Ukraine’s summer offensive probably has a “reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days, worth of fighting weather left”, the head of the US military has said. Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Gen Mark Milley said: “That offensive kicked off about 90 days ago. It has gone slower than the planners anticipated. But that is a difference between what Clausewitz called war on paper and real war. So these are real people in real vehicles that are fighting through real minefields, and there’s real death and destruction, and there’s real friction.”
The US deputy secretary of state, Victoria Nuland, has said Washington is “impressed” by the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Nuland, deputy to Antony Blinken, said Russia’s defences were on the largest scale seen in 100 years. “We need to understand what Ukraine needs to clear these defences, and we cannot do that until Ukraine confronts the defences. We got a good sense of what was needed when we were here.” She added: “If Ukraine does not win, if Putin succeeds, this type of evil will be normalised across the world. Ukraine stands on the right side of democracy and needs our support.”
Ukraine’s newly nominated defence minister, Rustem Umerov, has called on Kyiv’s partners to increase deliveries of heavy weapons, amid a long and difficult counteroffensive against Russian forces. “We are grateful for all the support provided … we need more heavy weapons,” Umerov said in an embargoed speech released on Saturday.
Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, on Sunday spoke at the Yalta European strategy forum in Kyiv, which gathered Ukrainian and international policymakers to discuss the progress of the war. Budanov had this to say on Russia’s tactics: “In terms of creativity and flexibility, we still have an edge over them, they are rather outdated. But they are adapting, they are trying to change tactics, to alter the way they use forces, they miserably fail with their strategy, but their tactics do have some improvements.”
Ukraine said air defence systems stopped 25 out of 32 Iran-made Shahed drones launched by Russia in a wave aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region. Reuters witnesses heard at least five blasts across Kyiv, and Ukrainian media footage showed cars damaged. “Drones came on to the capital in groups and from different directions,” Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said on Telegram.
Residents and Ukrainian activists have alleged that Russian poll workers made house calls with armed soldiers detaining those who refuse to vote in the sham elections that Russia is imposing in occupied regions of Ukraine. People are put under pressure to write “explanatory statements” that could be used as grounds for a criminal case.
Russia has meanwhile said there were efforts to sabotage the illegitimate elections – including a drone strike destroying one polling station in Zaporizhzhia province in the hours before it opened on Sunday.
At the G20, both the US and Russia praised a consensus that did not condemn Moscow for the war in Ukraine but called on members to shun the use of force.
Vladimir Putin can attend next year’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro without fear of arrest, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said as he took leadership of the forum. Putin is charged with war crimes before the international criminal court (ICC). Lula – who has controversially tried to position himself as a peacemaker between Moscow and Kyiv – said: “What I can tell you is that, if I’m Brazil’s president, and if he comes to Brazil, there’s no reason he’ll be arrested.” Brazil is a member of the ICC.
Ukraine has blamed Russia for the deaths of two foreign aid workers who were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian NGO, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian. Road to Relief said Anthony Ihnat, a Canadian, died in the attack, along with Spanish aid worker Emma Igual, who studied at the University of California at Berkeley.
Ruben Mawick, a German medical volunteer, and Johan Mathias Thyr, a Swedish volunteer, were seriously injured. The four volunteers were trapped inside the van as it flipped over and caught fire after being struck by shells near the town of Chasiv Yar, the organisation said on its Instagram page, according to AP.
The Romanian foreign ministry has called in the head of Russia’s mission in Bucharest to complain about the discovery of more fragments of a Russian drone thought to have been used in an attack on Ukraine. Romanian government minister Iulian Fota said he was unhappy about the apparent violation of Romania’s airspace. It is the second discovery of its kind in Romanian territory this week.
The South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, said on Sunday that South Korea would provide an additional $2bn in aid to Ukraine starting in 2025, in addition to the $300m previously pledged for next year, Yonhap news reported. Yoon made the comment at a session of the G20 summit held in Delhi, India.
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety after a surge in fighting near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The UN atomic watchdog said its experts at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant reported hearing explosions over the past week.
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