Live blog: Russian overnight attacks kill two in Ukraine – Kiev

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

0837 GMT –– Ukraine has said that two people had been killed and at least five more wounded in the latest overnight Russian attacks across the country targeting military and energy infrastructure.

Moscow's army, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 21 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory and the annexed Crimean peninsula, as Kiev steps up cross border aerial attacks.

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0837 GMT –– EU leaders to pledge continuing military support to Ukraine at summit

European Union leaders will restate their determination to continue to provide "timely, predictable and sustainable military support" to Ukraine at a summit on Thursday, according to draft conclusions of the meeting.

"The European Council also reiterates the urgent need to accelerate the delivery of ammunition and missiles," the draft text, seen by Reuters, also says.

0759 GMT –– Ukraine downs 15 of 35 Russian drones

Kiev has said that Russian forces launched two missiles and 35 attack drones at targets across Ukraine overnight and that 20 of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had bypassed air defence systems.

Ukrainian officials have urged Western allies to bolster its air defence capabilities and said gaining control of the country's air space is a priority for this year.

"The enemy directed some of the attack UAVs along front line territories, trying to hit fuel and energy infrastructure, and civilian and military facilities near the front line and the state border with Russia," the air force said in a statement.

0513 GMT –– Russia destroys 21 drones over Crimea, other regions – Moscow

Russian air defence systems destroyed or intercepted 21 Ukraine-launched drones over the Crimean Peninsula and several Russian regions, Russian news agencies reported, citing Moscow's defence ministry.

Russia's systems downed 11 of the drones over Crimea, RIA state news agency reported. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move condemned by Kiev's Western allies as an illegal land grab.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol in Crimea, said on the Telegram messaging app there was no damage from the attack on Sevastopol, Crimea's largest city and a major Black Sea port.

Ukraine-launched drones were also downed over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Tula regions, Russian agencies reported.

Drone debris fell on the roof of a non-residential building on the outskirts of the city of Kaluga, the administrative centre of the Kaluga region, but there was no major damage or injuries, the region's governor Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram.

0053 GMT — UK says any move to seize frozen Russian assets must be 'legally watertight'

British investment minister Dominic Johnson has said he discussed the seizure of frozen Russian assets with US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and stressed that any move to do so must be done in strict accordance with international law.

Johnson said these were clearly "unique times," but it was imperative to ensure that any move was well-coordinated internationally and there were still important legal details to work out.

A US Senate committee last week approved legislation that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long conflict.

The European Union, United States, Japan and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine.

0051 GMT — Casualties in Ukraine as Blinken warns gains in doubt sans aid

Russian shelling in northern Ukraine has killed four people in two villages in Sumy region near the Russian border, while a woman died in a fresh assault on the devastated eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, local officials alleged.

The local administration in Sumy region said three people died in mortar fire in the village of Znov-Novohorodske. A fourth was killed in another village to the southeast.

TRT World could not verify the reports.

In Avdiivka, a Ukrainian-held town near the front line, public broadcaster Suspilne said a woman died after suffering serious injuries in mid-afternoon shelling. Avdiivka was seized briefly in 2014 by pro-Russian forces who captured large swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine, but was recaptured by Ukrainian troops who built fortifications.

0025 GMT — Blinken warns Ukraine gains in doubt if no US aid

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Ukraine's gains over two years of fighting were all in doubt without new US funding, as NATO's chief visited to lobby Congress.

Tens of billions of dollars in US aid has been sent to Ukraine since the Russian military incursion in February 2022, but Republican lawmakers have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kiev, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against Russian forces grinds on.

As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made the case on a visit to Washington, Blinken offered an increasingly dire picture of Ukraine's prospects without US approval of the so-called supplemental funding.

"Without it, simply put, everything that Ukrainians achieved and that we've helped them achieve will be in jeopardy," Blinken told a joint news conference with Stoltenberg.

0042 GMT — China minister, Ukraine ambassador discuss several issues

China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has met with Ukrainian ambassador to China Pavlo Riabikin and exchanged views on issues of common concern, including the Ukraine crisis, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Sun, in their meeting, said both China and Ukraine should respect each other and treat each other sincerely, so as to promote the steady and long-term development of bilateral relations.

For our live updates from Sunday, January 29, click here.