Russian President Vladimir Putin says the situation in four areas of Ukraine that Moscow has declared are part of Russia is "extremely difficult" as Kyiv renewed calls for more weapons after drones hit energy targets.
Belarus - new front?
Speaking on Security Services Day, widely celebrated in Russia, Putin ordered the strengthening of Russia's borders as Moscow tries to regain momentum in its war against Ukraine.
Putin visited Belarus on Monday for the first time since 2019 after Moscow's recent battlefield setbacks, fuelling Ukrainian fears he will pressure his ally to open a new invasion front.
He and his Belarusian counterpart President Alexander extolled the benefits of cooperation but they hardly mentioned the Ukraine war at their joint news conference.
UN
The US accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of "apparently yielding to Russian threats" and not sending officials to Ukraine to inspect drones used by Moscow that Washington and others say were supplied by Iran.
POLL
Support sought
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Western leaders meeting in Latvia to supply a wide range of weapons systems, renewing his longstanding call for more military support
- Moldova's spy chief warned on Monday of a "very high" risk of a new Russian offensive towards his country's east next year and said Moscow still aimed to secure a land corridor through Ukraine to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria.
READ MORE
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asks New Zealand to help remove landmines
- Ukraine invasion: Russian drones smash power network in Odesa plunging city into darkness
- Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow trying to get ballistic missiles from Iran, UK says
- Ukraine invasion: Russian forces killed more than 400 civilians early in war, UN report says
Conflict
- Russian "kamikaze" drones hit key energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv on Monday, which followed Friday's missile strikes in one of Russia's biggest assaults against Ukraine since the start of the war, Ukrainian officials said
- Ukraine's atomic energy agency accused Russia of sending a "kamikaze" drone over part of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant in the Mykolaiv region overnight
- Russia's defence ministry said its forces had shot down four US-made HARM anti-radiation missiles over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, in the space of 24 hours, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Reuters was not able to independently verify battlefield reports.
Power
- The power grid operator described the situation as "difficult" and said the Dnipropetrovsk region and areas in the centre and east of the country were the worst affected
- Washington and its allies need do more to help Ukraine keep the power on, a senior US diplomat said.
