Ukraine Russia war live: Zelensky vents anger at long-range missile delay

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has told the United Nations Security Council that if Western countries allow Ukraine to conduct long-range strikes in Russia then NATO countries would be “conducting direct war with Russia.”

“The facts are that NATO will be a direct party to hostilities against a nuclear power, I think you shouldn’t forget about this and think about the consequences,” Mr Nebenzia told the 15-member council.

NATO has said it strongly condemned a Russian missile strike on a civilian grain ship in the Black Sea on Thursday.

“There is no justification for such attacks. Yesterday’s strike shows once again the reckless nature of Russia’s war,” NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said.

Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Russian counter-attacks in the Kursk region, partially held by Ukrainian troops after they staged a major incursion last month, had so far seen “no serious success”.

He also told a charity conference in Kyiv that the situation around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine remained difficult. Russian forces have been making steady gains in the region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the “victory plan” he wants to present to US leader Joe Biden later this month is a way to reach a reliable peace in the more than two-and-half-year-old Russian full-scale war in Ukraine.

“(It) can pave the way for a reliable peace and for the full implementation of the peace formula,” he said at a conference organised by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation charity.

Russian forces have focused their assaults in eastern Ukraine near the embattled town of Kurakhove as Ukrainian troops tried to hold the line at a critical juncture of the war, Kyiv said.

The Russians also pressed towards Ukraine‘s rail hub of Pokrovsk, about 20 miles north of Kurakhove, in an attempt to open new lines of attack, disrupt Ukrainian logistics, and take control of the rest of the eastern Donetsk region two-and-a-half years on from Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has praised his troops for holding their positions in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, the two most difficult sectors in the east.

Ukraine‘s forces are stretched thin but the military said they had repelled 64 assaults near Kurakhove in the past day, the most intense fighting there this month.

The Ukrainian military also reported repelling 36 attacks near Pokrovsk on the same day.

Ukraine has secured the return of 49 Ukrainians from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“We must bring home all our soldiers and civilians,” he said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that servicemen from the armed forces, the national guard, the police and the border guard service were included in the latest swap.

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Russia started producing a new long-range attack drone called the Garpiya-A1 last year using Chinese engines and parts, which it has deployed in the war in Ukraine, according to sources and documents seen by news agency Reuters.

The intelligence – which included a production contract for the new drone, company correspondence on the manufacturing process and financial documents – indicated that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons maker Almaz-Antey, produced more than 2,500 Garpiyas from July 2023 to July 2024.

The existence of the new Russian drone incorporating Chinese technology has not been previously reported.

The two intelligence sources said that the Garpiya, which means Harpy in Russian, has been deployed against military and civilian targets in Ukraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure as well as both civilian and military casualties.

 IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey did not respond to requests for comment.

Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that Beijing strictly controls the export of items with potential military applications, including drones.

Ukraine sees the ability to use long-range missiles behind enemy lines as a game-changer, allowing it to target air bases, supply depots, and communication centers hundreds of miles over the border. 

It argues that this would help reduce Russia’s air superiority and weaken supply lines needed to launch daily airstrikes against Ukraine – with drones, missiles, and powerful glide bombs – and to sustain its military ground offensive into Ukraine. 

With winter likely to slow that advance, long-range air strike capabilities will become a higher priority. Kyiv wants to go back on the offensive to offset military manpower shortages 2 years into the war and to protect its badly-damaged power infrastructure.