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The UK has called for an independent investigation into the downing of an Azerbaijani plane thought to have been caused by a Russian missile
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Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Russia to provide clear explanations about the plane crash in Kazakhstan and believed to have been shot down by Russian air defences.
“The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened. Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement on X after the call.
Mr Putin said he was sorry “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” but stopped short of admitting Russian responsibility for the crash, which killed 38 people.
A spokesperson for the UK foreign, commonwealth and development office responded, saying: “President Putin’s statement fails to recognise that the reckless and irresponsible actions of the Russian state pose an acute and direct threat to the interests and national security of other states.”
Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
Rescue teams in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region came under repeated shelling from Russian forces on Sunday while responding to a fire in a residential area of Pokrovsk.
“Earlier [on Sunday], Russian forces targeted a private residential area in the city, striking a residential building. The impact sparked a fire that spread across approximately 120 square meters, which rescuers managed to contain,” Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
“However, due to repeated hostile fire and a threat to the lives of personnel, the fire extinguishing had to be suspended.
“Fortunately, there were no victims.”
Russia will scrap a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles because the United States has deployed such weapons in various regions around the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.
Russia’s move, long signalled, will kill off all that remains from one of the most significant arms control treaties of the Cold War, amid fears that the world’s two biggest nuclear powers could be entering a new arms race together with China.
Asked by state news agency RIA if Russia could withdraw from the New START treaty before its expiry in February 2026, Lavrov said that there were currently “no conditions” for a strategic dialogue with Washington.
“Today it is clear that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of short- and intermediate-range missiles is no longer practically viable and will have to be abandoned,” Lavrov said.
“The U.S. has arrogantly ignored the warnings of Russia and China and in practice has moved on to the deployment of weapons of this class in various regions of the world.”
Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.
He was left out of a prisoner swap that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan in August.
“The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time,” the State Department said in a statement.
“We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal, but were unable to.
“The Secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October.”
Fogel’s wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam, said in a statement they were grateful that the State Department “has finally acknowledged what we have known all along — that our husband and father, Marc Fogel, has and continues to be wrongfully detained.”
Oleh Syniehubov, Chief of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said via Telegram, “At 6pm in Dvorichna village, a civilian man was killed as a result of a drone dropping an explosive device.”
Syniehubov said Ukrainian positions near Vovchansk had repelled three enemy attacks in 24 hours.
He added: “One battle in the area is ongoing.”
26 civilians have been evacuated from Kupiansk and Borivske as fighting ramps up.
After a massive Russian attack, over 500,000 consumers in Kharkiv region were left without heat.
Azerbaijan says the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries ‘due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight’
Ukraine is facing an array of issues heading into 2025, underscored by anxiety about what the re-election of Donald Trump could mean for the country’s future. Tom Watling speaks to politicians, military experts and aid workers to discover what next year could hold
Leaders of Finland, Latvia and Estonia tell The Independent that Ukraine’s victory over Russia is vital to the defence of a poorly armed Europe
Russia’s foreign ministry said it had responded to a new package of European Union sanctions by significantly expanding a list of EU and EU member state officials banned from entering Russia.
The European Union on Monday imposed a 15th package of sanctions against Russia, including tougher measures against Chinese entities and more vessels from Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet.
Russia‘s foreign ministry said in a statement it had responded by adding more unnamed “representatives of security agencies, state and commercial organisations of EU countries, and citizens of EU member states responsible for providing military aid to Kyiv” to its stop list.
Joe Biden responded to a shouted question about whether Vladimir Putin should take responsibility for the crash while he was leaving church in St Croix in the US Virgin Islands, where he is on vacation.
“Apparently he did, but I haven’t spoken to him or my team,” Mr Biden replied.
The White House said on Friday it had seen early indications suggesting the airliner was possibly brought down by Russian air defence systems and added that Washington had offered assistance to the investigation into the crash.
MSNBC on Friday cited two unidentified US military sources as saying that there was American intelligence that Russia may have mistakenly shot down the airliner after misidentifying it as an incoming drone.
Volodymyr Zelensky expressed condolences to Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev about the Azeri plane that crashed in Kazakhstan and which Azeri sources have told Reuters is believed to have been shot down by Russian air defences.
“The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened. Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement on X after the call.
Shortly after, president Vladimir Putin apologised to Azerbaijan’s leader for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident” over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defences were fired against Ukrainian drones.
The extremely rare publicised apology from Putin was the closest Moscow had come to accepting some blame for Wednesday’s disaster, although the Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane, only noting that a criminal case had been opened.
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