Three people have been killed as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod area of Russia, according to the region’s governor. It follows another hit on Moscow, with one striking a building in the centre of the capital, officials said.
Wednesday 23 August 2023 13:35, UK
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Russia’s deputy defence minister and the commander of Iran’s ground forces have met to discuss military cooperation, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
An Iranian military delegation arrived in Moscow on Monday.
Russia and Iran, both under Western economic sanctions, have forged closer relations since Russia invaded Ukraine 18 months ago.
The West has accused Iran of selling large numbers of drones for use against Ukraine, something Tehran denies.
India is hoping to become the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.
The attempt comes after days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface.
Yury Borisov, boss of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said its engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a “pre-landing orbit”, but they did not shut down properly – slamming the lander on to the moon.
He blamed the crash on the country’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration – it was the first mission to the moon since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union.
You can follow all the latest developments as India attempts to land on the moon in our live blog here…
By Adam Parker, OSINT editor
Satellite images taken over a six-month period show the development of the site in Crimea hit by a Ukrainian missile strike.
What looks like trenches can be seen in February this year, with the area expanding to double the size by June.
The site is 4km from the nearest town of Olenivka.
A still image taken on the beach shows the plume of smoke caused by the strike.
Sky News has geolocated this photo, which faces north and was taken from Klassnyy Beach in Crimea.
In a 24-second video released by the Ukrainian military, several objects that look like large vehicles are visible at the site.
Ukraine said it destroyed a S-400 anti-aircraft missile system.
Earlier this morning (6.39am) we reported on a Russian attack on grain facilities on the Danube River in the Odesa region.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov has now said 13,000 tonnes of grain destined for Egypt and Romania were destroyed in the attack.
The export capacity of Izmail port was reduced by 15% after the overnight strike, he said.
The Danube is one of the final “safer” routes for Ukraine to transport grain after Russia backed out of a previous Black Sea grain deal.
Mr Kubrakov said Russia aims to stop Ukrainian agricultural exports.
We’ve been putting your questions on the war to our experts and senior correspondents.
Today’s question comes from Cerberus, who asks: Is this likely to be part of a wider “new Cold War” between East and West regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine?
Our US correspondent Mark Stone answers this one…
Yes. There is a huge East-West struggle for dominance right now, which represents the greatest tension between the US and China for more than a generation.
Relations between Washington and Beijing are dire, with deconfliction lines of communication severely frayed.
The positive news is that neither side wants war; it is not in either side’s interests to see conflict.
But there is certainly a sense that the two sides are on a path to a form of confrontation, and the risk of unintended conflict (probably over Taiwan) is real.
The Biden administration talks repeatedly of “competition not confrontation”, but the gap between those two can easily blur.
Then there is Russia.
Despite the peril of the Ukraine conflict, Russia does not represent a long-term strategic threat to the US and the West.
But China does, economically if not militarily. And Russia is shifting closer and closer to Beijing.
You can submit a question and read previous answers here…
Vladimir Putin has told the BRICS summit Russia wanted to end a war he said had been “unleashed by the West” in Ukraine.
Speaking by videolink to leaders of the group, who have refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he repeated the Kremlin narrative that the war was a forced response to actions by Kyiv and the West.
He told the summit Russia sought “justifiable settlement” by “peaceful means”.
Mr Putin said the influence of BRICS was “strengthening” and spoke out against the “hegemony” of Western countries.
He also laid out plans for the next BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October next year, saying Russia would use the opportunity of hosting to strengthen the group’s role in the world.
He spoke at this year’s event in South Africa virtually to avoid an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest for war crimes.
Further to our last post, Ukraine’s intelligence service claims it has destroyed a Russian missile system in Crimea.
We brought you a report from a Ukrainian adviser from Mariupol, who claimed a mobile “Bastion” system had been hit, and Ukrainian intelligence now says it has destroyed a missile complex in the region.
Sky News has verified photographs of the explosion from the scene as genuine, and as being from near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut in Crimea.
The attack “destroyed the Russian S-400 ‘Triumph’ long and medium-range anti-aircraft missile system”, the intelligence service said.
“As a result of the explosion, the installation itself, the missiles installed on it and the personnel were completely destroyed.”
The attack struck “a painful blow to the air defence system of the occupiers, which will have a serious impact on further events in the occupied Crimea”, it added.
It also shared this footage of the strike…
Pictures circulating on social media showing a plume of smoke rising in Crimea depict the aftermath of the destruction of a mobile Russian missile complex, according to a Ukrainian official.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, claimed on Telegram that seven separate explosions destroyed the coastal anti-ship missile complex named “Bastion”.
Mr Andriushchenko said the complex was used to fire Onyx missiles on Ukrainian targets, and that radar systems had also been destroyed.
He did not clarify what caused the explosion.
The claims are unverified.
The UK will proscribe the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation “within weeks”, according to government insiders speaking to the Financial Times.
Suella Braverman, the home secretary, is expected to announce the designation “imminently” in line with powers under the Terrorism Act 2000, the newspaper reported.
The move comes after a report found the UK government’s sanctions targeting Wagner have been “underwhelming in the extreme”.
Britain has already imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and other associated individuals, but has been criticised for not acting faster to mitigate the growing reach of the Russian mercenary group.
What is proscription?
Proscription makes it a criminal offence to belong to, encourage support for, assist or use the logo of that group.
The maximum penalty for a proscription offence is 14 years and a fine.
The home secretary can proscribe an organisation if it commits, prepares or promotes terrorism.
We reported earlier that a school had been destroyed in the region of Sumy (9.59 post).
It now appears two teachers were killed in a Russian drone attack in the city of Romny, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.
Three more people were injured and two employees are under the rubble, the ministry said.
The search and rescue operation is continuing.
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