Ukraine-Russia war live: More than 1,000 people evacuated from Krasnodar amid Kyiv’s drone barrage

Akey British-Russian dissident who escaped death after being rescued from solitary confinement during a historic US-brokered prisoner swap has vowed the downfall of Vladimir Putin is “inevitable”.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 43, served two years of a 25-year sentence for speaking out against the war in Ukraine before being freed from his Siberian penal colony in August.

As one of the most high-profile opposition figures to Putin, he is adamant that even if he – like Alexei Navalny – is killed, others will rise up against the regime.

In an exclusive sit-down interview with The Independent hours after arriving in the UK for the first time since being freed, Kara-Murza speaks at length about the future of Russia – and how those who object to the status quo cannot be stopped.

Tom Watling sits down with him:

Russia says its army would regain control of its Kursk region “in a timely manner”, declining to say how soon this could be achieved.

“Our military is doing its job. They will accomplish it. Control will be restored,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the army would obviously not discuss publicly how it planned to achieve that.

“The situation, of course, in those areas that are under the control of Ukrainian fighters - well, of course, it is extreme. This situation will be corrected in a timely manner,” he added.

Ukraine’s incursion on 6 August caught Russia by surprise and provided a morale boost for Kyiv’s forces after months of Russian advances in eastern Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Thursday that the operation had succeeded in diverting Russian troops, relieving some of the pressure on Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Despite earlier reports that Berlin would not approve more aid for Ukraine in 2023, a German finance ministry document revealed an additional €400m in support for Ukraine, according to AFP.

The funds are intended to provide military assistance, including drones and air defence systems, to bolster Ukraine’s defences for the rest of 2024. While Germany has already pledged around €8bn this year, aid is expected to drop to €4bn in 2025, as per a Reuters report in July.

According to the German finance ministry document — a letter to the parliamentary budget committee — additional funds are needed to “fulfil the German government’s support commitments to the Ukrainian armed forces”.

The Kyiv Independent reported that Germany’s political challenges, including gains by “anti-war” parties in regional elections, and budgetary concerns have complicated its ongoing support for Ukraine.

As of June 2024, Germany has allocated €14.7bn in aid to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The management at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in eastern Ukraine accused Ukrainian forces of launching a drone attack on a nearby electricity substation yesterday and posing a threat to the plant.

Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the early days of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion and each side has since regularly accused the other of staging attacks that endanger its security.

“A drone strike by the Ukrainian armed forces damaged a transformer at the Zarya substation located right next to the perimeter of the Zaporizhzhia station,” the Russian management said in a statement on Telegram.

“This substation contributes to power supplies to the station’s infrastructure. Attacking it creates a potential threat to the nuclear power station’s safety.”

Volodymyr Zelensky said senior Ukrainian officials agreed in an “emotional” discussion that the country needs to make more weaponry domestically and speed up production.

Munitions production was the focus of a meeting with senior officials, including his defence and foreign ministers and top military commanders.

“We discussed the issue of drone production and providing drones to all elements of the defence and security forces in great detail, even emotionally,” he said in his nightly video address.

“We also talked today about the production of missiles, electronic warfare systems and cooperation with partners...The main thing is not just to have contracts and funding for them but also the speed of actual production and real supply.”

Mr Zelensky issues almost daily appeals for Ukraine’s Western allies to provide more military assistance, mainly long-range weapons and air defence systems, but has also focused on stepping up domestic production.

Ukraine’s “victory plan” in the war against Russia depends on quick decisions being taken by allies this year, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He made the remarks during a visit by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

“Most of the decisions from the plan depend specifically on him (Biden). On other allies too, but there are certain points which depend on the goodwill and support of the United States,” Mr Zelensky said.

He has has provided regular updates on the plan’s preparation but has given few clues to the contents, indicating only that it aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine after more than two and a half years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“The entire plan is predicated upon quick decisions from our partners. The plan is predicated upon decisions which should take place from October to December, and not delaying these processes,” he told the press conference alongside von der Leyen.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said that he was counting on Biden’s support for the plan, intended not only to bring peace but also strengthen his country.

“Ukraine is counting very much on this support,” he said. “And this is fair. Because when one nation wins the battle for its independence and adherence to international law, the whole world wins.”

Ukraine has banned government officials, military personnel and other defense and critical infrastructure workers from installing the popular Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices.

The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of five groups and one person for facilitating payments between Russia and North Korea, aimed at supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea’s weapons programmes, the US Treasury department said.

“Today’s action holds accountable parties that have assisted the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea) and Russian sanctions evasion,” the Treasury said in a statement.

It added that the move also indicated the US’s commitment to disrupting networks “that facilitate the funding of the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programmes and support Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine”.

“The growing financial cooperation between Russia and (North Korea) directly threatens international security and the global financial system,” US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“Russia has become increasingly dependent on the DPRK as it faces mounting battlefield losses and increasing international isolation.”

Russia warned the West and Ukraine on Friday of "disastrous consequences" if Kyiv moved against close Russian ally Belarus, making clear it would intervene to defend a country where it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned by what she called increasingly "provocative" activity on the border with Belarus, saying she did not rule out that there could be attempts to escalate in the region.

Days after Ukraine's surprise Aug. 6 incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko - a loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin - suggested, without providing evidence, that Kyiv may have ideas about attacking Belarus.

Minsk, which has accused Ukrainian drones of violating its airspace, later announced it was sending extra troops to its border with Ukraine, though Kyiv said it had seen no major changes in the border area.

"We take due note of the information received about the intensification of the activities of Ukrainian forces in the border zone," said Zakharova.

"We see these facts ourselves and are aware of constant attempts from the Ukrainian side to use drones and to send terrorists into the republic," she added.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said last month that the country "has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people".

Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region and had been planning to prevent it for months, according to documents reportedly seized by the Ukrainian army from abandoned Russian positions, The Guardian reported.

These documents, the outlet reported, revealed concerns about troop morale, particularly after a soldier’s suicide who had been in a “prolonged state of depression due to his service in the Russian army”. Instructions were given to ensure soldiers consume state media to maintain morale.

The documents also reportedly outlined various warnings about potential Ukrainian attacks and the need for increased training and defensive preparations.

The documents came from units of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment, specifically the second company of its 17th Battalion.