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Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk has caused Russian elites to question Vladimir Putin’s war, CIA director William Burns has said.
Speaking in London alongside MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore, who praised the “audacious” incursion, the CIA chief said he did not see any evidence that Mr Putin's grip on power was weakening as a result, but that “it did raise questions on the part of people we could see across the Russian elite about where is this all headed”.
Warning that Britain and the US face “an unprecedented array of threats”, the spymasters warned that staying the course in resisting Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine “is more vital than ever”, saying that Russia “will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence”.
And CIA director William Burns warned of the growing and “troubling” defence relationship between Russia, Iran, China and North Korea, as reports claim the US has warned allies that it believes Tehran has sent ballistic missiles to Russia, in what the White House said would mark a “dramatic escalation” in their relationship.
Key Points
- Ukraine’s Kursk incursion has left Russian elites questioning war, CIA chief says
- Iran sending Russia ballistic missiles would mark ‘dramatic escalation’, warns White House
- Russia lost 6,000 troops in Kursk, claims Volodymyr Zelensky
- Zelensky presses for long-range strike support
- UK to send 650 air defence missiles worth £162m to Ukraine
Russian forces ‘advancing’ in Donetsk, analysts say
An update published on Saturday evening by DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site, said Russian forces had “advanced” in the Donetsk town of Novohrodivka and captured Nevelske, a village in the south-east of the Pokrovsk district.
Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of about 60,000, is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.
Its capture would compromise Ukraine’s defence and supply routes, and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the entire Donetsk region.
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 15:41 1725804363Trump’s ideas on Ukraine are ‘very dangerous’, warns former UK-US ambassador
A former British ambassador to the US has warned that he worries “more about a Trump second term than his first term”, labelling the former president’s foreign policy “dangerous”.
Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, Lord Kim Darroch – who was forced to quit his stateside role in 2019 after cables in which he called the Trump administration “dysfunctional” were leaked – said he thought Britain would find it “difficult” to deal with Donald Trump.
Asked whether his views had changed since then, Lord Darroch said: “I worry more about a Trump second term than his first term because first of all, he will be better prepared. He will have a greater understanding of how to get his agenda through.
“Second, foreign policy, which is my area, his ideas on Ukraine, his comments on Nato, his threats of imposing tariffs on the rest of the world. This is all very dangerous stuff.”
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 15:06 1725802623Nato condemns ‘irresponsible’ Russian attacks as Romania searches for drone debris
Mircea Geoana, Nato’s outgoing deputy secretary-general and Romania’s former top diplomat, has condemned Russia’s “irresponsible and potentially dangerous” actions after Romania reported that a Russian drone had violated its airspace.
The incident occurred as Russia carried out attacks on "civilian targets and port infrastructure" across the Danube River in Ukraine, Romania's Ministry of National Defence said.
Romania deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace, and Nato allies were kept informed, the ministry said. Romanian emergency authorities also issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions.
Preliminary data indicates there may be an “impact zone” in an uninhabited area near the Romanian village of Periprava, the ministry said. It added that an investigation is underway.
Writing on X, Mr Geoana said: “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against Allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 14:37 1725801008RT will continue to work around Western sanctions, editor claims
Russian state media outlet RT will continue to work in the West by seeking to work around any limits or sanctions, its editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has claimed.
The United States this week announced sanctions targeting RT and Ms Simonyan as it filed money-laundering charges against two employees of RT for an alleged scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.
Ms Simonyan, whom Washington dubbed “a central figure in Russian government malign influence efforts”, said on RT that the West had been cracking down on the network since 2014, when Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea, and more strongly since the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022.
“We stayed in those countries, we worked there, and we shall work there – just not now in a straight line,” Ms Simonyan said. “We will continue to do that as far as we can – so far it is working out – it’s almost like an exquisite gambling thrill.”
“They close entry to us, and we will go through the window, close the window and we will go through the vents and we will see what holes there are in the organism of the United States of America.”
Three women killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk village, governor says
Russian shelling has killed three women in the Donetsk village of Cherkaske, the region’s governor has said, urging residents to flee.
Vadym Filashkin said Russian forces hit the village with cluster munitions in the morning, killing the women, aged 43, 45, and 53, wounding a man, and damaging at least nine private houses and cars.
Russian artillery, bombs and missiles have been hitting settlements in the Donetsk region for months, with Ukraine’s military reporting around 100 clashes in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours in its daily frontline update.
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 13:46 1725798317Romania looking for possible drone fragments after Russian attack on Ukraine
Romania was looking for possible drone fragments after its national airspace was breached during an overnight Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, its defence ministry has said.
Ukraine’s air defence units destroyed 15 of 23 attack drones and one guided air missile launched by Russia overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday.
During the strike, “the radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine”, Romania’s defence ministry said, condemning the attack.
Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the attack. Residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover.
“From existing data, the possibility of an impact zone on national territory was identified, in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava,” the ministry added.
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 13:25 1725796683Zelensky continues reset of his team after announcing largest reshuffle of Russian war
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to reset his team after ordering the largest government reshuffle since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
After declaring that Kyiv’s government needs “new energy”, Mr Zelensky published several decrees on new appointments in his office on Sunday, including that of former arms production minister Oleksandr Kamyshin as an external adviser for strategic issues.
“I will continue to work for our defence industry,” Mr Kamyshin said shortly after his appointment.
Mr Kamyshin oversaw a significant increase in Ukraine’s domestic arms production in recent years and was a driving force in efforts to bring more Western financing, experience, and technologies into the Ukrainian weapon production industry.
Mr Zelensky also appointed Viktor Mykyta, the governor of the western Zakarpattia region, as a new deputy head of his office to oversee the regions.
Mr Mykyta said that one of his key tasks would be to ensure the efficient work of military administrations in the regions and develop communication and trust between authorities, local communities and businesses.
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 12:58 1725795003Russian hackers charged over cyberattacks in US
US prosecutors have brought new charges against members of Russia’s military intelligence service and an alleged conspirator, accusing them of engaging in a hacking campaign to “sow concern among Ukrainian citizens” regarding their government’s cybersecurity.
Myriam Page has more in this report:
Russian hackers charged over cyberattacks in US
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 12:30 1725793333
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
Since 6 August, when Ukraine began its cross-border attack, Russian forces have advanced several miles towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
If Russia eventually seizes it, it will be the largest population centre it has taken since Bakhmut last May, after months of heavy urban warfare.
Nevertheless, the loss of Pokrovsk could have an even costlier effect.
The city, a logistical hub for the country’s military, sits at the junction of two major roads through the region. Its capture is seen as key to the Russian military prosecuting Vladimir Putin’s objective of taking the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, known as Donbas.
Russia’s military appears to have thrown resources at the effort, possibly at the expense of defending its own civilians in Kursk. As one analyst put it, Putin’s “eye of Sauron”, a reference to Lord of the Rings, has been trained on Donetsk, and particularly Pokrovsk, even as his own country is being invaded.
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has more in this report:
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky admits the situation in the eastern region of the frontline has become ‘difficult’ while Kyiv’s forces have been fighting inside of Russia
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 12:02 1725791651Coming weeks ‘critically important’ for Ukraine, says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the coming weeks and months “are critically important” for Ukraine.
Asked about the US presidential election, he told the BBC: “As the prime minister of the United Kingdom, I will deal with whoever the American people elect as their president. But I think it’s very important to remember particularly for Ukraine and the Middle East, the next few weeks and months are critically important.
“And therefore it’s important for me to speak to President Biden about our shared response, the response of our allies, to the pressing immediate issues, but also the more strategic long-term issues.”
Pressed that it sounds as though he is gearing up to announce either more funding or support for Kyiv to use Western weapons inside Russia, Sir Keir continued: “We’ve put more support in in terms of capabilities.
“In relation to specific capabilities, then you’ll understand I’m not going to get into a discussion about that on live television. But of course I want to make sure that we give Ukraine the support it needs – for as long as it needs it.”
Andy Gregory8 September 2024 11:34 Newer1 / 12OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
