Pro-Ukraine partisans claim they have blown up a railway line deep inside Russia that was being used to transport North Korean ammunition to the front line.
“Atesh agents managed to carry out a successful operation on the Trans-Siberian Railway near Yekaterinburg. As a result, the railway track along which North Korean ammunition was being delivered was blown up,” the group wrote on Telegram.
Along with the location of the attack, Atesh posted footage that appears to show an explosion destroying a section of the railway track.
The group are an underground movement operating inside Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, mostly Crimea, who spy on Russian military operations and carry out sabotage missions.
A spokesman for Atesh said one of their Russian agents carried out the sabotage. “He’s refused to be rewarded because he works for ideological reasons. His goal is to stop the criminal war waged by his country against Ukraine,” they told Kyiv Post.
It came as Vladimir Putin, the Russia president, met with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban for the first in a series of controversial peace talks on Friday over how to end the war in Ukraine.
The prime minister of Hungary arrived in Moscow after visiting Ukraine earlier this week and pledging to act as a go-between in ceasefire proposals.
“I am ready to discuss the nuances [of peace] with you,” Putin said, adding that Hungary was becoming the “last” country that can speak to both Europe and Russia.
In response, EU leaders have roundly criticised the visit by saying Mr Orban was not acting on behalf of the bloc.
03:35 PM BST
Today’s live coverage has ended. Here’s a roundup of the day’s events:
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Ukrainian partisans blow up Russian railway
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Orban means with Putin to discuss Ukraine
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Ukraine navy chief: Russia’s Black Sea hub in Crimea ‘useless’
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Brit jailed in Russia transferred to prison hospital
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Third Patriot anti-missile system arrives in Ukraine
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Ukrainian drone hits Russian gunpowder factory
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Putin says he takes Trump’s intention to end the war ‘seriously’
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Russian commander behind Bucha massacre detained
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Zelensky congratulates Keir Starmer on election victory
03:30 PM BST
Russian attacks kill two and wound dozens in eastern Ukraine
Russian attacks killed two and wounded more than a dozen other civilians in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday, regional officials said.
Moscow has centred its firepower on the industrial region, which it claims to have annexed and has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces since 2014.
“A village council employee was killed and 14 of her colleagues were wounded during hostile shelling in the Volnovakha district,” prosecutors said in a statement.
The head of the region said one person was killed and another was wounded in a Russian Smerch rocket attack on the town of Ukrainsk.
03:15 PM BST
Putin keen to hear Orban’s proposals for a ceasefire
Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow on Friday for controversial peace talks with Vladimir Putin and was met with the Russian leader saying he was keen to hear his proposals for a ceasefire.
Mr Orban visited Ukraine earlier this week and a Hungarian diplomatic source told the Telegraph he would act as a go-between, with the visit likely endorsed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I am ready to discuss the nuances [of peace] with you,” Putin said, adding that Hungary was becoming the “last” country that can speak to both Europe and Russia.
EU leaders roundly criticised the visit, saying Mr Orban was not acting on behalf of the bloc.
Read the full story here.
02:59 PM BST
Drone boat attacks have left Russia’s Black Sea hub ‘useless’, says Ukrainian navy chief
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase nearly all its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea because of Ukraine’s ATACMS and drone boat attacks, Kyiv’s navy chief has said.
Waves of Ukrainian naval drone and missile strikes had heavily damaged the peninsula’s main naval base at Sevastopol and rendered it untenable, Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said.
“They were established over many decades, possibly centuries. And clearly they are now losing this hub,” he said in a rare interview ahead of Ukraine’s Navy Day on Sunday.
Kyiv, which has no real navy of its own, has dealt a series of stinging blows to Moscow in the Black Sea, using uncrewed naval boats packed with explosives to damage or destroy nearly a third of its warships.
The once-formidable Black Sea Fleet has been driven further east to Russia’s Novorossiysk base, which was targeted in a Ukrainian sea and air drone attack this week.
02:54 PM BST
Brit jailed in Russia transferred to prison hospital
Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year jail sentence over charges of treason, is unwell and has been transferred to a prison hospital, his wife has revealed.
The 42-year-old, who is also a British citizen, was jailed last year after repeatedly condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine and lobbying for Western sanctions against Moscow.
Evgenia Kara-Murza says he suffers from a nerve condition after surviving two poisoning attempts and has repeatedly voiced concerns over his health in prison.
02:00 PM BST
Ukraine hits back at Orban’s ‘peace mission’ to Moscow
Ukraine has denounced Viktor Orban’s controversial trip Moscow on Friday where he met with Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in what he called a “peace mission”.
Ukraine’s peace formula remains the “only realistic path to restoring peace”, Kyiv’s foreign ministry said as it called on countries to not conduct about the war without Kyiv’s participation.
“The decision to make this trip was made by the Hungarian side without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine,” it said.
“For our country, the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable and we call on all states to strictly adhere to it.”
01:44 PM BST
Third Patriot air defence system arrives in Ukraine
Ukraine has received its third German-supplied Patriot air defence system, Berlin’s ambassador to Kyiv revealed on on Friday, after months of pleas for equipment to protect its cities and civilians from Russian air strikes.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year his country needed at least seven additional Patriot systems to protect itself.
German Ambassador Martin Jaeger said on X: “[Patriots] will help improve the protection of civilians and infrastructure. The Ukrainian crew has successfully completed appropriate training in Germany.”
Kyiv said it hopes more air defence supplies will be agreed at a Nato summit in Washington next week. A senior US official said Kyiv is expected to get “good news”.
12:59 PM BST
Nato is helping Ukraine prepare to join, says Stoltenberg
Nato is helping Ukraine to prepare to join the military alliance, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
“All the work we are doing is to make Ukraine stronger and better prepared to join our alliance,” he said ahead of the Nato summit meeting in Washington next week.
Mr Stoltenberg also said that it is up to Ukraine to decide what are acceptable conditions for peace talks with Russia following on from Donald Trump’s boasts that he could swiftly “settle” the war if he wins the race to the White House.
12:29 PM BST
Pictured: Orban meets with Putin in Moscow
12:03 PM BST
Russia conducts Yars nuclear missile drills
Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that it was conducting drills involving Yars mobile nuclear missile launchers, less than a month after it held tactical nuclear weapon deployment exercises alongside ally Belarus.
The ministry said Yars missile launcher crews in at least two different regions were set to move over 62 miles and practice camouflage and deployment.
It published footage showing a mobile launcher maneuvering along forest roads and taking up position before troops covered it in camouflage netting.
“Similar exercises will be held by other missile units in the near future,” the defence ministry said.
11:45 AM BST
Putin hopes to ‘exchange views on Ukraine’ during Orban visit
Vladimir Putin has said he hopes to “exchange views on the Ukrainian crisis” and his “peace proposal” with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban during his unexpected and controversial visit to Moscow.
Mr Orban’s arrival in the country on Friday morning to meet with his ally, sparked anger from European leaders and swift warnings that he did not speak for the EU.
Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and Orban has visited Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and now has chosen to go to Moscow on a “peace mission”, just days before a NATO summit.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen cautioned Mr Orban against “appeasing” Putin, warning that it would not stop him. “Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she said.
11:32 AM BST
YouTube bans pro-war Russian artists
YouTube has blocked the channels of several prominent Russian singers and artists who have voiced their support for their country’s war in Ukraine.
The decision follows an appeal made by the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (LRTK) who had threatened the video-sharing website with “fines of up to €50,000 (£42,000)” for violating EU sanctions by continuing to host pro-war artists.
The accounts of singers Yaroslav Dronov (Shaman), Polina Gagarina, Oleg Gazmanov, Grigory Lepsveridze, Yulia Chicherina and actor Vyacheslav Manucharov were taken down.
Both Mr Dronov and Ms Gargina were sanctioned by the EU in June for staging concerts in occupied regions of Ukraine.
11:21 AM BST
Taliban regime is our trusted ally against terrorists, says Putin
Vladimir Putin has described Afghanistan’s Taliban as Russia’s trusted ally in its fight against terrorism.
The Russian president told journalists after meeting regional leaders in Kazakhstan that the ruling regime in Kabul could help the Kremlin fight ISIS-K amid a rise in terrorist attacks in Russia.
“The Taliban movement controls power in the country and in this sense, the Taliban are certainly allies for us in the fight against terrorism,” he said.
ISIS-K, the branch of Islamic State active mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed responsibility for an attack on a concert in Moscow in March that killed 144 people, and an attack in Dagestan, southern Russia, last month that killed 20 people.
Read the full story here.
11:04 AM BST
Ukrainian drone hits Russian gunpowder factory
A Ukrainian drone assault targeted a gunpowder factory in western Russia, a Kyiv security source has revealed, in the latest strike aiming to dent Russia’s military logistics.
The daylight attack on Thursday was carried out using explosive drones – one of which successfully hit the military facility in the city of Kotovsk in Russia’s Tambov region, 220 miles from Ukraine, the source said.
Unverified footage of the attack showed a drone buzzing towards the factory, followed by a huge explosion. Russia has not commented on the extent of the damage.
Kyiv has stepped up aerial attacks on military and energy facilities deep inside Russia in recent months with the hopes of crippling Moscow’s ability to attack Ukrainian cities or gain more ground in the industrial east.
10:41 AM BST
Putin: We take Trump’s intention to end the war ‘seriously’
Vladimir Putin has said he believes Donald Trump is sincere about ending the war in Ukraine, but does not know what his plan would involve.
The Russian president’s comments in the wake of Trump’s repeated declarations he could swiftly “settle” the war if he won the White House race in November.
Sources close to the former president claimed this week that he was considering striking a bargain with Putin to block Ukraine from joining Nato.
“The fact that Mr Trump, as a presidential candidate, declares that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take this completely seriously,” Putin said at a news conference in Kazakhstan at the end of a regional security conference.
“I am not, of course, familiar with possible proposals for how he plans to do this. This is the key question. But I have no doubt that he means it sincerely, and we support it.”
10:33 AM BST
Russian commander linked to Bucha massacre detained
Russian authorities have detained Colonel Artyom Gorodilov, a top military commander whose troops were responsible for the massacre in Bucha, on charges of large-scale fraud.
At the start of the war, the officer led the 234th Guards Air Assault Regiment, which was found through a New York Times investigation to be responsible for the executions and deaths of Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in March 2022.
Colonel Gorodilov, who was promoted for his exploits in the war in Ukraine, is the latest in a series of high-ranking Russian military officers and senior defence officials to be arrested on charges of corruption in recent months.
09:55 AM BST
Pictured: Ukrainians forced to evacuate frontline town
09:33 AM BST
Child killed in Ukrainian drone attack, governor says
A six-year-old girl died in hospital after a drone attack on the town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, the regional governor said on Friday.
Veniamin Kondratyev said six people were hospitalised after the attack that damaged a three-store apartment building. A local electricity station was also hit.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 14 drones overnight over the Krasnodar region, and more than three dozen more over both the Rostov region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
08:54 AM BST
Orban sparks EU anger with trip to meet Putin in Moscow
European leaders have voiced concerns over rumours that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is about to travel to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Orban – now at the helm of the EU’s rotating presidency – is the only leader in the bloc to have maintained close ties with the Kremlin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has campaigned against sending Western military aid to Kyiv.
“The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU,” EU Council president Charles Michel wrote on X. “The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.”
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk also posted: “The rumours about your visit to Moscow cannot be true @PM_ViktorOrban, or can they?”
Mr Orban responded to the criticism this morning, stating: “I do not need a mandate as I do not represent anything…All I do is go to places where there is a war or threat of war that threatens the European Union and Hungary.”
08:37 AM BST
Zelensky congratulates Keir Starmer on election victory
Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated Keir Starmer and the Labour party on their “convincing election victory”.
The Ukrainian leader praised the UK as an ally who has stuck with his country “through thick and thin” and wished the incoming government “every success”.
“I look forward to working closely together on strengthening the Ukraine-UK partnership and restoring international peace and security,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
Congratulations to @Keir_Starmer and @UKLabour on their convincing election victory.
Ukraine and the United Kingdom have been and will continue to be reliable allies through thick and thin. We will continue to defend and advance our common values of life, freedom, and a…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 5, 2024
08:31 AM BST
Russian pranksters who targeted David Cameron get award
A duo of Russian pranksters targeted David Cameron in a hoax call last month have reportedly been given a top state award by the Kremlin.
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, a duo who use the aliases “Vovan and Lexus,” hoodwinked Lord Cameron into believing he was talking to a former Ukrainian president.
Pictures were released of the pair at a ceremony in Moscow on Wednesday with what appear to be Order of Friendship awards – given to those who strengthen peace and friendship between Russia and other nations.
The pranksters are well-known in their home country having duped a string of Western politicians over the years, including Giorgia Meloni, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Ben Wallace.
08:07 AM BST
Chasiv Yar battle: ‘We cannot hold what is ruined’
A Ukrainian military commander said Russian forces burnt every house not destroyed by shelling in the strategic eastern city of Chasiv Yar as Kyiv’s troops retreated from a district.
Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of the 255 assault battalion which has been fighting in the area for six months, said Russia was deploying scorched-earth tactics in an attempt to destroy anything which could be used as a military position.
“I regret that we are gradually losing territory,” he said, speaking by phone from the Chasiv Yar area, but added, “we cannot hold what is ruined.”
Russian forces have been focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, just west of Bakhmut, for months. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
07:55 AM BST
Orban to visit Moscow today
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Orban, who is considered Putin’s greatest ally within the EU, will be accompanied by foreign minister Peter Szijjarto, said Radio Free Europe, citing a Hungarian government source.
His alleged visit comes just three days after Orban’s unexpected visit to Kyiv where he urged Volodymyr Zelensky to push for a ceasefire to accelerate the end of the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied the visit when questioned. He said Putin had a “busy schedule” and that would more details would be released later.
07:40 AM BST
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