live blog
After a Ukrainian drone attack, an oil depot in the Russian region of Rostov apparently caught fire. Russian President Putin thanked North Korea for supporting the offensive in Ukraine. All developments in the live blog.
The Ukrainian Air Force says it has destroyed all ten drones deployed by Russia last night. They were shot down over the Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the Air Force said on Telegram.
According to the governor in charge, oil storage facilities in the Russian city of Azov in the Rostov region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack. “According to initial information, there are no victims,” the governor of the southern Russian region, Vasily Golubev, said via Telegram. The investigation is ongoing and the local fire brigade is trying to bring the fires under control.
Ahead of his visit to North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pyongyang for supporting the Russian offensive in Ukraine. “We greatly appreciate the resolute support of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) for the special military operation in Ukraine,” Putin wrote in an article published by the North Korean state news agency KCNA. Both countries are “actively developing the multifaceted partnership.”
Putin will arrive in North Korea on Tuesday evening for his first visit in 24 years. The trip will “raise bilateral cooperation to a higher level” and contribute to the “development of mutual and equal cooperation” between Russia and North Korea, Putin wrote, according to KCNA. During Putin’s visit, several “important documents” are to be signed, including a possible agreement on a “strategic partnership,” Russian news agencies reported, citing a Kremlin official.
Pyongyang is accused of supporting Russia in its military offensive in Ukraine by supplying weapons. Putin is currently trying to obtain additional ammunition.
According to Russian sources, heavy fighting has broken out in parts of the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. “The enemy is sending reserves and trying to launch a counterattack, but is encountering fierce resistance from our forces,” said Vitali Ganchev, the Russian-appointed governor of the Moscow-controlled areas of the Kharkiv region. Russian forces have repelled the latest Ukrainian counterattacks near Vovchansk, five kilometers across the border.
The US is “concerned” about the emerging deepening of relations between North Korea and Russia. The Ukrainian military reports successes against the air defenses in Crimea.