Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow airport restricts flights amid reports of drone attack | Ukraine

Ukraine’s forces are repelling Russian attacks and have retaken several square kilometres on the eastern front over the past week, a deputy defence minister said on Monday.

Hanna Maliar also said that Ukrainian forces were advancing south of Bakhmut, the city occupied by Russian forces in May after a bloody months-long struggle, and had liberated another three square kilometres over the past week.

The Ukrainian military said last week that Russia was attacking towards Kupiansk, a town in the Kharkiv region, Reuters reports.

Speaking to the Ukrainian national television broadcaster, Maliar said:

The situation in the Kupiansk direction is difficult. The enemy is not leaving plans to move forward, the enemy is pulling up additional forces.

We are confident in our defenders, but it is very difficult for them there and the enemy is not advancing there.

These claims have not yet been independently verified.

Maliar said there were no significant changes in the situation in the south, where Ukrainian forces are trying to split Russian forces and reach the Sea of Azov.

The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it had made gains on the south-eastern front, pushing forward from the newly liberated village of Urozhaine.

However, a US official said last week Ukrainian forces did not appear likely to be able to reach and retake the Russian-occupied strategic south-eastern city of Melitopol during their counteroffensive.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has welcomed a “historic” decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to provide Ukraine with up to 61 F-16 fighter jets between them, the latest move by western allies to bolster his country’s efforts to fend off Russia’s invasion.

Agence France-Presse reports that the Ukrainian president had been seeking the US-made advanced jets for months, to strengthen Ukraine’s Soviet-era air force in its grinding counteroffensive against Russian forces in the east.

The decision was “absolutely historic, powerful and inspiring for us”, Zelensky said alongside the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, during a visit to Eindhoven air force base in the Netherlands on Sunday.

The approval to supply the jets drew a warning from Russia. The foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would consider the F-16s a “nuclear” threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons.

Washington announced its approval of the F-16 transfers on Friday and training of Ukraine pilots is set to begin this month, which may allow Ukraine to begin deploying the jets in early 2024.

Moscow’s Domodedovo airport has restricted arrivals and departures, Russian news agencies reported on Monday.

The step was taken “in order to ensure additional flight safety measures”, Tass and RIA said, citing the airport’s press service.

Reuters also reports that arrivals and departures from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were suspended on Monday after a Ukrainian drone had been jammed over the Moscow region.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region, with no casualties reported.

An attempt by Kyiv to carry out an “attack with an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle was thwarted” on Monday morning, Agence France-Presse reported the ministry as saying.

The drone was “suppressed by means of electronic warfare” and crashed in Odintsovo district, the ministry said in a statement, adding there were no casualties.

Odintsovo is to the capital’s south-west.

In recent weeks two drone attacks were repelled over Moscow’s financial district, each causing minor damage to the facades of high-rise buildings. In May, drones were shot down near the Kremlin.

Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine. This is Adam Fulton with the latest.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has welcomed a “historic” decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to provide Kyiv with US-made F-16 fighter jets in the latest move by western allies to bolster Ukraine’s efforts against Russian forces.

The decision was “absolutely historic, powerful and inspiring for us”, the Ukrainian president said on Sunday while visiting the Netherlands.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would consider the F-16s a “nuclear” threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons.

The Netherlands and Denmark have announced they will donate up to 61 F-16 fighter jets between them to Ukraine once pilot training has been satisfactorily completed.

More on that story shortly. In other news:

• The Ukrainian president also said during a visit to Sweden that Kyiv was “getting closer” to obtaining Swedish Gripen fighter jets. “Our soldiers are already starting to test them,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address, adding that he had discussed the matter with Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson.

• Zelenskiy vowed retaliation after at least seven people were killed and 144 injured in a “vile” Russian missile strike that hit a theatre and a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday. “I am sure our soldiers will give a response to Russia for this terrorist attack,” he said. “A notable response.”

• Russia said Ukrainian drones had attacked four separate regions in a flurry of attempted strikes on Sunday, injuring five people and forcing two of Moscow’s airports to briefly divert flights. Russia’s Kursk, Rostov and Belgorod regions, all of which border Ukraine, reported attempted drone strikes, while Russia’s defence ministry said it had jammed a Ukrainian drone in the Moscow region, forcing it to crash in an unpopulated area.

• A day earlier a Ukrainian drone targeted a military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, causing a fire and damaging one warplane, Russia’s defence ministry said. The ministry said nobody was hurt.

• There have been increasing reports of SA-5 Gammon missiles striking Russia, with drones regularly hitting Moscow, the UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update. The leadership of Russia’s aerospace forces was likely under considerable pressure to improve air defences over the western parts of the country, the ministry added.

• South Africa will not be “drawn into a contest between global powers”, President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed as he prepared to host a summit of Brics emerging nations including Russia. Pretoria is officially non-aligned in the conflict but has been accused of siding with Moscow.