Ukraine war live: CIA chief says Kursk incursion has Russian elites questioning war

President Volodymr Zelensky has said he discussed Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction – particularly the restoration of its energy system – in talks with Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni this weekend.

Winter conditions will likely complicate Russia’s efforts to make further gains in Donetsk, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence unit has claimed.

In an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, Kyrylo Budanov warned that this does not mean Russian forces will completely stop assaults on Ukrainian positions, the Institute for Study of War think-tank said.

The head of the GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, has claimed that Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk is having impacts across Russia’s offensive operations in Ukraine.

According to the Institute for Study of War think-tank, Mr Budanov told state broadcaster Suspilne on Saturday that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk had complicated Russia’s plans for offensive operations in August and later this autumn.

A Russian drone violated Romania’s airspace during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, the Nato member reported on Sunday, urging Moscow to stop what it described as an escalation.

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.

We’ll be bringing you more here and in this report:

Britain’s former US ambassador Lord Kim Darroch has warned that Keir Starmer must urge Joe Biden to give more support to Ukraine during his visit to Washington this week.

Speaking to Sky News, Lord Darroch said: “I think he needs to talk to Biden about Ukraine, because what the West is doing at the moment is giving Ukraine just enough to ensure it doesn’t lose. Not enough to win.”

He added: “I think he needs to say to Biden, is there more that you can do?”

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.

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.”

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.”