Ukraine war latest: Russian defence minister in North Korea for talks (2024)

Russia's economy minister has claimed that the rouble will recover – despite hitting its lowest level since the first months of the Ukraine war this week.

The Russian rouble fell to 100 against the US dollar yesterday after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, which handles payments for Russia's energy trade with Europe – and is a major supplier of Western currencies to the market.

But minister Maxim Reshetnikov said in a statement: "It is evident that adaptation to the new anti-Russian sanctions will be necessary, including changes to banking mechanisms and channels for currency inflows into the Russian market."

But he added: "We assume that once the market nervousness subsides, the exchange rate will return to its fundamental values."

It comes after a call from President Vladimir Putin not to panic over the fall – and a decision by Russia’s central bank not to buy foreign currency on the domestic market for the rest of the year.

The number of Russian soldiers to die in a single day in its fight against Ukraine has surpassed 2,000 for the first time, according to Ukrainian officials.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian defence ministry claims 2,030 personnel died in the 24 hours to Friday.

The figures have not been verified, but analysts estimate that roughly 1,600 Russian soldiers are dying in battle every day.

Estonian analyst Artur Rehi said yesterday: "Russia has turned into a huge conveyor belt of death, destroying Ukraine and devouring itself from the inside."

Reports claim young Russian recruits are being sent to Ukraine without training.

Russian dissident Alezei Gorinov has been jailed for a further three years after appearing in court again today.

Mr Gorinov, 63, was already serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of spreading false information about Russia's armed forces under a censorship law introduced shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He denied the new charge of "justifying terrorism" during his latest trial but has been found guilty and his sentence extended.

As it concluded he made a defiant speech and described the Ukraine war as "bloody slaughter".

Pictures show him in a cage in court in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, on Friday.

Russian forces have taken control of two settlements in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, according to its defence ministry.

Writing on Telegram, the ministry says it now holds Verkhokamianka and Rozdolne.

Russia controls most of the Donetsk region, but continues to advance along the border.

The Ukrainian military has just confirmed it was behind the attack on an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov region overnight.

It resulted in a "major fire", according to Kremlin officials, and involved at least 30 drones (see 6.18am post).

The Ukrainian military said of the attack on the Atlas depot on Telegram this morning: "Atlas is part of the Russian military-industrial complex that supplies petroleum products to the Russian army."

A radar station for a Russian Buk air defence system was also targeted in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, the Telegram statement added.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks inside Russian territory, particularly after the UK and US allowed their weapons to be used across the border.

As attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure increase, we've got some video and pictures of widespread damage at the DTEK power plant after a Russian missile strike.

The plant used to supply around 20% of Ukraine's power, but this dropped to 12% after Russia invaded.

DTEK says it has been targeted roughly 200 times since February 2022.

Violent protests erupted in Georgia last night over the government's decision to push back talks on the country's longstanding EU membership bid until 2028 - amid concerns it is edging closer to Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Police in riot gear used a water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray as they ordered crowds of protesters on the streets of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, to disperse.

Pictures show masked protesters clashing with police and being dragged away, while some of the demonstrators tossed fireworks at officers shouting "Russians" and "Slaves!". Three police officers were injured, the country's interior ministry said.

Ukraine has also made sustained efforts towards EU membership, with Russia reportedly concerned about the defence implications of such a move.

Georgia, an ex-Soviet state, which has held aspirations to join the 27-member state bloc, has had a series of mass protests against what is seen as an increasingly pro-Russia government over the past year.

It has been a nation in turmoil since its parliamentary election last month. Read the full story below.

We've had some details of injuries from drone attacks (see 7.55am post) across Ukraine overnight.

According to Ukrainian officials, at least eight people were injured in Kyiv and the southern region of Odesa last night.

Seven of them were in Odesa, where 13 residential buildings were hit by drones, the officials said.

The guard at a children's medical facility in the Dnipro district of Kyiv was taken to hospital after it was hit, they added.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone fragments struck an infrastructure site in the Sviatoshynskyi district on the opposite west bank of the Dnipro river - but reported no injuries.

And Ruslan Kravchenko, Kyiv's regional governor, added that there was minor damage to a private building elsewhere in the region – but no injuries there.

Russia has stepped up its nightly drone attacks onUkrainian cities as it continues to push along the easternfrontline, making some of its largest monthly territorial gainssince 2022.

We've got some details of drone attacks on Ukraine overnight.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram, 132 drones were used across the country during the night.

Some 88 of them were shot down, it says, but 41 were "lost", likely due to "electronic warfare" and one “returned to Russian territory", it adds.

Pictures also show drone damage to a children's medical facility in the Dnipro district of Kyiv from overnight.

Reports say the hospital guard was injured and taken to hospital.

We've spoken to Oleksii Riabchyn, former adviser to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, from Kyiv this morning about the electricity supply across Ukraine in light of repeated blackouts.

He describes it as "stably critical" at the moment.

Mr Riabchyn says the focus on damaged power sites is to rebuild in a "sustainable and decentralised way", building more smaller stations instead of larger ones, to ensure Ukraine has the "fastest way" to EU membership.

Asked about the day-to-day electricity supply, he says: "When Russian strikes hit the energy generation systems - you don't have enough to feed the needs of the people."

He says when Russia "very cruelly" hits the transmission systems at substations, it is "very hard to manage" and results in "two to four to six hours" of no electricity at a time.

But he says the situation in larger cities is manageable - compared to elsewhere.

"When you think of our soldiers on the frontline. It's not very pleasant. The trenches, the cold," he says.

"So to sit in Kyiv or Kharkiv for a couple of hours where you can't have yourself a cup of coffee… I can speak to you now on my iPad, but maybe in a few hours I can't".