Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch 100 glide bombs in fresh attack

Russian president Vladimir Putin has two secret sons who live an isolated life of luxury in a heavily-guarded mansion, according to a Russian investigative journalism website.

The Dossier Centre reported that Ivan, nine, and Vladimir Jr, five, spend most of the year at their father’s vast mansion near Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow.

Their mother is Alina Kabaeva, the former Olympic rhythmic gymnast whose relationship with Putin has been an open secret in Russia for more than a decade, the Dossier Centre claim.

Vladimir Putin’s forces have launched 100 deadly glide bombs in an overnight attack on Ukraine as Russia continued its relentless aerial barrage across the country, Kyiv claimed.

Glide bombs, also called KAB – the Ukrainian acronym for guided aerial bomb, are old-fashioned “iron” aerial bombs of the sort that were dropped by bombers during the Second World War.

Russia is believed to have converted hundreds of thousands of Soviet-era KABs by fitting them with GPS guidance systems and wings. The Ukrainian military did not specify where the bombs had been dropped.

Dmytro Kuleba is one of Ukraine’s most recognisable faces to Western officials, seemingly never afraid to speak his mind. It is that independence that has contributed to the foreign minister becoming the highest-profile member of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet involved in another major shake-up of Ukraine’s top brass. One which will end up the largest of the war.

Kuleba has offered his resignation as part of what is seen as a political “reset” for Kyiv engineered by Zelensky and his close circle. A number of other ministers also submitted their resignations on Tuesday. Zelensky has said that the cabinet overhaul is part of an effort to “give new strength” to Ukraine’s government and, in the process, solidify Zelensky’s ability to guide policy.

The reshuffle comes at a crucial point. Ukraine has been slowly losing territory in the eastern Donetsk region to a Russian advance, while drone and missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure have led to rolling nationwide blackouts, which are likely only to worsen as we head towards winter.

An audacious cross-border assault into Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv’s forces have taken about 1,000 square kilometres of territory in around three weeks, has given a much-needed morale boost and reminded Western allies that Kyiv can still surprise its enemy, despite being significantly outgunned and at a troop disadvantage.

Russia is now claiming that military instructors from different countries are working in Ukraine and taking part in military actions and the training of Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported today.

The claims were made by the Kremlin spokesperson and Vladimir Putin’s close aide Dmitry Peskov who wrongfully claimed that the US and Europe have shown no interest in a diplomatic solution to the war.

Peskov said Russia does not see any prerequisites for peace talks with Ukraine at the moment and it would continue its military operation inside its smaller neighbour nation until it achieves all of its aims, reported RIA news agency.

He also said that the Russian authorities were not discussing a new mobilisation.

A father has lost his entire family after his house was destroyed during Russia’s attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Yaroslav Bazylevych’s wife Eugenia and the couple’s three daughters, Yarya, 21, Daria, 18 and Emilia, seven, were all killed on Wednesday morning.

The attack led Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi to accuse Russia of “eliminating Ukrainians by (killing off) entire families”.

Ukrainian emergency services said his daughters – Daryna, 18, her sisters Yaryna, 21, and Emilia, 7, and their 43-year-old mother Yevhenia were killed while sheltering in the staircase of their residential building.

In what appears to be the first incident of its kind, the Belarus Air Force has shot down two attack drones launched by its ally Russia – suggesting they had flown off course, a monitoring group claimed.

Belaruski Hajun, a monitoring group in Minsk, said multiple Belarusian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drones near the city of Gomel around 1.30am local time. Gomel lies within about 30km of the Ukraine-Belarus border.

This is the first reported incident involving Belarusian Air Force plane successfully downing Russian drones meant for Ukraine.

A third Russian attack drone was also downed around 2.30am in Belarusian air space, the group said but shared no additional information.

Russia launched another large-scale drone attack on Ukraine overnight, targeting multiple regions of the country, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

Ukraine’s top priorities for its war against Russia in the remainder of Joe Biden’s term was the key topic as deputy US national security adviser Jon Finer met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials in Kyiv yesterday, US officials said.

Finer’s discussions included a 90-minute meeting with Ukrainian military officials to discuss the state of the war and the strategy going forward, the officials told Reuters. The official also got an update on how the Kursk incursion was proceeding, the officials said.

“While in Kyiv, Mr Finer has had the opportunity to meet with president Zelensky and other key Ukrainian officials to coordinate on our strategic planning over the remainder of president Biden’s term,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.

Mr Finer made the trip at the behest of Mr Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss US support for Ukraine while the Democrat leader remains in office. His term ends on 20 January.

“We have used these meetings to discuss US assistance for Ukraine’s military, economy, and energy system, among other areas, and we will use the outcomes of these meetings to advance the president’s policy to support Ukraine until they prevail in this war,” Mr Savett said.

Another US official said Mr Finer’s hour-long session with Mr Zelensky and top aide Andriy Yermak was productive and substantive and included an update on the state of the war and strategy going forward.