Ukraine updates: Putin says Kursk attack won't deter Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin  arrived in Mongolia for a state visit on Monday.

The country is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC),  which last year issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president for allegedly allowing the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children since the Russian invasion in 2022. 

Ukraine has urged Mongolia to arrest Putin, based on the ICC warrant.

Putin's plane landed in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, Russian state television showed. He is due to hold talks with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Tuesday.

Mongolia is on the route of a planned gas pipeline, which would connect Russia and China.

In March 2023, the ICC said it had "reasonable grounds to believe" that Putin "bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation" to Russia of Ukrainian children living in areas of the country that Russian forces took control of. 

The trip to Mongolia is Putin's first visit to an ICC member since the arrest warrant was issued. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated once again his demand to Western allies to supply Kyiv with more arms to strike deep inside Russia.

Following a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who was visiting Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, Zelensky said Kyiv felt more "positive" about securing such permissions.

"For today, only to allow – is also not enough," he said, adding that allies should ensure deliveries of weapons to use for such attacks. "We didn't get everything we would like to use," Zelenskyy added.

Meanwhile, Schoof vowed to "keep providing air defense equipment, and F-16s, and funding for munitions." He also promised to provide Ukraine with around €200 million (approximately $221.4 million) in support to repair energy infrastructure and for humanitarian assistance.

Moscow has detained a senior Russian military commander in a fraud case on Monday, the latest in a series of arrests targeting military personnel over corruption charges.

Major General Valery Mumindzhanov was detained on suspicion of receiving a bribe worth over 20 million rubles ($223,000), Russia's investigative committee said. He is the deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District.

The committee says Mumindzhanov has helped arrange state contracts for private companies which supplied army uniforms. The uniforms in question include those for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

"During the investigation it was established that Muminjanov and his family members own numerous real estate properties in Moscow and Voronezh worth more than 120 million rubles, the legality of which is being checked," the committee said.

If convicted, Muminjanov faces up to 15 years in prison.

Russia's Defense Ministry has been marred by repeated corruption scandals for decades. But such cases have come under special scrutiny since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Since April, Russian authorities have arrested at least 10 military officials. Analysts say there is an ongoing "purge" of inefficient or corrupt army leaders. 

Last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with economist Andrei Belousov. The reshuffle was widely viewed as an attempt to increase the armed forces' efficiency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine's incursion into the border region of Kursk will not stop his offensive in eastern Ukraine.

"Their calculation was to stop our offensive actions in key parts of the Donbas," Putin told school children during a visit to Siberia, adding: "We have to, of course, deal with these bandits who entered the Russian Federation."

In early August, Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Kursk, capturing dozens of towns and villages in recent weeks.

Russia unleashed a new wave of missile strikes on Kyiv and the city of Sumy in the northeast overnight.

The Ukrainian military said it had shot down some 22 drones over the capital and the surrounding area late Sunday and early Monday, hours before the school year was set to start.

"Overnight, Russia fired a total of 35 missiles, including ballistic ones, and 23 drones at Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The airforce said it had down nine ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy said a mosque in the capital was one of the buildings damaged in the latest barrage as explosions could be heard throughout the city.

Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak noted that it was the third year Ukrainian children would be starting school under the sound of artillery.

 "Today's morning -- the morning the kids go back to school -- was no exception," Podolyak said. 

"Russia continues to deliberately attack civilians, critical infrastructure," he added. 

es/lo (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)