Russia Ukraine war live: Zelensky says North Korea suffers losses as ‘last resort counteroffensive’ begins – UK Times

A Russian military blogger said Ukraine has begun a “last resort counteroffensive”, as it launches attacks on Russian positions in the Kursk region.

The counteroffensive in Kursk may be a “diversionary” move preceding a wider counteroffensive, another Russian military blogger, the Ryber Telegram channel, said.

Ukrainian forces could be looking to move in other frontline areas, such as the Donetsk region, where Russian forces have been advancing for months, slowly but steadily.

Surprise attacks had been launched against Russian positions in Kursk, it was confirmed by the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation.

Nine people were injured after Russia attacked Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Saturday, the local military administration said.

Social infrastructure, including a gas pipeline and a garage, and residential buildings were hit by the Russian strikes, authorities added.

Around 34 villages and cities came under Russian fire on Saturday, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency on Saturday, as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city.

Fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, close to eastern Crimea — some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Sevastopol, which lies on the southwest of the peninsula.

“Today a regional emergency regime has been declared in Sevastopol,” regional Gov. Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram.

Oil was found on four beaches in the region and was “promptly eliminated” by local authorities working together with volunteers, Razvozhaev said.

“Let me emphasize: there is no mass pollution of the coastline in Sevastopol,” he wrote.

Four Russian airports have reopened after suspending flights to ensure the safety of civilian aircraft, aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.

Airports in the cities of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Izhevsk and Perm – all east of Moscow – halted flights temporarily on Sunday morning.

Rosaviatsia did not specify a reason for the pause in flights, but airports have previously closed due to the risk of Ukrainian drone activity.

All restrictions were lifted by 11am, the watchdog said.

Ukrainian forces shot down 61 of the 103 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Saturday, its air force said.

The force added that 42 other drones were “lost” referencing Kyiv’s use of electronic warfare.

There have so far been no reports of major damage or casualties.

Poland is spending at least €2.5bn (£2.1bn) on its border defence system, including building a sky shield system akin to Israel’s “Iron Dome” to protect its eastern border from a growing threat from Russia.

In May, during a meeting with European leaders in Warsaw, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk stated: “Creating an iron dome against missiles and drones is necessary … There is no reason for Europe not to have its missile defence shield,” confirming that work on the project had begun. He added that it requires little imagination to understand that Europe, like Israel, is also in the danger zone.

Russian forces have taken control of the village of Nadiya in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies cite Moscow’s defence ministry as saying on Saturday.

The battlefield report has not been independently verified.

President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Mr Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Mr Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.

The Ukrainian president also said a priority was to stabilise the frontline early in the new year. Mr Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.

“He’s very strong and unpredictable, and I would really like to see President Trump’s unpredictability apply to Russia. I believe he really wants to end the war,” he said. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” he said in a televised interview.

“His qualities are indeed there,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this.”

Russian forces launched attacks near the city of Pokrovsk, a key strategic road and rail hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.

Capture of Pokrovsk could create serious problems for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front, and may allow Russia to advance its frontline to the west.

“The Pokrovsk direction remains the hottest and there the Russians attacked 34 times (in the past 24 hours) and tried to break through our defences south of Pokrovsk,” a spokesman for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces told national television.

Russian forces seek to cut off supply routes to Ukraine’s troops, the military added. They send small groups of soldiers to settlements south of Pokrovsk to block supplies.

“They (Russians) don’t go directly into the city because it means heavy urban fighting. So they first try to bypass the city and interrupt the logistics chains,” Trehubov said.