Russia-Ukraine war – live: Raving Putin threatens Sunak in baseless claim UK ‘backed raid on nuclear plant’

An attempted attack by Ukrainian forces on a Russian atomic facility was orchestrated by the UK, Vladimir Putin has claimed.

The Russian president was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

“Do they understand what they are playing with?” Putin said.

“Are they trying to provoke us into retaliating against Ukrainian atomic power stations? Does the British prime minister know what his secret services are doing in Ukraine?”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia ahead of an expected meeting with president Vladimir Putin, Russian news agency Interfax reported citing footage from Rossiya-1 TV state channel.

The meeting has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Mr Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in an unusual twist, appears to have something Mr Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia’s grueling war in Ukraine.

“Really, none of this concerns you?”

CNN’s Jake Tapper spoke for many of us when he asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken this direct and blistering question on yesterday’s State of the Union. The two were discussing revelations in Walter Isaacson’s new biography on Elon Musk, released tomorrow, that the billionaire sabotaged a Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy in Crimea by refusing to enable access to the Starlink satellite network on the peninsula – a network Musk owns and a fact he himself has confirmed.

After saying he “can’t speak to a specific episode,” Blinken seemingly praised Musk’s willingness to even allow the Ukrainians access, saying “Starlink has been a vital tool for… particularly the [Ukrainian] military to communicate in their effort to defend all of Ukraine’s territory.” This, of course, ignores the fact that Crimea is Ukrainian territory illegally annexed and occupied by Russia in 2014.

Skylar Baker-Jordan reports:

“We will end this war with drones”, former deputy prime minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said in July.

Since that statement, Kyiv has announced plans to invest $1bn into the industry, as more than 10,000 drones are said to be lost on the battlefield every month.

But with more reports of drones cruising over Russian territory and striking deep into the heart of Moscow, analysts have warned there is a real danger Ukraine could become embroiled in a “tit-for-tat” war that could ultimately have the opposite effect and strengthen Putin’s popularity.

Alexander Butler has more:

A Russian Su-24 frontline bomber crashed on Tuesday in the southern Volgograd region during a training flight, TASS news agency reported citing the defence ministry.

According to the ministry, the plane was flying without ammunition and crashed in a deserted area.

TASS did not provide further details about the accident, including the fate of the crew.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed South African-born businessman Elon Musk as an “outstanding person” and businessman whose SpaceX company had become a major player in the space transportation industry.

Putin‘s public praise of Musk comes days after the U.S.-based entrepreneur said he refused a Ukrainian request last year to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea’s port city of Sevastopol to aid an attack on Russia’s fleet there, saying he feared complicity in a “major” act of war.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev took to X earlier this month to laud Musk over that decision – which has been sharply criticised by Ukrainian politicians – as “the last adequate mind in North America”.

Putin, speaking at an economic forum in Russia’s far east, did not refer to the Starlink incident. But when asked about the success of Musk’s SpaceX company in launching rockets into space, he said:

“As far as private business and Elon Musk is concerned… he is undoubtedly an outstanding person. This must be recognised, and I think it is recognised all over the world.”

“He (Musk) is an active and talented businessman and he is succeeding a lot, including with the support of the American state,” added Putin.

The Russian leader said Moscow planned to persevere with its own space programme despite the failure of a mission to the Moon last month.

Poland’s prime minister says his government will not lift its embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain as scheduled Friday because it would hurt Polish farmers.

“Poland will not allow Ukraine grain to flood us,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Regardless of the decisions of the clerks in Brussels, we will not open up our borders,” Morawiecki said in the midst of intensive campaigning for 15 October parliamentary elections.

Complacency could be the enemy of success in Ukraine. It is 564 days since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine shook to the core assumptions about our UK and European security. War in Europe is a brutal reminder that to be secure at home, we must be strong abroad – and that our allies are the UK’s great strategic strength. Defence of the UK starts in Ukraine.

Despite deeply dug and heavily mined Russian defences, the Ukrainians are gradually getting the upper hand on the battlefield in the south, as well as diversifying the ways it is hitting the enemy – from airfields at depth in Russia, to targets in Crimea, to Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Some have criticised the slow pace of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Yet its forces are making a similar rate of progress as British troops advancing into Normandy after the D-Day landings. Now is the time for Ukraine’s allies to double down on our support.

Britain’s military backing of Zelensky has been dwarfed by our EU allies, writes shadow defence secretary John Healey. If we are serious about defeating Putin – and defending Britain – we must double down on our support:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in Russia to see President Vladimir Putin. It will be the two isolated leaders’ second meeting. Their governments have not confirmed an agenda, but US officials say Putin may ask for artillery and other ammunition for his war in Ukraine.

Such a request would mark a reversal of roles from the 1950-53 Korean War when the Soviet Union provided ammunition, warplanes and pilots to support communist North Korea‘s invasion of the South and the decades of Soviet sponsorship of the North that followed.

Despite their often aligning interests, relations between Russia and North Korea have experienced highs and lows. Here is a timeline of some key events:

Funding defence companies should count as ethical investment because military spending “helps prevent war”, the Defence Secretary has said.

Defence companies have long been excluded from so-called “environmental, social and governance” (ESG) ratings, limiting their access to investors who wish to spend their money sustainably.

In a written ministerial statement on Tuesday, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the exclusion of the defence industry from ESG ratings was an “error”.

He said: “Defence companies are being excluded from access to debt and equity capital, citing environmental, social and governance grounds.”

The Defence Secretary added that this “threatens an important part of the economy” and “fails to recognise that the UK’s defence industry is essential to protecting our way of life”.

He said: “As outlined in the Defence Command Paper Refresh, this Government asserts that there is nothing contradictory between the principles within ESG and the defence industry.

“On the contrary, a strong national defence, including our nuclear deterrent, is a pre-requisite for the freedoms (including social liberties) which we often take for granted, and the aspirations that investors and financial services companies seek to address using ESG considerations.”

Mr Shapps, who took over as Defence Secretary at the end of August, added: “Whilst investors must always be free to make their own choices, they should do so on the basis of the facts, and those seeking to inform those choices through providing ESG ratings should be clearer on their methodology and more prompt to correct errors when these are pointed out.

“Defence spending helps prevent war and helps support the British way of life, and those of our Nato allies and partners.”

The statement comes almost three months after ministers met defence company chiefs to discuss whether the demand for more ethical investing was preventing the industry raising capital.

Defence companies have previously suggested ESG requirements have reduced interest from investors, although BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn said earlier this year that this had become less of an issue since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.