Ukraine war: Russian military intel officer injured in Moscow car bomb

Footage published by Russian state media showed what appeared to be a Toyota Land Cruiser with its left side completely torn off in the parking lot of a complex of high-rise buildings.

The officer in the GRU, Russia’s main intelligence directorate, is reportedly the deputy head of a military unit based in the Russian capital, and is in critical condition, according to preliminary accounts on the Telegram messenger app. It is also believed that his wife was in the car.

Russia has pulled all its vessels out of the Sea of Azov, a body of water connected to the Black Sea, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian navy said.

“There are no longer any Russian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov,” the spokesperson, Dmytro Pletenchuk, wrote on Facebook.

Ukrainian naval officials have said in recent months that successful attacks on targets in Russian-annexed Crimea and elsewhere in the Black Sea had forced the Russian navy to rebase its ships elsewhere.

The war-hit nation which did not essentially have a specific naval force has knocked out 27 of the total 80 warships Russia had in the Black Sea before the invasion by damaging or destroying them. These include landing ships, missile boats, a submarine and a patrol vessel.

Ukrainian forces have deployed primarily missiles and drones to take out Russian warships in the Black Sea, positioned to attack Ukraine’s port and inside the cities as well.

At least three people were killed as Russia launched a series of attacks on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, hitting the office of a Swiss mine-clearing NGO, officials said.

The attack injured six others and damaged the office of Fondation Suisse De Déminage, the local governor said. Rescue operations continued into the evening.

The region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said an overnight strike destroyed the facade of the office and the ceilings on several floors. Six cars used by the group’s medics were damaged, he said, noting the importance of demining initiatives in his region, one of the most densely strewn with landmines and other potentially harmful war detritus.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said there had been five separate strikes on the city since Russia’s overnight attack.

Ukraine’s second-largest city and the surrounding region, which borders Russia, have been battered by drone, missile and guided-bomb attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians but thousands have been killed and injured in its 29-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s top diplomat said Kyiv is prepared for talks on the conflict with Russia provided Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected, after a day of “very deep and concentrated” talks in China.

Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba restated that Ukraine insisted that no agreement could be reached without its participation in a video address. He also said he saw no readiness from Russia to negotiate in good faith.

“I emphasised two principles that must be steadfastly upheld. First, no agreements about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said in his address.

“Second… full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. If these two principles are adhered to, we can engage in any discussions and seek any solutions.”

Mr Kuleba is the highest ranking Ukrainian official to travel to China since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. He held talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi for more than three hours, a Ukrainian source in the delegation said.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry, in earlier comments, quoted him as saying that Ukraine was ready to engage “when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith” but he emphasised “that no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side”.