Ukraine war latest: Russian drones breach Romanian and Latvian airspace - as Iran denies sending missiles to Russia (2024)

Thanks for following our live updates today.

We started the day with Russia's defence ministry saying its forces had captured the town of Novohrodivka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which lies around seven miles from Pokrovsk - an important rail and road hub for Ukrainian forces in the area.

Later on, the ministry claimed in an unverified report that troops had taken control of the nearby village of Memryk, about 14 miles (22km) away.

In the city of Nikopol, in the south of Ukraine, officials said a 16-year-old girl had died and three other people had been left injured following artillery fire there at the weekend.

Romania and Latvia have also been investigating after Russian drones breached their airspace, with Latvian officials saying a drone that crashed there was carrying explosives likely intended for Ukraine.

And after Sky News was told by a Ukrainian source at the weekend that hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles had arrived in Russia from Iran - a story reported by the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets - Iran today denied the reports, describing them as "psychological warfare", according to state media.

That's all from our live coverage today. We'll be back tomorrow with more updates on the Ukraine war.

A senior Ukrainian official is calling on Western partner countries to allow weapons they have supplied to be used to strike military warehouses inside Russia, due to the suspicions over Iran providing ballistic missiles for the Kremlin's war effort.

Earlier today, Iran denied the reports that emerged over the weekend (see our 11.20am post).

On Saturday, aUkrainian source told Sky Newsthat a Russian ship had delivered short-range Fatah-360 missiles from Tehran to a port in the Caspian Sea. The US has also told allies it believes Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, two sources told the Associated Press news agency.

Western countries supporting Ukraine in the war have previously hesitated to let its military strike targets on Russian soil. However, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office has now said that "protection is not escalation".

Writing on Telegram, Andriy Yermak said: "In response to the supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, Ukraine must be allowed to destroy warehouses storing these missiles with Western weapons in order to avoid terror."

He did not specify which country was supplying the missiles.

Russia has been receiving Iranian-made Shahed drones since 2022, and the possible shipment of Iranian ballistic missiles as well has alarmed Western governments.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that "this kind of information is not true every time" - while in Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani also denied the missile reports.

"We strongly reject allegations about Iran's role in sending weapons to one side of the war and we assess these allegations as politically motivated by some parties," Mr Kanaani said.

Mr Peskov described Iran as "our important partner", and said: "We are developing our trade and economic relations. We are developing our co-operation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones, and will continue to do so in the interests of the peoples of our two countries."

For context: CIA director William Burns warned in London at the weekend of the growing and "troubling" defence relationship involving Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Those ties, he said, threaten both Ukraine and Western allies in the Middle East.

China's defence ministry has also announced joint naval and air drills with Russia, starting this month (see our 09.28am post).

Latvian officials have said a Russian military dronethat crashed in the country at the weekend was carrying explosives likely to have been intended for Ukraine.

The drone fell in the region of the village of Gaigalava, some 90 km (56 miles) from the border with Belarus, which is where it entered the country, according to a Latvian defence ministry statement.

As we reported earlier (see our post at 06.53am), both Latvia and Romania have been investigating instances of Russian drones that crashed after breaching their airspace.

The countries are both NATO members and supporters of Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference today, Latvia's armed forces commander Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins said the drone that landed there was of the Iranian-designedShahed type, according to Latvia'sDelfi news website.

The drone's explosives, which were likely meant for Ukraine,were deactivated following its discovery, he said.

Previously, the Romanian defence ministry said of the drone that breached its airspace, that its "radar supervision system identified and tracked the path" of the unmanned aircraft, "which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine".

Yesterday, NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoana denounced the incidents as "irresponsible and potentiallydangerous", while saying there was no indication of a deliberateattack on alliance member-states.

Polish security services have neutralised a cyber sabotage operation by Russia and Belarus, Poland's deputy prime minister has said.

Warsaw has repeatedly accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise Poland due to its role in supplying military aid to neighbour Ukraine - allegations Russia has dismissed.

Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland's deputy prime minister and also minister for digital affairs, said today that saboteurs, operating from Belarus in co-operation with Russia, had attempted to gain information from government institutions.

"The Belarusian and Russian foreign services... had a specific goal - to extort information, to blackmail individuals and institutions and to wage a de facto cyberwar," he said.

The attempt was thwarted, he added.

Cyberattacks have doubled since 2023, Mr Gawkowski said. They have targeted Polish organisations and institutions, including logistics companies that run military deliveries to Ukraine, he added.

"In cyberspace, dangers come every hour, every minute. It often happens that there are over a thousand incidents in a day," he said.

By Sean Bell, military analyst

Numerous reports suggest Russia has taken delivery of up to 200 short-range ballistic missiles from Iran, which the US has stated would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war.

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations" and "dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones".

The contract for the Iranian Ababil and Fatah-360 ballistic missiles was reported to have been signed in December last year, and is a clear indication of an increasingly close military relationship between Iran and Russia.

Tactically, Iranian missiles would enable Russia to increase the intensity of attacks across Ukraine, allowing it to focus its limited supplies of domestically produced long-range Iskander missiles at targets deep inside the country.

Under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, Iran was unable to export ballistic missiles - but when that sanction expired in October last year, Russia immediately started negotiations to address its wartime shortfall.

In September 2022, Iran started supplying Russia with Shahed 131 and 136 drones. Although these have not been difficult for Ukrainian air defence systems to intercept, the significant volumes being launched by Russia have enabled some to get through.

Russian cruise missiles were very effective at striking deep inside Ukraine at the start of the conflict, but the provision of advanced Western air defence systems - such as the Patriot - have limited their impact.

However, ballistic missiles present a more challenging target for air defence systems - largely due to their hypersonic speed.

Evidence suggests they can be intercepted, but probably only be high-end Western air defence missiles, and these are expensive and in relatively short supply.

More worrying in the long-term is what Iran is gaining from this flourishing military trade with Russia.

In addition to providing hard currency, reports suggest Russia has also been persuaded to supply Iran with technology and expert support for Iran's fledgling nuclear weapons programme in return for the vital supplies of weapons, all in violation of ongoing western sanctions.

Regardless of the outcome on the ground, Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine has profound implications for wider global security.

Iran has denied reports that it transferred missiles to Russia.

Senior revolutionary guards' commander Fazlollah Nozari described the reports today as "psychological warfare", according to state media.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has also responded to the reports that Iran sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

It comes aftera Ukrainian source told Sky Newson Saturday that a Russian ship delivered the short-range Fatah-360 missiles from Tehran to a port in the Caspian Sea.

This followed a report in the Wall Street Journal - which cited unidentified US and European officials.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that not all such reports were correct.

"Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our co-operation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones," Mr Peskov told reporters.

Tehran and Moscow have drawn closer since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022, with Iran supplying its Shahed drones to Russia's military.

On Friday, the US said any Iranian transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war.

Russian forces have takencontrol of the village of Memryk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetskregion, Russia's TASS state news agency reports - citing the country's defence ministry.

Sky News has not yet been able to independently verify the report.

Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to take the whole of the Donbas.

They currently control about 80% of the eastern region.

A 16-year-old girl has died following Russian artillery fire in the city of Nikopol, in the south of Ukraine, over the weekend, a regional governor has said.

Serhiy Lysak, head of Dnipropetrovsk OVA, said emergency crews pulled the teenager from the rubble of a damaged building in a statement shared on Telegram. However, medics were unable to save her, he wrote.

Three other people suffered shrapnel wounds, he said, including a 79-year-old man who was taken to hospital with injuries of "moderate severity".

Private homes are among the buildings that have been damaged, Mr Lysak said.

It comes after a 76-year-old woman was killed and another woman was injured in the area at the weekend.

Several fires broke out following the attacks, he added.

Russia's military will dispatch naval and air forces to join an exercise held by China in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk this month, China's official Xinhua news agency reports, citing the country's defence ministry.

The drills aim to deepen "the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats", Xinhua said.

Chinese President Xi Jinpinghas a strong relationship with Russia - China buys Russia's oil and sends so-called "dual use" machinery and semi-conductors to the country.

Vladimir Putin held talks with Mr Xi in Beijing earlier this year, and thanked him for China's efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

Ukrainian authorities used searchlights to look for drones in the sky over the city of Kyiv overnight as Russia launched another drone strike.

We reported earlier that Russia launched an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, with air defence units engaged in repelling the strikes (see post at 7.16am).

Ukraine's energy ministry said this morning that Russian forces had attacked energy facilities in seven regions in the space of 24 hours, in a statement on Telegram.

The statement did not detail the scale of damage at the facilities.