Ukraine war latest: Russia responds to Zelenskyy’s civil aviation threat

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Ukraine ‌has urged ​the
International Civil Aviation ​Organisation ‌to ​prevent member
states from using ​Russian ⁠airspace.

That’s ⁠according to ‌a letter from
the ‌government to ICAO, which has been seen by the Reuters news agency. 

It comes as Russia’s transport minister Andrei Nikitin said Moscow will not allow Ukraine to seriously disrupt its civil aviation operations despite Zelenskyy’s threat (see post at 10:41).

Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurance companies yesterday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use, adding it was effectively closed.

Nikitin said the threats were being taken “into account” and Russia is “constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements”.

Flightradar24 data showed today there were disruptions at Moscow’s main airport while ‌some airlines cancelled flights – though they did not give a reason for doing so.

In the wake of the attempted drone attack in Leipzig and subsequent condemnation of Russia by Germany and its partners, Europe is now on guard about possible escalation by Moscow.

In our latest Q&A on the Ukraine war, military analyst Michael Clarke was asked whether Russia could target British airports:

Could Russia target UK airports, as they did in Germany? Is Heathrow at risk?
Ronald

In his response, Clarke said “yes”, adding that cyber attacks and sabotage were possible.

He added that Russia could attempt to distance itself from events by “paying other people to do it, paying dissident groups to do it or kids to do it”.

“All of us in Europe are at a bigger risk now of these sorts of events,” Clarke said.

But he said the “good news” for the UK is that “we are pretty well better than anyone else in Europe at detecting this and stopping it”.

That’s despite Clarke admitting that Russia “would like to target us more than anyone else” and the UK having “some egregious failures in the past”.

“We’ve lived with these sort of threats over the last 50 or 60 years… we’ve had threats on the go in Britain since the mid-1960s,” he added.

“We’re actually better at counterterrorism and counter-sabotage than most other countries; we’re more geared up to it and I think our airports are much more vigilant.”

But Clarke said it’s important that the UK continues “being good and lucky” to avoid a possible “mass casualty event”.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has discussed the attempted attack on the airfield in Leipzig with Friedrich Merz, describing last month’s incident as “yet another Russian escalation”.

The Ukrainian president said it was “important that Germany responded” and that Merz has briefed him on the measures taken by Berlin.

“For my part, I assured him that Ukraine is ready to help – with expertise, experience, or in other areas where Germany may need it,” he added.

“Our teams are already finalising the text of the Drone Deal, and this will, among other things, definitely provide both Germany and Ukraine with additional defense capabilities.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine will receive air defence packages this month from Germany – with Berlin itself describing the country as “Ukraine’s biggest supporter”, including in the military sphere.

More than 350,000 families were temporarily without power after Russia attacked energy infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa (see post at 9:29).

That’s according to Ukraine’s largest private investor in the country’s energy sector, DTEK.

The company said it has restored electricity to 177,000 households so far. 

“The enemy also damaged a DTEK Odesa Grids production site, including transport and office buildings,” it added in a Telegram post.

“Energy workers are doing everything possible to restore power to homes as quickly as possible.”

One of Russia’s largest oil refineries has stopped crude processing after a drone attack at the end of last month damaged facilities, two industry sources told the Reuters news agency.

Alexander ‌Drozdenko, governor of the northwest Russian region of Leningrad, said a fire broke out in an industrial zone in the town of Kirishi following a drone raid. He did not provide details about the damage or the name of the facility. 

But according to sources, the attack on 30 August damaged two operating primary crude distillation ​units at Surgutneftegaz’s Kirishinefteorgsintez (KNIEF). 

Damage to one unit represented 40% of the plant’s total capacity and another unit represented 8%, while two other units were offline at the time of the attack.

As a result, the refinery has suspended all crude processing
operations, according to the sources.

Surgutneftegaz did not immediately respond to ​a
Reuters request for comment.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says Russia has “grown increasingly reckless” in its war with Ukraine.

He declares the alliance stands in “full solidarity with Germany” alongside the European Union.

“We are working around the clock to make sure that we are prepared to keep our people safe,” he adds.

Rutte says Russia should know Europe won’t be divided by threats.

“Our support to Ukraine is clear,” he adds.

That includes providing funds as well as “vital air defence”.

The news conference has now ended.  

The European Commission president is continuing, warning Russia that if the attack was intended to stop support for Ukraine, it hasn’t worked. 

Standing alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Ursula Von der Leyen says: “We are united, Europe and NATO will not just maintain our pressure on Russia, we will increase it.”

“We will not stop, not until Russia stops bombing and killing innocent children, men and women in Ukraine,” she adds.

Von der Leyen says repeated incursions in European airspace and interference with critical infrastructure mean “Europeans are faced with the harsh truth that this is the new normal”.

“We must treat our everyday infrastructure as frontline targets and protect them accordingly,” she adds.

“We will support any member state Russia targets.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that if the attempt to attack cargo planes at Leipzig Airport had been successful, it would have “resulted in enormous damage” and possibly deaths.

She added that it was an attack “using military-grade material” and carried out by Russian operatives on European Union soil.

“We will not tolerate it,” she said.

“We stand in full solidarity with Germany.”

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is speaking with visiting NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a joint news conference in Brussels.

The two leaders are discussing their joint response to Moscow’s hybrid threats after Germany concluded that Russia was behind an attempted drone attack in Leipzig last month.

Watch the news conference here… 

Iran has been getting secret help from Russia to develop supersonic cruise missiles, according to a new report by the Financial Times.

The newspaper says the secret missile programme has been running for years to help Tehran with the technology required for advanced cruise missiles. 

The FT says the programme is codenamed C430L, and some of Russia’s most experienced missile specialists have been assigned to help Iran develop a new class of weapon capable of threatening US aircraft carriers and other warships.

The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment on the FT story, the paper says.

The Iranian government, contacted through its London embassy, also did not respond to the FT’s questions, the paper adds.

But its report points out that Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian yesterday that Moscow was “trying to give you the help you need in this difficult period” during the war with the US and “supplying you with the goods you need”, without elaborating.

Is Iran-Russia collaboration new?

The exposure of the secret programme is significant, but it’s also evidence of close strategic ties between Russia and Iran, which were already known. 

Shahed attack drones have been provided to Russia by Iran for Moscow’s war in Ukraine for years.

Ukraine and Western officials have also accused Russia of helping Iran during its war with the US and Israel by providing satellite imagery, drone support and weapons components.

What is the ‘secret missile programme’ for?

The main purpose of C430L is to help Iran to develop a ramjet propulsion system, an engine that allows a cruise missile to sustain flight at several times the speed of sound, the FT report says.

Missile and military experts said the technology was almost certainly intended for anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.

“For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels,” Jim Lamson, a former Iran-focused military analyst with the CIA, tells the FT.

Supersonic cruise missiles combine speed with the ability to fly at low altitude, shortening the time available for sophisticated air and missile defences to detect and engage them, the FT report adds. 

It says this is especially relevant for Iran in the Gulf, where the US and its regional allies operate advanced land- and sea-based defensive systems.

‘Clearance from the very top’

“This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades,” said Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, a UK-based weapons-tracing organisation.

“A programme like this would require political clearance from the very top in Russia.”

Moscow will not allow Ukraine to seriously disrupt its civil aviation operations despite a threat by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia’s transport minister has said.

Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurance companies yesterday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use, adding it was effectively closed.

“Of course, we are preparing for this ​and taking all these
threats ⁠into account,” Andrei Nikitin said, according to the Interfax news agency.

“We are ⁠constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we ‌have solutions for all of this. We have solutions for all the threats ‌that terrorists are voicing.”

He added that his department is working in “close contact” with the defence ministry and the Russian National Guard.

“I believe ​that we
will not allow any significant ⁠disruption to civil aviation.”

Vladimir Putin said yesterday Zelenskyy’s
warning sounded ⁠like Ukraine intended to ​commit “state
terrorism” and Moscow would find a way to respond.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has said it was time to restart talks on using frozen Russian assets for the country.

Andrii Sybiha said in a meeting of foreign ministers in Ireland: “I ​think this is a fair approach to ​start ⁠[a] serious discussion [on] how ⁠we could use immobilised frozen ‌assets.” 

Four European Union countries – ⁠the Netherlands, Poland,
Spain ​and Sweden – late last month ​urged the bloc ⁠to reopen
discussion on using ⁠Russia’s frozen assets ​for Ukraine. 

Belgium, where the majority of the funds are held, blocked the initiative to fund Ukraine using more than €200bn in Russian central bank assets held in the EU under sanctions.

But a coalition of states wrote to the European Commission to call for work to restart on the concept, four people briefed on the document told the Financial Times.

At least three large explosions rocked the centre of Kyiv today, witnesses have told the Reuters news agency.

Authorities in Ukraine’s capital issued an air raid alert earlier in reaction to a drone threat, adding that air defence units were repelling the attack.

A column of black smoke rose from a neighbourhood near the national university building, according to reports.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that four people were injured in the city after Russia’s attacks.

He said two were hospitalised and the other two were receiving medical assistance. 

Moscow carried out a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the country’s southern Odesa region overnight.

That’s according to transmission system operator Ukrenergo.

The company said on Telegram that a substantial number of its consumers in the region were left without electricity.

It added that there were new power cuts in four other regions.

Dialogue between Washington and Moscow should continue to seek common ground in economics, according to Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov, who was quoted by the Interfax news agency.

He added that it would make it easier for the two countries to then discuss political issues.

Asked about ‌a meeting with US treasury secretary Scott
Bessent, the Russian minister ⁠said both ​countries ​agreed ​there are
grounds for ⁠improving financial ties ⁠despite complications, Interfax reported. 

The alleged Russian attempted drone attack in Leipzig had all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism, according to the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

She said Europe needs to coordinate on what more can be done due to Moscow’s escalation of attacks in Ukraine.

The German government said yesterday that it had concluded
Moscow was responsible ‌for the attempted drone attack last
month.

Speaking before an informal gathering of ⁠European foreign
ministers in ​Ireland, Kallas added that work ​is ongoing on
1,600 sanctions ⁠listings related to Russia’s military complex
and “maybe ⁠there are more ​to be added”.

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

The European Union says last month’s attempted drone strike in Leipzig had all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism after Germany concluded Moscow was responsible.

Meanwhile, Russia carried out a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the southern Odesa region, according to a state-owned transmission system operator.

We’ll have more details on those strikes shortly – stay with us for live updates throughout the day.

It’s a “military secret” how Russia will respond to the UK’s decision to provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow blueprints.

That was Vladimir Putin’s response to a question on whether Russia was weighing up possible strikes on British military sites.

He made no further comment, but it comes as tensions escalate between the two countries.

Russia said last week that the UK was “playing with fire” after Andy Burnham approved letting Ukraine access classified long-range cruise missile tech.

The prime minister had a rather glib response while visiting Kyiv… 

‘The enemy will crumble’

Elsewhere, giving his fullest remarks on the war in weeks, the Russian president acknowledged that Ukraine’s strikes inside his country have inflicted real damage – in particular when they use drones.

However, he said that Russia continued to make advances on the battlefield.

“I have no doubt ⁠the enemy will crumble,” Putin added, without explaining how that would happen.

‘Utter nonsense’ mobilisation order

Reports from The Economist recently said that Putin was mulling a mobilisation of between 300,000 and 400,000 soldiers – leaving the orders to local governments to avoid backlash.

He’s rubbished those and other similar reports as “utter nonsense”, denying a new mobilisation order. 

It’s worth noting, though, that according to The Economist, the first mobilisation order never expired.

Ukraine threatening ‘state terrorism’

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning to civilian airliners using Russian airspace, saying “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over”.

He meant that Ukrainian drones would effectively halt the safe use of air traffic routes over the countries.

Putin said, however, that those comments sounded like “state terrorism” and vowed a response.

He also said that Russia was open to “concrete” talks on settling the Ukraine conflict ​if new momentum could be injected.

Russia and Ukraine have been exchanging strikes on energy infrastructure in their latest series of attacks.

A Russian drone and missile attack damaged a thermal power plant in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, state energy company Naftogaz said.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian attack damaged oil-processing units at Russia’s Novatek Ust-Luga complex.