Kremlin welcomes Trump’s description of Russia as ‘war machine’
Moscow welcomed Donald Trump’s comments on Russia being “a war machine” that had defeated Napoleon and Hitler, but said it had reservations about the ex-president returning to the White House.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, was responding to a question about comments Trump said he made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call last week.
“This is a war machine you’re facing. That’s what they [the Russians] do they fight wars. They beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon. We got to get this war over with,” Trump told Mr Zelensky.
Mr Peskov said that while it would be useful for an American audience to be aware of the “many glorious pages” in Russia’s history, he was under no illusions of what a new Trump presidency would look like.
“We have never worn and do not wear rose-coloured spectacles. [Trump] is a representative of the U.S. political elite, which is now all absolutely suffering from total anti-Russian sentiment,” said Mr Peskov.
“When he was president, under Trump, the Americans started this sanctions race, under Trump a huge number of sanctions were imposed against our country, and in this respect he is not much different for us from everyone else.
“Maybe he shows a little more political wisdom in terms of maintaining channels of dialogue. But de facto it does not have a special impact on anything, and we should be aware of that,” said Mr Peskov.
03:32 PM BST
Blog closed
That’s it for today’s blog - thanks for following. Here is a look at the day’s main stories:
Explosions were reported near Russia’s Saky airfield in occupied Crimea after an apparent Ukrainian Atacms missile and drone attack.
Russian state news has broadcast a video of a Russian citizen confessing to maiming a military officer in a car bombing in Moscow on orders from Ukraine’s spy agency.
A blast at the East Urengoy gas condensate field in the Russian Arctic region of Yamal-Nenets has killed one worker and injured nine others.
Russia overnight attacked Ukrainian energy facilities in two regions with drones, disrupting electricity supplies.
Russian state news has broadcast a video of a Russian citizen confessing to maiming a military officer in a car bombing in Moscow on orders from Ukraine’s spy agency.
03:25 PM BST
Comment: It’s just a matter of time until the Kerch bridge falls and Crimea is cut off
The Battle of the Azov Sea is tilting to Ukraine. It’s only a matter of time until the Kerch Bridge falls, writes Tom Sharpe.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is having a torrid time.
First, the Fleet has lost a third of its ships, either sunk or destroyed – a brutal casualty rate, though not particularly high by Russian standards. Second, last week the final remaining Russian warship left Sevastopol harbour, which had been the Black Sea Fleet’s main base since 2014. Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk suggested we should “remember this day.” Reinforcing the sense of retreat and defeat, the same spokesman has just informed us that there are no longer any Russian warships in the Sea of Azov, the inland sea connected to the Black Sea lying to the north and east of the Crimean peninsula.
The Azov is an important piece of water. It lies right next to Crimea, Vladimir Putin’s “Holy land”, which was once surrounded by Russian-controlled waters and now is not. The Azov’s northern shore is held by the Russian army – this is the “land bridge” connecting pre-2014 Russia to Crimea. Russian troops on the long front line along the Dnipro and from Zaporizhzhia to Donetsk have their backs to the Azov, but until now they could at least feel reassured that their navy was behind them. No more.
03:12 PM BST
Finland suspects Russian vessel of territorial violation
Finland suspects a Russian vessel of territorial violation in the Nordic country’s waters on Friday, the Finnish government said.
“The Border Guard is investigating the incident and will provide further information as the investigation progresses,” the Finnish defence ministry said.
The incident took place in the eastern Gulf of Finland, it added.
Finland last month said four Russian military planes had violated its airspace on June 10.
03:00 PM BST
Kremlin welcomes Trump’s description of Russia as ‘war machine’
Explosions were reported near Russia’s Saky airfield in occupied Crimea after an apparent Ukrainian Atacms missile and drone attack.
Witnesses described hearing the powerful sound of detonating ammunition at the military base in the early hours of Friday morning.
After the initial explosions, secondary detonations could be heard, suggesting that ammunition was “cooking off” and exploding after the first hit.
Astra, a Russian Telegram channel, said that Ukraine had fired four US-donated Atacms missiles, citing emergency services sources.
The channel also claimed a missile had hit an air defence location about three miles from the airfield, destroying a radar station.
Saky military base is the home of Russia’s 43rd naval assault regiment. Its Su-30 and Su-24 fighter jets are regularly used to carry out strikes on Ukraine.
Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s air force, shared a cryptic message after the strikes, saying: “Eternal memory.”
Ukraine has heavily targeted Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, in a bid to drive Moscow’s forces out of the highly strategic peninsula.
02:19 PM BST
Scholz ‘concerned’ by German citizen sentenced to death in Belarus
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is aware of the case of a German national sentenced to death in Belarus and is “concerned”, a government spokesperson said on Friday.
Germany confirmed last week that a German citizen had been sentenced to death in Belarus. Belarusian human rights group Viasna identified him as Rico Krieger and said his charges related to terrorism and mercenary activity.
“Like the entire federal government, he [Scholz] is concerned about these events,” a German government spokesperson said.
Mr Krieger has described himself as an emergency services worker and on Thursday reportedly asked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a major ally of Vladimir Putin, to forgive him.
Russian state news agency Tass claimed Mr Krieger confessed that Ukraine’s SBU security service instructed him to photograph military sites in Belarus and to plant a backpack on train tracks near to the caoital of Minsk that later exploded, but hurt no one.
“I truly hope that President Lukashenko will forgive and pardon me,” Mr Krieger was reported as saying.
01:56 PM BST
Russia jails two ‘pro-Ukrainian saboteurs’ for 15 - 22 years
Russia on Friday jailed two men for allegedly plotting to blow up fuel tanks at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on orders from Ukraine’s secret services.
The men, Mikhail Dariy and Ilya Kovylkov, were sentenced to 22 years and 15 years respectively on “terrorism” and other charges.
Mr Dariy said that he did not go through with the planned attack because he wanted to minimise civilian casualties, local media reported.
Prosecutors said Ukrainian intelligence officers offered the men $2,000 to carry out the attack using a drone, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
They were also accused of being in touch with the Freedom of Russia Legion, a unit of pro-Kyiv fighters that includes Russian citizens and has made armed border incursions into Russian territory throughout the conflict.
Since launching what it calls a “special military operation” in 2022, Russia has opened dozens of such cases against those it says are collaborating with Ukraine or trying to undermine the Russian army.
01:22 PM BST
EU ready to send €1.5bn to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets
The EU on Friday said €1.5 billion (£1.2 billion) had been made available to support Ukraine, the first chunk of money earned from profits on Russian frozen assets.
EU member states had agreed in May to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian central bank assets to help arm Ukraine and fund its post-war reconstruction.
The EU froze around €200 billion euros of Russian central bank assets held in the bloc as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The EU stands with Ukraine. Today we transfer 1.5 billion euros in proceeds from immobilised Russian assets to the defence and reconstruction of Ukraine,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
01:17 PM BST
‘Drunk’ Russian tank crew run over car, killing driver
A Russian tank has run over a civilian car in the village of Berezovka in the Belgorod Oblast region of Russia, killing the driver, according to local reports.
Pepel, a Belgorod-based Telegram channel, said the tank ran over a Lada Niva car that was travelling on the main road and obeying traffic regulations.
“As the tank exited a turn, it did not give way to the car and ran it over,” Pepel reported, adding that the tank crew may have been intoxicated and “were laughing in his [the victim’s] face”.
An investigation into the incident said the car driver died from heart failure.
12:48 PM BST
Watch: Ukraine’s ‘Atacms missile’ attack on a Crimean airbase
Footage shows the moment Ukraine attacked a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea with drones and missiles believed to be US-supplied Atacms.
Explosions can be heard, while a large fireball erupts above the Saky military base. Telagram channels reported significant damage to the airfield and an ammunition depot.
12:28 PM BST
Hungary says it is being ‘blackmailed’ by Ukraine over oil flows
An aide to Hungary’s prime minister on Friday accused Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by halting oil deliveries.
Slovakia and Hungary have increased pressure after they said last week they had stopped receiving raw material from Russian group Lukoil via Ukraine due to Kyiv placing the company on a sanctions list.
On Monday, they asked the European Commission to use an association agreement, based on which they said Ukraine could not block oil transits.
“Ukraine is blackmailing the two countries that are standing for peace and ceasefire,” Gergely Gulyas told a news conference. “If the situation is not resolved, there will be a fuel shortage... A solution must be found by September.”
12:03 PM BST
Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers break from fighting in Donetsk
11:55 AM BST
Kremlin welcomes Trump’s ‘Russia is a war machine’ comment
The Kremlin on Friday welcomed Donald Trump’s comments on Russia being “a war machine” that had defeated Napoleon and Hitler, but said it was not wearing “rose-tinted spectacles” when it came to the US Republican presidential candidate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was aware that Trump represented a political elite which held anti-Russian views.
11:24 AM BST
Moscow car bomb suspect ‘claims he blew up Russian officer for Ukraine’
Russian state news has broadcast a video of a Russian citizen confessing to maiming a military officer in a car bombing in Moscow on orders from Ukraine’s spy agency.
The handcuffed man, named by Russia’s FSB security service as Yevgeny Serebyrakov, had been brought to Russia from Turkey and handed over to investigators.
In the video, published by Russian outlet Ria, the man claimed he was told to carry out Wednesday’s attack by an officer of Ukraine’s SBU whom he met in Istanbul.
Several Russian news outlets named Andrei Torgashov and his wife as the two victims of the bombing, which was filmed on CCTV that showed a parked Toyota Land Cruiser exploding into a fireball.
The alleged intelligence officer, who Russian media reported was on Ukraine’s online target list, lost his feet in the explosion, while the woman received shrapnel wounds.
Mr Serebyrakov said he had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence last year and asked to kill “an officer” with a homemade car bomb.
He was promised Ukrainian citizenship and $10,000-20,000 dollars as a reward for his work, he claimed. There has been no immediate comment from Ukraine on the new claims.
10:43 AM BST
Pictured: Ukraine shoots down Russian drones above Kherson
10:26 AM BST
Blast at Russian gas field kills worker
A blast at the East Urengoy gas condensate field in the Russian Arctic region of Yamal-Nenets has killed one worker and injured nine others.
The cause of the explosion is being investigated, Russian technical watchdog Rostechnadzor said on Friday.
The facility is operated by a company controlled by Russian state-owned Rosneft. The explosion occurred while crews were preparing to repair some equipment.
10:24 AM BST
Chinese and Russian officials meet after vowing to counter ‘extra-regional forces’
China and Russia’s foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts on Friday after vowing to counter “extra-regional forces”, a day before Washington’s top diplomat was due to arrive.
Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov were attending a three-day meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in the Laos capital of Vientiane.
Both held talks with counterparts from the bloc, while Mr Wang also met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
On Thursday, Wang and Lavrov agreed to work together in “countering any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs”, according to Moscow’s foreign ministry.
They also discussed implementing “a new security architecture” in Eurasia, Lavrov said in a statement, without elaborating.
09:43 AM BST
Watch: Ukraine repels massive Russian assault including tanks and motorbikes
A Ukrainian brigade has claimed to have blown apart one of Russia’s largest single armoured assaults, featuring 11 tanks, 45 armoured vehicles and 12 motorcycles.
Footage released by the 79th Air Assault Brigade appears to show artillery fire and first-person-view drones smashing into the advancing column of Russian armour, while mines also help stop its progress.
“As a result of the battle, our paratroopers knocked out six tanks and seven BBM [armoured personnel carriers] with infantry. All 12 motorbikes were burnt,” the brigade wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Read more on the attack here.
08:48 AM BST
Russia to punish soldiers using phones on front line
Russia’s parliament has approved an amendment that would allow commanders to punish soldiers using their mobile phones on the front line.
The rule was passed to stop the transmission of any information via phones or navigation devices that could be used to identify any Russian troops or their location.
The law states any possession of a device that allows military personnel to store or send video, photos or geolocation data on the internet is punishable by up to 15 days imprisonment.
Ukraine has previously been using videos shared by Russian soldiers to help locate troop positions across occupied territory.
08:20 AM BST
US can send additional $2bn in arms to Ukraine after accounting error
The Pentagon can send military aid worth another $2 billion (£1.4 billion) to Ukraine after it found accounting errors in its calculations for ammunition, missiles and other equipment already sent to Kyiv.
It takes the total of improperly valued material to $8.2 billion (£6.3 billion), a US government report revealed on Thursday. The US department of defence has faced challenges in accurately valuing defense articles sent to Ukraine.
In 2023, the Pentagon said staff had used “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” to calculate the billions in materials sent to Ukraine. The $6.2 billion (£4.8 billion) error created a path for billions more to be sent to Kyiv.
Now, another $2 billion more in overstatements have been found. As a result, arms worth an additional $2 billion can be sent to Ukraine to cover the amount of aid approved by the Biden Administration.
08:09 AM BST
Nato rules out ‘intentional attack’ after Russian drone debris found in Romania
Romania said it had confirmed that fragments of a Russian drone entered its territory, one day after Russia targeted Ukraine with a bombardment of 38 long-range drones.
Ukraine’s air force said that three of the drones “were lost after crossing the state border with Romania”.
Nato said it saw no sign of a deliberate act of aggression towards the alliance’s territory but called such acts by Moscow “irresponsible”.
“While Nato has no information indicating any intentional attack by Russia against Allied territory, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” a spokesman said in a statement.
It added that Nato had increased its presence in the Black Sea region in recent days.
07:59 AM BST
Russian drone attacks target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Russia overnight attacked Ukrainian energy facilities in two regions with drones, disrupting electricity supplies.
Power supplies have, however, been already restored to most consumers in the northern Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, Ukraine’s national power grid operator Ukrenergo said.
Kyiv’s air force claimed to have destroyed 20 out of the 22 Russian attack drones launched overnight. Most of the drones were shot down in the Kherson, Sumy, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions.
The governor of the Chernihiv region said that some infrastructure and a dormitory were damaged during the attack on the town of Nizhyn, without giving further details.
Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector have intensified since the spring, resulting in blackouts in many regions and forcing Kyiv to start large-scale electricity imports from the EU.
07:57 AM BST
Watch: Moscow car bomb ‘targets Russian military officer’
Footage shows the moment a man, believed to a Russian intelligence officer, and his wife were targeted in a car bombing attack in Moscow on Wednesday.
Both received significant injuries and were taken to hospital. A Russian man has been arrested and allegedly confessed, in a video published by Russian state news, to have acted on orders from Ukraine.
07:43 AM BST
Hello and welcome to our live coverage
We’re bringing you all the latest from the war in Ukraine.
