Ukraine war latest: Putin arrives in Kazakhstan ahead of talks with Xi Jinping and Erdogan (2024)

"Explosions" have been heard in two Ukrainian cities this morning, Ukrainian media is reporting.

The Kyiv Post reported that the explosions were heard in the central city of Dnipro and in Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast.

RBC-Ukraine reported in a Telegram post that a rocket had been launched throughZaporizhzhia in the direction of Dnipro.

The Suspilne news outlet said a shopping centre was damaged after the "explosions" in Dnipro, but did not provide further details.

Dnipro governor Serhii Lisak has urged people in the city to stay in shelters.

A single phone from Xi Jinping to Vladimir Putin could end the war, the Finnish president has claimed.

Alexander Stubb told Bloomberg that Moscow is now so reliant on Beijing's support that if the Chinese leader called for peace negotiations to start, Russia would be "forced to do that".

China offered a 12-point plan for peace last year - which Ukraine and the West rejected.

It has yet to condemn Russia or describe the war in Ukraine as an "invasion" - and has also criticised Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Mr Putin and Mr Xi are also expected to meet in Kazakhstan over the next two days for their second summit in as many months.

In his interview with Bloomberg, Mr Stubb said China would benefit from ending Russia's "aggressive and colonial war".

"It needs to protect the international rules which are linked to territorial integrity and sovereignty," he said.

The Chinese foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to the news outlet's request for comment.

A woman has been injured in a Russian shelling in Kherson, officials have said.

The 53-year-old woman received an "explosive injury" to her leg when the southern Ukrainian region was hit early this morning, the Kherson regional administration said in a Telegram post.

She went to hospital and was given treatment, it said.

Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said in a separate post that one person has been killed and 15 more injured in Russian attacks over the past day.

Russian authorities restricted access to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after it was reportedly targeted with naval drones.

The defence ministry claimed Ukraine launched 12 drones at its territory overnight, including two sea drones which were headed for Novorossiysk (see 6.26 post).

Mayor Andrei Kravchenko said beach access would be restricted until 9am local time (6am UK time).

Novorossiysk is Russia's largest Black Sea port and serves as a major outlet for crude oil and oil products exports, as well as transit in Russia's south.

Moscow's ambassador to the UK has told Sky News that sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have failed to achieve any of their aims.

Speaking toThe World With Yalda Hakimprogramme, Andrey Kelin said: "The goal of the sanctions was first of all to spoil [the] normal life of Russians so they will say that [Vladimir] Putin is wrong.

"The second point of sanctions was to damage the Russian economy as much as possible.

"The third point was to change the political personnel.

"So none of these goals have been reached by the sanctions."

You can watch the interview here...

Russia claims to have destroyed 10 Ukrainian air drones and two sea drones headed for Russian territory.

The defence ministry said the sea drones were headed for the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in southeastern Russia.

Meanwhile, five air drones were downed over the Belgorod border region, four over the Bryansk region and one over the Moscow region, the ministry claimed.

Kyiv has not made any comment.

Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan early this morning for two days of regional and security defence talks.

The Russian prime minister will also hold a series of bilateral meetings during his visit, including with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a forum launched by China and Russia in 2001, will meet for the summit today and tomorrow in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

In a statement on its website, the Kremlin said SCO leaders will "discuss thecurrent state and prospects for further deepening multifacetedcooperation within the organisation and improving itsactivities".

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres is alsoexpected to attend the summit, according to Russian agencies.

Mr Putin was greeted by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov as he stepped off his presidential plane.

Welcome back to our coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that a ceasefire in Ukraine could help speed up peace negotiations with Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's security service said that it had foiled a plot to topple its government.

Here are the other key updates from the last 24 hours:

• Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus will not allow any clashes on the border with Ukraine, according to the country's state-run Belta news agency;
• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington will soon announce an additional £1.8bn in security assistance for Ukraine;
• Vladimir Putin will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today during a summit in Kazakhstan, Russian state news agency TASS reported;
• Lithuania's foreign ministry made a diplomatic protest to Russia after a Russian civilian aircraft entered its airspace without permission;

The map below shows the parts of Ukraine currently under Russian occupation...

We reported earlier that the US will soon announce more than $2.3bn in new security assistance for Ukraine (see post at 4.16pm).

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin made the announcement during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.

Now, we can bring you more information on this.

During the meeting, Mr Austin said the latest weapons package for Ukraine would include arms such as anti-tank weapons and air defence interceptors, and would allow accelerated procurement of NASAMS and Patriot air defence interceptors.

Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov said: "I am proud that the US will soon announce more than $2.3bn in new security assistance for Ukraine.

"This package, under presidential drawdown authority, will provide more air defence interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from the US inventories."

During the meeting with Mr Austin, the Ukrainian official also said Ukraine was looking forward to becoming a member of NATO.