Ukrainian drones hit Russian munitions depot
A Russian munitions depot in the region of Voronezh was hit by multiple drones overnight, according to Ukrainian security sources.
The unnamed sources said Saturday that Kyiv believed the depot was being used to transfer munitions and equipment to Ukraine.
Alexander Gusev, the province’s Russian governor, said in a statement on Telegram that “explosive objects” had detonated after a fire in the region’s Ostorogozhsky district.
He said there had been no casualties, but that a state of emergency had been declared locally, with several hundred people evacuated and a major road closed.
The Ukrainian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the operation was conducted by the SBU, Ukraine’s internal security service.
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04:58 PM BST
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We'll be back tomorrow with the latest updates on the war.
04:36 PM BST
Ukraine mourns dead from major Russian strike
Funeral services were held Saturday for victims of one of the deadliest Russian airstrikes since the war in Ukraine began, as Ukraine’s president vowed to increase domestic military production by creating underground weapons factories.
The funerals took place in the eastern Ukrainian city of Poltava for the victims of a Russian missile attack on a military training facility that left over 50 dead and more than 300 injured.
Hundreds of mourners, including grieving families, local residents, and officials, gathered at the Cathedral of the Assumption in the city, some 350 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Kyiv, for the solemn ceremony. Sobbing relatives, many holding red carnations, stood over caskets placed outside the church, draped in yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flags. An air raid siren sounded during the service.
Local residents knelt in silent tribute as hearses carrying the victims passed by on their way to a military cemetery outside the city for burial.
03:56 PM BST
Pictured: Georgia Meloni meets Volodymyr Zelensky
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, reaffirmed her strong support for Ukraine Saturday after talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, as he visited allies to press for more weapons to fight Russia.
"We must not give up on Ukraine," Ms Meloni said after the meeting on the sidelines of an economic forum in Cernobbio, northern Italy, which focused on reconstruction and efforts to end the war with Russia.
Mr Zelensky had on Friday addressed the European House-Ambrosetti forum, hours after pressing for more weapons at a meeting of allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where Washington unveiled $250 million in new military aid.
Ms Meloni's government - which this year holds the rotating G7 presidency - has been among the strongest supporters of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
03:24 PM BST
Ukraine sounds alarm over Iranian ballistic missiles sent to Russia
Ukrainian officials have said they are “deeply concerned” over reports that Iran has been supplying Russia with ballistic missiles.
US and European officials have confirmed for the first time that at least 200 Iranian missiles with a range of up to 500 miles have now been sent to Russia.
“This is not the end,” a senior European official told the Wall Street Journal, adding that Iranian missiles are expected to continue to flow to Russia.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Saturday that the deepening military co-operation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, as well as the “whole [of] Europe and the Middle East,” and called on the international community to increase pressure on Tehran and Moscow.
02:36 PM BST
Russian drone downed outside Ukraine’s parliament
Debris from a downed drone was found next to Ukraine’s parliament building after an overnight Russian air attack, according to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force said earlier Russia launched 67 drones in a nationwide overnight attack, 58 of which it was able to shoot down.
The air force said in a statement on the Telegram app that air defence units were scrambled into action in 11 regions across Ukraine.
Reuters correspondents in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, heard a series of explosions shortly after 3 a.m. (00:00 GMT) on Saturday, some of which resounded loudly around the city centre.
02:20 PM BST
Ukraine hits munitions depot in Russia with drone
Ukrainian drones hit a munitions depot in the Russian region of Voronezh overnight, a Ukrainian security source told Reuters on Saturday, adding that Kyiv believed the depot was being used to transfer munitions and equipment to the frontline.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation was conducted by the SBU, Ukraine’s internal security service.
“At this moment, there are still four pockets of a powerful fire observed at the site, as well as the unceasing detonation of munitions,” the source said.
The source said the facility was in the village of Soldatskoe.
02:01 PM BST
US concerned over ‘deepening’ Iran-Russia alliance
Iran sends weapons to Russia across the Caspian Sea, writes James Kilner. In return, it receives oil, space technology support and Russian fighter jets.
Sean Savett, a US National Security Spokesman, said that Washington was concerned about Iran’s intensifying alliance with Russia.
“We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports,” he said.
Iran has officially denied that it is supplying missiles to Russia but US officials told media that increased sanctions on Tehran were likely.
01:34 PM BST
UK spy chief says ‘too early’ to say how long Ukraine can hang on in Kursk
The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign spy agency, Richard Moore, said on Saturday that it was “too early” to say how long Ukrainian forces would be able to hang on in Kursk, the part of Russia where they now occupy some land.
William Burns, the CIA Director, speaking at an FT event which Mr Moore also attended in London, called Ukraine’s Kursk offensive in Russia “a significant tactical achievement”.
12:55 PM BST
Ukraine concerned over reports of possible Iranian missile transfer to Russia
Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Saturday it was deeply concerned by media reports about a possible impending transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia.
In a statement emailed to reporters, the ministry said the deepening military co-operation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, Europe and the Middle East, and called on the international community to increase pressure on Tehran and Moscow.
12:25 PM BST
Zelensky discusses peace plan with Geert Wilders
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he met Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest Dutch parliamentary party, at the Ambrosetti forum in Italy.
“Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Netherlands and the entire Dutch people for their comprehensive support of Ukraine: defence, financial and humanitarian,” a statement on Mr Zelensky’s website said.
The statement added that the two men discussed Ukraine’s peace plan for ending the 30-month war with Russia.
12:05 PM BST
Washington: Russia building unit dedicated to sabotaging underwater cables
Russia has increased its military activity aimed at sabotaging key undersea cables, US officials told CNN.
Moscow is building up a military unit consisting of a fleet of surface ships, submarines and naval drones, dedicated to underwater operations, the officials told the US broadcaster.
They warned that as a result Russia is now more likely to carry out sabotage operations on key underwater arteries of the world’s communications infrastructure.
“We are concerned about heightened Russian naval activity worldwide and that Russia’s decision calculus for damaging US and allied undersea critical infrastructure may be changing,” a US official told CNN.
“Russia is continuing to develop naval capabilities for undersea sabotage mainly through Gugi (General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research) a closely guarded unit that operates surface vessels, submarines and naval drones.”
11:47 AM BST
Ukraine says forces hit Russian ammo depot
Kyiv on Saturday said it had struck an ammunition depot in a Russian region bordering Ukraine where a large fire broke out overnight after a drone attack.
The Russian governor of the Voronezh region said debris from a downed drone triggered a fire and series of explosions, ordering the evacuation of nearby settlements.
Russian anti-air defence systems "detected and neutralised a drone" early on Saturday morning over the western part of the region, under 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Ukraine, Alexander Gusev wrote on Telegram.
11:14 AM BST
Zelensky discusses peace plan with Meloni
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, discussed his peace plan to end the war with Russia and reconstruction with a focus on Ukraine’s energy system in a meeting with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, he said in a post on social media platform X.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy.
10:50 AM BST
Listen: ‘We have stopped Russia in the East’
10:29 AM BST
Moscow: Russian troops take Kalynove in Ukraine’s Donetsk region
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had taken Kalynove, a village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, Russian new agencies reported.
10:12 AM BST
Three killed by Russian shelling of Ukraine’s Kostyantynivka
Three people were killed and three others wounded by Russian artillery shelling of the town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, according to Vadym Filashkin, the Donetsk region governor.
Three men aged between 24 and 69 were killed and a multi-storey block, administrative building and a shop were damaged, Filashkin said in a post on the Telegram social media platform.
09:49 AM BST
Meloni: Italy will never waver in decision to support Ukraine
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said on Saturday that Italy would never waver in its support for Ukraine, and that the current stalemate in the war showed that the Western response to Russia's invasion of its neighbour was the right one.
"I believe China and India have a role to play to resolve the conflict. The only thing that cannot happen is to think that the conflict can be solved by abandoning Ukraine," Ms Meloni said after meeting Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on the sidelines of a conference.
"The choice of supporting Ukraine has been first and foremost a choice of national interest, and it's a choice that won't change," Ms Meloni told the annual TEHA business forum in northern Italy.
