Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin’s forces lose 1,000 soldiers in 24 hours on frontline, says Ukrainian military

Belarus was forced to launch a fighter jet and attack helicopter to intercept a misfired Russian drone intended for Ukraine last night, it has been revealed.

The Russia-launched “Shahed” drone flew some 217 miles in Belarusian airspace, at one point heading close to the capital Minsk, after it veered off course in Ukraine. Ukraine shares its northern border with the south of Belarus.

Sources confirmed that the Belarusian Mig-24 helicopter and Su-30 fighter jet were indeed scrambled to respond to the drone threat.

You can read more details on the incident below.

The Czech Republic will send tens of thousands of vital ammunition to Ukraine each month through to the end of the year, the Czech president has announced.

Speaking after the Nato summit in Washington, president Petr Pavel announced that they will send 50,000 shells to Ukraine in July and August, and then between 80,000 to 100,000 each month from September until the end of 2024.

The donation of shells is part of an initiative set up by the Czech Republic to supply half a million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine in 2024.

The country has suggested it can find the shells from third-party countries that remain unnamed so long as its allies provide funding.

The plan is intended to offset an ammunition disparity between Ukrainian and Russian forces, caused by European underinvestment in defence and the delay of a US military package for seven months, from October to April, while Congress disagreed over how to apportion its funds.

The Czech Republic says it could supply up to 1.5 million rounds to Ukraine.

Ukraine‘s air defenses intercepted four of the five drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning.

Mykola Oleschuk, commander of Ukraine‘s Air Forces, said the fifth drone left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Belarus.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked US governors after giving an address at the National Governors Association following the Nato summit in Washington.

Mr Zelensky spoke to the US governors at the NGA’s 2024 summer meeting, held in Salt Lake City at the Grand America Hotel.

An oil depot caught fire in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region Saturday following a Ukrainian drone attack in the early hours, local officials said, in the latest long-range strike by Kyiv’s forces on a border region.

Ukraine has in recent months stepped up aerial assaults on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals in an effort to slow down the Kremlin’s war machine.

Moscow’s army is pressing hard along the front line in eastern Ukraine, where a shortage of troops and ammunition in the third year of war has made defenders vulnerable.

Rostov regional Gov. Vasily Golubev said a drone attack had caused a blaze spanning 200 square meters (2,100 square feet), but there were no casualties. Some five hours after he reported the fire on Telegram, Golubev said the fire had been extinguished.

In addition to two drones being intercepted over the Rostov region, Russian air defense systems overnight destroyed two drones over the country’s western Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Saturday.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to the UK next week to address European leaders at Blenheim Palace who are meeting to discuss Ukraine, European security and democracy, The Guardian has reported.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to arrive in Ireland later this morning when he touches down in Shannon airport, Co Clare, for a meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris.

Poland will spend five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence in 2025, the foreign minister told Bloomberg Television in an interview broadcast on Friday evening.

Warsaw has already ramped up defence spending to more than 4% of its economic output this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Poland spends four (percent of GDP on defence) and we are going to spend five next year,” Radoslaw Sikorski said. “We are number one in nato including the United States, in proportion obviously, because we are no longer in eternal post-Cold War peace.”

Deputy defence minister Cezary Tomczyk told private broadcaster TVN24 on Thursday that Poland would increase its defence budget by about 10 per cent in 2025 to a record high.

Army chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference on Wednesday that Poland needed to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict.