Ukraine war latest: Poland considering downing Russian missiles over Ukraine; Kremlin responds to Biden slip-up (2024)

Medical workers gathered at the ruins of the Okhmatdyt children's hospital today to hear the Kyiv Classic Orchestra play.

The hospital - described as Ukraine's version of Great Ormand Street - was struck by a Russian missile on Monday.

Two people died, including a 30-year-old doctor, and around 50 people were injured in the attack, which has drawn widespread condemnation from Ukraine and its allies.

Russia denied targeting the hospital, though Sky News has confirmed the missile that hit the hospital was from Russia.

Tonight, the Kyiv Classic Orchestra performed Requiem for the Dead at the ruins of the hospital, with medical workers gathering to listen.

Poland is considering a proposal from Kyiv to shoot down Russian missiles heading towards Polish territory while they are still in Ukrainian airspace.

The proposal was included in a security cooperation agreement signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw this week.

Ukraine's president said he was "confident" the arrangement could be implemented swiftly, though Poland will consult its NATO allies before attempting to shoot down any Russian missiles.

"At this stage, this is an idea. What our agreement said is we will explore this idea," Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the American Enterprise Institute in Washington today.

Mr Sikorski confirmed that Russian missiles fired from the St Petersburg area towards Ukrainian targets had previously entered Polish airspace for about 40 seconds before turning towards their targets.

The proposal would cover any missile traversing western Ukraine in the direction of Poland.

“Our dilemma is the following. If we shoot them down only when they enter our airspace, the debris is a threat to our citizens and to our property," added Mr Sikorski.

"And the Ukrainians are saying, 'Please, we will not mind, do it over our airspace when they're in imminent danger of crossing into Polish territory.

"To my mind, that's self-defence, but we are exploring the idea."

Ukraine will receive far fewer F-16 fighter jets than it had hoped for this summer, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The first of around 85 jets promised to Ukraine will arrive from the Netherlands and Denmark and are set to be in the skies this summer.

But according to people familiar with the matter, the acquisition of the jets have been plagued by delays, questions around spare parts, and a language barrier between Ukrainian pilots and their foreign trainers.

Bloomberg's report says that Ukraine might only be able to field a single squadron of F-16s, anything from 15 to 24 jets, this summer.

Another source has suggested Kyiv expects to get six F-16s this summer and up to 20 by the end of the year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted his country needs more than 100 F-16s if they are to make an impact on the battlefield.

"The problem with F-16," Mr Zelenskyy said, "is the number and the dates."

"Even if we will have 50, it's nothing. They have 300. Because we are defending, we need 128," he said.

Planners are also worried that Ukraine doesn't have enough runways to support the jets. The ones it does have are also vulnerable to Russian attacks.

"People shouldn't expect miracles," said Jim Townsend, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Those airfields are going to be nice, juicy targets, and the Russians have already been hitting some of them, just as a welcome to the real world for these F-16s."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said the "peace missions" being undertaken by Hungarian leader Viktor Orban lack strategy.

Mr Orban has angered his NATO and EU allies by holding unauthorised meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jingping.

Yesterday, Mr Obran met US presidential candidate Donald Trump at his resort in Mar-a-Lago, shunning Joe Biden at this week's NATO summit in Washington.

The Hungarian also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this month, who said he was unaware that Mr Orban was heading to Moscow and Beijing after his visit to Kyiv.

Mr Orban has been accused of handing legitimacy to Mr Putin at a time when the West wants to isolate him over his invasion of Ukraine.

"I don't see any strategy and no particular consequences," said Ms Meloni.

"Political leaders have the right to meet with other political leaders. I do not see anything special or surprising in this.

"I don't think it's a secret that Orban may be closer to Trump than to Biden. I mean, they are political leaders who talk to each other."

On Mr Orban's visit to the Kremlin, Ms Meloni said the Hungarian leader did not have the mandate to hold talks with Russia.

She added that this week's deadly missile attacks on Ukraine, one of which struck a children's hospital in Kyiv, showed there was no desire for dialogue from Mr Putin.

"The problem is that when you go there, you give this signal, and the next day you blow up a hospital, I think that, unfortunately, it shows that there is no desire for dialogue on the part of Putin's Russia," she said.

"That's the problem, because if there was a desire for dialogue, we would have talked, but I think the answer was quite clear."

The US defence secretary and Russian defence minister have spoken for the second time in just over two weeks, the Pentagon has confirmed.

The call was initiated by Moscow, with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly stressing the importance of keeping open lines of communication between the Kremlin and Washington to his Russian counterpart.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh declined to provide further details on the call.

Russia's ministry of defence said that "the issue of preventing security threats and reducing the risk of possible escalation was discussed".

The last call between Mr Austin and Andrei Belousov took place on 25 June, which itself was the first call of its kind since March 2023.

Russia's defence ministry said that Mr Belousov warned Mr Austin of the dangers of continued US arms supplies to Ukraine during last month's call.

Vladimir Putin has signed a new bill into Russian law that amounts to the biggest shake-up of the country's tax system in a quarter of a century.

As the war in Ukraine drains the Kremlin's coffers, the government has been looking to find new ways to finance it.

The answer is a new progressive income tax rate, as well as a rise in corporation tax.

"It seems like the tax reform is a tool to move the economy from butter toward guns," Alexander Kolyandr, a non-resident senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said last month.

"The government is no longer concerned about you eating well, but rather about you producing more guns."

The new bill, approved by both houses of parliament this week, marks a dramatic departure from Mr Putin's previous tax policies.

Shortly after assuming office in 2001, the Russian president introduced a flat rate of 13% that was applied universally. Most Russians have been paying the same rate since.

The new law keeps a 13% rate for incomes of up to 2.4 million roubles (around £20,800) a year.

For incomes over that amount, a steadily higher tax rate would apply.

Incomes between five and 20 million roubles (around £43,500 to £174,000) will be taxed at 18%, those between 20 to 50 million roubles (around £174,000 to £434,000) at 20%, and anything over 50 million roubles at 22%.

Mr Putin has said the increases will affect no more than 3.2% of Russian taxpayers.

Corporation tax will also increase from 20% to 25%.

The changes will come into force next year and are expected to generate 2.6 trillion roubles (£22.5bn) in additional federal revenues in 2025.

As well as helping finance Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, the Kremlin hopes the tax reforms will help make the country less reliant on the revenues generated from oil exports amid continued Western sanctions.

Ukraine's security service says it is preparing evidence which it will present to the International Criminal Court documenting Russia's continued use of landmines against civilians.

The SBU said in a statement that more than 1,000 Ukrainians have been injured and 297 killed by mines of various types, mostly in the eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.

It accuses Russian troops of disguising mines in" various common items, including children's toys and boxes of sweets".

The statement also accuses Russian sabotage groups of setting up minefields to cover their retreats from the front line and border areas.

The SBU said it was preparing a "large-scale base ofevidence" and would send it to The Hague once there was enough.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians during its invasion, but thousands have been killed and injured since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces have carried out "massive shelling" in Kherson, the head of the city's military administration has said.

Speaking on Telegram, Roman Mrochko said the assault had lasted for around half an hour and had damaged houses and administrative buildings, as well as destroying a shop and wrecking cars.

"People are very scared, but alive," he said. "Miraculously, no was injured."

He also shared a video of heavily damaged buildings.

In a later post, Mr Mrochko said restoration work was ongoing to fix a damaged water supply facility.

Berlin has said it is taking reports of a Russian plot to assassinate the chief executive of a German arms manufacturer very seriously, adding it won't be intimidated by Moscow's threats.

CNN and the New York Times reported yesterday that US intelligence had discovered and warned Germany of a Russian plot to kill Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall.

The German company makes artillery shells and tanks that Ukraine has used in its war against Russia.

The plot was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate defence industry executives across Europe supporting Ukraine, CNN reported.

After Washington's warning, German security services were able to protect Mr Papperger, it said.

"We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by Russia," said Germany's interior minister Nancy Faeser.

She added that Germany will continue to do "everything we can to prevent Russian threats" within the country.

Rheinmetall has not directly confirmed the reports, while the Kremlin has denied them as fake and based on anonymous sources.