Russia-Ukraine war live: drone attack causes damage in Moscow suburbs, says mayor; Putin reportedly to meet with Kim Jong-un | Ukraine #RussiaUkraine #war #live #drone #attack #damage #Moscow #suburbs #mayor #Putin #reportedly #meet #Kim #Jongun #Ukraine

Putin reportedly to meet with Kim Jong-un

Nicola Slawson

Kim Jong-un will reportedly travel to Russia this month to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying weapons to the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said details of the expected meeting were still unclear, but added that it was likely to take place in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, given its proximity to North Korea.

Kim, who rarely leaves the capital Pyongyang, is expected to travel to Russia’s Pacific coast by armoured train, according to military intelligence first reported by the New York Times.

The Eastern Economic Forum is scheduled to run from 10 to 13 Septemberon the campus of Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, which both leaders are due to attend. Kim also plans to visit Pier 33, where naval ships from Russia’s Pacific fleet dock.

The meeting comes as Kim and Putin, who first met in 2019, seek greater military and economic cooperation to counter their growing international isolation prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the North’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

Moscow’s two major airports Vnukovo and Sheremetevo, as well as the Zhukovksy airport resumed normal operations from 7.30 am (04.30 GMT) after a temporary traffic suspension early on Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said.

Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones that were targeting the country’s capital.

Reuters: Russia shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones early Tuesday that were targeting the country’s capital, the Russian defence ministry said.

The ministry said that its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district of the Moscow region.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow” and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located some 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the Kremlin.

There was no damage or casualties elsewhere, the mayor defence ministry said. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Sobyanin said that drone debris in the Tver region fell in the Zavidovo village. According to RIA state news agency, Zavidodvo is home to “Rus”, an official residence palace of the Russian president.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.

Our top story this morning: Russia shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones early on Tuesday that were targeting the country’s capital, the Russian defence ministry said.

The Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow” and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located 65km (40 miles) north-west of the Kremlin.

Elsewhere, Kim Jong-un will reportedly travel to Russia this month to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying weapons to the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said details of the expected meeting were still unclear, but added that it was likely to take place in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, given its proximity to North Korea.

More shortly. Meanwhile:

• The governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said border guards and security forces had “thwarted” an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage group that tried to cross into Russia. Russia has this year repeatedly reported Ukrainian sabotage attempts on its borders, and sent helicopters to put down a cross-border incursion in the Belgorod region in May.

• Gen Sergei Surovikin, who had not been publicly seen since Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny in June, has apparently resurfaced. Ostorozhno Media published a picture, reportedly taken on Monday in Moscow, of the former aerospace commander alongside his wife.

• There was no evidence of a breakthrough in the Black Sea grain deal. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, concluded face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin by claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived, but Putin again accused the west of reneging on promises.

• Ukraine said its troops had regained more territory on the eastern front and were advancing farther south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reported.

• US, British and EU officials are planning to jointly press the United Arab Emirates to halt shipments of goods to Russia that could help Moscow in its war against Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

• Ukraine said on Monday that Russian drones had detonated on the territory of Nato member Romania during an overnight airstrike on a Ukrainian port across the Danube River. Romania’s government denied its territory had been hit. Reuters could not independently verify either account. It is a rare report of stray fire from the war in Ukraine hitting a neighbouring member of Nato.

• Rustem Umerov is poised to become Ukraine’s new defence minister after Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to replace Oleksii Reznikov.

• Ukraine on Monday named a Russian helicopter pilot it said defected over his opposition to Moscow’s invasion after flying across the border in a “long-term special operation” led by Kyiv. The intelligence wing of Ukraine’s defence ministry identified him as 28-year-old Maxim Kuzminov from the 319th separate helicopter regiment based in Russia’s far eastern Primorye region.