with a pistol on Thursday, one of which hit Sternenko in the leg, it added. The blogger said there was no danger to his life. The United States will no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia after Vladimir Putin refused to sign up to a ceasefire. The State Department said it is changing 'the methodology of how we contribute' to the talks and will no longer 'fly around the world at the drop of a hat' for meetings. It comes after the US signed a minerals deal with Ukraine on more favourable terms that was originally thought. Donald Trump also reportedly signed off his administration's first round of weapons deliveries to Kyiv. The State Department said that Kyiv and Moscow must now present 'concrete' proposals for ending the war and should meet directly to resolve the conflict. Mr Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with Mr Putin. US intelligence briefings overnight also suggested Mr Putin is now in a weakened position and has shifted his war goals to consolidate gains. Greek authorities have arrested a man in the strategic port city of Alexandroupolis on suspicion of photographing supply convoys on behalf of Russia, police said. The suspect, a 59-year-old Greek of Georgian descent, was arrested in the northeastern city on Tuesday and had a hearing on Friday. The man 'confessed to taking photos and video of military material, acting on behalf of another person to whom he sent the footage via an encrypted application,' the police said. A police source told AFP this week that the man, who has identified himself as a house painter, was targeting military convoys to Ukraine, according to footage retrieved from his cellphone. Two UK universities have suspended their Ukrainian societies as they investigate if they broke charity rules to buy drones that were later sent to Kyiv's troops. The student unions at University College London and Lancaster University suspended the societies after they discovered the purchases, which were made last year, the Financial Times reported. Both unions are UK-registered charities and governed by the Charity Commission. According to the watchdog's rules, 'providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity'. Europe plans to seize and redistribute about 3 billion euros (£2.5billion) of Russia's funds that are frozen, according to documents sources familiar with the matter. The money will be used to compensate Western investors after Moscow seized cash held in Russia in recent months, three people told Reuters, escalating attempts by both sides to recoup billions in funds affected by the war in Ukraine. Euroclear will redistribute 3 billion from a pool of 10 billion euros in cash belonging to Russian entities and individuals hit by the EU sanctions following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The move marks a new level of reprisal by Europe. The EU changed its sanctions regime late last year, allowing a disbursement to Western investors. US officials have prepared a set of options to increase economic pressure on Russia as Vladimir Putin refuses to agree to a ceasefire, according to people familiar with the matter. The sources, speaking to Bloomberg, cautioned that Donald Trump has not yet made a decision and diplomatic efforts are still ongoing. They did not share details on what the options are. Kyiv and its allies have been urging the US to step-up pressure on Moscow, including through expanding sanctions on its energy exports and oil revenues, to force Putin to the negotiation table. Ukraine's parliament will hold a vote on May 8 to ratify a minerals deal signed with the US earlier this week, a lawmaker said on Friday. Washington and Kyiv signed a deal on Wednesday that will give the United States preferential access to new investments in extraction of Ukraine's natural resources, and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak published the date of the upcoming ratification vote on Telegram. Two of the documents related to the deal would not need to be approved by parliament. So that's it, the US will now take a 'hands-off' approach to ending the war in Ukraine. Negotiators will no longer fly around the world at the 'drop of a hat', seeking to broach an agreement between the two warring parties. The signs have been there for days that Donald Trump was tiring of playing peace-maker, as the clock ticks ever further on from the 24 hours in which he had promised to end the conflict. He had dedicated his best people to it for 100 days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week. Other priorities would have to be attended to. In truth, this amounts to an admission that Russia is not playing ball. Ukraine agreed immediately to the US' proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow has only stalled. Also last week, Mr Trump wondered if Vladimir Putin was simply 'tapping him along' in talks. Following that famous, knee-to-knee meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican, he has softened towards Ukraine. The minerals deal is no outrageous rip-off. It recognises that Russia was behind the full-scale invasion. In turning away from the peace process, the president leaves the Kremlin in something of a quandary. According to CNN citing intelligence sources, Putin is now focused on consolidating Russian positions on the battlefield amid a worsening economy. Is Mr Trump also shifting away from his efforts to entice Russia into a grand economic relationship, something he promised if a deal could be struck? That is an overarching ambition of Putin's - he will be eager not to let the chance slip. Will the Russian dictator engage more seriously if the US appears to be once more turning cold? Some in the White House will surely hope so. Equally, Putin could simply continue as he was before the change-over in the White House. Grinding Ukraine down, restocking his army, and waiting for the West to tire of supplying his enemy with arms. The United States will no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the US State Department spokesman, Tammy Bruce, told reporters. Here are her full comments: 'The nature of how this would change is we would not – we certainly are still committed to it and will help and do what we can. But we are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings, that it is now between the two parties. 'And now – now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. 'It's going to be up to them.' Credit: Reuters The day before the US State Department said it would no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the Trump administration approved its first arms exports to Kyiv. Last night, the State Department said it is changing 'the methodology of how we contribute' to the talks and will no longer 'fly around the world at the drop of a hat' for meetings after Vladimir Putin refused to agree to a ceasefire. Yet, the announcement came not long after it was revealed that the Trump administration informed Congress it would approve arms exports worth at least $50million to Ukraine on Wednesday. The permission is the first of its kind since Mr Trump returned to office more than 100 days ago, marking a significant change in its policy, and came just weeks after Washington paused all Ukraine-related military aid for review. The move to send arms to Ukraine followed Washington and Kyiv signing a long-contested rare minerals deal that granted the US preferential access to to exploit Kyiv's vast resources. The war in Ukraine will not end 'any time soon', the US vice president has said. Speaking to Fox News, JD Vance said Donald Trump had brought Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table but that it would now be up to them 'to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict'. 'It's not going anywhere… it's not going to end any time soon,' he added. The Kremlin has expressed a willingness for direct talks with Ukraine, but this week rejected a US peace proposal because it did not grant international recognition to territory seized by its troops. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected recognising Russian annexation of its territory, saying that Vladimir Putin should not be rewarded for his aggression. A Russian drone attack injured 29 people in Zaporizhzhia overnight. Credit: Reuters A commander of a Russian airborne assault brigade told the TASS state news agency that Ukrainian troops fighting in Sumy are demoralised. 'We have disorganised their command system,' the commander was quoted as saying. Two Majors, a Russian war blogger with over 1.2 million subscribers, said Russia was developing an offensive from the villages of Zhuravka to Bilovody. 'Our paratroopers, having broken the stubborn resistance of the enemy, advanced in the area of Loknya and in the border forest belts' in the Sumy region, the blogger wrote today. Deep State, a Ukrainian open-source data project, indicated about 82 sq km of the Sumy region are in a contested zone. Russia is continuing to create a 'security strip' in border areas of Ukraine's Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region of western Russia, state news agency RIA quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying today. It quoted the ministry as saying that in the past week, Russian troops had seized four settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. President Vladimir Putin said in March that Russia should look to create a buffer zone in Sumy region, which borders Kursk. There were 33 clashes in the Kursk direction overnight, according to Ukrainian officials. 'Our soldiers inflicted significant losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, and are also actively undermining the enemy's offensive potential in the rear.' Russian air defences reportedly intercepted 89 Ukrainian drones over occupied Crimea and 23 more over the Black Sea, according to the country's defence ministry. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed leader in Sevastapol, said his forces had repelled 'the most massive combined attack' on the city so far this year. 'Our military worked on all targets over the sea: more than 50 drones were destroyed on approach to Sevastopol, and several sea drones in the waters,' he added. 'No objects were damaged either in the city or in the waters.' Ukraine's parliament will hold a vote to ratify the minerals deal with the US on May 8. MPs were told that two of the three documents in the deal would not need parliamentary ratification. On Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky said the pact was 'a truly equal agreement'. Vladimir Putin has changed his goals in the Ukraine war to solidifying his hold on occupied territory and boosting Russia's economy, according to new Western intelligence. It's a shift from earlier US and western assessments that Putin felt he had the upper hand in the war, as well as the momentum and manpower to take the whole country. Two US sources told CNN the belief Putin has changed his thinking may have influenced Donald Trump's belief the Russian leader is more willing to consider peace now than in the past. Senior US officials remain suspicious that Putin might try and seize the rest of Ukraine in the long-term. 'I think that he may be thinking - I don't want to say thinking smaller - but thinking about what a reasonable nearer-term objective is,' a senior western intelligence official told CNN. Russian strikes wounded more than 30 people in Ukraine overnight, officials said on Friday. 'Twenty-nine people were wounded as a result of a nocturnal attack by the enemy,' on the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram, adding that a 13-year-old boy was amongst the victims of the drone strike. 'The Russians have struck the city's civilian infrastructure. Residential buildings, a university, and an infrastructure facility have been damaged,' Fedorov wrote. Two men were also wounded in a Russian drone attack in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, with fires breaking out at two locations, Governor Sergiy Lysak said on Telegram. Ukraine's national railway company said its locomotive repair plant in Zaporizhzhia was 'subjected to a massive attack' overnight, which sparked a fire that raged for hours. No injuries were reported. The abrupt dismissal of Mike Waltz, the White House's national security advisor, following the high-profile Signal group chat scandal, marks the first major shake-up in President Trump's inner circle during his second term and signals uncertainty for US policy toward Ukraine. Shortly after news of Signal-gate broke, Politico reported that the president was considering dismissing Walz, who mistakenly added a journalist to a classified group chat. But sources close to the White House told the website that Mr Trump was desperate not to give the 'liberal' press a scalp. One offered a prediction: 'They'll stick by him for now, but he'll be gone in a couple of weeks.' Just over a month later, Mr Walz is gone. The dismissal will be met with a measure of anxiety in Kyiv. Mr Walz infamously compared Ukraine to a mule that needed to be beaten over the head with a wooden plank; he spoke of Volodymyr Zelensky, the president, as a spurned girlfriend. But insiders felt that those comments were designed to ensure he did not add to Mr Trump's suspicions he was too close to Ukraine, too willing to agree to its demands and too swift to criticise Vladimir Putin. For now, Mr Trump has appointed Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Mr Rubio, too, has a history of supporting Ukraine. But there remains the chance that Mr Trump could elevate a more Maga-friendly candidate in the end, perhaps even Steve Witkoff, the peace negotiator who has come out of his series of meetings with Putin with little but an apparent appreciation for the 'graciousness' of the Russian dictator. Moscow accused Kyiv of launching a drone strike on a crowded market in Russian-controlled southern Ukraine on Thursday, claiming at least seven civilians were killed and over 20 injured. Vladimir Saldo, the region's Russian-installed governor, said the drones had struck a market in the town of Oleshky at around 9.30 am local time during a public holiday. He and two social media users released videos purporting to show some of the incident. Reuters confirmed the location as Oleshky, but could not independently verify when they were filmed. Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, said Kyiv had targeted Russian troops in part of Kherson region controlled by Moscow and that only military personnel, and not civilians, had been killed. France and Poland are set to sign a defence pact in the face of Russian aggression and amid uncertainty over the US commitment to protecting Europe. Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk will sign the treaty in the French city of Nancy on May 9, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the Financial Times reported. The French President has mooted offering Paris' nuclear umbrella to Europe, which Mr Tusk, Poland's Prime Minister, has signalled is a possibility he could explore. No agreement on the French bomb is expected in Nancy. 'Tusk is also sending now a message to Washington, our main ally for so many years,' Aleksander Olech, a security analyst at Defence24, a Polish think-tank told the FT. 'It is a clear signal that Poland is not only dependent on the US but can also have other strong nuclear allies.' Poland borders both Ukraine and Russia and has ramped up its defence spending since Putin's invasion. Warsaw plans to spend 4.7 per cent of its GDP on defence this year. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
