Live blog: Russia intercepts 'NATO jets' over Baltic sea

Monday, May 15, 2023

Russia's defence ministry has said it scrambled a fighter jet to prevent French and German patrol aircraft from entering its air space over the Baltic Sea after it detected them flying towards Russia.

Russia said the flights were being conducted by a German P-3C patrol aircraft and a French Atlantic-2 maritime patrol jet. After the Russian jet was scrambled and the French and German ones turned away from Russia, the Su-27 returned to base, the defence ministry said.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the Russian report on the aircraft movements.

"Two air targets were detected approaching Russia's state border," the defence ministry said in its statement.

"In order to identify the targets and prevent the Russian state border being violated, an Su-27 fighter from the Baltic Fleet air force was scrambled," it added.

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1857 GMT — Macron says France to train Ukrainian fighter pilots

France's President Emmanuel Macron said that his country had "opened the door" to training Ukrainian fighter pilots, even if he excluded sending any warplanes to Kiev.

"We have opened the door to training pilots, and this with several other European countries who are also ready. I think discussions are underway with the Americans," he said in a televised interview with the TF1 broadcaster.

"The training can start from now," he said, without providing further details.

1747 GMT — UN to continue Ukraine grain deal talks as May 18 deadline looms

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths has said that talks to extend the Black Sea grain deal will continue over the coming days as Russia’s deadline nears. The deal is set to expire on May 18.

"Continuation of the Black Sea Initiative is critically important," Griffiths, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told the UN Security Council.

"In recent weeks, we have engaged in intensive discussions with the parties to the Black Sea Initiative, to secure agreement on its extension and the improvements needed for it to operate effectively and predictably. This will continue over the coming days."

Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine, and the UN held a two-day high-level meeting in Istanbul last week to discuss extending the grain deal, but no agreement was reached.

1745 GMT — WHO members vote to shut European regional office in Russia

The World Health Organization has said that its members in Europe voted to shut a regional office located in Moscow, in a move which follows the start of the war in Ukraine last year.

WHO Europe's member states have been considering moving the European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases outside Russia since last year.

The motion received the necessary majority in a special meeting of the WHO's Europe's office on Monday, the U.N. agency said in an email. The office will be relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark no later than 1 January 2024, the motion said.

1712 GMT — Belarus on high alert after aircraft shot down in Russia: Lukashenko

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko said forces had been put on high alert, adding that four aircraft had reportedly been shot out of the sky in southern Russia.

"Three days have passed after the events near us, I mean in the region of Bryansk where four aircraft were shot down", Lukashenko said without providing further details. "We had to react," he said.

On Saturday footage of several Russian aircraft crashing in the region of Bryansk circulated on Russian social media. One video showed a helicopter apparently being hit and catching fire.

1643 GMT — US sees more indications of Russia, Iran defence cooperation

The United States is seeing more indications that Russia and Iran are expanding an unprecedented defense partnership that will help Moscow prolong its war in Ukraine as well as pose a threat to Iran's neighbours, the White House has said.

As part of the cooperation, Iran is providing Russia with one-way attack drones, including more than 400 since August, National Security Adviser John Kirby said at a news briefing.

1357 GMT — Seven injured in blast at Russia-controlled Luhansk

Seven people, including a Russian-installed senior official and a teenager, have been wounded when an explosion ripped through the centre of Russian-controlled Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, the regional head said.

Four men — including a 17-year-old teenager and the head of the local interior ministry, Igor Kornet, were in a "serious condition," Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), said on social media.

State news agency RIA Novosti, reporting from Luhansk, said the explosion had taken place in a barber shop next to the buildings housing the local government and the legislature.

1139 GMT — S. Africa military delegation visiting Moscow: Russian agencies

The commander of South Africa's ground forces is in Moscow for talks, Russian news agencies have said, days after Washington accused Pretoria of secretly providing arms to Russia.

Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha is heading a delegation that discussed "issues relating to military cooperation and interaction" with their Russian counterparts, the agencies said, citing the Russian defence ministry.

1132 GMT — Poland gets HIMARS rockets to deploy near Russian border

Poland received the first batch of the US-made HIMARS rocket launchers it has said it plans to deploy in the region bordering Russia, the Polish defence minister has said.

In March, the ministry said the long-range precision rocket systems would be stationed in the military unit based in Olsztyn, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border with Russia's Kaliningrad enclave.

1125 GMT — Wagner chief calls report he gave info to Kiev 'laughable'

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group has slammed reports that alleged he offered information on Russian troop positions to Ukraine as "laughable" and a result of a possible smear campaign.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has in recent days sharpened his rhetoric against the Russian defence ministry, issuing scathing videos about Moscow's generals.

1116 GMT — NATO chief expects deal on helping Ukraine reach alliance standards

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he expects allies to agree on a multi-year programme to help Ukraine advance towards NATO military standards at a July summit in Vilnius.

"I expect that we will agree a multi-year program, where we will work on how to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era standards, doctrines and equipment to NATO standards and doctrines and equipment, and become fully interoperable with NATO," Stoltenberg told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit via video link.

"Doing that will also help Ukraine move towards NATO membership," he said.

1048 GMT — Kremlin says UK military aid to Ukraine won't change conflict's course

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Britain with a promise of long range attack drones on top of cruise missiles pledged last week, as he tours Europe to try to source new arms for a counter-offensive against Russia.

"It cannot have any significant or major impact on the course of the Special Military Operation ... It all leads to more destruction, to further military action and so on. So for Ukraine, it makes things much more complex," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

1033 GMT — Russian missile strike kills four in Ukraine

A Russian strike on the frontline Ukraine city of Avdiivka has killed at least four people and damaged a hospital, the regional governor said.

"Four people died as a result of a missile attack on Avdiivka. Russians attacked the city with missiles this morning, hitting a hospital," the Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement on social media.

0846 GMT — China envoy to visit Kiev on Tuesday: Ukraine govt. source

A Chinese special envoy will arrive in Kiev for a two-day visit, as part of a European tour to promote Beijing-led peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine.

China, which has close ties with Russia, has tried to position itself as a mediator in the war in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian government official told AFP that China's high-ranking diplomat Li Hui "will be in Kiev May 16 and 17."

The trip comes three weeks after Zelenskyy spoke by telephone to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

0653 GMT — UK to give Ukraine 'hundreds' of air-defence missiles and drones

Britain has said that it would deliver "hundreds" of both air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones to Ukraine, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepared to host Zelenskyy for talks.

"This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke," Sunak said in a statement ahead of their talks at his country retreat of Chequers.

0613 GMT — Russian goals in Bakhmut unchanged: Ukraine deputy defence minister

Russia's plans to capture the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut remain unchanged and new assault forces are being sent to its outskirts, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said.

She made the remarks in a statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.

0551 GMT — Ukraine forces advance in Bakhmut, city's defence continues

The defence of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi has said.

"The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction - that is the first successful offensive operation in the city's defence," Syrskyi, was quoted as saying on Ukraine's Media Military Centre Telegram messaging platform.

"The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions... The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defence have been made."

For our live updates from Sunday (May 14), click here.