Kyiv ‘strikes Russian air defences’ in Crimea after downing jet – latest news

Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea and Vietnam in the coming weeks, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported on Monday, with an official telling Reuters the Vietnam visit was planned for June 19-20 but has not yet confirmed.

Putin’s visit to Pyongyang is being “actively prepared”, Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora confirmed to the newspaper.

The newspaper reported that Putin could visit Vietnam as early as June and most likely immediately after his visit to North Korea.

An official in Vietnam told Reuters the dates of the Hanoi visit had been agreed, but the agenda was still under discussion.

Energy, military cooperation, settlement of payments and an agreement in the education field are among the main issues expected to be discussed, the official said.

A top Ukrainian reconstruction official known for his reform efforts resigned on Monday, citing budget cuts and bureaucratic delays, at a time when Kyiv seeks crucial international investment to rebuild after Russia’s invasion.

The resignation of Mustafa Nayyem, head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, comes a day before a major international conference in Berlin dedicated to mobilising international support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

“I made the decision on my own due to systemic obstacles that do not allow me to continue to effectively exercise my powers,” Nayyem said on messaging app Telegram.

“Starting from November last year, the Agency’s team began to face constant opposition, resistance and the creation of artificial obstacles,” he said, which included delays in payment for defence fortifications.

Ukraine has claimed it damaged three Russian surface-to-air defence systems overnight in missile attacks on occupied Crimea.

One S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit was hit near Dzhankoi, and two more S-300 anti-aircraft missile units were attacked near occupied Chornomorske and Yevpatoria, Ukraine’s military said.

“None of our missiles fired were intercepted by the enemy’s ‘highly effective’ air defence. In addition, further detonations of ammunition were observed in all three areas of the launching positions of the Russian anti-aircraft missile divisions,” Kyiv said.

Four people were injured by a landmine in Russia’s Belgorod, the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.

Among the injured was a cameraman for Russian state TV channel Rossiya 24, who suffered shrapnel wounds to his abdomen Gladkov said.

Vladimir Putin’s troops have taken control of Staromaiorske, Donetsk, a small village in eastern Ukraine, according to the Russian military.

F-16 jets and military airfields outside Ukraine will become legitimate targets for Moscow if they take part in combat missions against Russian forces, a Russian official said.

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma lower house of parliament’s defence committee, made the remarks after Western countries gave the go ahead for Ukraine to use their weapons to strike Russian territory.

A local Ukrainian official on Monday denied a claim by the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region that Russian forces led by a Chechen-based special forces unit had seized control of a border village in northeast Ukraine.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Sunday the Akhmat-Chechnya unit spearheaded Russian troops in taking control of Ryzhivka in Sumy region.

The “large-scale planned advance” inflicted “significant losses on the Ukrainian side, which was forced to retreat,” Kadyrov said.

However, Yuriy Zarko, a local official in Sumy, denied the presence of Russian troops in Ryzhivka on Monday in a comment to Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.