Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin forces may have breached Romanian airspace during drone attacks

Russia shot down one of its own fighter jets in the Zaporozhye region, a Ukrainian soldier has claimed.

The soldier, who goes by the name of Butusov Plus on Telegram, said: “Yesterday there was information about the downing of a Russian Su-35 fighter near the city of Tokmak”.

He added: “Apparently, the air defense of the occupiers ‘stood out’, which “landed” its plane, worth about 100 million dollars. The fact of the destruction of the enemy aircraft is confirmed by the monitor channel.

“Also today, the Russian aviation Z-blogger Fighterbomber published a photo of the Su-35 with the wishes of the pilot of eternal flight, thereby confirming the death of the crew.

“The video shows, presumably, the moment of the downing of an enemy fighter. We welcome such friendly fire.”

Just two countries – North Korea and Syria – have chosen to recognise referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine widely condemned by Western countries as “sham” elections.

Vladimir Putin held polls in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson and Zaporizhzia which Russian-installed officials won.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the lack of backing for the results showed that the “world has chosen to stand with Ukraine.

It comes as Russian president Putin marks the first anniversary of the annexations.

A tourist attraction, a film location and a symbol of hope – the felled Sycamore Gap tree was many things to many people.

The 300 year-old natural beauty was one of the most photographed trees in the country and an iconic sight next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. However, this week it was felled prompting an outpouring of anger and sorrow, from campaigners and the public alike.

Arpan Rai has more details:

Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without the recent differences impacting its military support, said Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

The two neighbouring nations have encountered friction in their ties after Poland – that has been one of Ukraine’s fiercest allies through the course of Russian invasion – decided to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow a year ago “made their choice – to be with their fatherland”.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Mr Putin insisted it was carried out “in full accordance with international norms”.

He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russia’s Central Election Commission said the country’s ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he wants to turn Ukraine’s defence industry into a “large military hub” by partnering with Western weapons manufacturers to increase arms supplies for Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia.

He was speaking at a forum his government convened with international producers to discuss how to jointly develop industrial capacity to build and repair weapons in Ukraine despite constant Russian bombardment.

“Ukraine is in such a phase of the defence marathon when it is very important, critical to go forward without retreating. Results from the frontline are needed daily,” Zelensky told executives representing more than 250 Western weapons producers.

“We are interested in localizing production of equipment needed for our defence and each of those advanced defence systems which are used by our soldiers, giving Ukraine the best results at the front today,” he told the forum in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s air force shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on central and southern regions, regional and military officials said on Saturday.

The South Military command said that 20 drones were shot down in the central Vinnytsia region and another 10 over the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions in the south.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the southern command, told Ukrainian TV that Russia continued to attack port infrastructure, including on the Danube river, and was also attempting to strike critical infrastructure facilities in other Ukrainian regions “to impact the economy”.

Russia has intensified air attacks on Ukrainian grain export infrastructure on the Danube River and in the port of Odesa since July, when Moscow quit a UN-brokered deal that allowed safe Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea.

Serhiy Borzov, the Vinnytsia regional governor, said that an infrastructure facility was hit in the region, causing a powerful fire. He gave no other details about the damage.

Regional authorities also said that three people were injured in the southern Kherson region which is close to the frontlines and frequently comes under artillery shelling.

Nato member Romania says its airspace may have been violated during overnight drone attacks by Russia on infrastructure in Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reports.

The Kremlin has stepped up its attacks in Ukraine’s southern Odsea and Mykolaiv regions – near the border with Romanian – in recent days after exiting a deal allowing the safe passage of grain shipments via the Black Sea.

“Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border, residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted,” Romania’s defence ministry said in a statement.

“The radar surveillance system … indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati.”

The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that its air defence had downed all nine missiles launched from Ukraine over its western Belgorod region.

Belgorod borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and has repeatedly come under fire since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia.

Slovaks started voting on Saturday in a parliamentary election closely fought between former leftist prime minister Robert Fico, who has pledged to end military aid for neighbouring Ukraine, and pro-Western liberals.

Final opinion polls showed the two parties in dead heat, with the winner expected to get the first chance to try to form a government to replace the caretaker administration running the country of 5.5 million since May.

A government led by Fico would mean Slovakia joining Hungary as EU countries challenging the bloc’s consensus on support for Ukraine, just as the European Union looks to keep unity in opposing Russia’s invasion.

It would also add to a bloc of eastern ex-Communist states with governments publicly hostile to liberalism, along with Poland’s nationalist PiS, which also faces an election next month, though Poland remains pro-Ukrainian.

A Progresivne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia, PS) government would stay the course on foreign policy, keeping Slovakia’s strong backing for Ukraine and putting the country in a pro-integration and liberal camp in the EU on issues such as majority voting to make the bloc more flexible, green policies and LGBT rights.

Neither Fico’s SMER-SSD (Direction-Slovak Social Democracy) nor the PS, led by European Parliament Vice-Chairman Michal Simecka, is expected to win a majority, meaning the future government is likely to depend on results for over half a dozen smaller parties, from libertarians to far-right extremists.