Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv drone strikes hit Black Sea ports ahead of crucial US-backed peace talks

North Korea announced completion of a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong Un to honour the war dead.

State media photos showed Kim Jong Un walking through the new street — called Saeppyol Street — and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, as he pledged to repay the “young martyrs” who “sacrificed all to their motherland”.

In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, such as establishing a memorial wall and building a museum. Analysts see it as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.

When Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands declared that Russia poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the US did not add its name to the list of countries confirming the analysis.

The report stated that analyses of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and not found naturally in Russia.

On being asked why the US did not join the statement, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the assessment “just wasn’t our endeavour”.

“Those countries came to that conclusion. They coordinated that. We chose – Doesn’t mean we disagree with the outcome. We just, it wasn’t, our endeavour. Sometimes countries go out and do their thing based on the intelligence they’ve gathered,” Rubio said.

“We’re not disputing or getting into a fight with these countries over it. But it was their report, and they put that out there,” he added.

Russian opposition leader Navalny died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024, after being convicted of extremism and other charges, all of which he denied.

Local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said that a fire at the Black Sea port of Taman, which handles oil products, grain, coal and commodities, had been extinguished.

The port was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday.

The defence chiefs of the UK and Germany have made a rare public plea to Europeans, asking them to support increased defence spending if they want to prevent war with Russia.

Germany’s chief of defence, Gen. Carsten Breuer, and the UK’s chief of defence staff, Air Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, wrote in a joint article in The Guardian and Die Welt that European nations “must now confront uncomfortable truths” about the continent’s security and make “hard choices”.

“Moscow’s military buildup, combined with its willingness to wage war on our continent, as painfully evidenced in Ukraine, represents an increased risk that demands our collective attention,” they said.

“Moscow’s intentions range wider than the current conflict,” the pair wrote, arguing that the pubic must get behind increased defence spending, even if it means other public service programmes – the “peace dividend” from the end of the Cold War – might suffer.

Our report from Kyiv graphically depicts the plight of so many residents in Ukraine’s capital city, who face nightly Russian air raids, targeting primarily civilian power supplies, in mid-winter.

The intensity of the attacks, the damage sustained for want of sufficient air defence, and the winter temperatures have all been markedly worse than in previous years.

The human aspect, as ever, is the most poignant: nursery-age children who have learned to distinguish outgoing from incoming fire; a parliamentarian relieved that his family lacked the money to buy a flat in an adjacent high-rise that turned out to be more vulnerable than his ground-floor flat in an older building; no hot water, no heating or power, for all but two of 24 hours, all detrimental for wellbeing and morale.

If this is what it is like living an MP’s relatively privileged life in Kyiv, the conditions for others, including those living further east, in the actual battle zone, must be many times worse.

Read The Independent View here:

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said Russia is in possession of the toxin used to kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the UK is aware of it.

“This is a particular chemical. It can be produced synthetically. It can also be found in this particular frog in Ecuador,” Ms Cooper told Sky News.

“And we do know that the Russian regime has had possession of this particular chemical. It is obviously not one that is found naturally in Russia,” she said.

Britain and its European allies said on Saturday that the opposition leader had died after being poisoned with a lethal toxin found in dart frogs in South America.

After the findings were announced by Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, the foreign secretary pinned the blame squarely on the Kremlin and said only Russia had the “means, motive and opportunity” to carry out such an attack.

Volodymr Zelensky has said Ukraine is expecting additional aid packages of air defence support as it remains a key priority for the nation under Russian attack.

Following the talks held at the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky said: “There were many meetings, and most importantly – there will be new support packages for Ukraine. The key priority is missiles for air defence, for protection against ballistic missiles.”

Zelensky also said he has agreed specific packages of energy and military aid. These will be sent this month on the date of the war’s four-year-anniversary – 24 February.

Zelensky said he discussed additional support for Ukraine’s air defence needs with “virtually every leader who can truly help us.”

“We hope the agreements will work as needed. Air defence is a daily necessity,” he said.

Ukraine has attacked several Russian oblasts with drone strikes, targeting regions including Moscow, Bryansk and Belgorod.

Sergei Sobhyanin, Moscow’s mayor, said Russian air defence units shot down at least 13 drones heading toward the capital and emergency services are responding to debris at impact sites.

The attack took place late last night.

The drone attacks caused temporary flight restrictions at Domodedovo airport in Moscow but these were later lifted, state media reported.

Bryansk oblast governor Alexander Bogomaz said the region had been under sustained drone attack since early morning, claiming that 120 drones were destroyed there.

At least five municipalities and parts of Bryansk city were left without heat and electricity, he said.

Earlier yesterday, Russia’s defence ministry said at least 102 Ukrainian drones were intercepted between 9am and 1pm across Bryansk, Kaluga, and Tula oblasts, as well as near Moscow.

Another attack was reported on Belgorod city on Russian telegram channels.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said preliminary information indicated significant damage to energy infrastructure and emergency services are assessing the extent of the damage.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has called a report by five European allies blaming Russia for killing late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny “troubling”, adding that Washington had no reason to question it.

The joint statement from the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said lab analysis of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and not found naturally in Russia.

“We obviously are aware of the report. It’s a troubling report. We’re aware of that case of Mr Navalny and certainly… we don’t have any reason to question it,” Rubio told reporters at a news conference in Bratislava during a visit to Slovakia.