Ukraine-Russia war latest: First naval drone battle takes place in Black Sea as latest strikes kill 12

A Ukrainian sea drone shot and destroyed a Russian unmanned boat in what the Ukrainian navy says marks the “first-ever naval battle” between maritime drones.

The Ukrainian Sargan 3000 unmanned naval boat identified the Russian drone on the Black Sea and attacked with its powerful 12.7mm turret, the Ukrainian navy said on Telegram.

Footage shared from the Ukrainian drone showed a volley of fire hitting the other boat, which erupted with thick grey smoke before sinking. It was unclear when or exactly where the video was taken.

At least 12 people were killed on Saturday as the war on the ground raged on. Authorities in Ukraine’s Kramatorsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih regions reported fatalities.

The Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region also reported that three people were killed in Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday that a Russian drone struck near the Ukrainian-Polish border in the small town of Yahodyn overnight.

"This is Putin's terror 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners," he added.

Ukraine's military said on Sunday it had hit an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region overnight.

"The operation struck a key oil-processing unit and the company's tank farm, which supports Russia's war against Ukraine," it said on Telegram.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said on Saturday that Kyiv was preparing for the resumption in October of three-sided talks aimed at resolving the more than four-year-old war with Russia.

Kyrylo Budanov told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kyiv that Ukraine was readying itself for the prospect of new talks involving Russia and the United States.

"We are getting ready. In October," Budanov was quoted as saying.

Budanov was speaking several days after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks in both Moscow and Kyiv. It was their first such visit to Moscow since February and their first visit to the Ukrainian capital.

The last three-sided meeting took place in Geneva in February. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts had stalled as Washington was focused on the conflict with Iran.

Witkoff said after visiting both capitals that they welcomed new momentum in proceeding with talks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not rule out a resumption of peace talks but added that it was too early to say when and where such talks might take place.

Ukrainian tennis star Dayana Yastremska has shared that her family home was struck by a Russian missile on Friday.

The world No. 113, who competed at the US Open this month, wrote on social media: “A Russian missile destroyed our apartment in Odesa. The only thing that survived was a Roland Garros towel.

“SYMBOLIC,” she went on. “A piece of world tennis survived a Russian missile. Our home did not.”

Sharing video of an apartment block burning, she demanded that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) “look at these images through our eyes”.

“This is the true meaning of your ‘neutrality’ – from the Ukrainian side of the court.”

Russian air strikes in several Ukrainian regions on Saturday killed nine people, injured dozens and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across the country, local officials said.

The civilian death toll has risen sharply in Ukraine over the past two months as Russia steps up attacks on power plants and other infrastructure.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on Telegram, said Russia had deployed nearly 500 drones against Ukrainian targets since early morning.

"Basically, the Russians have expanded the war away from the front, where they have no success, into the economy, and their tactics are as basic as it gets: destroying every site that could help people cope with the conditions of war," Zelenskyy wrote.

"Russia wants to kill the Ukrainian economy and break our resistance," Zelenskyy added.

Chinese president Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi both offered their services for peace talks on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, adding that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had welcomed their readiness.

The three leaders are among those attending the BRICS summit in Delhi.

The head of Russia's state nuclear energy company has accused Ukraine of attacking diesel fuel trucks, killing two Russian servicemen and deliberately jeopardising safety at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Alexei Likhachev said in Sunday that the attack took place on Friday and also resulted in injuries to other Russian soldiers.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, was seized by Russian forces in the early weeks of the Ukraine war that broke out in February 2022. Each side has regularly accused the other of actions that endanger safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident.

Likhachev issued a statement saying Ukrainian forces had launched "a series of combined strikes" on Friday on fuel trucks which deliver diesel to the station.

"The strikes hit very close to the perimeter of the station's site," he said.

The national security advisor of the UK has asked the rest of Europe to be ready to endure “real hardship” during the winters to maintain sustained economic pressure on Russia, reported the BBC.

Jonathan Powell said that the strategy of imposing economic sanctions on Russia was working as the talk of Russian escalation was “not a problem” but a “sign of success”, as it showed that the pressure was working.

During a press conference in Kyiv at the Yalta European Strategy Forum, he said Ukraine had “already won” the war, as Putin would no longer be able to seize the whole of the country.

He, however, added that the US and Europe should continue to engage with the Russian president.

Moscow has yet to decide whether Russian president Vladimir Putin will travel to the G20 summit in Miami in December, Interfax reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

"We don't know yet ⁠whether we'll ⁠be ⁠going to Miami," Peskov said.

Earlier on Saturday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the possibility of Putin attending the summit "has not even been discussed" in Moscow.

In April, the Kremlin said Putin could travel to the G20 summit after US president Donald Trump suggested his attendance would be very helpful.

Commenting on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's remarks that he would travel to Miami if Putin attends and would seek a meeting with him, Peskov reiterated Moscow's long-standing position that if the Ukrainian leader wants to meet his Russian counterpart, he should come to Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky said the two envoys had presented some "very decent, worthwhile ideas". He suggested that a new three-sided meeting could be hosted by Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland or other countries.

Major differences on how to end the war remain between the two sides. A key issue is the fate of the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow has claimed as its own but has failed to capture despite years of fierce fighting.