Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin set to decide 2024 presidential run

Ukraine confirmed that 19 service members were killed by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia during a military awards ceremony in what president Volodymyr Zelensky lamented was a “tragedy that could have been avoided”.

Defence minister Rustem Umerov has ordered an investigation into why the 128th Separate Mountain-Assault Brigade of Zakarpattia participated in the crowded event on Friday honouring troops for Rocket Forces and Artillery Day so close to front lines.

An International Monetary Fund monitoring mission started work on Monday to review an ongoing multibillion dollar programme for Ukraine, as Kyiv seeks over $41 billion in international aid to cover its budget gap next year.

The IMF mission started policy talks with the Ukrainian officials on the $15.6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan, the Fund said in a statement. The programme is part of a $115 billion global package to support the economy as Ukraine battles Russia’s invasion.

“We are committed to a constructive analysis of the completed work and fruitful discussion on the next steps. The review will not be easy, but Ukraine’s team has been working smoothly and effectively for over 20 months of the large-scale war,” said Ukraine’s central bank governor Andriy Pyshnyi.

“We clearly understand the critical need to maintain IMF’s support not only for further budget needs financing, but for the country’s development and its European future.”

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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US to provide more funding to help his forces counter Russia, and invited former U.S. President Donald Trump to fly in to see the scale of the conflict for himself.

Zelenskiy said American soldiers could eventually be pulled into a greater European conflict with Russia if Washington did not step up support.

“If Russia will kill all of us, they will attack NATO countries and you will send your sons and daughters [to fight],” Zelenskiy said according to a transcript of an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ airing on Sunday.

Inviting Trump to Ukraine, he said: “[He] an come here, I will need … 24 minutes to explain to president Trump that he can’t manage this war,” Zelensky said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.  “He can’t bring peace because of Putin.”

As we reported earlier, a Russian drone attack on a 124-year-old art gallery in Odessa has injured at least five people.

The drones strikes reportedly also damaged port infrastructure, including warehouses and loading equipment, before Ukraine downed 15 Russian drones over the city, authorities said.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has the full report:

Russian president Vladimir Putin will run for president again in 2024, Reuters reports, citing six sources.

But the Kremlin denied the report, saying Putin had not made any decisions about his future.

“The president has not made any statements”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “And the campaign has not been officially announced yet”.

Russia on Sunday claimed it successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads from its nuclear-powered submarine Imperator Alexander III.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Ukraine’s grain exports have fallen by a third compared to last year, new data published today shows.

Figures published by the country’s agriculture ministry said grain exports have fallen to 9.8 million metric tons so far in the 2023/24 July-June.

This was down from 14.3 million in the same period last year.

Volodymyr Zelensky has sent condolences to the loved ones of the “fallen heroes” killed in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade.

He described the attack as a “tragedy that could have been avoided” and an investigation has been launched to understand the full circumstances of the event.

“Defense Minister Umerov informed me on all actions taken to determine full details of what happened and who issued which orders,” he wrote on X.

“A criminal investigation into the tragedy has also begun.   Our main goal is to reveal the complete truth about what happened and to avoid such tragedies from happening again.

“Every serviceman in the combat zone, in the area reachable by enemy air reconnaissance and fire, understands how to act in the open air and how to maintain security.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, with the pair discussing the war and Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.

At a press conference after the meeting, Zelenksy said the war between Hamas and Israel is “taking away the focus” from his country’s battle with Russia.

He denied the war had reached a stalemate heading into the winter and insisted “everything is [still] in our power”.