Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin launches hundreds of deadly glide bombs as Kyiv calls for better air defence

UK cabinet minister Liz Kendall has said there is “a hidden cyber war” and that Russia poses a threat over the cybersecurity of Nato allies.

Speaking to Sky News, she said: “Pat McFadden is right to say that there is not only the open military war with Russia as the aggressor, but there is also a hidden cyber war and that Russia will do everything in its power to destabilise not only within Ukraine but amongst the Nato allies.

“So, we have to be absolutely vigilant in that as a government, but also in businesses and wider society to protect against those cyber hacktivists.

“We have for many months ... really focused on making sure we have all the protections we need including cyber protections because there is a threat from Russia, this hidden warfare, as well as the open military aggression.”

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the Ukraine war with Nato chief Mark Rutte during his visit to Ankara on Monday, a Turkish official has said.

On Wednesday, Mr Erdogan opposed Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets on Russian territory, saying it would further inflame the conflict, according to a readout shared by his office.

Turkey, which has condemned the Russian invasion, says it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and it has provided Kyiv with military support. But Turkey it also opposes Western sanctions against Russia, with which it shares important defence, energy and tourism ties.

During their talks on Monday, Mr Erdogan and Mr Rutte will also discuss the removal of defence procurement obstacles between Nato allies and the military alliance’s joint fight against terrorism, the Turkish official said.

New technological advancements in the battlefield will prevent frontline breakthroughs along the Ukraine-Russia border until around 2027, predicts Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

“When robots began to appear massively on the battlefield, they made any movement of soldiers impossible. The inability to fight robots led to a standstill,” Mr Zaluzhnyi told Ukrainska Pravda.

“We couldn’t move forward towards the Russians, and the Russians, accordingly, couldn’t move forward either,” he said.

The former commander-in-chief predicts that any serious breakthroughs on the front line would resume by 2027 when the use of such technology could become commonplace.

Russia is prepared to launch a series of cyber attacks on Britain and other Nato members as it seeks to weaken support for Ukraine, a senior Cabinet minister will warn in a major speech next week.

Moscow will “not think twice” about exploiting defence gaps to target UK businesses, and allies must “not underestimate” the threat it poses, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will say.

Mr McFadden will also warn that cyber interference enables Russia to “turn the lights off for millions of people” and represents the “hidden war” it is waging against Kyiv, as first reported by the Sunday Telegraph.

In a speech to the Nato cyber defence conference, he is expected to say: “Military hard-power is one thing. But cyber war can be destabilising and debilitating. With a cyber attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids. This is the hidden war Russia is waging with Ukraine.”

Nina Lloyd has the full report:

Russia has removed a senior general in Ukraine for giving misleading reports about the progress of the war, Russian media has reported, as defence minister Andrei Belousov attempts to clear out poor commanders.

Russian media cited unidentified sources as saying that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the Southern Grouping, had been removed from his command, though there was no official confirmation.

Russian war bloggers have long complained about the command of the operation around Siversk, in eastern Donetsk, where they say that poorly supported Russian units are thrown into deadly battles for little apparent tactical gain.

“Only the lazy did not write about the problems there: overall, it took the system about two months to react properly,” Rybar, a respected pro-Russian blogger said on Telegram.

“Anashkin, was removed from office for false reports in the Seversk direction,” Rybar said. One war correspondent for Russian state television also said Anashkin had been removed from his command.

In his reports on the change of command, prominent pro-Russian war blogger Yuri Podolyaka quoted Belousov as saying that “you can make mistakes but you cannot lie”.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan is expected to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war’s latest developments with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte during his visit to Ankara on Monday, Reuters reported, citing a Turkish official.

Turkey, a member of the Nato, condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has also opposed Western sanctions against Moscow with which it shares defence and energy ties.

It also has provided Kyiv with military support, stating it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Russia’s defence ministry said the country’s air defence systems destroyed 34 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 27 over the Kursk region bordering Ukraine.

However, the ministry did not share more details on an earlier statement by the Kursk governor that two “Ukrainian missiles” were also destroyed over the region by defence units.

Meanwhile, explosions were reportedly heard early on Sunday in Kyiv.

The blasts sounded like air defence units at work, Reuters reported citing witnesses and Ukraine’s local media.

Ukraine’s air defence units have downed 50 out of 73 Russian drones fired overnight, including more than 10 that were targeting Kyiv, Ukraine’s military has said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries as result of the attack, Kyiv’s military administration said.

“The UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were flying in different directions towards Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration. “The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours.”

Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Kyiv in what sounded like air defence units in operation.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that he supported measures to reduce bureaucracy within Ukraine’s army to “reduce the gap between a general and a soldier”.

“An officer must see a soldier. For me personally, a general who has never stepped into a trench is not a general. Despite their experience,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement.

“The generals must be in the trenches. This is that kind of war,” he said.

Mr Zelensky said he believed his Russian counterpart’s main task currently is to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region by January 20, referring to the date when US president-elect Donald Trump would be sworn in.

“The morale of the military personnel is the most important thing,” he said.