Ukraine-Russia war – live: Deadly drone strike hits Odesa as Putin says he has no plan to attack Nato

Russia has no interest in extending the Black Sea grain deal, the RIA news agency reported on Sunday, quoting Russia’s agriculture minister Dmitry Patrushev.

He added that to a large extent this is a political decision, but Russia will continue to export its grain, as it has its buyers.

“Our grain export volumes, taking into account the winding down of the grain deal, have by no means fallen, they even slightly increased,” RIA quoted Patrushev as saying.

Russia withdrew in July from the deal which had allowed Ukraine to safely export grain from its Black Sea ports. Russia says it quit the deal because the arrangement was not delivering grain to the poorest countries, and because it still faces barriers to its own exports of grain and fertiliser.

Russia and Ukraine launched over a dozen drones at each other’s territory for a second straight day on Sunday, one of which apparently targeted a Russian military airport while a Ukrainian civilian was killed after drone debris slammed into his house near the Black Sea.

At least 35 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over three regions in southwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

Also Sunday morning, Ukraine‘s air force said it shot down 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched overnight by Russian troops in southern and western Ukraine, as well as one X-59 cruise missile launched from the country’s occupied south.

Putin has claimed there will be “problems” with Finland after it joined Nato.

In an interview published on Sunday by Rossiya state television he said that Finland‘s entry into NATO in April would force Russia to “concentrate certain military units” in northern Russia near their border.

However, earlier in the interview he stated that he did not have any disputes with Nato, calling US President Biden’s claims he would attack “complete nonsense”.

However, the meeting has now been cancelled as Estonia’s prime minister has tested positive for Covid.

Prime minister Tusk had previously vowed the “full mobilisation” of the West in supporting Ukraine.

A Ukrainian military drone unit near Stepove, a village just north of Avdiivka, where some of the most intense battles have taken place, shot the video this month.

“It’s an apocalyptic scene: In two separate clips, the bodies of about 150 soldiers — most wearing Russian uniforms — lie scattered along tree lines where they sought cover. The village itself has been reduced to rubble. Rows of trees that used to separate farm fields are burned and disfigured.

“The fields are pocked by artillery shells and grenades dropped from drones. The drone unit said it’s possible that some of the dead were Ukrainians. The footage was provided to the AP by Ukraine‘s BUAR unit of the 110th Mechanized Brigade, involved in the fighting in the area.

“The unit said that the footage was shot on 6 December over two separate treelines between Stepove and nearby railroad tracks and that many of the bodies had been left there for weeks.

The AP verified the location by comparing the video with maps and other drone footage of the same area shot six days later by the 47th Mechanized Brigade.”

Russian forces launched an offensive in Avdiivka in October. Though they have made some incremental gains, Western analysts say the push has resulted in thousands of casualties.

The driver fell ill at the Krakivets-Korczowa crossing, one of the four border points between Ukraine and Poland, and died while being rushed to the hospital, said Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster, on Saturday.

Pickup trucks and lorries bound for Ukraine have been stuck in a miles-long queue at the border with Poland for weeks. The Polish protesters have said their livelihoods are at stake after the European Union relaxed some transport rules.

At least two truckers died in the last month amid the blockade, which is also hampering the delivery of components needed to build drones for the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian charities and companies supplying the war-torn country’s military warn that problems are growing as Polish truck drivers show no sign of ending a border blockade that has stretched past a month.

Earlier this month, Biden warned that if Putin won a victory over Ukraine then Russia would attack a Nato country. Biden offered no clear evidence for his remarks.

“It is complete nonsense – and I think President Biden understands that,” Putin said in an interview published on Sunday by Rossiya state television, saying it was an attempt by Biden to justify his “erroneous policy” on Russia.

“Russia has no reason, no interest – no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military – to fight with Nato countries.”

Vladimir Putin has decided he will run as an independent candidate in next year’s heavily stage-managed presidential election, a faux-democratic process that will see him maintain his grip as Russia’s leader.

The 71-year-old politician has twice had the constitution amended so he could theoretically stay in power until he’s in his mid-80s.

Mr Putin’s decision to run as an “independent” is likely to be an effort to present himself as a unifying force at a time when his full-scale invasion of Ukraine has isolated Russia from the world and put unprecedented strain on the country’s economy.

The drones were intercepted or destroyed before they reached their targets over the Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, but further details were not provided.