Ukraine ‘strikes Russian air defences’ in Crimea after downing jet – latest news

Vladimir Putin has claimed Russia could retaliate in kind against those permitting Ukraine to target Russia with their long-range missiles – by providing such weapons to countries within striking distance of Western nations.

In wide-ranging remarks at his annual economic forum in St Petersburg, the Russian president sought to insist that Moscow “does not care” about the upcoming US election, claimed candidate Donald Trump’s hush money conviction was “political”, and dismissed fears that Russia wants to attack Nato as “nonsense”.

But he warned that the United States and Germany’s recent authorisation for Ukraine to use their weapons to hit specific Russian targets close to Kharkiv could lead to “very serious problems”, calling Berlin’s decision a “very dangerous step”.

A Russian military plane breached Finnish airspace yesterday, officials in Helsinki said. This was the first such violation by Russian forces since Finland joined Nato last year.

The warplane entered Finland’s airspace for approximately two minutes on Monday morning, officials from Finland’s defence ministry said, confirming the breach of its air territory in the eastern Gulf of Finland.

The aircraft flew at least 2.5km into Finnish territory.

Finnish defence minister Antti Hakkanen said the country takes the “suspected territorial violation seriously and the investigation has been started immediately”.

This is not the first time Russia has violated Finland’s airspace. In August 2022, it sent two fighter jets inside the European nation’s airspace, sparking international condemnation over its reckless air operations.

The Ukrainian military has appointed a commander of drone forces in a newly created position, bolstering its most active air defence unit, as it continues to fight back against Russia’s 27-month-old war.

Ukraine has repeatedly underlined the importance of drone warfare in reconnaissance and combat operations it is carrying out against Russian forces. The drones have been used by Ukrainian forces in overwhelming numbers to strike positions on the frontline, bordering Russian villages and cities, and deep inside Russia.

A statement by the General Staff of the Armed Forces said Vadym Sukharevskyi, deputy armed forces commander, had been named to the post by order of defence minister Rustem Umerov. Sukharevskyi was appointed deputy commander in February with responsibility for drones.

Mr Zelensky had issued a decree in February calling for the creation of a separate branch of the armed forces devoted to drones and the order was endorsed last week by the government.

Ukraine will be producing a million of its own drones in the course of 2024, Mr Zelensky said. Alongside the Ukrainian military has ramped up its use of drones. Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has also met in recent days with the country’s most successful drone units.

The Biden administration will lift its ban on allowing a controversial Ukrainian military unit to use American weapons, the Washington Post reported citing State Department officials.

The State Department reversed a decade-old prohibition on the Azov Brigade from using American training and weapons after a new analysis found no evidence of human rights violations by the unit, the Washington Post reported.

“After thorough review, Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed Leahy vetting as carried out by the US Department of State,” the State Department said in a statement obtained by the newspaper.

The Leahy Law bars US military assistance to foreign units found to have committed such violations.

The Azov Regiment, which has far-right and ultra-nationalist roots, is part of Ukraine’s National Guard and evolved out of a battalion that was formed in 2014 and fought against Russian-backed separatists who carved out breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

The regiment is lionised in Ukraine for defending the country against Russia’s invasion and in particular the southern city of Mariupol, but they are reviled by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.

Many soldiers will insist that killing their enemies is not personal. But when Stepan Barna’s suicide drone unit takes Russian soldiers’ lives, he does not disguise his feeling that every killing is a very personal payback for the death of his brother last year.

Stepan and his older brother, Oleh, were both well-known Ukrainian politicians long before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Stepan had been the governor of the Ternopil region in the country’s west.

Oleh had been a member of the Ukrainian parliament. He gained notoriety in 2015 when he grabbed the then prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, whose politics he disagreed with, while Yatseniuk was addressing the parliament, and dragged him off the podium.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he is aiming to amp up support for the war-hit nation and hinted a new agreements of support for Kyiv in progress in a long-term plan for Ukraine’s recovery.

“One of our primary goals right now is to increase support for Ukraine in order to strengthen our society’s resilience in terms of energy, recovery after strikes, and all of the other foundations of normal life. We must protect life despite Russia’s attempts to bring more pressure and destruction,” he said last night.

Mr Zelensky added: “We are working with European partners on new agreements, particularly on additional support steps from Germany. These days, we are also working diligently to prepare a bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and the United States.”

Angry Russian military bloggers have slammed Moscow and the Russian military command after a drone strike by Ukraine damaged a top-tier warplane.

Mil-bloggers “seized on the 8 June strike to criticise the Russian military command for not constructing hangars to hide Russian aircraft from Ukrainian strikes and claimed that Russian forces could construct hangars at every military airfield in Russia for the cost of one Su-57 aircraft,” said the Washington-based think-tank The Institute for the Study of War.

An Su-57 costs an estimated $35m, it added.

Citing Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, the ISW said that the Ukrainian forces struck one of Russia’s six operational Su-57 aircraft and that Russian forces are constructing another six aircraft.

“GUR Spokesperson Andriy Yusov stated that there may have been two Su-57 aircraft at the airfield during the 8 June strike and that the GUR is assessing battle damage,” the ISW said in its latest analysis.

There is “every possibility” that a conflict on the scale of the Second World War could embroil Europe in the coming years, the outgoing head of the British army has claimed.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, 58, who will step down in the coming days after two years in post, issued the comments in Portsmouth at an event to commemorate the D-Day operation of 6 June 1944.

Having recently returned from a visit to British troops in Poland, Gen Sanders heralded the progression of the British army but added that there was “more to do” and urged the military to ramp up its readiness for war.

Ukraine may keep some of the F-16 fighter jets it is set to receive from its western allies at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes, a senior Ukrainian military officer said. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with over 60 US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it fend off Russian attacks.

Ukrainian pilots are currently undergoing training to fly the warplanes ahead of the deliveries expected to start later this year.