A Ukrainian warplane has for the first time fired a weapon that struck a target inside Russia, a Ukrainian military source has told Sky News.
The source said a “Russian command node” was hit on Sunday in the area of Belgorod, western Russia.
Belgorod is close to the border with northeastern Ukraine.
It was not immediately clear what type of munition was used in the attack, including whether or not it had been a Western weapon.
The United States and France recently said the Ukrainian armed forces were permitted to use their arms to strike military targets inside Russia – from where Russian forces are launching attacks against Ukraine.
Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, has been less specific, merely saying it was up to Ukraine to decide how they use British weapons – such as Storm Shadow cruise missiles that can be fired by Ukrainian jets.
Image: Damaged property in Vovchansk, Kharkiv region. Pic: Lyut/Reuters
‘Direct hit’
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the military source told Sky News: “A Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) mission has struck a Russian command node in Belgorod.
“Whilst damage assessment is still occurring, it is confirmed as a direct hit. This is the first UAF air-delivered munition delivered against a target within Russia.”
Ukraine has launched multiple drone strikes deep into Russian territory. But the use of a warplane to strike targets inside Russia could be seen by Moscow as a new escalation.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had shot down a number of Ukrainian drones in the Belgorod region. It was not clear whether this was part of the same assault.
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The Ukrainian military source also said that on Saturday evening, Ukrainian forces conducted a “coordinated strike” against a Russian landing ship that had recently moved to the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea.
The vessel has become the fifth of seven Ropucha-class landing ships to be sunk or “rendered unserviceable” by Ukrainian attacks, the source said.
“This successful strike shows the Russians they cannot operate with freedom either in the Black Sea or eastward,” the source added.
The Russian military uses such ships to ferry ammunition and supplies to the occupied city of Mariupol for onward transit to the frontline, according to the source.
“By thwarting Russian shipments of ammunition and key military supplies this strike will directly support Ukrainian troops in their ongoing fight,” the source said.
Stealth jet targeted in separate strike 400 miles from frontline
Separately, Kyiv’s main military intelligence service said its forces had hit an ultra-modern Russian warplane stationed on an air base nearly 400 miles from the frontline, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reported.
It was not immediately clear what weapons were used, but the airfield’s distance from Ukraine suggests it was likely hit by drones.
If confirmed, it would mark Ukraine’s first known successful strike on a Su-57 fighter plane, AP added.
That is a twin-engine stealth fighter described as Moscow’s most advanced military aircraft.
The details of the latest Ukrainian strikes come after AP, quoting a US senator and a Western official, reported on Wednesday that Ukraine had used US weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”