Kyiv says forces ‘on the move’ after breaching Russian defence line

Moscow’s military launched another drone strike on a Ukrainian port as the leaders of Russia and Turkey prepared to discuss the Kremlin’s naval blockade on the embattled country, and Kyiv’s forces made potentially significant gains in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said air defence units downed 22 of 25 explosive drones launched by Russia on Sunday, but at least two people were injured in a strike on Reni on the Danube river, close to the Black Sea. Reni and the neighbouring port of Izmail have become vital for Ukraine amid heavy air strikes on Odesa and other large seaports further east.

“Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope of being able to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world,” said Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly complained about the presence of western-made components in Russian military drones.

[ Ukraine war: Russian drone attack in Odesa region hits Danube port infrastructure, says Kyiv ]

“The main task for us and our partners today is to eliminate the ability of the Russian military-industrial complex to make weapons for attacks on Ukraine… It cannot function without foreign components for weapons. After the destruction of the Russian military-industrial complex, the defeat of Russian forces will be final,” he added.

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The defence ministry in Moscow described the attack on Reni as a successful strike on a fuel depot used by Ukraine’s military.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is due to host Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday for talks on regional issues including Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, which have been blocked since Moscow withdrew from a deal safeguarding the shipments in July.

“We play a leading role here. We see strong support from all around the world for the realisation of the grain corridor,” Mr Erdogan’s chief foreign policy and security adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic told Turkish television before the talks. “We are cautious, but we hope to achieve success because this is a situation that affects the entire world,” he added.

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres has sent Moscow what he calls “concrete proposals” for relaunching the grain agreement, but the Kremlin has said it will not re-enter the pact until the West makes it easier for sanctions-hit Russia to sell its food products and fertiliser on world markets.

[ Ukraine’s female soldiers: Nobody will tell you, ‘You are a chick, so you are not going to fight and save me’ ]

Heavy fighting is continuing in Ukraine as its forces face renewed Russian attacks in the northeastern Kharkiv region and slowly advance in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province.

Several Ukrainian military officials said in recent days that their troops had breached Russia’s heavily mined first line of defence in Zaporizhzhia and now hoped to accelerate their advance towards the town of Tokmak and then the city of Melitopol, in a bid to sever the land link between Russia and occupied Crimea on the Black Sea.

“Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Mr Zelenskiy said.

A Ukrainian court ordered billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky to be detained for two months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, as Mr Zelenskiy hailed prosecutors’ “determination to bring every case stalled for decades to a just conclusion”.

“There will be no more decades-long ‘business as usual’ for those who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the law and any rules,” he added.