Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin’s forces lose 1,000 soldiers in 24 hours on frontline, says Ukrainian military

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday accused South Korea of blackmail and threats over potential weapons supplies to Ukraine.

In late June, South Korean National Security Advisor Chang Ho-jin said Seoul might review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine, after North Korea and Russia signed a pact pledging mutual defence in the event of war.

“We very much regret that Seoul’s foreign policy uses NATO narratives, blackmail and threatening tactics, which is unacceptable to sovereign states,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

A Ukrainian presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the country’s key allies to cease their opposition to Kyiv using Western-supplied missiles to hit targets on mainland Russia.

It comes after the British Ministry of Defence walked back Mr Zelensky’s claims that newly-elected prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had told him Ukraine could fire Storm Shadow missiles, which are UK supplied long range missiles, onto Russian territory.

An article published in The Telegraph  suggested that there was more “nuance” to Sir Keir’s alleged remarks and that it would not be as simple as Kyiv using the Storm Shadows to hit targets inside Russia.

You can read Mykhailo Podolyak’s full quote below.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors has passed a resolution condemning Monday’s military strike on a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, blaming Russia.

The 35-nation Board passed the resolution by 20 votes to two with 12 abstentions, said diplomats at the emergency, closed-door meeting which was held at Ukraine‘s request.

Ukraine asked the Board to consider the matter because Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt children’s hospital had received support from the International Atomic Energy Agency in the field of cancer diagnostics and treatment.

“(The Board) Condemns in the strongest terms the disruption of IAEA technical assistance to Ukraine caused by the Russian Federation’s recent military strike that hit the ‘Okhmatdyt’ National Children’s Specialized Hospital,” the resolution said.

The Kremlin has said that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban did not tell Russian president Vladimir Putin of his plans to meet with former US President Donald Trump, and Putin did not convey any message to Trump via Orban.

Mr Orban last week visited Russia for talks with Putin amid a flurry of travel to Ukraine and China, before this week meeting Trump in Florida.

The former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces has become the country’s ambassador to the UK.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi confirmed his appointment in a message on Telegram this morning.

“The victory of Ukraine in the war with the Russian aggressor remains the main priority of my activity and the activity of the Embassy,” he said.

He posted a picture with foreign office official Victoria Busby as he handed over his credentials for the job.

Mr Zaluzhnyi was fired by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in February this year in a move that many saw as political, as the former general enjoyed considerably more public popularity than Mr Zelensky.

Ukrainian air force said it shot down all five cruise missiles and 11 out of 19 drones launched by Russia in a statement on Friday.

Russia’s main target was the town of Starokostiantyniv, important Ukrainian air base and a frequent target of Moscow’s strikes, it added in the statement.