Zelensky says corruption must be punished as $100 million energy scandal hits Ukraine
Russia has deployed about 150,000 troops to capture Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukrainianofficials have claimed, as fighting between Kyiv and Moscow soldiers intensified.
Ukraine and Russia issued conflicting accounts of fighting around Myrnohrad, an embattled town to the east of Pokrovsk, which Moscow’s forces have enveloped from almost all sides.
Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, told the New York Post that Russia was concentrating some 150,000 troops on a drive to capture Pokrovsk, with mechanised groups and marine brigades part of the push.
He added that Ukrainian forces were using built-up urban areas to limit the progress of Russian troops and were also confronting Russian sabotage units.
“There are ongoing battles and fights raging on. There are fast manoeuvres carried out by the enemy all the time,” he added.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had captured three villages along the 1,000-km front line in the past 24 hours, including two in the Zaporizhzhia region, northeast of the town of Hulyaipole.
But Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky claimed his forces were holding their positions around Pokrovsk and Dobropillia, a town to the north, where Kyiv says its troops have made gains.
Romania says possible Russian drone fragments found
Romania found possible drone fragments 5km inside its border after a Russian overnight attack on Ukrainian Danube river ports, its defence ministry said.
Weather conditions did not allow the Nato state to scramble fighter jets and the population in the area was alerted to take cover, the ministry added.
Romania, which shares a 650km border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly and airspace breaches
Russian forces push south of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk – report
Russian forces have pushed deep into the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, pushing south to capture a series of train stations, according to a Russian commander quoted by the defence ministry.
Russian forces in the Kharkiv region are now attacking Kupiansk Vuzlovyi.
Zelensky says corruption must be punished as $100 million energy scandal hits Ukraine
Russia says it foiled Ukrainian-British plot to steal a MiG-31 jet
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a plot by Ukrainian and British spies to tempt Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile for $3m (£2.2m), state media reported this morning.
The RIA news agency cited the FSB as saying that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a Nato air base in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences, the agency reported.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Ukraine and Britain had planned a large-scale “provocation” using the hijacked aircraft, and that Ukrainianmilitaryintelligence had sought to recruit Russian pilots for $3m (£2.2m) to steal the fighter.
“The measures taken have thwarted the Ukrainian and British intelligence services’ plans for a large-scale provocation,” RIA cited the FSB as saying.
State TV showed pictures of messages and recordings of a man who they said was working for Ukrainian and British intelligence and had offered $3m (£2.2m) to a Russian pilot to fly a MiG to Europe and that the pilot had also been offered citizenship.
UK military to help Belgium combat suspected Russian drone flights
The UK is sending military support, including RAF specialists, to Belgium after suspected Russian drone incursions on its airspace, the new chief of Britain’s armed forces has announced.
In a decision made alongside defence secretary John Healey, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the chief of defence staff, said the personnel and equipment are now on the way after his Belgian counterpart asked for help earlier this week.
Belgium’s main airport at Zaventem closed temporarily on Thursday night after drones were spotted nearby and also at military bases, with around 3,000 Brussels Airlinespassengers affected as dozens of flights were cancelled or diverted.
Russia says it foiled Ukrainian-British plot to hijack jet
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a Ukrainian-British plot to hijack a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, RIA news agency reported this morning.
The FSB claimed that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a Nato air base in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences.
Russia sent 150,000 troops to Pokrovsk, says Ukraine’s top military commander
Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, told the New York Post that Russia was concentrating some 150,000 troops on a drive to capture Pokrovsk, with mechanised groups and marine brigades part of the push.
He added that Ukrainian forces were using built-up urban areas to limit the progress of Russian troops and were also confronting Russian sabotage units.
“There are ongoing battles and fights raging on. There are fast manoeuvres carried out by the enemy all the time,” he added.
Ukraine’s anti-corruptionagencies have launched a “large-scale operation” into the country’s energy sector to uncover graft involving a “high-level criminal organisation”, according to reports.
The National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) said that along with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), it conducted a “large-scale operation” to expose the alleged corruption.
The agency added that the investigationinvolved 15 months of work and 1,000 hours of audio recordings.“The activities of a high-level criminal organization have been documented,” the statement said, adding that the scheme was organised to influence “strategic state-sector enterprises”.
NABU claimed that those involved in the scheme sought to obtain illegal benefits to the tune of up to 15 per cent of a state contract value.
Zelensky wants 25 Patriot air defense systems from America. Here’s how they could change the war
President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to order 25 Patriot air defence systems from the United States, as the nation faces relentless Russian aerial attacks, causing widespread blackouts on the brink of winter.
Acknowledging the high cost and lengthy manufacturing time, Mr Zelensky suggested European countries could donate their Patriots and await replacements, stressing, “we would not like to wait.”
The missile and drone strikes on the power grid coincide with Ukraine’s efforts to repel a Russian push towards the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief denies Russia’s control over Pokrovsk
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has denied reports of Russia’s progress in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where troops from Kyiv and Moscow have been engaged in one of the fiercest frontline battles.
“They continue to show this area on their maps as if it’s under their control,” Oleksandr Syrsky said.
“This perception — that the enemy has got practically everything and they’re about to finish it — is not true.”
His statement comes after Russian media reports claimed that Moscow’s troops have overtaken the city of Pokrovsk.
