Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy tells officials to stop leaking military tactics; UN sounds nuclear plant warning – live
The UK Ministry of Defence has said the explosions at the Russian-operated Saky military airfield in western Crimea earlier in the week were “almost certainly” from the detonation of up to four uncovered munition storage areas, though the original cause of the blasts remains unclear.
At least five Su-24 fencer fighter-bombers and three Su-30 flanker H multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts, according to British intelligence.
Saky’s central dispersal area has suffered serious damage, but the airfield probably remains serviceable, the report added.
The loss of eight combat jets represents a minor proportion of the overall fleet of aircraft Russia has available to support the war. However, Saky was primarily used as a base for the aircraft of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet.
The fleet’s naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded and the incident is likely to prompt the Russian military to revise its threat perception, officials said.
Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen group has served more than 130m meals in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February, called for better coordination of food relief efforts in the country ahead of what promises to be a brutal winter.
Donations were easing as the war drags on, he warned, which meant that WCK, which provides short-term emergency relief, must start winding down operations just as cold weather is likely to exacerbate problems facing millions of displaced Ukrainians.
Here is an interesting report from Reuters on the group:
Andres, whose work was hailed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday in a televised address that usually focuses on the battlefield and diplomacy, is visiting some of WCK’s 7,500 distribution sites in Ukraine this month to drum up support for continued food relief in the country.“The cash is sooner or later going to start finishing, that’s why I’m calling on … all the countries that want to support Ukraine … that we need to become one,” he told Reuters this week at a distribution site in Irpin, a city near Kyiv.Irpin was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces after Russian attacks that killed nearly 300 people in early March.“If everybody is doing their own thing, we may be doubling efforts, wasting money, not helping Ukraine, especially as winter is coming,” the Michelin-starred Spanish chef added.
The United Nations estimates that at least 12 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since the invasion, with more than 5 million heading to neighbouring countries and 7 million believed to be displaced inside the country itself.