Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Mongolia refuses to arrest Putin on ICC warrant

Vladimir Putin’s court has sentenced physicist Alexander Shiplyuk to 15 years in prison on treason charges.

The case on Tuesday is the latest of several against experts working on the science underpinning Russia’s development of hypersonic missiles, Russian news agencies said.

Shiplyuk, the 57-year-old director of a top Siberian science institute, was arrested in August 2022. Two of his colleagues, Anatoly Maslov and Valery Zvegintsev, were also detained on suspicion of treason. Maslov, 78, was handed a 14-year sentence in May.

Rich Booth and Lucy Papachristou have the full report:

Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian region of Kursk continues, with analysts suggesting numerous developments in recent days as Vladimir Putin’s forces seek to repel Kyiv’s invasion.

Citing geolocated footage and claims by Russian military bloggers, the US-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank noted numerous potential advances and retreats by Ukrainian forces deployed along the new frontlines in Kursk in recent days.

With Kyiv having sought to destroy numerous crossings over the Seym river in recent weeks in a bid to hamper Russian supply lines and shore up its own position, Russian military bloggers claimed Ukrainian forces were continuing to strike Russian pontoon crossings over the river.

Joe Biden’s administration is close to an agreement to give Ukraine long-range cruise missiles that could reach deep into Russia, US officials have told Reuters.

The inclusion of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) in a weapons package is expected to be announced this autumn, three sources told the news agency, though a final decision has not been made and Kyiv would need to wait several months as the US works through technical issues ahead of any shipment.

Sending JASSMs – which are stealthy and can strike further than most other missiles in Ukraine’s current inventory – could significantly alter the strategic landscape of the conflict, pushing Russian staging areas and supply depots back by hundreds of miles.

Launching them from points near Ukraine’s northern border with Russia could allow them to hit military installations as far away as the Russian cities of Voronezh and Bryansk. In the south, dropping them near the front lines could enable strikes on airfields or naval facilities in Crimea.

Such missiles have so far only been integrated into US-designed aircraft. Ukraine will ultimately operate several dozen F-16s, each of which can carry two of the cruise missiles.

One of the US officials claimed there were efforts to make the missile operable with non-Western fighter jets in Ukraine’s inventory.

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has made his 10th visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since it was seized by Russia at the outset of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, raising serious concerns for safety at Europe’s largest facility.

Noting that it had been two years since the International Atomic Energy Agency’s special support mission to the plant had begun, Rafael Grossi said on X: “I’m on my way to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP to continue our assistance [and] help prevent a nuclear accident.”

A day earlier, the Zaporizhzhia plant was subjected to nearby artillery shelling which damaged the nuclear facility’s power access, according to its operator Energoatom, which blamed Russia for the attacks.

“Russian shelling damaged one of the two external overhead lines through which — the Zaporizhzhya NPP receives power from the Ukrainian power system,” the operator said.

“In the event of damage to the second line, an emergency situation will arise,” it said, adding that technicians could not access the site of the damage because of the “real threat of repeated shelling”.

Mr Grossi, who is traveling with a team of IAEA experts and officials, began a round of meetings in Kyiv with a stop at the Ministry of Energy and talks with the minister, Herman Halushchenko.

Ukraine’s air force claims to have shot down 27 out of 35 “Shahed” kamikaze drones during attacks Russia launched overnight from the Kursk region and annexed Crimea.

The air force also said Russian forces used three ballistic missiles from Crimea, and one guided missile in the attack.

There was no information to suggest destruction or casualties, the air force said, adding that anti-aircraft defences had been successful in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy.

Despite an international warrant for his arrest, Vladimir Putin was welcomed by Mongolia in a ceremony in the main square of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, by an honour guard dressed in vivid red and blue uniforms styled on those of the personal guard of 13th century ruler Genghis Khan.

He and Mongolian president Ukhnaa Khurelsukh walked up the red-carpeted steps of the government palace and bowed before a statue of Khan before entering the government building for their meetings.

A small group of protesters who tried to unfurl a Ukrainian flag before the welcome ceremony were taken away by police.

Sitting down for talks with Mr Khurelsukh, Mr Putin said that relations between their two countries “are developing in all areas”, and invited the Mongolian president to attend a summit of the Brics nations in the Russian city of Kazan in late October.

Mr Khurelsukh accepted, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Poland and other nations bordering Ukraine have a duty to shoot down incoming Russian missiles – despite the risk of interceptions over Ukrainian territory dragging Nato into war, the country’s foreign minister has said.

Warsaw activated aircraft early on Monday to protect Polish air space as Russia launched a fresh barrage of missiles and drones, with Ukraine having faced some of the most intense strikes since the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion during the past two weeks.

Radosław Sikorski has said that Poland has an obligation to ensure the safety of its citizens, whatever fears other Nato nations may have about what shooting down missiles over Ukraine pushing the alliance into direct conflict with Russia.

“Membership in Nato does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace – it’s our own constitutional duty,” Mr Sikorski told the Financial Times. “I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defence [to strike them] because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant.”

Our international editor Chris Stevenson has more in this report:

Russia’s overnight attack targeted Ukrainian rail infrastructure in the northeastern region of Sumy and central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine’s state rail operator has warned.

Russian forces also launched missiles at the central city of Dnipro yesterday evening, killing one person and injuring three while damaging homes in one district, according to Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor of Dnipropetrovsk.

Russia’s defence ministry has said it has deployed additional air defence systems in its Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

A state of emergency was declared in the region last month, with governor Vyacheslav Gladkov warning that the situation was “extremely difficult” due to daily Ukrainian shelling in the region.

Belgorod neighbours the Kursk region, where Ukraine has launched its unprecedented incursion into Russian territory.