A senior Russian diplomat has suggested that Moscow is open to conducting nuclear missile tests for the first time since 1990. Elsewhere, Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed a potential ceasefire deal in an exclusive interview with Sky News – watch the full version below.
Saturday 30 November 2024 15:54, UK
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Many of Ukraine’s civilian airports have been damaged by the war with Russia, according to the country’s prime minister.
Denys Shmyhal, quoted by local media, said 15 of Ukraine’s 20 airports had been damaged in some capacity.
The country’s airspace has been completely closed since the start of the war, although Kyiv has been exploring ways of opening it again.
Shmyhal reportedly added that Russia had attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure nearly 60 times in the last three months, with nearly 300 facilities and 22 civilian vessels damaged or destroyed entirely.
Russian and Chinese strategic bombers have conducted a joint patrol, the Russian defence ministry says.
Russian Tu-95МS and Chinese H-6K planes flew over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, and western Pacific Ocean, accompanied by fighter jets.
The Russian aircraft took off from and landed at an airfield in China.
The ministry said that the flights did not violate the airspace of any foreign country and was not directed against any specific nations.
In September, Vladimir Putin cast Russian and Chinese warship drills as a bid to counter US military and political dominance.
As we’ve been reporting, Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay interviewed Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday, in which the Ukrainian president laid out a possible plan for peace.
But does this change anything militarily in the short term?
Here’s our military analyst Sean Bell to take you through it…
Poland’s prime minister has visited his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad, as the construction of defensive fortifications continues there.
Donald Tusk calls the fortifications “an investment in peace”, although has been dubbed Poland’s East Shield this year.
It will eventually cover some 800km along the Polish borders with Russia and Belarus.
Poland, a NATO member, is one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in its war against Russia.
“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Tusk said at a news conference near the village of Dabrowka as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.
“Everything we are doing here – and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine – is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace,” Tusk said.
Along the frontier, anti-tank barriers (known as “hedgehogs”) will be integrated with natural barriers like ditches – and also include threat reconnaissance and detection systems, forward bases, logistics hubs, warehouses and the deployment of anti-drone systems, according to the state news agency PAP.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken “under the NATO umbrella” in an interview with Sky News’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay.
The Ukrainian president said NATO membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of Ukraine to end the “hot phase of the war”, as long as the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders.
You can watch the full interview here…
These images show Ukrainian commanders teaching troops how to use Gnom 2 ground drones in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The drone can reportedly be used as anti-tank support, for mine-laying, and even potentially transporting wounded soldiers – all while an operator works it remotely.
Russian and Syrian jets are reportedly bombing rebel fighters who have advanced in and around Aleppo.
Russia, one of President Bashar al Assad’s key allies, has promised Damascus extra military aid to thwart the rebels, two military sources told Reuters news agency.
Opposition fighters opposed to Assad say they have reached the heart of Aleppo following their surprise offensive over the last few days.
The city’s airport and a number of major roads have been closed.
The rebels, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, are said to be in control of around half of Aleppo – Syria’s second-largest city – according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Earlier, we brought you comments from an ex-Ukrainian minister who suggested Russia did not have the weapons to spare to be giving them to Syria (see 7.19am post).
Read more on what’s going on in Syria here.
More on our exclusive interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy now.
The Ukrainian president’s discussion with Sky News’ chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay has already caused a stir internationally.
In this article, our correspondents and experts analyse what Zelenskyy’s comments mean…
The Kremlin has lifted a temporary ban on fuel exports for those producing it, it has announced.
“The decision was taken to maintain a stable situation in the domestic fuel market, support the economy of oil refining, and counteract grey exports of motor gasoline,” a government statement said.
At the same time, the temporary restrictions on fuel exports for non-producers has has been extended until the end of January – having been set to expire at the end of the year.
Those restrictions were put into place as Russia sought to keep its domestic supply stable amid seasonal demand and heavy Western sanctions.
Russia has used a number of routes in order to bypass the sanctions, which our economics and data editor Ed Conway has been looking at extensively.
By Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter
While the era of the Soviet Union and America going to war over the chessboard to establish intellectual dominance is over, chess is still a big deal in Russia.
So when reigning the Russian champion, grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov, denounced the war in Ukraine along with several other high profile players in 2022, it was a big deal.
One of the best players in the world, he now plays for England.
We’re sitting in a cafe in north London, where the 37-year-old has made his home with his wife and young son over the last year.
“There was a show on Russian TV about chess players who changed their flags,” Nikita says. “They paid special attention to my case.”
“In Russian propaganda they consider London to be the capital of hell,” he says with a smile.
Now settled into his new home, he is grateful for the freedoms it affords him and his family.
Next year, the British championships beckon – will a Russian be the new king of English chess?
Read more here.
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