Russia Ukraine war latest: Moscow reacts to Trump’s warnings against Putin as 1,000 North Koreans killed in Kursk

Russian president Vladimir Putin is getting increasingly concerned about the state of Russia’s wartime economy, five sources aware of the situation told Reuters.

Domestic activity in Russia is feeling the pressure from the Kremlin’s war machinery. Labour shortages and high interest rates have been introduced to tackle inflation which has accelerated under record military spending.

That has contributed to the view within a section of the Russian elite that a negotiated settlement to the war is desirable, according to two of the sources familiar with thinking in the Kremlin.

The sources described Mr Putin’s concerns about the economy, and the influence of that on views about the war within the Kremlin, as reaching unprecedented levels.

“Russia, of course, is economically interested in negotiating a diplomatic end to the conflict,” Oleg Vyugin, former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, told Reuters. The Russian president has said he is ready to discuss ceasefire options with Mr Trump but that Russia’s territorial gains in Ukraine must be accepted and that Ukraine must drop its bid to join the US-led Nato military alliance.

On the frontline, Moscow and Kyiv are seeking battlefield gains to strengthen their negotiating positions ahead of any prospective talks to end the three-year-old war.

At least one person was killed and 25 others wounded in a Russian drone and missile attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said today.

More than 20,000 residents were also left without power and another 17,000 without heating as a result of the overnight attack, according to governor Ivan Fedorov, who said an energy facility had been destroyed.

Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities behind the frontline of its three-year-old invasion, targeting the country’s weakened energy grid in particular.

A Russian spy ship is being tracked by the Royal Navy after sailing through the English Channel, John Healey revealed on Wednesday, issuing a stark warning to Vladimir Putin that the government is watching Russian activity in UK waters.

“We see you”, the defence secretary warned, promising robust action to protect Britain.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

A landmine clearance charity will be given £7m to continue its “life-saving” work in Ukraine and Afghanistan.

The UK Government cash for the Hazardous Area Life-support Organisation (Halo) Trust will enable the charity to make land safe for agriculture in Ukraine, and to restore basic services affected by the threat of explosives in Afghanistan.

Development minister Anneliese Dodds also announced an additional £250,000 for one Halo project, which aims to dispose of 165 tons of unusable, unsafe ammunition and explosives from Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, Africa.

UK defence secretary John Healey has told the Commons that Russia is the biggest external threat to Britain, warning that aggression from Vladimir Putin “will not be tolerated at home or in Ukraine”.

The defence secretary said Russia was “dangerous but fundamentally weak”, as he referenced the casualties the country had suffered during the war in Ukraine and its decision to draft in troops from North Korea.

President Donald Trump has called on Russian president Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the nearly three-year-old war Russia launched against Ukraine, and is threatening to impose further sanctions on Moscow if the Russian leader does not acquiesce.

In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “not looking to hurt Russia” and expressed “love” for the Russian people while boasting of his “very good relationship” with Putin – who in 2016 ordered what the Department of Justice called a “sweeping and systematic” effort to interfere in the presidential election on Trump’s behalf.

UK defence secretary John Healey has told MPs that P8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint aircraft will join the Nato operation to protect undersea cabling in the Baltic Sea.

RFA Proteus has also been deployed to monitor “offshore infrastructure”.

Britain said it monitored a Russian spy ship in the English Channel in recent days and would strengthen its response to secret operations by Russian ships and aircraft in an effort to protect undersea cables.

Defence minister John Healey said Yantar, a Russian spy vessel used for intelligence and mapping critical infrastructure on the sea floor, entered British waters on Monday and the Royal Navy tracked it for two days until it entered Dutch waters. Russia’s embassy in London did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

“We will not shy away from robust action to protect Britain,” Mr Healey said yesterday. “We are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near UK or Nato territory.”

Worries over the potential sabotage of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been growing after a string of outages in the Baltic Sea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Britain decided to send maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft to help Nato’s efforts to protect cables in the Baltic Sea, Sir John announced, adding that it would also deploy an advanced AI system to help safeguard undersea infrastructure.

Ukrainians are using recordings of cat noises to lure Vladimir Putin’s forces into explosive-rigged traps, a Russian soldier has claimed.

With the grit and ingenuity of the Ukrainian army frequently evidenced in its success in defending against Russia’s vast invading force, it has now been claimed that they are turning to an unusual tactic in appealing to the Russians’ reported fondness for cats.