Ukraine war briefing: NATO condemns violations of Latvian and Romanian airspace by Russian drones | Ukraine

Two NATO members said Russian drones had violated their airspacewhile one drone reportedly flew over Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the day before. A drone entered Romanian territory early Sunday as Moscow attacked “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, Romania’s Defense Ministry said. Bucharest deployed F-16 fighter jets to monitor its airspace and sent SMS alerts to residents of two eastern regions, it said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds later said a Russian drone had crashed near the town of Rezekne the day before and had likely entered Latvia from neighboring Belarus.

NATO’s outgoing Deputy Secretary General and former Romanian top diplomat said the military alliance condemns Russia’s violation of Romanian airspaceMircea Geoană wrote on X: “Although we have no information indicating a deliberate attack by Russia on allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.” The Latvian military also stated that there was no evidence that Moscow or Minsk had deliberately sent a drone into the country.

Supporters of President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine had won the gubernatorial elections across Russia, according to initial vote counts. on Sunday, including in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have seized control of some towns and regions. Russia’s three-day local and regional elections ended on Sunday evening. Voters are expected to choose Kremlin-backed candidates in all 21 gubernatorial races, as well as members of the legislative assembly in 13 regions and city council officials across the country. The results of the tightly controlled elections are already being interpreted in Russia as a vote of confidence in Putin and his operations in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Ukrainian Air Force shot down six of eight drones and two of three missiles launched by Russia during an overnight attack, it said on Monday.The Ukrainian military had previously stated that Russia had launched a drone attack on Kiev and that air defenses were busy repelling the attacks.

Two civilians were killed and four others injured in a nighttime Russian air strike on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy.the regional military administration reported. Two children were among the injured, it said. The Russian Defense Ministry later on Sunday claimed its forces had attacked foreign pro-Kiev fighters in a village on the northern outskirts of Sumy. It was not immediately clear whether this referred to the same attack.

The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian troops continued to bombard Sumy and surrounding regions with air strikesand had dropped at least 16 devastating “glide bombs” on the province by Sunday afternoon. Later in the day, Russian forces shelled the city again, wounding a teenager and a civilian, the regional prosecutor’s office reported.

Three more women died on Sunday when Russian troops shelled a village in the eastern Donetsk regionGovernor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram. Separately, a woman was killed by Russian shelling on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, local authorities said.

Ukrainian forces attacked a fuel depot in Volokonovsky district of southern Russia’s Belgorod region, sparking a series of fires.said the governor of the region. Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram: “An explosion caused several water reservoirs to catch fire. Firefighters are extinguishing the fire.” Gladkov also reported drone attacks on three other localities. In the Belgorod region, three civilians, including two children, were reportedly injured on the night of Sunday. Gladkov said two residential buildings were destroyed and more than 15 buildings were damaged in total.

Russian troops continue to push towards Pokrovska key logistics hub in the east, and also stepped up attacks near the town of Kurakhove further south, the Ukrainian General Staff reported. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its troops had taken Novohrodivka, a small town about 19 kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk.

The death toll from a massive Russian missile attack rose to 58 Tuesday’s attack hit a military academy and a nearby hospital in the eastern city of Poltava, regional governor Filip Pronin said. More than 320 other people were injured.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that Moscow should be included in a future peace conference. The aim is to end the invasion of Ukraine. Scholz said on Sunday on German public television ZDF: “There will certainly be another peace conference, and the President (Zelensky) and I agree that it must be a conference with Russia’s participation.” Scholz also called for increased efforts to resolve the conflict.