Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump moves nuclear submarines after Putin aide’s threats

Ukrainian drone attacks overnight into Saturday killed three people, Russian officials said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defenses intercepted or destroyed 112 drones across eight Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.

A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said.

Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people wounded in a drone strike on business premises in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko.

In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said.

According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 53 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday.

It said that air defenses shot down or jammed 45 drones.

Donald Trump said later on Friday that he was alarmed by Medvedev’s attitude.

“He’s got a fresh mouth,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax.

Mr Trump has said that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made.

He cut his 50-day deadline for action to 10 days, with that window set to expire next week.

Dmitry Medvedev was Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, while Vladimir Putin was barred from seeking a third consecutive term, and then stepped aside to let him run again.

Now deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, which Vladimir Putin chairs, Medvedev has been known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since the start of the war in 2022. That’s a U-turn from his presidency, when he was seen as liberal and progressive.

Mr Medvedev has frequently wielded nuclear threats and lobbed insults at Western leaders on social media. Some observers have argued that with his extravagant rhetoric, Medvedev is seeking to score political points with Putin and Russian military hawks.

One such example before the latest spat with Mr Trump came on 15 July, after Mr Trump announced plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons via its NATO allies and threatened additional tariffs against Moscow.

Mr Medvedev posted then, “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”

Two US nuclear submarines are closer to Russia, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Newsmax.

“They are closer to Russia, I assume,” the US leader said.

“We always want to be ready. And so I have sent to the region two nuclear submarines.”

Europe must start seeing the Ukrainian military as a European army, a prominent Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin said on Friday.

“The Ukrainian army is not only protecting Ukraine, it is protecting Europe from Russian aggression,” he said in a speech addressing Russians in exile at Belgrade concert hall.

Mr Yashin was imprisoned in 2022 for criticising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and released last year. Between February 2022 and 2024, more than 74,000 Russians registered for temporary residence in Serbia, according to the latest interior ministry data.

A two-year-old was among the five children found dead after Thursday’s Russian drone and missile attack, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Friday, announcing the end of the rescue operation.

The death toll rose to 31 after rescuers recovered more than a dozen more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in Kyiv overnight.

A total of 159 people were wounded in the strikes, which saw Russia launch more than 300 drones and eight missiles early on Thursday.

Dmitry Medvedev was Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, while Vladimir Putin was barred from seeking a third consecutive term, and then stepped aside to let him run again.

Now deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, which Vladimir Putin chairs, Medvedev has been known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since the start of the war in 2022. That’s a U-turn from his presidency, when he was seen as liberal and progressive.

Mr Medvedev has frequently wielded nuclear threats and lobbed insults at Western leaders on social media. Some observers have argued that with his extravagant rhetoric, Medvedev is seeking to score political points with Putin and Russian military hawks.

One such example before the latest spat with Mr Trump came on 15 July, after Mr Trump announced plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons via its NATO allies and threatened additional tariffs against Moscow.

Mr Medvedev posted then, “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”