Putin ‘wants to put nuclear plant on moon’ as arrest warrants issued for commanders

Uncrewed, remote-controlled boats have been around since the end of World War II. Late last century, technological innovations broadened their potential uses.

Ukraine claims it is the first country to set up a specific unit dedicated to producing them. Yemen-based Houthis have also deployed armed unmanned surface vessels as suicide drone boats that explode upon impact.

The 2-year-old Ukraine conflict has become a laboratory for new military technology, and naval drones are set to become an essential part of the combat toolbox in 21st-century warfare.

Unmanned vessels — also called drone boats or maritime drones — have had a broad range of applications for years. They have been employed for scientific research, search and rescue operations, surveillance and coastal patrols.

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Russia scrambled an Su-27 fighter jet to escort two French fighter jets and a reconnaissance plane over the Black Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry said, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

It claimed the escorting was done to “prevent them from violating the Russian state border”.

The ministry claimed that after the Russian fighter approaching the foreign military aircraft made a U-turn and left the airspace over the Black Sea.

France has not issued a comment on claims from the Russian Defence Ministry.

Ukraine has claimed it had sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones.

Kyiv’s military intelligence agency said a special operations unit destroyed the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov overnight with Magura V5 uncrewed vessels that are designed and built in Ukraine and laden with explosives.

Ukraine said the cost of the sunken patrol ship, which was hit near the Kerch Strait, was $65m (£51.2m).

A video posted on social media appears to show the moment the Sergey Kotov was hit.

Russian authorities have not confirmed the claim.

Ukraine’s war-time leader Volodymyr Zelensky has not sought foreign troops on the battlefield but weapons and aid, the White House said yesterday.

Answering a question on France’s suggestion of Western boots on the ground in Ukraine, John Kirby, the White House’s national security council coordinator for strategic communications, said the US does not intend to send troops to fight the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

“He’s [Joe Biden] also been very clear since the very beginning of this war: There’s not going to be US troops on the ground fighting inside Ukraine. And you know what? President Zelensky isn’t asking for that. He’s just asking for the tools and capabilities,” Mr Kirby said at a regular press briefing last night.

Mr Zelensky has “never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country”, Mr Kirby said. “He – he and his troops want to do that. But they need the tools, and that’s what we need to help with,” he said.

Crimea remained under relentless drone attacks overnight, leaving the region without power, reported Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda.

Locals reported hearing explosions and sounds of active air defence on the illegally annexed peninsula, reported Odesa-based media outlet Dumskaya.

The attacks left the Moldavanka district and part of the city centre without power, it reported on its Telegram channel.

This comes just a day after the Ukrainian military said it fired sea drones that hit and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea in an overnight attack.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime drones at the Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

It said on the Telegram messaging app that the vessel had sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides, at an estimated cost of $65m.

Top European Union officials on Tuesday outlined ambitious plans to boost its defence industry at an unprecedented pace as the bloc seeks to respond to the threat posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“After decades of underspending, we must invest more on defence, but we need to do it better and together,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“A strong, resilient, and competitive European defence industry is a strategic imperative.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed glaring weaknesses in Europe’s arms manufacturing capacities that were neglected in the wake of the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the promise of a peace dividend in Europe.

So when Kyiv was badly in need of the most elementary ammunition to stave off Russian forces, European nations were caught out, unable to deliver what was asked and even promised.

“Our defence spending goes to too many different weapon systems, primarily bought from outside the EU,” said EU Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager.

With defence budgets in EU member states rising, “we should invest better, which largely means investing together, and investing European.”Under the proposals, the 27 member states will be invited to buy at least 40% of defence equipment together and make sure that 35% of the defence value represents internal trade by 2030.

While production is improving, the EU had aimed to be making 1 million artillery shells annually by now but is only making around half that figure. Officials now say that production could reach 1.4 million shells per year by the end of December.

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has said intercepted high-ranking military call shows there’s clearly no political decision on deploying German Taurus missiles on Ukraine’s battlefield.

“They always mentioned during all that phone call, there is no political decision – neither by the chancellor (Olaf Scholz) nor by me to deploy Taurus to Ukraine,” Mr Pistorius said at a news conference.

Audio leaked to Russian media divulged a top-secret call involving German air force officers, which has since been authenticated by Berlin, suggested British soldiers were “on the ground” in Ukraine, helping Kyiv’s forces fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles.

During the conversation, Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz, the head of the German air force, describes how the UK and Ukraine work to deploy Storm Shadow missiles against targets behind Russian lines.

Mr Pistorius said Germany’s allies are not upset after the scandal surrounding the call recorded by the Russians. The defence minister said he informed his partners in Washington and London on Monday that it was an individual mistake.

“They are not angry or upset with Germany because they know that we have rules and that things like this can happen,” said Pistorius.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two Russian commanders over committing war crimes by attacking Ukrainian infrastructure, marking the second round of warrants issued for Russian leaders in the invasion of Ukraine.

The top global court said there are reasonable grounds to believe that the two top commanders were responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023”.

As a result of these strikes, Ukraine’s electrical grid suffered civilian harm and damage that would have been clearly excessive to any expected military advantage, the court, at The Hague, said.

Even though Russia claims it does not deliberately target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, its troops have rained missiles on hospitals, schools, theatres-turned-shelter homes, villages, grocery stores and marketplaces far inside Ukraine during the course of its over two years of invasion.

Prosecutors in Kyiv said they were already investigating possible war crimes after the war-hit nation endured two bloodied winter campaigns under Russian attacks which hit Ukrainian energy and utilities infrastructure.

Ukraine has sunk another Russian warship off the coast of occupied Crimea, Kyiv has said.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime kamikaze drones at the Sergey Kotov – a patrol ship Kyiv has said was worth $65m (£51m) – near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. The loss is another significant and embarrassing blow to Moscow’s naval power.

Seven Russian crew members were killed and six were injured in the strike, while 52 crew were rescued, the military intelligence agency said.

“Right now this ship is on the seabed,” Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said. He added: “And, by the way, they were also supposed to have a helicopter on board. This is the case where you ‘get two for the price of one’ so why pay more?”

Although Vladimir Putin’s forces took control of two more villages, their advance near Avdiivka was halted for now, Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said.

“We are saying that in this hottest sector of the direct Russian assault, we are managing to stabilise the situation and the enemy’s advance has been halted,” the spokesperson said, speaking on national television.

The intensity of the attacks around villages west of Avdiivka has surged, Mr Lykhoviy said.

At least 30 assaults were reported in the area on Sunday, compared to 20 near Avdiivka itself, the Ukrainian official said.

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