Russia’s war in Ukraine live: Kiev says its forces shot down one of Putin’s most advanced warplanes

Russia has placed former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko on its wanted list, Russian state media reported, citing the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Russian state news agency Tass said Ms Tymoshenko was wanted on unspecified criminal charges.

He reportedly joins Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, on the same list, which also includes officials and lawmakers from Ukraine and NATO countries.

Ms. Tymoshenko and her Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party did not comment on Saturday.

Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported that both Mr Zelensky and Mr Poroshenko had been on the list since at least late February.

On Sunday, Ukraine said its forces had shot down an ultra-modern Russian warplane stationed at an air base nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the front lines, after its Western allies allowed Kiev to use the weapon for limited strikes inside Russia.

Kiev’s main military intelligence service released satellite photos it said showed the results of the attack. If confirmed, it would be Ukraine’s first known successful strike against a Su-57 fighter jet, a twin-engine stealth fighter that is billed as Moscow’s most advanced military aircraft.

One photo shows traces of black soot and small craters on the concrete strip around the parked plane. The strike on Saturday took place at the Akhtubinsk base in southern Russia, about 589 kilometers (366 miles) from the front line, according to the Main Intelligence Division of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

It was not immediately clear what weapon was used, but the airfield’s distance from Ukraine suggests it was likely hit by drones.

The strike comes after the United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to strike several targets on Russian soil with long-range weapons they supply to Kiev.

The Ukrainian agency said the aircraft, which can carry stealth missiles hundreds of kilometers away, was among “a limited number” of its type in Moscow’s arsenal. According to Russian agencies, Moscow’s armed forces acquired more than 10 new Su-57s last year, and 76 are planned to be produced by 2028.

Moscow did not immediately comment on these reports. Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces shot down three Ukrainian planes in the Astrakhan region, where the Akhtubinsk airstrip is located.

U.S. officials expect the Group of Seven (G7) rich democracies next week to send a stern new warning to small Chinese banks to stop helping Russia evade Western sanctions, two people familiar with the matter said.

Leaders gathered for a June 13-15 summit in Italy, hosted by Prime Minister George Maloney, will focus their private meetings on the growing threat of Sino-Russian trade and what to do about the fight in Ukraine.

Those talks are likely to be followed by public announcements about the issue involving Chinese banks, according to a US official involved in planning the event and another person briefed on the matter.

The United States and its G7 partners – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – do not plan to take any immediate punitive action against any bank during the summit, such as restricting or cutting off access to the Swift messaging system. dollar.

Ukrainian forces first shot down a latest-generation Russian Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet at a Russian airbase, Kiev’s defense intelligence agency GUR said on Sunday, showing satellite images confirming the attack.

In the Telegram post, GUR did not specify how the Su-57 was hit or which unit of the Ukrainian military.

A popular Russian pro-war military blogger who calls himself Fighterbomber and focuses on aviation said the report of the attack on the Su-57 was correct and that it was shot down by a drone.

GUR said the plane was parked at the Akhtubinsk airfield, which it said was 589 kilometers (366 miles) from Ukraine’s front line between Ukrainian and Russian invasion forces.

Russia has put former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on its wanted list, Russian state media reported, citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ database.

According to Russian state news agency Tass, Tymoshenko was wanted on unspecified criminal charges.

He reportedly joins Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, on the same list, which also includes a number of officials and MPs from Ukraine and NATO countries.

Tymoshenko and his Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party did not comment on Saturday.

Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported that both Zelensky and Poroshenko had been on the list since at least late February.

The Moscow court sent the accused French citizen, who is accused of collecting information on military matters in Russia, to prison pending investigation and trial.

Laurent Vinatier was arrested in the Russian capital on Thursday as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the country’s possible deployment of troops to Ukraine.

The authorities accused Mr. Vinatieu of failing to register as a “foreign agent” to gather information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to harm the country’s security.

They did not provide details of the allegations, other than to say that Mr. Vinatie traveled to Russia on several occasions to gather the information. Under Russian law, this is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

Mr. Vinatieh appeared in court on Friday. Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted his lawyer in the courtroom as admitting his guilt and claiming he was simply unaware of the request.

As Russia continues to wage war on Ukrainian territories, many families have fled their war-torn cities in a desperate attempt to escape.

A family of refugees now living in the city of Kharkiv recalled the horrifying story of the arrival of Russian soldiers at the last minute of their evacuation.

The mother and her five children lived in the village of Zakharivka, just a few miles from Russian forces advancing across the border into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. The region has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks.

“Mommy, when will this war end?” Nine-year-old Sasha asked his mother.

Read Tom Watling’s full report on the family’s escape.

Russia has placed former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko on its wanted list, Russian state media reported, citing the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Russian state news agency Tass said Ms Tymoshenko was wanted on unspecified criminal charges.

He reportedly joins Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, on the same list, which also includes officials and lawmakers from Ukraine and NATO countries.

Ms. Tymoshenko and her Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party did not comment on Saturday.

Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported that both Mr Zelensky and Mr Poroshenko had been on the list since at least late February.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that the Russian army had failed in the attack on Kharkiv.

“It is a very important result that the Russian army failed. The direction is reinforced. And it will become even stronger,” said Zelensky.

Russia started its offensive in Kharkiv region on May 10, where it managed to advance up to 10 km. However, the Ukrainian push stopped the advance of the Russian military near the first line of defense.

“Now we limit them as much as possible and destroy the Russian units that enter our land and terrorize the Kharkiv region,” he said.