Russia Ukraine war live: Moscow strike kills 4 in Dnipro as Zelensky cautioned against ‘concession’ to Putin

One child died in Russia’s western Bryansk region following a massive Ukrainian drone attack, the local governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Sunday in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Bogomaz said the attacks completely destroyed one house in the Starodubsky municipal district.

According to a Telegram channel called Mash, an 11-year-old boy died after a drone hit a five-story residential apartment in the region.

The Russian defence ministry said its air defences destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 20 in the Bryansk region, seven in Kaluga region, and one each in Smolensk and Kursk regions.

The strikes come after Russia launched a record number of drones targeting Ukraine on Tuesday, cutting power to much of the western region of Ternopil and damaging residential buildings in the Kyiv region.

Russian and Chinese strategic bombers conducted a joint air patrol over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, and Western Pacific Ocean, the Russian defence ministry said.

Russian Tu-95MS and Chinese H-6K strategic bombers conducted an eight-hour patrol accompanied by fighter jets from both countries.

The Russian aircraft took off from and landed at an airfield in China. The Russian ministry said that the flights did not violate the airspace of any foreign country and were not directed against any specific nations.

Praising Mr Zelensky as “playing a very sophisticated game”, Sir Tony Brenton – who served as ambassador to Russia between 2004 and 2008 – told the broadcaster: “He knows that Trump is about to descend on him and on Russia. He is already arranging to have something to offer Trump.

“What he is suggesting in many ways is bringing us much closer to the obvious target area, which is a freeze in the fighting where the lines actually currently are, and then an eventual negotiation about who retains which bit of territory, and then security guarantees for Ukraine in the course of that ceasefire.”

Warning that Nato membership for Ukraine is “frankly going to be very, very difficult”, he said that Mr Zelensky’s statement that he is prepared to see a ceasefire and then negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine over the longer term would be viewed by Mr Putin as a concession.

“That is actually quite a major concession, because the longer term could be a very long time indeed,” he said, adding: “[Putin] will say to himself, ‘ah, they are feeling weak, I can press for more’. That is a danger if we go into this.”

Fifteen of Ukraine’s civilian airports have been damaged since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, prime minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as saying by local media.

Ukraine, which the state aviation service says has 20 civilian airports, has been exploring avenues to partially open its airspace. It has been completely closed since the start of the war.

Ukrainians who want to fly abroad currently have to go via road or rail to neighbouring countries to catch flights. For those living in the east, the journey out of Ukraine can take a day in itself.

“We conducted a risk assessment and determined the needs of the air defence forces to partially open the airspace,” local news agency Ukrinform quoted Mr Shmyhal as saying. “Security issues and the military situation remain key to this decision,” he said.

Protesters gathered across Georgia on Saturday night in a third straight night of demonstrations against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

More than 100 demonstrators were arrested as crowds clashed with police Friday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said. The Associated Press saw protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building.

On the same night, police also used heavy force against members of the media and deployed water cannons to push protesters back along the capital’s central boulevard, Rustaveli Avenue.

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the country’s parliamentary election on 26 October, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.

The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned, accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support for Ukraine.

Sir Richard Moore also said the West could face a “reckoning” as potential terrorists are radicalised over war in the Middle East.

“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there”.

Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has visited his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress on the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it “an investment in peace”.

Mr Tusk’s visit comes a month before Poland takes over the rotating presidency of the 27-member European Union.

Polish officials say their priority is to urge Europeans to strengthen defences at a time of Russian aggression and with change coming soon in Washington.

Some European leaders are concerned that the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump might be less committed to Europe’s defence.

Mr Tusk also proposed this week that Poland and the Nordic and Baltic countries carry out joint navy patrols in the strategically important Baltic Sea, after the suspected sabotage of undersea data cables.

A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, a court has heard.

Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, allegedly carried out surveillance on individuals and places of interest to Russia.

The spying activities allegedly included locations in London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart, jurors have heard.

Read the full report from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin below:

The Russian defence ministry said its air force carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army after the faction led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham killed dozens of Syrian soldiers.

The strikes followed what was the boldest rebel assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

The state-run Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties in Syria said the missile and bomb strikes had targeted “militant concentrations, command posts, depots, and artillery positions” in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

It added that about 300 rebel fighters had been killed in the attacks.