Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv drone strikes hit Black Sea ports ahead of crucial US-backed peace talks
Another round of US-brokered peace talks will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva
Huge fires raged at a Russian port on the Black Sea following a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday, regional officials said, as Kyiv and Moscow prepared for fresh talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war.
More than 100 emergency workers tackled the blaze at the crucial port which handles Russian oil products, grain, coal and commodities.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have continued striking each other’s energy infrastructure, bidding to improve their negotiating position in ongoing trilateral talks to end the four-year war.
Two people were injured as an oil storage tank, a warehouse, and terminals were damaged in Volna village, the site of the Taman port, according to governor Veniamin Kondratyev.
The attacks came ahead of another round of US-brokered talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, just before the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion.
Earlier on Sunday, UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK and its allies had exposed a “barbaric Kremlin plot” to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny as she suggested new sanctions against Moscow could follow.
The Russian embassy in London has denied Moscow was involved in Mr Navalny’s death.
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In pictures: Firefighters tackle blaze in Ukraine's Odesa region
Russia launches several hypersonic and ballistic missiles at Ukraine
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with four Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force has said.
An Iskander-M ballistic missile, Kh-31P anti-radar missile, and 62 drones were also launched in the overnight air attack, it said in a post on Telegram.
Hits were recorded by one missile and nine drones at eight locations, it added, while information about the other three missiles is still being confirmed.
Air defences shot down and jammed two Zircon missiles and 52 drones.
As of Monday morning, the Air Force said the attack is ongoing.
Ukrainian former energy minister detained over '$100m kickback' probe
A Ukrainian former energy minister has been detained in connection to the alleged $100mn kickback scheme, anti-graft prosecutors revealed on Monday.
They said the former minister, who has not yet been named, was detained over the weekend while trying to leave the country.
"During the suspect's tenure ... the criminal organisation received more than $112 million in cash from illegal activities in the energy sector," Ukraine's National Anti-corruption Bureau said in a statement.
Ukraine's previous two energy ministers resigned amid fallout from the so-called "Midas" case, a huge probe into alleged corruption that has ensnared senior officials and business elites.
Inside North Korea's battle to curb public discontent over war dead
North Korea announced today that it has completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
The hermit kingdom has sent thousands of troops to Europe in recent months, along with large quantities of military equipment. South Korean intelligence estimates that about 6,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded so far.
Analysts see a new propaganda push, including the new housing district, as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent. Read the full story:
North Korea opens housing district for families of Ukraine war dead
Watch: Sumy emergency services tackle fires as Russia hits residential building
PM 'weighs hiking defence spending' to meet emerging threats
Sir Keir Starmer is weighing a increase in defence spending, the BBC reported today, as a major security conference concluded in Munich.
The prime minister’s aides told the broadcaster that he is considering bringing forward spending targets, though no decision has yet been taken and it remained unclear when a boost could come.
The PM has already promised to bring expenditure to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027, followed by an “ambition” to increase it to 3 per cent in the next parliament.
At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, he signalled that more spending would be needed to meet emerging challenges.
“To meet the wider threat, it’s clear that we are going to have to spend more, faster,” he told leaders.
Ukraine says former energy minister is suspect in kickback case
A Ukrainian former energy minister has been detained as a suspect in a high-profile kickback case for crimes such as money laundering and participation in criminal activity, anti-graft prosecutors said on Monday, but did not name him.
Earlier reports confirmed the minister arrested is German Galushchenko who was held while trying to cross the border out of Ukraine. He served the war-hit nation last year and resigned in November, when a number of Ukrainian ministers were forced out after a money-laundering scheme came to public light.
Ukraine's previous two energy ministers resigned amid fallout from the so-called "Midas" case, centred on an alleged $100m kickback scheme at the state atomic agency that ensnared senior officials and business elites, including a former associate of president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The scandal also claimed the job of Zelensky's chief of staff, and all three have denied wrongdoing.
"We are talking about the former energy minister of Ukraine (2021 to 2025)," special anti-graft prosecutors said. "He is charged with money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation."
The former minister was detained over the weekend while attempting to leave Ukraine, the prosecutors said.
"During the suspect's tenure... the criminal organisation received more than $112m in cash from illegal activities in the energy sector," Ukraine's National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) said in a statement.
Materials obtained in Ukraine and through international cooperation with the competent authorities of a number of countries furnished the basis for its conclusion, the bureau added.
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What is dart frog toxin, the poison linked to Alexei Navalny’s death?
Epibatidine, the highly potent toxin Britain has linked to the death of Alexei Navalny, is reportedly 100 times more powerful than morphine.
This extremely toxic, nicotine-like compound originates from the Epipedobates genus of poison dart frogs, found exclusively in northern South America. Crucially, these amphibians are not indigenous to Russia.
Species such as the brightly coloured Anthony’s poison arrow frog and the Phantasmal poison frog secrete this substance onto their skin. Researchers theorise that the frogs acquire the toxin through their diet, as captive-bred animals lack it, and wild populations exhibit varying levels depending on their habitat.
Read more about the toxin here:
What is dart frog toxin, the poison linked to Alexei Navalny’s death?
Foreign secretary considers more sanctions after Navalny accusations
New sanctions against Moscow could follow after Britain and its allies blamed the Kremlin for poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Cooper hit back at the Russians for dismissing the Navalny report, insisting the accusation was “deeply serious”.
She said: “The statement that we made yesterday shows that we have the evidence.
“We continue to look at co-ordinated action, including increasing sanctions on the Russian regime,” she said.
“As you know, we have been pursuing this as part of our response to the brutal invasion of Ukraine, where we are also coming up to the fourth anniversary of that invasion as well.”
North Korea honours families of Ukraine war dead with new housing district
North Korea announced completion of a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong Un to honour the war dead.
State media photos showed Kim Jong Un walking through the new street — called Saeppyol Street — and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, as he pledged to repay the "young martyrs" who "sacrificed all to their motherland”.
In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia's war against Ukraine, such as establishing a memorial wall and building a museum. Analysts see it as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.
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