Ukraine Russia war latest: Zelensky warns airlines over 'completely unsafe' Russian airspace

Ukraine Russia war latest: Zelensky issues warning to airlines over ‘completely unsafe’ Russian airspace

Putin said the warning sounded like ‘state terrorism’ and vowed to respond

Volodymyr Zelensky has deemed Russian airspace to be “completely unsafe” in a warning to airlines ahead of Ukrainian drone attacks.

The president declared that “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over” in his nightly video address on Tuesday, adding that he did not want innocent lives to be lost.

“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing – the war started by Russia is closing its skies.

“We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” he said.

Vladimir Putin said the warning sounded like “state terrorism” and Moscow would find a way to respond.

Earlier today, Kyiv revealed its forces have trapped around 2,500 Russian soldiers on a tiny strip of land stretching into the Black Sea.

The troops are stranded on the occupied Kinburn Spit, a long ridge of sand which juts out from Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, Ukrainian commanders told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Crimea.Realities podcast.

Drone strikes have targeted deliveries of ammunition and food, a recconnaisance commander with the call sign ‘Yava’ said on the podcast according to United24.

Large explosions rock centre of Ukraine's capital

At least three large explosions shook the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv this morning.

City authorities had issued an air raid alert earlier amid a drone threat and said air defence units were repelling the attack.

A column of black smoke rose from a neighbourhood near the national university building.

The impact of the attack and casualties from the likely Russian strikes are not immediately clear.

Putin says Russia is winning on battlefield and will not negotiate with 'terrorists'

President Vladimir Putin said Russia was winning the war in Ukraine and portrayed the Ukrainian leadership as "terrorists" with whom Moscow could not negotiate.

Putin, in his most detailed comments on the war for many weeks, acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia had inflicted real damage and said that drones posed a particular challenge.

The Russian leader said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's warning to airlines that Ukrainian drones would effectively shut down Russian airspace sounded like "state terrorism" and that Moscow would find a way to respond if it happened.

Speaking at a news conference after a summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin said it was not possible to negotiate with "terrorists".

But he said that Russia was advancing on the battlefield and told reporters: “I have no doubt the enemy will crumble.”

He declined to say when that would happen. Rumours that Russia would be forced to order a new military mobilisation were “utter nonsense,” he said.

Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region

Russia carried out a "massive" missile and drone attack on energy infrastructure in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa overnight, transmission system operator Ukrenergo said this morning.

Ukrenergo said on Telegram that a substantial number of consumers in the Odesa region were left without electricity, adding that there were new power cuts in four other regions.

State emergency services said the Russian attacks on Kyiv region also destroyed two townhouses in strikes yesterday.

Germany airport attempted attack had hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism, says EU's Kallas

The attempted attack in Leipzig had all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said this morning

She added that Europe needs to coordinate on what more can be done given the escalation of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.

The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded that Russia was responsible for the attempted drone attack last month.

Speaking ahead of an informal gathering of European foreign ministers in Ireland, Kallas also said that work is ongoing on 1,600 sanctions listings related to Russia's military complex and "maybe there are more to be added".

Russia suggests possible three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has said there could be a trilateral meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin, US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

China is set to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen in November.

The possibility of a three-way meeting between the leaders is being considered ahead of the summit, he said.

Putin says it's a 'military secret' whether Russia could strike UK facilities

President Vladimir Putin said Russia's thinking on possible strikes against UK military facilities was "secret".

Asked at a press conference in Kyrgyzstan whether Russia was considering strikes on British military assets, Putin said simply: “It is a military secret.”

Last week, Russia warned that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Britain was just "one step away" from becoming legally complicit in what she called "terrorism" against Russian civilians, and warned of "inevitable catastrophic consequences" unless the UK changed course.

‘Where there were bombs, there are now sunflowers’: The woman ridding Ukraine of Russian mines

Every morning, Antonina Kulhava wakes up to the whirr of Russian drones.

After checking local alerts to ensure her family and friends are safe, she commutes to her job as a humanitarian deminer at one of Ukraine’s many fields littered with bombs. Her team face grave danger as they comb through craters of mud left by missiles, in fields once tilled by farmers.

Ukraine is one of the world’s most heavily mined countries with between 20 to 25 per cent of its surface covered with potentially dangerous weapons. This amounts to more than 139,000 square kilometres of land, a size larger than England and Wales combined.

The existence of these mines is devastating for civilians, contributing to one of the world’s highest rates of civilian casualties. Children are among those at risk if the mines are not safely cleared.

“It’s an interesting and challenging job,” she tells The Independent.

Russia and US see grounds for financial ties, says finance minister

Dialogue between Russia and the US should continue to find common ground in economics, which should make it easier to discuss political issues, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said.

Siluanov said both nations agree that there are grounds for developing financial ties despite complications, after his bilateral meeting with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Monday.

Siluanov, who said he was meeting with Bessent for the first time, said he believed that people from the financial world sometimes may find common understanding faster than politicians.

“So we must always keep talking; we need to continue the dialogue. If we find strong points of common interest – and they do exist – we need to develop them. Then political issues will also be easier to resolve," he said,

However, a source familiar with the ministers' meeting said Bessent made clear to Siluanov no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were possible until its war in Ukraine ends, reported Reuters.

Explosion heard in Kyiv

An explosion has been heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Wednesday morning, witnesses said.

Renewed Russian strikes would make this the seventh consecutive day of attacks on the city.

Zelensky confirms Trump's request to pause strikes on Russia

Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces held back on attacks on Russia last week in response to a request from the Trump administration.

“When the Americans asked us to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on 25, 26 and 27 August, we observed that pause. There were no strikes on Russia, while strikes on Ukraine continued,” he said.

Stating that Ukraine supports every move in the direction of peace, Zelensky said: “When another global power asked us to pause strikes in the direction of Vladivostok for a specified period of time, we agreed to ensure that as well. New meetings in Moscow are now being prepared, and we will take that into account.”