Updates: Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Denmark

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked his allies in Europe for pledges of military aid and help with rebuilding the war battered country.

"There are planes for Ukraine. There is additional armoured technology and we are strengthening air defenses," Zelenskyy said in his daily video speech on Tuesday.

His address was recorded on a train that Zelensky took on his return journey to Kyiv after a whistlestop series of visits to EU countries.

He visited Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and finally Greece, where he met several heads of state and government from the Balkan Region.

A major development came with Denmark and the Netherlands promised delivery of F-16 fighter jets, while Greece said it would help in the train Ukrainian pilots while also offering continued military aid and reconstruction support.

Polish President Andrzej Duda confirmed Tuesday that Russia has begun shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus.

Duda made his comments at a joint news conference with visiting Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

"I was telling President (de Sousa) about the implementation of the declarations by Vladimir Putin that Russia's tactical nuclear weapons will be moved to the territory of Belarus," the Polish president said.

"Indeed, this process is taking place, we are seeing that," Duda said. "It is changing the architecture of security in our immediate neighborhood, but also of the eastern flank of NATO, at the same time. So in fact it is changing the situation for all of the alliance."

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that Moscow had already shipped some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus after announcing the plan in March. The US and NATO haven't confirmed the move.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced Moscow's rhetoric as "dangerous and reckless," but said in July that the alliance hadn't seen any change in Russia's nuclear posture.

Ukraine said law enforcement officials were conducting simultaneous raids on more than 200 military enlistment offices and military medical commissions as part of a sweeping corruption probe coinciding with its key counteroffensive.

"Law enforcement officers have uncovered large-scale corruption schemes in almost all regions of the country. Currently, more than 200 simultaneous searches are being conducted in all regions of the country" at recruitment facilities and military medical commissions, the office of the prosecutor general said in a statement.

According to the investigators, in exchange for bribes, the officials helped citizens to register their disability or recognized them as temporarily unfit for service. This made it possible to postpone or avoid conscription for military service.

Earlier in August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed officials responsible for conscription in all regions of the country, citing allegations of corruption which he said could amount to treason.

 

Denmark has begun training eight Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets as part of its commitment to donate aircraft to Ukraine, the Danish armed forces said.

Denmark and the Netherlands on Sunday pledged to donate F-16s to Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding wish by Ukraine that it says will help strengthen air defenses and help its counter-offensive against Russia's 2022 invasion.

The eight pilots have arrived at the Danish military air base in Skrydstrup along with 65 personnel who will be trained in maintaining and servicing the jets, the Danish armed forces said in a statement.

Denmark will supply Ukraine with 19 F-16 jets and will deliver the first six jets around New Year. Denmark currently has 43 F-16 jets and has not publicly disclosed how many of them are active, the Danish statement said.

The leaders of 11 countries in the Balkans and eastern Europe signed a joint declaration in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine during a summit in Athens.

Under the Athens Declaration, signed in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the countries expressed their "unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, based on the values of democracy and rule of law" in the face of Russia's aggression.

Apart from Ukraine, the document was signed by the leaders of Serbia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Croatia, as well as Greece, which was hosting the event. European Council President Charles Michel and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended.

The leaders also expressed their "support and appreciation for the earnest efforts by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in setting out the principles for peace in line with the UN Charter, in his Peace Formula."

Zelenskyy visited Athens to attend the informal meeting, concluding a European tour with previous stops in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. 

 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will consider Russia's objections to its jurisdiction in a genocide case brought by Ukraine in hearings starting in September. 

Shortly after the start of Russia's war in Ukraine last year, Kyiv accused Moscow of illegally trying to justify the war by falsely claiming genocide.

In a March preliminary ruling, the court ordered Russia to suspend its military operations immediately.

Russia, however, argued the ICJ  "did not have jurisdiction" because Ukraine's request fell outside the genocide convention, which forms the basis for Ukraine's claim and does not regulate the use of force between states.

Russia said "it was acting in self-defense" to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

The court said it would consider Russia's objections from 18 September.

During the hearings, 33 other nations, including Ukraine,  Britain, Canada, Australia and most European Union member states, will provide their perspectives on the case.

Ukrainian saboteurs were behind two recent drone attacks targeting parked bomber aircraft at air bases inside Russia, coordinating with Ukrainian military intelligence, Ukrainian media claimed, citing officials.

Media reports referred to two separate attacks. One occurred last Saturday on the Soltsy air base in the Novgorod region in northwestern Russia, some 700 kilometers (360 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.

In its daily update on the war on Tuesday, the British Ministry of Defence suggested the attack was carried out from inside Russian territory.

The other attack happened on Monday and targeted the Shaikovka air base in the southwestern Kaluga region, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of the Ukrainian border.

Kyiv's military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told Ukraine's LIGA.net news outlet that at least one Russian warplane was damaged in the latter attack. He added that the strike was carried out in close coordination with Ukrainian military intelligence.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said the Saturday attack damaged one aircraft.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Ukraine on Friday this week, Turkish diplomatic sources told the state news agency Anadolu.

The planned visit comes as tensions rise between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, since Moscow pulled out of a United Nations-brokered deal which allowed Kyiv for a year to export its grains via the corridor amid the fighting.

The deal was also brokered last summer with the help of Turkey, which has been trying to position itself as a mediator between the two parties, since the start of the war in February 2022.

The Russian military has laid a massive landmine belt in southeastern Ukraine, which is now hampering Ukrainian soldiers, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters on Tuesday.

Speaking during a press conference alongside her Estonian counterpart in Berlin, Baerbock referred to Kyiv's requests for equipment to help with getting across the said belt.

"We are currently discussing how we can meet this request, not only as Germans but jointly with other partners," Baerbock said.

The belt is mostly located in eastern Ukraine, Baerbock said, noting that it was nearly the size of western Germany.

Ukraine launched earlier this summer its long-awaited counteroffensive, in an effort to win back territories of its land currently under Russian control.

Russia said on Tuesday it had destroyed a US-made military speedboat near the Black Sea's Snake Island.

The Russian Defense ministry said the boat was destroyed by its forces, a claim which could not be independently verified.

Russia captured Snake Island in the first hours of its invasion of Ukraine last year, withdrawing some four months later.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described his meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as "open, honest and fruitful."

Zelenskyy is visiting Greece, where the meeting with Vucic was scheduled to take place.

"Good conversation on respect for the UN Charter and the inviolability of borders," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging platform, in a post including a photo of himself shaking hands with Vucic.

He also said the two leaders discussed "our nations’ shared future in the common European home" and "developing our relations, that is in our mutual interest."

Russia said on Tuesday it had destroyed a Ukrainian military "reconnaissance boat" near Russian gas infrastructure in the Black Sea.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the boat was destroyed by a Sukhoi Su-30sm jet from its Black Sea Fleet in "the area of Russian gas production facilities in the Black Sea.

The ministry gave no details about the kind of boat or the exact time and date of the incident.

Both sides have escalated their attacks in the Black Sea since Russia's July withdrawal from the United Nations-brokered deal which had allowed Ukraine to safely export its grain through the shipping hub during the war.

Russia has accused Kyiv of flying two Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region, saying it shot them down with no casualties.

The Russian Defense Ministry added on Tuesday that two more Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine were also shot down.

"Two drones were detected and destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Moscow region," the ministry said. The Bryansk drones were also brought down using jamming systems, with no casualties reported.

Air space over Moscow was briefly closed, with three airports in the capital suspending flights, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

Ukraine made no comment on the drone attack. The country rarely acknowledges drone strikes on Russian territories or areas controlled by Russia.

A Reuters reporter in the town of Krasnogorsk in the Moscow region reported seeing minor damage to tiling on a high-rise residential building. He also saw shattered glass exterior window panes in a few of the building's apartments.

The British Ministry of Defence has suggested that some uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks on Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory.

In its daily update on the war on Tuesday, the UK referred to a particular attack on August 19 last week, targeting a medium bomber of Russia's Long Range Aviation (LRA) at Soltsky-2 Airbase. The attack took place in Novgorod Oblast, which lies some 650 kilometers from Ukraine's border.

"This is at least the third successful attack on LRA airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country," the ministry said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

It added that if Russia's claims about the attack are true, it would "add weight to the assessment" that some of the UAV attacks on Russia are being launched from inside the country.

"Copter UAVs are unlikely to have the range to reach Soltsky-2 from outside Russia," the ministry added.

rmt/fb (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)