Ukraine war latest: Ukraine 'targeted North Korean and Russian personnel' with British missiles

Hungary to install air defence system near Ukraine border

Hungary will install an air defence system near its border with Ukraine, Budapest has announced. 

The country's defence minster said the installation of the system in the northeast of the country came as the threat of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war was "greater than ever". 

"We still trust that there will be peace as soon as possible, through diplomacy instead of a military solution," Kristof Szalay Bobrovniczky said last night. 

"However, to prepare for all possibilities, I ordered the recently purchased air control and air defence systems and the capabilities built on them to be installed in the northeast."

"The threat of the escalation of the Ukraine-Russia war is greater than ever."

Hungary is among the most supportive European nations of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, consistently opposing sanctions and frustrating the European Union and NATO over aid for Ukraine and accession of Kyiv and other neighbours to the alliance. 

Russia fires intercontinental missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says

Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine this morning, according to Kyiv.

The Reuters news agency says this is the first time that a weapon of this range and power has been used in the war. 

Ukraine's air force said the missile was fired from Russia's southern Astrakhan region and targeted the Dnipro region.

In our 7.35am post, we detailed an attack on Dnipro, which caused two fires - but casualties have not yet been reported. 

In addition, Ukrainian air defences shot down six of seven Kh-101 cruise missiles during the same attack, the air force said.

Moscow has not commented on the claims. 

Intercontinental missiles have a range of thousands of miles and can be used for delivering nuclear warheads, though they usually hold conventional warheads.

It comes after Ukraine started using long-range Western-supplied missiles on Russian soil - seen as a major escalation by Moscow.

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin approved changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine, which the Kremlin indicated was in response to the move.

Belarusian media claims 'militants' set to invade from NATO countries and Ukraine

Belarusian media is claiming that exiled opposition members are "desperate" to launch an invasion and are being aided by foreign governments, including NATO members. 

"Combat formations have been created in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania with the support of local authorities," BELTA reported. 

It claimed political opposition figures were being trained in in Poland and Lithuania - both NATO members - with a view to invading Belarus and seizing power "through the force of arms".

The reports cited only one source - which BELTA claim was an ex-member of the Kalinovski regiment - a Belarusian opposition group. 

There's no evidence to back up the claims attributed to the source in the report. 

The report added that the "armed insurgents" are training in order to invade Belarus and seize power through the force of arms.

"They have identified four territories to seize: the southwest at the junction of the borders of Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, then Kobrin District, Pinsk District and Luninets District," the report added.

"They have planned to attack from three directions: Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine."

Russia strikes Dnipro region

Early this morning, Ukrainian officials reported a Russian airstrike on the Dnipro region. 

Serhiy Lysak, the region's governor, said two fires had started as a result of the attack - the details of which were being gathered. 

Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov said the attack damaged a rehabilitation centre, knocking out the windows and destroying a boiler room.

Neither official shared any details about casualties. 

Putin gifts North Korea 'more than 70 animals' including lions and bears as countries tighten ties

North Korea and Russia continue to deepen their ties, as the countries proclaimed further economic cooperation. 

Following high-level talks in Pyongyang this week, an agreement was signed between the two countries, according to the Korean Central News Agency, which did not offer any further details. 

The Russian delegation was led by Alexandr Kozlov, the country's minister of natural resources and ecology, who brought with him a gift from President Vladimir Putin.

Russian state media outlet TASS reported that Kozlov (on behalf of Putin) gave Pyongyang's central zoo more than 70 animals, including lions, bears and several species of birds, in recognition of the nations' deepening ties. 

Ukraine 'targeted North Korean and Russian personnel' with British missiles yesterday

Yesterday, Ukraine used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia. 

The UK and Ukraine have not yet confirmed the use of the long-range weapons in Russia but their deployment has been widely reported.

Footage has been posted on Telegram reportedly showing wreckage from one of the missiles in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

Ukraine fires UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia

Ukrainian outlet Defense Express suggested that the target was near the Baryatinsky Estate in Marino.

It said a military facility near the estate, which was home to the last of the Romanov grand duchesses (Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna), may have been used by Moscow to house North Korean troops. 

Troops were sent from Pyongyang to aid Moscow in re-taking the Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region of Russia earlier this month. 

Defense Express said the use of the missile suggested that higher-profile targets could also have been present, "possibly even North Korean generals".

"Speculation suggests that a deeply buried military command post, potentially serving as a communications hub, was the primary target," the report added.

It's worth treating this report with caution, given it comes from a Ukrainian outlet, but the US-based thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said that the stationing and Russian and North Korean personnel near the estate was plausible. 

"The Ukrainian defence-focused outlet Defense Express suggested was housing a command post for Russian and North Korean troops operating in Kursk Oblast," it said.

"ISW cannot confirm this claim at this time, but Marino is about 30km from the current Kursk Oblast salient, which would be an appropriate distance for an operational headquarters for troops conducting offensives along the salient."

US embassy open again

As expected, the US embassy has re-opened in Kyiv. 

In a statement posted late last night, it said it had "temporarily modified operations... due to reports of a potential imminent air attack.  

"The embassy [now] remains open and operational."

The Italian and Greek embassies also shut yesterday, while the French embassy remained open but urged its citizens to be cautious.

Ukraine issued several statements suggesting that Russia had circulated "panic-inducing messages" on a mass scale, accusing Moscow of saying that a massive air attack was imminent. 

We can't take back Crimea by force, Zelenskyy admits

The Crimean peninsula can only be restored to Ukraine via diplomacy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. 

The territory was annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been held by Moscow ever since. 

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has launched several operations, mainly airstrikes, in an attempt to harass Moscow's forces and resources stationed there. 

Some analysts previously suggested Ukraine may attempt a ground operation on the peninsula, though these suggestions somewhat dried up following Ukraine's faltering counter-offensive last summer. 

Now, Zelenskyy, while being interviewed by Fox News on a train in Ukraine yesterday, said he would not risk the significant human cost that a military campaign to retake Crimea would exact. 

However, he insisted that the territory belonged to Ukraine and would not "legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian". 

"I was already mentioning that we are ready to bring Crimea back diplomatically," he said. 

"We cannot spend dozens of thousands of our people so that they perish for the sake of Crimea coming back... and still it's not a fact that we can bring it back with the arms in our hands. 

"We understand that Crimea can be brought back

diplomatically."

UK signs defence agreement with Moldova

Moldovan voters last month backed, by a tiny margin, a referendum to alter the constitution to include provisions on integration with the EU. 

Now it has been announced that the UK has signed a new security and defence partnership agreement with the ex-Soviet state.

"With Ukraine next door, Moldovans are constantly reminded

of Russia's oppression, imperialism and aggression," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

"Despite unprecedented Kremlin interference, the people of Moldova have chosen freedom, democracy, and independence. A decision we must help them protect."

Ukrainian missile attack in Kursk village

Footage on social media appears to have captured a Ukrainian missile strike on Russian soil

Sky News has geolocated the video to the village of Marino, in the Kursk region

Separate images shared online by Russian military bloggers purport to show fragments of British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles found in the same village

Sky News cannot verify the images independently.

How risky is Britain's Storm Shadow decision?

It's understood that British Storm Shadow missiles have been fired by Ukrainian troops into Russia for the first time. 

How risky is the decision, with Biden's exit on the horizon?

"A lot depends on what Donald Trump does and the position that he takes, which is unclear," our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay says.

"Britain has played a significant role in assisting Ukraine from the very start.

"I'm not sure this makes it any more dangerous for the UK than it was beforehand. We have been at the front of this conflict.

"This will be something our defence chiefs and the prime minister will have been weighing up.

"I suspect they have concluded it does not make much difference one way or another - the rhetoric from Russia is always going to be the same."

US citizens in Ukraine must 'remain vigilant'

We reported earlier that the US embassy in Kyiv would reopen tomorrow and operate as normal (see post at 6.37pm).

This is after it was closed today due to "specific information of a potential significant air attack".

US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has now said US citizens must "remain vigilant" and "monitor official Ukrainian sources for updates".

She also said people should "prepare to shelter in place if an air alert is announced".

-SKY NEWS