Ukraine war latest: US warns of 'dramatic' Iranian escalation after 'Tehran's missiles arrive in Russia' (2024)

Debris from a downed drone was found next to Ukraine's parliament building after overnight attacks, politicians said in a statement this morning.

It's not clear if there was any damage.

Ukraine shot down 58 out of 67 Russian-launched drones overnight, the country's air force said.

The building, known as the Verkhovna Rada, is located at the Constitution Square in the Lypky district of Kyiv.

Any Iranian transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war, Washington has said.

"We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports," White House national security council spokesman Sean Savett said last night.

"Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia wouldrepresent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia'swar of aggression against Ukraine."

He did not confirm whether the US had verified that any such transfer had taken place - although reporting in the Wall Street Journal yesterday cited senior officials as saying that Iranian missiles had now been delivered to Moscow's forces.

Reports from August suggested that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Tehran - and that Russian military personnel were being trained inside Iran on how to use them.

Iran denies reports

Iran's UN delegation said yesterday: "Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict - which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations - to be inhumane."

"Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict."

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

Russia is waging a "reckless campaign of sabotage" across Europe, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned intheir first-ever joint remarks.

Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns also said the UK and the US faced an "unprecedented array of threats", and said the entire world order was under the most serious strain since the Cold War.

In a newspaper article, the spymasters pointed to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, while also describing China as "the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century".

They touched on the secret work their agencies are doing to try to reduce the chance of wider conflict in the Middle East and revealed that MI6 and the CIA were "working ceaselessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza".

In addition, Sir Richard and Mr Burns underlined the "resurgent" danger posed by Islamic State.

"Today, we cooperate in a contested international system where our two countries face an unprecedented array of threats," Sir Richard and Mr Burnswrote in the Financial Times.

Read more from Haynes here.

Ukraine shot down 58 out of 67 Russian-launched drones overnight, the country's air force has said.

The attacks took place across 11 regions, but it does not appear any missiles were fired overnight.

Drones attacks have been used by both Ukraine and Russia during the war, with both country's sending drones into each other's territory.

However, in the last few months, the frequency with which both sides send drones over the border has increased.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

We'll be keeping an eye on Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region of Russia, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv holds about 1,300 sq km of land.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian president joined Western allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany for talks about military aid.

The UK said it would send 650 missiles to Ukraine, while the US pledged another $250m of aid.

Here are more updates from the last 24 hours...

• Mr Zelenskyy also pleaded for the US to lift restrictions stopping Ukraine from using long-range American-made weapons on Russian soil
• However, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said lifting the restrictions would not be a game changer
• Experts warned a Donald Trump victory in the US election couldtrigger a Second World War-scale security crisis in Europe
• Andrii Sybiha, a former ambassador to Turkey, has been appointed Ukraine's new chief diplomat.
  

We are closing down our Ukraine live blog for the evening now - but we'll be back with more updates soon.

Before we go, here is a quick round-up of what's been happening...

• Allies met in Germany today to discuss military aid for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed for the US to allow its weapons to be used in long-range strikes into Russia
• However, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said lifting arms restrictions would not be a game changer in the war
• The UK said it would send 650 missiles to Ukraine, while the US pledged to provide another $250m in aid
• The Ukrainian president provided updates on his military's invasion of the Russian region of Kursk, saying 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and Kyiv was in control of 1,300sq km
• Experts warned a Donald Trump victory in the US election could trigger a Second World War-scale security crisis in Europe.

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has announced a further $250m worth of American weapons will be sent to Ukraine.

The weapons include air defence munitions and artillery.

"We're also working with allies and partners to help Ukraine forge its long term security," he said during a news conference.

Defence leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for the war held a meeting in Germany today.

Mr Austin said the group was aiming to help Ukraine "build a combat credible future", which includes ramping up Kyiv's own weapon production and providing it with F-16 fighter jets.

However, as we reported earlier, Mr Austin has suggested he will not heed to Ukraine's request to allow American weapons to be used inside Russian territory.

Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region has resulted in about 6,000 casualties among Russian forces, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

The Ukrainian president had been speaking from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he is in meetings with Western allies.

Mr Zelenskyy earlier said Ukraine controlled a "significant" part of the Russian region stretching over 1,300 square kilometres.

Ukrainian launched a surprise invasion of Kursk exactly one month ago.

At the time, it provided little information on why it had launched the offensive.

But the commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in an interview with CNN yesterday that Russia was planning an offensive from Kursk before Ukrainian troops launched their operation there.

The US defence secretary appears to have denied Ukraine's request to allow American weapons to be fired onto Russian territory.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier pushed for the US to lift such restrictions.

But Lloyd Austin told reporters after a meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany that no specific weapon would be a game changer or turn the tide of war.

He noted that Russia has moved its glide bombs back beyond the range of ATACMS missiles, while Ukraine itself has significant capabilities to attack targets well beyond the range of the British Storm Shadow cruise missile.

The US has been hesitant to lift restrictions despite repeated requests from Ukraine, as it fears allowing American weapons to reach Russian soil could escalate the conflict.

Thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral services for victims of a Russian missile attack that killed seven people, including a mother and her three daughters, in Lviv today.

Yaroslav Bazylevych, whose wife, Yevgenia, 43, and daughters Emilia, 7, Daryna, 18, and Yaryna, 21, were killed, attended the funeral at the Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

The pre-dawn blasts earlier this week in the historic centre of the city also injured dozens of civilians.