Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russia threatened to shoot down French patrol planes (2024)

Russia has launched more than8,000 missiles since the start of the war, according to Ukraine.

Another 4,630 drones have been flown at targets in the country, said air forcespokesperson Yuriy Ihnat.

His comments come as Kyiv urges the West to speed up and step up aid commitments.

Ukraine has received advanced air defence systems, includingseveral units of the Patriot system, from Western allies to shoot down missiles.

But aid has not been forthcoming from key contributor America this year, with a $47bn bipartisan bill held up by hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Reports have increased in recent days from Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline describing being outnumbered, outgunned, and constantly shelled.

Estonia's volunteer army has been growing since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Their message for other NATO nations - including the UK - is clear: wake up and train.

Defence and security editor Deborah Haynes spent some time with the volunteers - her report is well worth a few minutes of your time...

Russia threatened to shoot down French flights over the Black Sea, France's defence minister has revealed.

Sebastien Lecornu called the threats, aimed at planes patrolling in international airspace last month, a "particularly aggressive" posture from Moscow.

It was reminiscent of the Soviet Union's behaviour during the Cold War, he said.

"A month ago, to give you a very concrete example, a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea when we were in a free international zone where we patrol," the minister told RTL radio.

"The behaviour of Russia in 2024 bears no relation to what we saw in 2022 and, obviously, before the aggression in Ukraine.

"It is explained by the fact that Russia is in difficulty on the battlefield in Ukraine."

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has suggested troops may need toreach Kyiv to achieve Moscow goals.

Mr Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Ukrainian government "must fall" in comments reported by state news agency TASS.

It's the first time a high-profile Russian politician has suggested the move since Vladimir Putin's obscure reference in June: "Should we return there or not?... Only I can answer this myself."

Russian forces tried - and failed - to capture the capital just hours after Mr Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Hundreds of helicopter-borne "Spetsnaz" special forces commandos tried to seize a lightly defended airfield on Kyiv's doorstep.

But despite months of preparation, the Russians were ill-equipped to deal with fierce Ukrainian resistance.

They proved incapable of adjusting to setbacks, misjudged Ukraine's air defence capabilities and bungled the movement of supplies.

Ukraine forced Russia to rethink its invasion plan that had expected Kyiv to fall within days.

By Diana Magnay, Moscow correspondent

Vladimir Kara-Murza is a UK-Russian dual national serving a 25-year sentence for treason.

It is the longest sentence handed down to any Kremlin opponent since Soviet times, partly because of his tireless work to try to tighten the sanctions regime against Russia.

Now that Navalny is dead, he is one of Russia's most prominent political prisoners, though by no means the only one - 1,100 at last count, according to the OVD human rights group.

Like Navalny, Kara Murza was poisoned - twice - in 2015 and 2017.

He has brought a case - which included a hearing earlier today - against Russia's investigative committee for failing to properly investigate the circ*mstances around those poisonings.

It's not the first procedure, but in all the hearings so far the investigative committee has failed to provide documents, representatives - a classic case of official obfuscation.

But even from his Omsk jail cell, Kara Murza is not letting it go.

Don't expect this to go well for him, but it does at least keep his case in the spotlight.

Especially at a time when his health is poor due to the prison conditions in which he is kept and the after-effects of the poisoning.

Joe Biden's verbal attack on Vladimir Putin appears to be developing into a war of words.

In response to the US president calling Mr Putin a "crazy SOB", the Kremlin has accused Mr Biden of making a poor attempt at appearing like a "Hollywood cowboy".

"The use of such language against the head of another state by the president of the United States is unlikely to infringe on our president, President Putin," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"But it debases those who uses such vocabulary."

He said the remark was "probably some kind of attempt tolook like a Hollywood cowboy. But honestly I don't think it'spossible."

"Has Mr Putin ever used one crude word to address you?This has never happened. Therefore, I think that such vocabularydebases America itself."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has downplayed Ukraine's loss of the eastern town of Avdiivka.

But he acknowledged the last year had been "complicated" for Ukraine, in aninterview with Fox News.

"During these two years we got [back] part of the Kharkivregion. Now we are in this region... and we unblocked the BlackSea. There are grain routes and we destroyed a lot of theirships of the Russian fleet.

"That is what we did over two years. And what they could do?Only this one place. But what for?"

Avdiivka lies nine miles northwest of theRussian-held city of Donetsk, and Russian analysts say its capture will prevent Ukraine shelling Donetsk.

Mr Zelenskyy also expressed discontent with theslowdown in Western aid for Ukraine's war effort.

"We have to be more quick. That means to lose all thebureaucracy. Otherwise we will not have any chance."

Joe Biden has branded Vladimir Putin a "crazy SOB", warning there isalways the threat of nuclear conflict.

Initially addressing the challenges of climate change, the president said: "This is the last existential threat. It is climate. We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin and others and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate."

Mr Biden's verbal attacks against Putin have sharpened at the White House and on the campaign trail.

Last week, he blamed the Russian leader and "his thugs" for the death of Alexei Navalny - which the Kremlin denies.

The US president has a tendency to go off script during electionfundraisers and in recent months has made digs at the Chinesegovernment, the Republican Party and Israel.

Russian forces are pressing on to other towns and villages after taking Avdiivka, according to Ukrainian soldiers.

The servicemen spoke of the sheer size of Russian manpower and the number of shells and guided aerial bombs targeting their new positions.

"It doesn't end with them taking Avdiivka. They continueassaulting," said Andriy, a Ukrainian dronepilot of the 47th Mechanised Brigade.

"After Avdiivka, the villages nearby are next. And then,Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk, the nearest larger towns."

Fellow unit member Huk added the Russian forces were moving towards the village of Lastochkyne.

"I think they are now taking a small break to gather their forces so as to continue attacking us," he said.

Russian forces secured Avdiivka after months of bombardmentreduced the town to rubble.

It was Russia's biggest battlefieldvictory since its forces captured Bakhmut in May 2023, indicating a change in momentum on the ground.

VladimirPutin vowed to push Russian troops further into Ukraine.

"The situation on the Avdiivka front is quite clear. The Russians will advance as far as their strength allows, depending on who among them survives," said Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of Ukraine's Third AssaultBrigade.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Ukraine war.

The UK yesterday became the first country to impose sanctions in response to the death of prominent Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny.

The government sanctioned six individuals heading up the penal colony in Siberia where the opposition leader died nearly a week ago.

Among them was Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin, who oversaw the IK-3 prison camp, known as the "Polar Wolf" colony.

In other news from the conflict:

• The International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost connection to its last external backup power line, underlining "the fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the site";
• Sources told the Reuters news agency that Iran had provided Russia with hundreds of missiles, with more on the way. Kyiv said it had seen no evidence to back up the report;
• Navalny's mother filed a lawsuit over officials' refusal to release her son's body, Russian media reported;
• Sky News analysis found British companies were exporting hundreds of millions of pounds of equipment and machinery which was almost certainly ending up in Russia. Watch Ed Conway explain in this video...