Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry appeared to refer to the weapons in a social media post echoing Zelensky’s remarks. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian leader had said the weapons were produced by the Ministry of Strategic Industries.
A Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, urged North Korea not to negotiate with Russia or provide it with arms, describing the arms in question as “essentially artillery ammunition” in a briefing with reporters. The previous day, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing” negotiations for weapons that would be used in the war in Ukraine.
Moscow’s mayor reported early Friday that drones were shot down outside the city. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, according to a Telegram post from Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports were temporarily closed in what has become a nightly occurrence. Ukrainian drones targeted two other western regions of Russia: Kursk, where local officials reported one building was damaged, and Belgorod.
A Russian missile hit a private enterprise in the central Ukrainian region of Vinnytsia overnight, according to a local official. Regional governor Serhiy Borzov wrote on Telegram that three civilians were injured and that property and private cars were damaged. Another missile was shot down, he said.
Russia has created an underwater barrier of submerged ships and floating barriers to prevent attacks on the Crimean Bridge, the British Defense Ministry said Friday. According to the ministry’s daily update, Russia is also using smoke generators and air defense systems “to strengthen the survivability of water crossings and minimize damage from future attacks” in light of the strategic and symbolic importance of the bridge, which connects mainland Russia to the occupied Crimean Peninsula. In July, Russian and Ukrainian officials said that Kyiv’s military and security services carried out a deadly attack on the bridge, which was also the site of an explosion in October.
Ukraine’s foreign minister lashed out at those criticizing the pace of his country’s counteroffensive. Dmytro Kuleba, speaking in Spain on Thursday, said criticizing the slow pace of the counteroffensive is tantamount to “spitting into the face of [the] Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day,” Reuters reported. “I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves,” he told reporters at a meeting of European foreign ministers.
Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremony and banquet, after the foundation behind the prize said it would invite all countries with diplomatic representation in Sweden. Both countries were uninvited from last year’s ceremony in Stockholm — which awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to a trio of Kremlin critics and human rights defenders in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia — following the invasion of Ukraine. “The achievements recognised by the Nobel Prize require openness, exchange and dialogue between people and nations,” the organization wrote in a statement Thursday, adding that it wished to reach out “even to those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize.”
A Russian-German dual national was arrested in Cyprus for allegedly procuring large amounts of sensitive U.S. electronic components to send to a Russian company that supplies the country’s military, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. “Arthur Petrov conspired to smuggle U.S. microelectronics technology with military applications to Russia, the type of components used by the Russian military in its unjust invasion of Ukraine,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen, according to the department’s statement. Authorities in Cyprus carried out the arrest on Aug. 26 following a U.S. request, it added.
Britain’s BAE Systems will open an office in Kyiv to increase its supply of weapons, equipment and military know-how, Zelensky’s office said in a statement Thursday. BAE has been providing Ukraine with weapons such as the L119 and M777 artillery systems, Zelensky said. The latest agreement “paves the way for us to work together to provide more direct support to the Ukrainian armed forces,” BAE chief executive Charles Woodburn said, according to Reuters.
Russia will discuss an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal with Turkey this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, are expected to meet in Moscow over a proposal to send Russian grain to Turkey with the financial help of Qatar. The grain would be processed in Turkey and exported to countries “in need,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The Kremlin also has said the leaders of Russia and Turkey will meet in Russia “soon.”
Drone strikes hit military aircraft deep inside Russia: This week’s drone attack against at least six Russian cities, including Pskov, was the largest airstrike against Russia presumed to have been launched by Ukraine or its proxies since President Vladimir Putin ordered his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Robyn Dixon and Siobhán O’Grady report. It demonstrated Kyiv’s ability to attack deep within Russian territory.
Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone attacks, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a cryptic message on social media that appeared to hint at Ukraine’s responsibility: “Did you know that Pskov Airport is named after Kyivan Princess Olha? Oh, what a spectacularly vengeful woman she was!”