Ukraine-Russia latest: Blasts and blackouts as Kyiv braces for Russian missiles after drones target Moscow

Russian president Vladimir Putin has amassed a 50,000-strong military force made up of Russian and North Korean forces to march on the Kursk region, according to a New York Times report.

The forces are preparing to reclaim the parts of the region that Ukrainian forces captured after a massive operation in August.

Ukrainian officials anticipate that the North Korean troops will be involved in a major offensive soon, though for now, these forces are training alongside Russian troops in the western part of Kursk, it said citing sources.

The new US assessment said Russia has been able to build a new contingent of troops without having to pull back soldiers from Ukraine’s east where the main battle is being fought.

Around 10,000 of the 50,000 massed troops are North Koreans, US and Ukrainian officials say.

Russian troops are trying to advance in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s top commander said on Monday, adding that Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of soldiers in the region that borders Ukraine.

“Following the order of their military leadership, they are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the top commander of Kyiv’s forces, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Outgoing president Joe Biden has invited president-elect Donald Trump for talks at the Oval Office on Wednesday.

He is expected to tell the incoming president why “the United States should not walk away from Ukraine”.

Fears have risen about the US withdrawing support to Ukraine in its war against Russia as Republican leader Trump has previously opposed and Republican lawmakers blocked Democrats from passing key funding to Ukraine.

Jake Sullivan, Mr Biden’s national security adviser, said the two would talk about conflicts in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East.

He said on Face the Nation on CBS: “President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe.”

Mr Sullivan has said the White House is planning to spend its remaining $6bn of funding for Ukraine before Mr Trump is inaugurated.

He said the Biden administration aims “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table”.

Parts of Kyiv have been hit with emergency power cuts following reports of coordinated missile attacks across Ukraine.

Witnesses confirmed power outages in sections of the capital as emergency blackouts were implemented across several regions, according to Reuters.

“The air alert is related to the launch of cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers,” the air force said on their Telegram channels.

Authorities said the powercuts were preventive measures due Russian missile attack.

Ukrainian media reported air raid alerts throughout the country shortly after Ukraine’s Air Force announced a wave of cruise missile launches originating from Russian bombers. Authorities are urging citizens to remain vigilant and to seek shelter as necessary.

Updates on the extent of the damage and official responses are expected as the situation unfolds.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to discuss Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East when he meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris ahead of attending an Armistice commemoration.

The prime minister is heading to the French capital at the invitation of the French president to attend the annual event.

Ahead of the commemorations, Sir Keir will hold a bilateral meeting with the French president. Foreign policy issues are thought to be among the topics they will discuss, including the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

During the morning the prime minister will host veterans, defence charities and British military personnel at the ambassador’s residence, and is also expected to meet the new French prime minister Michel Barnier.

The meetings come less than a week after it was confirmed that Donald Trump will be returning to the White House in January having been re-elected US president.

There are concerns over what a second Trump term could mean for US support for Kyiv and Nato.

On Sunday, a Treasury minister confirmed that the UK is “considering and planning lots of different scenarios” after the election result.

Russian forces targeted Ukrainian military sites in an operation to prevent an alleged hijacking attempt on a Russian electronic warfare helicopter, Russian state media reported citing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

FSB said it successfully intercepted Ukraine’s efforts to take control of the aircraft.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a show of strength is necessary along with diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine as US president-elect Donald Trump was expected to speak with Vladimir Putin.

“We understand very clearly that diplomacy has no prospects without strength,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“But without a clear understanding of diplomatic goals, weapons alone will not do the job. That’s why strength and diplomacy must work hand in hand.”

This is the only way to secure a lasting peace and to prevent from wars such as the one Moscow has been waging against Kyiv from recurring, he added.

Ukrainian president, who has unrelentingly called for a “fair” end to the war, has lobbied the United States and its Nato allies to arm Kyiv and help force Russian president Vladimir Putin to peace, saying Ukraine is open only to “honest” diplomacy.

Ukraine has also been pleading with its allies to allow Kyiv the use of western long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory and undermine Moscow’s war infrastructure.

His call for strengthening diplomatic efforts comes as Mr Trump has repeatedly that he could end the war in Ukraine “in a day,” but he never said how. On Thursday, Mr Trump spoke with Mr Putin and advised him not to escalate the war, a source told Reuters.

Russian air attacks killed at least five people overnight, injured 19 more including five children and set on fire to several buildings in southern Ukraine, regional governors said today.

Four people were killed in Mykolaiv region and one was killed in Zaporizhzhia region, where a residential building was destroyed, the governors of the regions said on the Telegram messaging app.

Among the injured in Zaporizhzhia were five children between the ages of 4 and 17.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of people have died since Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.

The Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions and most the of eastern half of Ukraine have been under air raid alerts and under a threat of Russian drone attacks on and off for most of the night, starting around 1930 GMT on Sunday, according to data from the Ukrainian air force.