Ukraine war latest: Europe could face Second World War-scale security crisis this year, experts warn; UK to send hundreds of missiles to Ukraine (2024)

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

Russia is waging a "reckless campaign of sabotage" across Europe, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned intheir first-ever joint remarks.

Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns also said the UK and the US faced an "unprecedented array of threats", and said the entire world order was under the most serious strain since the Cold War.

In a newspaper article, the spymasters pointed to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, while also describing China as "the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century".

They touched on the secret work their agencies are doing to try to reduce the chance of wider conflict in the Middle East and revealed that MI6 and the CIA were "working ceaselessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza".

In addition, Sir Richard and Mr Burns underlined the "resurgent" danger posed by Islamic State.

"Today, we cooperate in a contested international system where our two countries face an unprecedented array of threats," Sir Richard and Mr Burnswrote in the Financial Times.

Read more from Haynes here.

Ukraine shot down 58 out of 67 Russian-launched drones overnight, the country's air force has said.

The attacks took place across 11 regions, but it does not appear any missiles were fired overnight.

Drones attacks have been used by both Ukraine and Russia during the war, with both country's sending drones into each other's territory.

However, in the last few months, the frequency with which both sides send drones over the border has increased.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

We'll be keeping an eye on Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region of Russia, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv holds about 1,300 sq km of land.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian president joined Western allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany for talks about military aid.

The UK said it would send 650 missiles to Ukraine, while the US pledged another $250m of aid.

Here are more updates from the last 24 hours...

• Mr Zelenskyy also pleaded for the US to lift restrictions stopping Ukraine from using long-range American-made weapons on Russian soil
• However US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said lifting the restrictions would not be a game changer
• Experts warned a Donald Trump victory in the US election couldtrigger a Second World War-scale security crisis in Europe
• Andrii Sybiha, a former ambassador to Turkey, has been appointed Ukraine's new chief diplomat.
  

We are closing down our Ukraine live blog for the evening now - but we'll be back with more updates soon.

Before we go, here is a quick round-up of what's been happening...

• Allies met in Germany today to discuss military aid for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed for the US to allow its weapons to be used in long-range strikes into Russia
• However, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said lifting arms restrictions would not be a game changer in the war
• The UK said it would send 650 missiles to Ukraine, while the US pledged to provide another $250m in aid
• The Ukrainian president provided updates on his military's invasion of the Russian region of Kursk, saying 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and Kyiv was in control of 1,300sq km
• Experts warned a Donald Trump victory in the US election could trigger a Second World War-scale security crisis in Europe.

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has announced a further $250m worth of American weapons will be sent to Ukraine.

The weapons include air defence munitions and artillery.

"We're also working with allies and partners to help Ukraine forge its long term security," he said during a news conference.

Defence leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for the war held a meeting in Germany today.

Mr Austin said the group was aiming to help Ukraine "build a combat credible future", which includes ramping up Kyiv's own weapon production and providing it with F-16 fighter jets.

However, as we reported earlier, Mr Austin has suggested he will not heed to Ukraine's request to allow American weapons to be used inside Russian territory.

Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region has resulted in about 6,000 casualties among Russian forces, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

The Ukrainian president had been speaking from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he is in meetings with Western allies.

Mr Zelenskyy earlier said Ukraine controlled a "significant" part of the Russian region stretching over 1,300 square kilometres.

Ukrainian launched a surprise invasion of Kursk exactly one month ago.

At the time, it provided little information on why it had launched the offensive.

But the commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in an interview with CNN yesterday that Russia was planning an offensive from Kursk before Ukrainian troops launched their operation there.

The US defence secretary appears to have denied Ukraine's request to allow American weapons to be fired onto Russian territory.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier pushed for the US to lift such restrictions.

But Lloyd Austin told reporters after a meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany that no specific weapon would be a game changer or turn the tide of war.

He noted that Russia has moved its glide bombs back beyond the range of ATACMS missiles, while Ukraine itself has significant capabilities to attack targets well beyond the range of the British Storm Shadow cruise missile.

The US has been hesitant to lift restrictions despite repeated requests from Ukraine, as it fears allowing American weapons to reach Russian soil could escalate the conflict.

Thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral services for victims of a Russian missile attack that killed seven people, including a mother and her three daughters, in Lviv today.

Yaroslav Bazylevych, whose wife, Yevgenia, 43, and daughters Emilia, 7, Daryna, 18, and Yaryna, 21, were killed, attended the funeral at the Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

The pre-dawn blasts earlier this week in the historic centre of the city also injured dozens of civilians.

The UK will extend its training programme for Ukrainian men and women to become soldiers on British soil, it has been announced.

More than 45,000 Ukrainian personnel have already received training under Operation Interflex since Russia's invasion in 2022.

But now defence secretary John Healey has announced an extension alongside President Zelenskyy and other allies at Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Germany.

The training operation was due to come to an end this year but the scheme will now continue until at least the end of 2025.

"The extension of this training, which is vital for Ukraine's defence, is another example of the UK's ironclad commitment to Ukraine," Mr Healey said.

Delivered in locations throughout the UK, the programme takes volunteer recruits who have joined the armed forces of Ukraine with little to no previous military experience and teaches them the skills required for frontline combat.

We have been reporting today on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's comments at theRamstein Air Base in Germany where he saidUkraine now controlled more than 1,300sq km in the Kursk region.

The Ukrainian leader also urged the US to let Ukraine carry out long-range strikes in Russia.

It was Mr Zelenskyy's first visit to the air base to address the group, and he used the public appearance to stress that, in his view, what is needed most now is for the US and the West to allow him to use the weapons they provided to strike deeper inside Russia, something the US has not supported out of concern it would further escalate the war.

Here is what he said...

"We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace," Mr Zelensky told the members.

"We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin."

Mr Zelensky said he would continue to press for the long-range strike capability.

"Strong long-range decisions by partners are needed to bring the just peace we seek closer," he also said on Telegram.