Senior Russian general fired after accusing defence ministry of ‘treachery’

The UK Ministry of Defence has said there are reports of Russian forces using antiquated armoured vehicles packed with several tonnes of explosives.

In a statement on Thursday, the department said most cases have been seen in Marinka, near Donetsk city.

The Ministry of Defence tweeted: “In June 2023, there have been several reports of Russian forces using antiquated armoured vehicles packed with several tonnes of explosives as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs). The crew likely bail out of the vehicle after setting it on its course.

“Most Russian VBIED cases have been reported around Marinka, near Donetsk city, and started days after Chechen units reinforced the area: there is a realistic possibility that Chechen forces are pioneering the tactic.

“There is a heritage of Chechen fighters being skilled in IED use, dating back to the Chechen Wars from the 1990s. Chechens fighting for Ukraine were also reported to have made similar VBIEDs in January 2023.

“Most of Russia’s VBIEDs have almost certainly detonated before they reached their target through a combination of anti-tank mines and direct fire, bringing into question the viability of the capability.

“However, these VBIEDs cause extremely large explosions, which are still likely to have a psychological effect on defending forces.”

Russian forces targeted Kyiv with a barrage of self-exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones early on Thursday morning, according to the Kyiv City Administration.

Explosions were heard in different parts of the city, and debris from intercepted drones fell on four districts of the Ukrainian capital, according to Ukraine‘s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Buildings were damaged and two people were admitted to hospital with shrapnel wounds.

Earlier, the municipal authority wrote on Telegram that debris fell on five districts.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired a total of 20 drones, mostly at the Kyiv region, and that all 20 were shot down.

The Ukrainian military also intercepted two cruise missiles.

Ukraine’s air defence has shot down all 20 Shahed-136/131 drones launched by Russian forces overnight, the country’s air force said.

It added two Kalibr missiles were also downed by the active air defences. The Russian forces also used one Iskander-M ballistic missile to attack Ukraine, according to the air force.

Russian forces unleashed a barrage of self-exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones in early hours today, according to the Kyiv City Administration.

Explosions were heard in different parts of the city, and debris from intercepted drones fell on five districts of the Ukrainian capital.

Some buildings were damaged, and two people hospitalised with shrapnel wounds.

A high-ranking Russian general has been killed in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia in an airstrike carried out using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, according to multiple reports from both sides.

Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov was among the Russian military commanders present in the Dune hotel when a barrage of cruise missiles struck the southern region.

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately confirm the death but it has been reported by the country’s tightly-controlled state media.

An aid to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, wrote on his Telegram channel: “It is reported that today in the Berdiansk area, the Russian Lieutenant General Oleg Yuriyovych Tsokov was liquidated.”

In September last year the same general was gravely wounded on the battlefield but survived, the mayor said.

A member of Ukraine’s parliament, Yurii Mysyagin, said that the “the British ‘Storm Shadow’ came to visit accurately”.

A senior Russian general who was fighting in Ukraine has said he was suddenly dismissed from his position after he accused the Moscow defence ministry’s leadership of betraying his troops over lack of sufficient support.

In a Telegram post published late last night, General Ivan Popov said he had raised questions about “the lack of counter-battery combat, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations and the mass deaths and injuries of our brothers from enemy artillery.”

He was the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, leading the Russian assault in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“I also raised a number of other problems and expressed it all at the highest level frankly and extremely harshly,” he said in the audio message.

“I had no right to lie, therefore, I outlined all the problematic issues that exist today in the army in terms of combat work and support.”

He added that the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu “got rid of me” by signing the order.

Popov accused the senior Russian commander of hitting the battalion from the rear “treacherously and vilely decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment” while claiming Ukraine could not break through the Russian army from the front.

Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin has said he and CIA counterpart William Burns had discussed “what to do with Ukraine“ in a phone call late last month, reported Russia’s TASS news agency.

Mr Naryshkin confirmed that his counterpart had raised “the events of 24 June”, when the Wagner mercenaries took control of a southern Russian city and advanced towards Moscow before reaching a deal with the Kremlin to end the revolt.

This comes after The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported on 30 June that the CIA director had called the Russian foreign intelligence chief to assure the Kremlin that the US had no role in a brief mutiny a week earlier by Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner fighters.

Mr Naryshkin said that for most of the call, lasting about an hour, “we considered and discussed what to do with Ukraine“.

There were no immediate remarks from the CIA on TASS’s report.

The two leading intelligence officials have maintained a line of communication since the start of the Ukraine war at a time when other direct contacts between Moscow and Washington are at a minimum, with relations at their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed fresh pledges of weapons and ammunition to fight Russia’s invasion along with longer-term security commitments from the West even as he expressed disappointment over the lack of a clear path for his country to join Nato as the alliance wrapped up its annual summit.

“The Ukrainian delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for the Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children,” he said while flanked by US president Joe Biden and other leaders from the Group of Seven most powerful democratic nations.

A joint declaration issued by the G7 lays the groundwork for each nation to negotiate agreements to help Ukraine bolster its military over the long term.

Mr Zelensky described the initiative as a bridge toward eventual Nato membership and a deterrent against Russia.“We will not waver,” Mr Biden vowed after the summit in Lithuania ended.

“I mean that. Our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for freedom today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.”

President Joe Biden hailed the “unbroken” people of Ukraine and the “incredible dignity” with which they’ve acted to repel Russia’s invading forces as he pledged on behalf of the Western world to maintain support for Kyiv’s defence for as long as necessary.

Mr Biden delivered his remarks to a boisterous crowd who’d gathered hours ahead of time to hear him speak in the Great Court at Vilnius University, following the conclusion of this year’s Nato leaders’ summit, at which leaders of the 31-member defence alliance agreed to expedite Ukraine’s bid for membership in the bloc once the war with Russia has been brought to a close.

At least one person has been killed after explosive debris from a drone fired by Russia fell on a district in Kyiv, officials said.

Ukraine deployed anti-aircraft units to down Iranian-made Shahed drones fired by Russian forces for a third consecutive night, in and around Kyiv.

The body of one resident was recovered when emergency services put out a fire in the capital’s historic Podil district, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

He also reported a fire in an apartment building in Kyiv’s Podil district where two people were injured.

Two more people were injured in Shevchenkivskyi district further west, where a balcony caught fire in an apartment building. Debris also struck the central Solomyanskyi district.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, described the assault as a “mass attack” by Shahed drones that had approached from different directions.

“Anti-aircraft forces identified and destroyed about 10 foreign targets,” he wrote on Telegram.

Pictures on the military administration’s website showed buildings with burnt out areas or damaged facades.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), which is currently holding its latest summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a political and military alliance of North American and European countries forged in the aftermath of the Second World War – in the hope of avoiding future hostilities between nations.

It sought to achieve this through the realisation of three specific goals: deterring Soviet expansionism, preventing the revival of militant nationalism and encouraging European political integration.

While that first obligation lost its relevance following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the gradual disintegration of the USSR, Nato has been forced to constantly evolve and adapt in response to global geopolitical tensions over the last half century as the nature of the threats and challenges nations faced changed, from fascism and totalitarianism to Islamist terror factions and cyber-warfare.