Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Russia has deployed hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles three times during its invasion of Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. The Kinzhal missiles are part of a series of new hypersonic weapons that President Vladimir Putin unveiled in 2018 in a speech in which he said they could hit almost anywhere in the world and evade a US-made anti-missile shield. Shoigu, speaking on state television, said the missiles had proved effective in hitting high-value targets in all three cases, hailing them as unmatched and almost impossible to shoot down in flight. “We have deployed it three times during the special military operation,” Shoigu said in an interview broadcast on Rossiya 1. “And three times it showed brilliant characteristics.” Russia first used the Kinzhal system in Ukraine about a month after sending tens of thousands of troops into the country, striking a large weapons depot in Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivsk region. This week, the Russian Defense Ministry said three MiG-31E warplanes equipped with Kinzhal missiles were moved to the Kaliningrad region, an enclave of Russia’s Baltic coast that lies between NATO and European Union members Poland and Lithuania. On Russia’s Navy Day late last month, Putin announced that the navy would receive what he called “awesome” supersonic Zircon cruise missiles in the coming months. The missiles can travel at nine times the speed of sound, bypassing anti-aircraft defenses. Ted Windmer The war in Ukraine will reach a grim anniversary on August 24, when we will be six months into a conflict whose end we cannot yet see. Can history provide any clues? Vladimir Putin likes to talk about World War II as Russia’s best war, but the closest parallel is probably the Crimean War, which lasted two and a half years, from 1853 to 1856, before the exhausted belligerents concluded a peace treaty agreement. A Russian army that failed to achieve any of its objectives. But the British and French, allied with the Turks, faced their own disappointments as they marched to a victory that at times felt pyrrhic. Paradoxically, one of the great legacies of the war was felt in the US, where an unexpected chain of events, linked to the defeat of Russia, helped end slavery. Can we learn lessons from the Crimean War today? Guardian football writer Nick Ames reports on FC Kryvbas, a Ukrainian football club refusing to leave their city despite the threat of attack from Russia. FC Kryvbas will not relocate to Kyiv, as others have, even if areas on the city’s periphery are frequently bombed and the unsettling specter of the Enerhodar nuclear power plant looms 60 miles to the southeast. The city is protected by four lines of defense and cannot be entered without passing through a series of army checkpoints. In June, the club told its opponents to forget any idea of playing league games abroad, saying there was “no other option, either ethically or sportingly” than to play at home. In the same month, Vernydub became manager. “It has to happen here, on our land,” he says. “It’s very important for our soldiers, our warriors, that we do.” Read the full report: In happier news for Ukraine, boxer Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight title with a points victory over Britain’s Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. Oleksandr Usyk celebrates his victory in the fight against Anthony Joshua with the Ukrainian flag. Photo: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters Usyk, who spent time before this fight serving in his country’s armed forces as part of their defense against the Russian invasion, paid tribute to his comrades in his victory speech. “I dedicate this victory to my country, to my family, to my team, to all the military who defend this country,” Usyk, 35, said through a translator. “Thank you very much.” Read our match report here: Misha, a baby born prematurely at 33 weeks, is checked by staff in a window-fortified room with sandbags at the Pokrovsk perinatal hospital, the only government-run hospital that remains equipped to care for premature babies. Photo: David Goldman/APA Girl with a Ukrainian flag stands on a damaged Russian tank during an exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles in central Kiev, Ukraine. Photo: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock A Ukrainian soldier watches over a puppy at his post at an underground base near the front line in southern Ukraine. Photo: AFP/Getty Images Updated at 08.34 BST
Daughter of Putin ally killed in car bomb
A very interesting story is unfolding in Moscow where the daughter of a key ally of Vladimir Putin has been killed in a car bomb, according to multiple reports. Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin – dubbed “Putin’s mastermind” – died when the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving was ripped apart by a powerful explosion about 20km west of the capital at around 21:30 local time. Andrey Krasnov, Dugina’s friend and head of the Russian social movement Horizon, confirmed the reports, according to the Tass news agency. She said the bomb could have been intended for her father. “This was father’s vehicle. Daria was driving another car, but she took his car today, while Alexander went a different way. He returned, he was at the scene of the tragedy. “As far as I understand, Alexander or possibly they together were the target,” Krasnov said. The head of the pro-Kremlin Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, blamed the Ukrainian government. Full story here:
Two Russians and Ukrainians arrested in Albania ‘spy’ raid
Another interesting story comes out of Albania today, where two Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested after a spy raid gone wrong on a military base and weapons factory in central Albania. The Albanian Defense Ministry said on Saturday night that one of the suspects tried to disable the guards with a paralyzing spray when he was caught taking pictures at the factory. Albania’s prime minister called it “suspected espionage.” The full story is here: Fighting has continued on several fronts across Ukraine in the past 24 hours, including fresh strikes in the Russian-annexed region of Crimea. Authorities in Sevastopol said they shot down a Ukrainian drone over the city on Saturday after what appeared to be a drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters. Damaged buildings in Voznesensk near Mykolaiv. Photo: Mykolaiv District Prosecutor’s Office BULLETIN/EPA The video appeared to show Russian air defenses trying to destroy the drone and dark clouds of smoke rising from the city. Also on Saturday, a Russian missile struck a residential area of a southern Ukrainian city near a nuclear power plant, injuring 14 civilians, Russian and Ukrainian officials said. The strike at the Pivdennoukrainsk (southern Ukraine) nuclear power plant and new bombings near the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest, have reignited fears of a nuclear accident, Ukrainian officials said. The Voznesensk attack was “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism,” said state-run Energoatom, which operates Ukraine’s four nuclear power generators. “It is possible that this missile was specifically aimed at the Pivdennoukrainsk plant, which the Russian military tried to seize in early March,” it said in a statement.
Zelensky warns Ukrainians to be vigilant ahead of independence day
An exhibition of damaged Russian military vehicles adorns the streets of Kyiv ahead of Ukraine’s independence day on Wednesday. Ukrainians say Vladimir Putin got his wish for a parade in their capital, but not the one he wanted. A woman and two young children look out from the back of a damaged Russian armored vehicle on Kyiv’s historic Khreschatyk Street. Photo: Madeleine Kelly/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock Volodymyr Zelenskiy is apparently worried that Russia will try to spoil the celebrations and has warned his countrymen and women that Putin might try something “ugly” or “evil” before Wednesday. “We should all know that this week Russia could try to do something particularly bad, something particularly vicious,” Zelensky said in his late-night video remarks on Saturday. Security measures have been stepped up in the second city, Kharkiv, with the city’s curfew extended on Wednesday. Full report here:
Welcome
Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. The coming week looks set to be dominated – in one way or another – by Ukraine’s celebrations of its independence from Soviet rule 31 years ago. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Saturday night that Russia might try to do something “nasty” to spoil the show. Fighting continues to rage across the country with Ukrainian drone strikes in Crimea and Russian missile strikes wounding several people in an attack near Mykolaiv. And there is an interesting story from Albania, where three people carrying Russian and Ukrainian passports were arrested after a spy raid on a military base. Anyway, here are the main developments of the last few hours:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Ukrainians to be vigilant in the coming week as they prepare to celebrate their independence day on Wednesday. In his overnight video address on Saturday, Zelensky said Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to “spread despair and fear” as they celebrate the 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule. “We should all know that this week Russia could try to do something particularly bad, something particularly vicious,” Zelensky said. The curfew in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv,…
