Liveblog: + Britain sees problems in Russia’s army +

According to British intelligence, the number of deserters in the Russian military reflects poor morale. After drone attacks, the Russian airport Pskov remains closed for the time being. All developments in the live blog.

The first reports of damage are coming from the Russian regions, which according to their own statements were said to have been the target of drone attacks during the night. Accordingly, it was only property damage.

Six drones are said to have been shot down over the western Russian city of Bryansk, said the local governor Alexander Bogomas. The building of an authority was damaged by falling debris. Residential buildings were also damaged in the neighboring Orlov region as a result of the attacks with two drones, according to the governor of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha. One of the two drones fell on an empty tank farm and exploded there. The fire had been extinguished.

In Toledo, possible further military aid and also the financing of EU aid for Ukraine in the fight against the Russian war of aggression are the focus of the meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the member states.

From the point of view of the British secret service, the high number of deserters in the ranks of the Russian army reflects the poor morale that prevails there. In the report, which was published by the British Ministry of Defence, the secret service relies on information from the Internet portal “Mediazona”: According to this, around 100 suspects are to be sentenced every week in Russia for allegations of desertion.

“The high number of convictions shows the poor state of morale in the Russian army and the reluctance of some parts to fight,” said the British intelligence service’s situation report. The high number of deserters also points to the lack of training for the Russian military, their lack of motivation and the high level of stress for Russian soldiers.

According to the Ukrainian military, at least 28 rockets were fired into Ukrainian territory during the Russian attacks during the night. All of them could have been shot down, as well as 15 of 16 drones used to attack Ukraine.

Operations at Russia’s Pskov airport have been suspended for the time being after suspected night-time drone attacks. According to the authorities, eight planned take-offs and landings of aircraft were canceled. Safety measures would be reinforced to enable operations to resume as quickly as possible.

During the night, dozens of drones attacked the airport, where Russian military units are also stationed. According to official information, four Il-76 military transporters were damaged. Pskov is around 400 miles north of the Ukrainian border and near the borders with Latvia and Estonia.

A naval aircraft from the Russian Black Sea Fleet is said to have destroyed several boats belonging to the Ukrainian military in an attack. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. Up to 50 special forces from the Ukrainian army are said to have been on board. The Reuters news agency spoke of Ukrainian paratroopers who had been killed. The attack was not confirmed by the government of Ukraine.

At least two people were killed in a rocket attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev, according to the head of the local military administration, Serhiy Popko. They were killed by falling debris in the Shevchenkivskyi district. One person was injured.

The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, had previously reported explosions in the city and called on the population to seek shelter. Klitschko later reported on his Telegram channel that buildings in at least two districts had been damaged by falling rocket parts. Several fires broke out, including in an administration building and in a commercial establishment.

The wave of cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea area was preceded by a drone attack from the north. Air alerts had been raised across the country. There were also reports of missiles approaching in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa.

According to Brazilian sources, Russia is not allowing an international investigation into the plane crash of the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The government in Moscow has informed the Brazilian aviation authority Cenipa that it will “for the time being” not initiate an investigation into the crash according to international rules, the aviation authority told the Reuters news agency.

Prigozhin, two senior generals from his Wagner group and four bodyguards were among ten people aboard the Brazilian-made Embraer plane that crashed north of Moscow last week.

According to local reports, several explosions have occurred at the airfield in the north-western Russian city of Pskov. The army is fending off a drone attack there, Governor Mikhail Vedernikov wrote in his Telegram channel early in the morning. He also released a short video showing a bright glow of fire over the airfield and an explosion heard. According to preliminary information, nobody was injured, Wedernikow wrote.

The airfield is home to Russian Army military transport aircraft. Four Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes were damaged, the state news agency TASS reported, citing rescue services. A parachute division is also stationed in the city, which took part in the first wave of attacks on Ukraine in February 2022.

Overall, Russia reported drone attacks on several regions during the night, for example in the Moscow region, in Bryansk and Orel and in the Bay of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The US provides Ukraine with more ammunition and demining equipment. According to UNICEF, more than 1,300 Ukrainian schools have been destroyed by the war so far. Tuesday’s live blog to read.