Ukraine says it ‘successfully’ hit Russia’s Black Sea navy HQ using British and French cruise missiles
The Ukrainian military says it has “successfully” struck the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in occupied Crimea in an attack using Storm Shadow and SCALP cruise missiles.
Such weapons have been supplied by the UK and France to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
British Storm Shadow missiles were also used in an attack on 13 September against the HQ, where a Russian submarine and warship were damaged in a barrage on a shipyard in the port city of Sevastopol.
In the latest assault, the navy building caught fire after being hit by a missile, according to Moscow and its allies.
One serviceman was missing following the attack, said the Russian defence ministry which earlier stated he had been killed.
The city’s Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the strike caused a fire and no one was injured outside the building but he did not talk about any other casualties.
Kremlin hits out at ‘aggressive’ Poland – Ukraine war latest
The building was ablaze after the attack
Firefighters battled the blaze and more emergency forces were being brought in – a sign of the large scale of the fire.
A stream of ambulances arrived at the building and shrapnel was scattered around an area of hundreds of metres, the Tass news agency reported, adding police asked residents to leave the city centre, where the naval HQ is located.
Mr Razvozhayev initially told Sevastopol residents that another attack was possible and urged them not to leave buildings or go into the centre.
He later said there was no longer any threat of an airstrike but reiterated that people should not go to the central part of the city.
Navy HQ attack part of well co-ordinated plan by Ukraine
Over the last few weeks the Ukrainians have been mounting a pretty intensive counter-attack, but there have also been drone attacks and missile attacks all over the place.
This is part of a well co-ordinated plan by Ukraine. One of the reasons they’re attacking the Russian Black Sea fleet is they’re trying to push it further east.
Why is that? It is because the fleet has been providing a lot of logistics support for the Russian forces in occupied Ukraine, so Kyiv is trying to stop the navy resupplying troops via Crimea and make life more difficult for them.
Ukraine does not have a navy to compete with Russia, but it has been conducting asymmetric attacks against Russian ships and submarines – at sea and in Sevastopol dock – and now the military HQ in Sevastopol.
Likewise on the Dnipro River, the Kakhovka Dam was blown up by the Russians in June because that protected their flank. All that water has now subsided and the Ukrainians keep mounting attacks across Dnipro. That is significant because it’s fixing Russian forces across that side of the country.
In Bakhmut, which is tactically an insignificant city, the Russians have put 70,000 to 80,000 forces there because it’s so symbolic, and therefore by attacking that area the Ukrainians are fixing Russian forces up there as well.
And by continuing attacks on Crimea, again the Russian forces that would otherwise be used to bolster the frontline have had to be kept there.
Finally up in Moscow, Ukrainian drone attacks there mean Vladimir Putin will be worried about his own defences as well.
So all of this is about forcing Russia to make priorities about where it positions its military forces.
Western military support is vital to enable such precision attacks against strategic targets – which are usually very well defended. High-tech, precision-strike weapons such as Storm Shadow enable Ukraine to strike high-value targets with a high degree of accuracy.
That is why Ukraine is so heavily dependent on Western support – in Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s own words, “give me the weapons or we lose the war”.
Reports suggest Ukrainian armour has broken through the comprehensive layered defences to the east of Zaporizhzhia. If this is verified, that could be the most significant progress since the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive nearly four months ago.
The defence ministry said five missiles were shot down by its air defence systems responding to the Sevastopol attack.
It was not immediately clear if the HQ was hit in a direct strike or by debris from an intercepted missile.
The missile attack comes a day after five people were killed when Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine.
Read more:
Analysis: Pressure is mounting for Zelenskyy
Ukraine soldiers ‘choke Russian occupiers’
Why is Poland stopping sending weapons to Ukraine?
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‘Unprecedented’ cyberattack in Crimea
US to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles
Meanwhile, President Biden has told his Ukrainian counterpart President Zelenskyy that the US will provide a small number of long-range missiles, Sky News understands.
Ukraine has for months asked for the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) which would give Kyiv the ability to strike targets from up to 180 miles away, hitting supply lines, railways and command and control locations behind the Russian frontlines.
It is not known when the missiles will be delivered.
Mr Zelenskyy met Mr Biden and congressional leaders in Washington on Thursday.
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‘We in Ukraine will not give up’
Mr Biden has been pressing Congress to approve an extra aid package for Ukraine worth $24bn (£19.5bn) amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Crimea has also been struck by an “unprecedented” cyberattack in the wake of the missile strike, according to an official.
“An unprecedented cyberattack on Crimean internet providers,” noted Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian governor of the region, on Telegram.
“We are detecting interruptions in the internet on the peninsula,” he added. “All services are working to eliminate the threat.”
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The outage has not been verified and it was not clear what could have caused it.
The Crimean Peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014 in an act that most of the world saw as illegal.
It is an earthquake for the MAGA ecosystem.
Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene were a formidable alliance on the Republican Party’s hard-right flank.
For years, the congresswoman for Georgia embodied the combative, conspiracy-tinged politics that define Trump’s presidency.
She called him “the father of the America First movement,” campaigned to be his running mate, and was quick to defend him.
“David Cameron can kiss my ass,” she told Sky News when asked about the former UK Prime Minister’s concerns about US fading support for Ukraine.
Door-stepped by my colleague Martha Kelner, she said: “We don’t give a crap about your country or your reporting.
“The Trump administration is doing a great job and I stand by their statements,” she added.
“I’m thankful to President Trump that he is leading us out of wars.”
Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Taylor Greene from earlier this year…
But in recent months, she had expressed concerns about Trump’s involvement in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere.
It escalated when she stood with victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to demand justice and joined Democrats in demanding a vote on the release of all files.
Just days ago, President Trump told reporters Taylor Greene had “lost her way”, but something triggered a war of words late on Friday.
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‘Shame on everyone that protected Epstein’
The president had taken questions on Air Force One, with two reporters citing Taylor Green’s demand that the files be released.
Moments later, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he was withdrawing his endorsement of the congresswoman.
He branded her a “ranting lunatic”, “wacky Marjorie”, and said all she ever does is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN.”
Her reply came very quickly, in a post claiming she had sent the president text messages about Jeffrey Epstein.
“Apparently this is what sent him over the edge. The Epstein Files,” she posted.
Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew
She accused him of “coming after” her to “scare all the other Republicans” before next week’s vote to release the Epstein files.
“It’s astonishing how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” she added.
For years, they were joined at the hip – Trump the movement’s figurehead, Taylor Greene its megaphone – but it has now descended into open hostility.
Epstein, the story that won’t go away, has just cost Trump one of his most loyal allies, and rocked the internal dynamics of his political movement.
At least nine people have been killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The accidental blast occurred late on Friday in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, as forensic and police personnel were evaluating the explosive material, according to police director-general Nalin Prabhat.
Most of the dead were officers and forensic staff, police said, adding that several of the injured remained in a critical condition.
The massive explosion tore through the police station, setting the building and several vehicles on fire.
“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200m away from the police station,” a police source said.
A series of smaller successive blasts slowed rescue operations.
A police official lays flowers on a coffin at a ceremony for the victims. Pic: Reuters
The police station blast comes just days after a deadly car explosion in New Delhi on Monday, which killed at least eight people near the city’s historic Red Fort.
The car explosion occurred hours after police in Kashmir said they had dismantled a suspected militant cell operating from the region, arresting at least seven people, including two doctors from Indian cities.
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Police also seized a large quantity of bomb-making material in Faridabad, near New Delhi.
Indian security forces have conducted multiple raids across Kashmir during their investigation, questioning hundreds and detaining dozens.
Relatives protest following the blast. Pic: Reuters
Authorities said DNA testing identified the car’s driver as a Kashmiri doctor, and government forces demolished his family home in Pulwama district on Thursday night.
In the past, security forces have demolished the homes of individuals they allege were linked to militants opposing Indian rule in Kashmir as a form of punishment.
India and Pakistan both claim all of Kashmir, though each controls only part of the territory.
Militants in the Indian-administered region have been fighting against New Delhi since 1989, with India labeling it Pakistan-backed terrorism.
Pakistan denies the claim, saying that many Kashmiris view it as a legitimate struggle for independence.
World
Donald Trump withdraws support for Marjorie Taylor Greene after she calls for Epstein files to be released
Donald Trump has withdrawn support for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – which she claims is over her support for releasing files about Jeffrey Epstein.
In comments made on Truth Social, Mr Trump said he would support any challenger who wants to take Ms Greene’s seat in Georgia.
It comes after weeks of the MAGA ally breaking ranks from the president – and according to a post on X after his withdrawal, she believes it’s over a possible vote on releasing all of the Epstein files.
Read more: Marjorie Taylor Greene – the MAGA ally known for embracing conspiracies and insulting journalists
After the US government shutdown ended, a petition to vote on the full release of the files about disgraced pedophile financier Epstein received enough signatures – including Ms Greene’s – to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.
While such a vote does not yet have a date, Mr Trump has called the files a “hoax” and accused the Democrats of using them “to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN”.
Earlier this week, thousands of documents from Epstein were released, which reference Mr Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, among others.
Read more: What do Epstein documents say about Trump, Andrew and Mandelson?
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
Trump attacks ‘Wacky’ Majorie
In his post on Truth Social overnight, Mr Trump said: “all I see “Wacky” Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!
“It seemed to all begin when I sent her a Poll stating that she should not run for Senator, or Governor, she was at 12%, and didn’t have a chance (unless, of course, she had my Endorsement – which she wasn’t about to get!).”
The president went on to claim “she has told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore”, before adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.
“I understand that wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie in her District of Georgia, that they too are fed up with her and her antics and, if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support.”
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Will new Epstein emails hurt Trump?
Greene: Trump’s fight to stop files ‘astonishing’
Around an hour later, Ms Greene responded on X to say “President Trump just attacked me and lied about me”, and shared text messages to him and a White House aide about releasing information on the deceased pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“Of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files,” she added on social media.
“It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.”
Read more: Why this is dangerous terrain for Trump
Marjorie Taylor Greene was an ardent supporter of MAGA and became a Republican Congresswoman in 2021. File pic: AP
She then said “most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America… that’s what I voted for”.
“I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” she added.
“But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump… I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for.”
Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Greene from earlier this year…
Earlier this week, Mr Trump accused the MAGA loyalist of “catering to the other side” after she criticised his focus on foreign policy, which she described as “America Last”.
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Trump rebukes MAGA ally over foreign policy
Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking charges and was accused of running a “vast network” of underage girls for sex. He pleaded not guilty.
Following a conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, he was registered as a sex offender.
It comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published several emails, which they said “raises questions about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s crimes”, and the president’s relationship to Epstein’s victims.
Mr Trump has consistently denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and called claims linking him to the financier a “hoax”.
Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew
The White House also said the “selectively leaked emails” were an attempt to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
Republicans retaliated by releasing more than 20,000 pages from Epstein’s files and accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” their documents.
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