Ukraine updates: Kremlin warns of risk to European capitals

Ukraine's military intelligence service chief Kyrylo Budanov says there have been several attempts to assassinate Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

"But as you can see, they were unsuccessful," Budanov told New Voice, a Ukrainian website.

The intelligence chief did not provide details or specify if his agents, or other Ukrainian agencies, might have been involved in the plots.

Budanov claimed that in May 2022, months after Putin ordered the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was a failed assassination attempt by men from the Caucasus. There is no evidence of this.

The Ukrainian spy chief said Putin was no longer as popular among Russia's elite, but as he has been in power for more than 20 years, Russians are afraid of alternatives.

He said when Putin dies, the public response could be similar to the death of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1953.

"Their whole world collapsed, they didn't know how to go on living," Budanov said.

A Russian combat drone flew into Belarus during an attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said.

According to the Ukrainian military, four Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down Friday night over the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. 

"The fifth left Ukrainian airspace towards the Gomel region in Belarus," Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Belarusian military blog Hajun Project confirmed the incident, saying the Russian drone flew over Belarus for three hours, reaching the northeastern city of Vitebsk. 

It was unclear what eventually happened to the drone, which the blog said was chased by a Belarusian fighter jet and helicopter. 

Belarus is considered Russia's closest ally. Its President Alexander Lukashenko has helped Russian forces deploy against Ukraine without directly intervening in the conflict.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris embraced Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy upon his landing in Ireland for a bilateral meeting.

The Ukrainian president is making the visit as he heads back from Washington, where he attended a summit marking NATO's 75th anniversary.

Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he and the Irish leader "discussed support for Ukraine and continued cooperation in demining and cybersecurity."

He also thanked Ireland for "supporting the peace summit in Switzerland" and Harris for "his strong personal attention and commitment to the efforts to bring the (Ukrainian) children home."

Harris expressed Ireland's full support for Ukraine's bid to join the EU and offered his condolences for the citizens Ukraine has lost in the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy was also asked about US President Joe Biden mistakenly referring to him as "President Putin" during a summit in Washington.

He replied: "It's a mistake. I think United States gave a lot of support for Ukrainians. We can forget some mistakes, I think so."

The Kremlin warned that the deployment of US missiles in Germany could make European capitals targets for Russian missiles in a repeat of Cold War-style confrontation.

In a video posted by a Russian state television reporter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a "paradox" in which "Europe is a target for our missiles, our country is a target for US missiles in Europe."

"We have enough capacity to contain these missiles, but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries," he said, suggesting that such a confrontation could undermine Europe as a whole.

Peskov noted that during the Cold War, American missiles were aimed at Russia, while Russian missiles were aimed at Europe, making the continent's countries the main victims of any potential conflict.

The White House announced Wednesday during a NATO summit that it would station long-range weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, in Germany on a regular basis starting in 2026 as a deterrent.

dh/dj (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)