Ukraine-Russia war: Putin to deliver speech after US and Ukraine agree major 10-year security agreement - and Russia suffers 'astronomical' losses (2024)

The "selfishness and hypocrisy of Western countries" has led to a "dangerous turn of events" and we have "come close to a point of no return", Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking at a meeting with Russian foreign ministry officials, the Kremlin leader accused Washington of undermining global security because of its exit from arms pacts.

He also said the West's theft of Russian assets "will not remain unpunished".

"Washington has unilaterally withdrawn from various arms control treaties," he said.

"At the end of the day, the selfishness and hypocrisy of Western countries led to a dangerous turn of events and we have come close to a point of no return.

"They wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia despite its nuclear arsenals this is what the Western policy is all about.

"They either fail to understand the threats they create or simply believe in their impunity and exclusive nature. Both can lead to tragedies."

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed one person and injured 20 more over the past day, regional authorities say.

A total of 10 areas were targeted - Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kherson, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Donetsk.

Russian attacks caused the death of one person in Kherson, where nine houses, a car and a cultural institution were all damaged, according to governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Another man was injured and taken to hospital following an air strike on the village of Buhaivka.

In Kharkiv, a Russian drone strike damaged a bus carrying 15 civilians as well as two cars, a cafe and a residential building, according to governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Six people, including a three-year-old girl, were injured during an attack on the town of Novomoskovsk. The attack also damaged 91 houses, five schools and a gas infrastructure facility.

Local authorities in the Esman community of Sumy reported that a Russian drone struck a bus carrying 20 people. Three women were injured and received medical care according to preliminary information.

A Russian aerial bomb attack on a residential area in Selydove injured at least six people aged between 62 and 93, the prosecutor general's office reported.

The attack damaged at least 10 high-rise buildings, a house, shop, cafe and a pharmacy.

As we have been reporting in our live politics coverage today, the right-wing Reform UK party has overtaken the governing Conservative Party in an opinion poll for the first time.

In light of this development - which puts Reform in second place behind Labour - its leader is predictably facing additional scrutiny.

As such, Nigel Farage was asked this morning about his previous remarks praising the Russian president.

Vladimir Putin is a "clever political operator", Mr Farage told BBC Radio 5 Live, before adding that he "does not like him as a human being in any way at all".

Challenged about his admiring comments about the Russian president, the Reform leader said: "Yeah, but not as a human being."

Asked why, Mr Farage replied: "How many years has he been in power? He's gone from prime minister, to president, he's a clever political operator. He kills journalists, I don't like him as a human being in any way at all.

"You can recognise the fact that some people are good at what they do, even if they have evil intent."

Asked if Adolf Hitler was good at what he did, Mr Farage replied: "What, as a public speaker? What do you think? Clearly, hypnotic in a very dangerous way."

For context: In 2014, Mr Farage named Mr Putin as the leader he most admired, calling his handling of the Syria crisis "brilliant".

He said he liked the Russian president for the way he worked, rather than for his political and personal approach.

Asked which current world leader he most admired, Mr Farage told GQ magazine at the time: "As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin.

"The way he played the whole Syria thing. Brilliant. Not that I approve of him politically. How many journalists in jail now?"

Russia has added the Georgian National Legion to its list of terrorist organisations, Russia's state media TASS reports.

"Based on the evidence collected by the FSB, the southern district military court recognised the paramilitary formation Georgian National Legion as a terrorist organisation," Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) was quoted as saying by TASS.

The FSB also noted that members of the legion "participate in hostilities" on the side of the armed forces of Ukraine and are also "involved in organising sabotage and terrorist acts on Russian territory".

The Georgian National Legion is a military volunteer group created in 2014 at the beginning of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.

On its website, it states its "main goal" is to "help our Ukrainian brothers and sisters with the defence of their independence and territorial integrity from Russian occupiers".

An explosion has been heard in the region outside the capital of Kyiv during an air raid alert to warn of a possible Russian air attack, according to Reuters witnesses.

It is unclear if the explosion was the sound of air defences engaging a target.

Public broadcaster Suspilne also cited local residents saying they had heard explosions in the western region of Khmelnytskyi.

Since the beginning of the year, airstrikes between Ukraine and Russia have increased with both sides trying to push through a reported stalemate.

We brought you reports yesterday that US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed for over a year in Russia on espionage charges, will stand trial.

Here is what we know right now...

The Wall Street Journal reporter will have his trial in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, according to the authorities.

An indictment of reporter has been finalised and his case was filed to the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city, about 870 miles east of Moscow, according to Russia's prosecutor general's office.

There is still no word on when the trial will begin.

What happened to Evan Gershkovich?

Mr Gershkovich, 32, is accused of "gathering secret information" on orders from the CIA.

He was detained while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of spying for the US. The reporter, his employer and the US government denied the allegations, and Washington designated him as wrongfully detained.

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, alleged after arresting Mr Gershkovich that he was acting on US orders to collect state secrets but provided no evidence to back up the accusations.

The US state department spokesman Matthew Miller slammed the development, saying there was "absolutely zero credibility to those charges" and adding that the US government would continue to work to bring Mr Gershkovich home.

The Ukrainian military has said it downed seven of 14 missiles and all 17 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack.

The Ukrainian military shot down the targets over seven regions.

The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region said a missile struck an open area, with no damage and casualties immediately reported.

The air force also destroyed five drones over the Dnipro region, its governor said, with no reports of damage or casualties.

Hundreds of Cubans and tourists boarded the Russian frigate Gorshkov, part of the war fleet that carried out military manoeuvres in the Atlantic yesterday.

Cuban and Russian authorities agreed to allow citizens access to this flagship, which arrived the day before accompanied by nuclear-powered submarine Kazan and two logistic ships, the oil tanker Pashin and the salvage tug Nikolai Chiker.

The chance to board ships of different nationalities arriving in the Bay of Havana is quite usual.

Last week Cuba's government announced that a royal Canadian navy ship was also set to arrive soon.

As for the Russian fleet, Cuban authorities confirmed that it would be docked in Havana until Monday.

The Russian defence ministry reported that the exercises conducted by its fleet were aimed at simulating missile attacks against other ships.

US officials downplayed the danger of the visit but said they would closely follow every move of the Russian military vessels - while the Kremlin yesterday insisted the West should not "worry" about the move.

Debris from a downed Ukrainian drone damaged an unused reservoir at a fuel depot in Russia's southwestern Voronezh region today, regional governor Alexander Gusev has said.

In a statement on Telegram, Mr Gusev said "an attempt was made to attack an oil depot with Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles from an ultra-low altitude".

There were no casualties or fire, and the drone was one of six downed by air defences over the region, he added.

Separately, the RIA news agency cited Russia's defence ministry as saying that 70 Ukrainian drones had been downed overnight over the southwestern Rostov region, and 17 over other regions.

Vladimir Putin will make a speech at Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting this morning– the first time he has appeared at the meeting in three years.

The Russian leader's speech - which is due to take place at around 9am UK time - comes after it was announced last night that the US and Ukraine have signed a major 10-year security agreement (see our 18.35 post from yesterday).

It also follows an emergency phone call that was held yesterday by senior officials of South Korea and the US over a possible impending visit by Mr Putin to North Korea in the coming weeks.

To add to the backdrop to his speech, a series of Western nations have recently agreed that their weapons can be used to launch strikes inside Russia - provoking angry responses in Moscow.

And it comes ahead of a Ukraine summit that will be held over the weekend.

Around 90 states and organisations have confirmed their participation for the conference in Switzerland on 15 and 16 June that aims to create a pathway for peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will use the talks to build support for Ukraine's position on three key themes:food security, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners and deportees.