Ukraine war latest: Russia dismisses Turkey offer after Putin meets Erdogan; day of mourning in Ukrainian city (2024)

Russia will not declare a ceasefire in Ukraine until Kyiv takes steps that are "irreversible" and acceptable to Moscow, Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian leader also said it was pointless for Russia to attempt to appeal to the Ukrainian parliament when it came to Moscow's ideas to end the conflict between the two countries.

Mr Putin said last month that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.

On the topic of the US elections, Mr Putin said that he had seen fragments of the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump but that he had enough of his own work to attend to, and added that the US remained a great power.

Asked about Trump's suggestion that the war in Ukraine could be ended swiftly, Mr Putin said that Russia took him seriously.

Drones allegedly struck the vicinity of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant yesterday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said, citing the administration of the occupied facility.

Russian officials yesterday claimed three drones struck an area near the plant.

The UN nuclear watchdog has now said it received reports of several drone strikes in vicinity of the site, injuring workers at Enerhodar electrical sub-station and starting fires in forest area near the plant.

IAEA experts stationed at the plant reported seeing thick smoke rising near the facility and heard explosions after they were told about an alleged drone attack by the representatives of the plant.

Director-general Rafael Grossi said: "It is extremely concerning that these drone attacks are continuing, despite the very clear dangers they present to people in Enerhodar as well as to safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

"They must stop, immediately."

The IAEA also said that before yesterday's strikes, their team had heard of military activities near the plant on most days over the past week.

What has been happening at the plant?

The nuclear facility has been under Russian control since 4 March 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Since then there have been major concerns about the safety of the plant - not least of all because heavy weapons, including shells and rockets, have hit the buildings.

Both sides blame each other.

Since Russian forces occupied the site there have been multiple power outages, which has increased fears of a nuclear disaster.

Russia's ambassador to the US has said his assignment is coming to an end, a move that would pave the way for Moscow to send a new envoy to Washington at a time when relations are at their worst in decades.

Anatoly Antonov's exit was flagged by Russia's Kommersant newspaper, which spotted a handwritten note that Mr Antonov had sent to congratulate a Moscow thinktank on its 30th anniversary.

"My assignment is coming to an end. I hope that together we will continue to defend the interests of our Fatherland!" Mr Antonov wrote in the congratulatory letter.

When asked about the matter today, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was cited by the Interfax news agency as telling reporters: "There is no reason to comment here. Everyone can have their own personal plans.

"Decisions on the appointment and change of ambassadors are made by the president."

Mr Antonov took up his role in Washington in September 2017.

Before that, he served as a deputy defence minister and as a deputy foreign minister.

We reported earlier that Ukrainian troops have pulled back from a part of the key frontline city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region (see post at 8.12am).

Now, Kyiv's military spokesman Nazar Voloshyn has said Russian forces "did not leave a single building intact".

"The positions of the Ukrainian defenders were destroyed, and keeping personnel there was a threat to the lives of our soldiers," he said in an interview with the Kyiv Post.

He also said: "The enemy did not leave a single building intact; after the bombing and artillery shelling, it looks like a 'moonscape'".

For context: Chasiv Yar is a strategically important city in the eastern Donetsk region.

It lies a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle.

For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a city which occupies a strategic, elevated location.

Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

Russia's defence ministry has released footage of its forces firing from a howitzer at Ukrainian troops.

The video (stills below) was captured in an undisclosed wooded area of Ukraine.

One person has been killed and gas infrastructure has been damaged in a Russian missile attack on Ukraine's Poltava region, the country's energy ministry has said.

In a post to Telegram, the ministry said Russian forces struck a facility of gas producer UkrGasVydobyvannya yesterday.

Unspecified infrastructure was damaged, while a 49-year-old employee was killed and three other workers were hurt, it said.

Ukraine's air force said yesterday that it downed a Russian missile over the central Poltava region, but the regional governor reported damage from missile debris.

Ukraine is addressing its manpower challenges by forming new brigades, but delays to Western supplies of weapons are likely preventing them from being properly equipped, according to military analysts.

The Institute for the Study of War said Kyiv is relying on "timely and appropriate Western security assistance".

It described prompt aid from Ukraine's allies as a "crucial determinant of when and at what scale Ukrainian forces can contest the battlefield initiative and conduct operationally significant counteroffensive operations in the future".

It comes after Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Bloomberg TV that Ukrainian forces were better positioned in terms of manpower than a few months ago - but any future counteroffensive was dependent on brigades having heavy equipment and artillery.

The Ukrainian president said military equipment pledged by the US was taking too long to arrive on frontlines.

"This is the biggest tragedy of this war, that between the decision and real fact, we have a real long, long, long wait," Mr Zelenskyy said.

Russia will potentially target Ukraine's supplies of materials including gold, uranium and coal in a bid to "grind down" its economy, the UK's Ministry of Defence has said.

In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said Ukrainian government sources have "long highlighted Russian theft of Ukrainian resources from areas it has occupied".

It said materials such as iron ore, coal, titanium, uranium, manganese, gold and lithium deposits are "almost certainly covered by Russia but also potential targets as Russia seeks to grind down Ukraine's economy".

Moscow is looking to improve transport networks in occupied Ukraine in order to "extract more Ukrainian minerals", it said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia next week for talks with Vladimir Putin, India's foreign ministry has announced.

Mr Modi will visit the country for two days from Monday at Mr Putin's invitation, it said in a statement.

According to the foreign ministry, the two leaders will review their countries' developing bilateral ties and discuss regional and global issues.

The Kremlin said earlier this week that the planned visit had been likely to take place in July. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as "very important".

"In addition, our trade and economic cooperation is alsoone of the main issues that is being discussed, the most diverseareas of cooperation that we intend to develop, for which thereis mutual political will," Mr Peskov said."This is the main thing."

Mr Modi last visited Russia in 2019 for an economic forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok.

India is the world's third-largest crude consumer and a major buyer of Russian oil, increasing its purchase more than 20 times compared with 2021 as Russia discounts its barrels amid Western energy restrictions.

Mr Modi sent Mr Putin "warm congratulations" when he extended his presidential term in March following an election which Western nations deemed to be neither free nor fair.

India has retained a neutral position on the conflict, refraining from publicly criticising Mr Putin's invasion while trying to maintain ties with the West.

Russia has increasingly sought to strengthen ties with its partners as it tries to avoid becoming a global pariah following its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin has made recent visits to both North Korea and Vietnam, and in the former signed a security deal.

Four people have been injured in an early morning attack by Russia on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, officials have said.

The regional prosecutor's office said Russian forces carried out airstrikes in the village of Hlushkivka at around 5am today, injuring three women and a man.

A number of private homes and commercial buildings were also damaged, it said.