Ukraine war: Zelensky calls for more long-range missiles after Kyiv attack

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Russian warplanes prevented two US strategic bombers from violating the state border over the Barents Sea.

After having detected an air target approaching the Russian borders, the military scrambled MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets, the ministry said in a statement. The MiGs identified the planes as two US strategic bombers.

“As the Russian fighter jets approached, the American strategic bombers adjusted their flight course… and subsequently turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.

The Russian warplanes carried out the flight in compliance with international rules on the use of airspace over neutral waters, it added.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of regular hours.

Russia has reported similar incidents before when its planes have confronted military aircraft from Nato countries flying close to its border at a time of acute tension over the war in Ukraine.

Pope Francis said on Sunday he hoped the Paris Olympics would be an occasion for a truce in the world’s conflicts, urging athletes to be messengers of peace and models for young people.

The games start on 26 July with an opening ceremony on the River Seine that will feature about 10,500 athletes and over 100 heads of state and government.

During his weekly address to the crowds in St Peter’s Square, the pope said he hoped that “according to the ancient tradition, the Olympics will be an opportunity to establish a truce in wars, by demonstrating a sincere desire for peace”.

He mentioned the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar and other countries, saying “let us not forget war is a defeat”.

Last month the final statement of a Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ meeting held in Italy included a unanimous call for a truce in global conflicts during the Olympic Games.

Donald Trump praised Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping at a campaign rally in Michigan on 20 July.

He called the two “smart, tough,” leaders who “love their country”.

Mr Trump also said he’d like to take North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to a baseball game as he boasted about their friendship.

The former president said he “got along” great with Mr Kim when he was in office.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has said he is more convinced than ever that Donald Trump can “save Ukraine” and bring peace to the region.

Writing an opinion piece in the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson praised Mr Trump for his courage after he survived an assassination attack during his rally in Pennsylvania.

“Having talked to Donald Trump this week, I am more convinced than ever that he has the strength and the bravery to fix it, to save Ukraine, to bring peace — and to stop the disastrous contagion of conflict,” Mr Johnson wrote.

He recounted the dramatic moment during Mr Trump’s presidential campaign when he narrowly escaped death by turning his head at the right moment, the bullet grazing his head instead.

Mr Johnson said in those critical and chaotic situations Mr Trump’s true character was revealed.

“I believe that indomitable spirit is exactly what the world needs right now, and exactly what is needed in the White House,” he wrote.

Ukraine needs long-range weapons to protect its cities and troops on the frontline from Russian bombs and drones, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday after a massive overnight drone and missile attack.

Russia launched its fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks overnight, with Ukraine’s air defence systems destroying all the air weapons before they reached the capital, Ukraine’s military said.

Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine’s regions.

It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv. There were no casualties and no significant damage reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital’s military administration, said on the Telegram.

“During last night alone, the Russian army used almost 40 ‘Shaheds’ against Ukraine. Importantly, most of them were shot down by our defenders of the sky,” Zelensky said on Telegram, referring to the drones.

He said it was necessary to destroy Russian bombers at Russian air bases to protect Ukraine from air raids.

“Our sufficient long-range capabilities should be a fair response to Russian terror. Everyone who supports us in this supports the defence against terror,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky renewed his call for Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia on Friday in London, saying Britain should try to convince its partners to remove the limits on their use.

Nato members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia’s border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said, without saying what happened to them.

The military administration of the Sumy region in Ukraine’s northeast bordering Russia said on Telegram that a Russian missile damaged critical infrastructure in the Shostkynskyi district of the region.

The administration did not provide detail on what infrastructure was hit.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow says it does not attack civilian targets in Ukraine.

“These systematic attacks … with drones, once again prove that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to strike Kyiv,” Popko said. “They’re testing new tactics, looking for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the location of our air defence.”

On 1 January this year, Latvia became the latest European country to reintroduce conscription, with all male citizens becoming eligible for the draft once they hit the age of 18 or – if still in higher education – once they graduate.

Seen most notably in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, it’s part of a wider trend of expanded mobilisation across the continent as a result of the increasingly aggressive actions of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Robert Hamilton, head of Eurasia research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, tells CNN that the West is “coming to the realisation that we may have to adjust the way we mobilize for war”.

“It is tragically true that here we are, in 2024, and we are grappling with the questions of how to mobilize millions of people to be thrown into a meatgrinder of a war potentially, but this is where Russia has put us,” he told the broadcaster.

General Wesley Clark, who is now retired but served as Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told CNN: “So we’ve now got a war in Europe that we never thought we would see again. Whether this is a new Cold War or an emerging hot war is unclear,” he said, but “it’s a very imminent warning to Nato that we’ve got to rebuild our defenses.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed on Sunday that Russian MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets prevented US strategic bombers from violating the state border over the Barents Sea.

“As the Russian fighter jets approached, the American strategic bombers adjusted their flight course… and subsequently turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement.

Archie Mitchell and Tom Watling report:

Russia appears to have targeted Kyiv with a new type of drone that flew at a very low altitude, according to analysis of debris from the fallen weapon.

In aerial bombardments this weekend, the Russian military has launched not only missiles and kamikaze drones of the now-familiar Shahed-136 type but also deployed another new drone of an unknown type, according to the military analytical website Defence Express.

It said the drone flew at a low altitude of just 20-30 metres, analysing photographs of the weapon used in the attack.

The unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had “a possible wingspan of more than 4 metres, beam plumage, a push rotor, and a square fuselage,” it said.

The drone’s fragments are still being investigated, the website said.

Ukraine’s air defence systems repelled Russia’s fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks, officials said, as Moscow targeted the capital with a new unidentified type of low-flying drone.

Russia has launched “systematic attacks” and rained missiles and drones across the capital region, looking for new tactics to make battlefield gains, Kyiv’s military head said.

No casualties or significant damage have been reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

“These systematic attacks… with drones, once again prove that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to strike Kyiv,” Mr Popko said. “They’re testing new tactics, looking for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the location of our air defence.”

Ukraine‘s air force said on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine‘s regions.

It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv.

Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine‘s air force said, without saying what happened to them.