Ukraine war live updates: Moscow says ties with China are at post-Cold War peak; Russia scrambles to deal with massive floods

The Kremlin hinted that the Russian foreign minister’s current trip to China is a precursor to a forthcoming meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“Of course, we can consider this trip [of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to China] as preparation for upcoming contacts at the highest level. Indeed, such contacts are being planned,” Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, according to a Google-translated report from Russian state news agency Tass.

He added it was premature to specify the timing of such a trip.

Ukraine’s military spy agency GUR struck a main production facility of a Russian aviation factory in Russia’s Voronezh region, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters.

Russia’s defense ministry said earlier on Tuesday that two drones were downed over the region.

The source said the 711th aviation repair plant in the town of Borisoglebsk was hit. It did not provide any details of the scale of the damage.

The town is at least 350 kilometers away from the Ukrainian government-held side of the front line in the northeast. Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.

Kyiv has recently stepped up attacks deep in Russia’s territory, targeting military facilities and energy infrastructure that helps Moscow’s war effort. It mostly uses various types of long-range domestically produced drones.

— Reuters

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin is being constantly updated about flooding in the southwest of the country, but has no plans to visit the flood-hit region of Orenburg.

“Floods, of course, remain the focus of attention, including the focus of the president’s attention. He continues to receive information regularly,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

“The situation remains difficult,” he told reporters.

Thousands of homes were flooded in the Orenburg region, as well as in neighboring Kazakhstan, when melting snow caused the Ural river to burst through a dam, flooding the city of Orsk and forcing thousands to flee their homes.

The Kremlin is keen to be seen to be responding to the flooding after residents in Orsk complained that the local authorities were not doing enough to help. On Tuesday, the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, flew to the region to monitor the situation after being tasked to do so by Putin, Reuters noted.

Peskov said Putin had also discussed the disaster with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

— Holly Ellyatt

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will be looking to bolster support for Ukraine when he meets with U.S. officials in Washington on Tuesday.

Amid concerns over war and funding fatigue, as well as the unpredictable outcome of the U.S. presidential election later this year, the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (the FCDO) said such support “remains vital for US and European security.”  

On Tuesday, Cameron will meet Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior U.S. government figures. The foreign secretary is expected to urge U.S. partners to unlock an additional $60 billion in funding for Ukraine that remains blocked by Republicans in Congress.

The U.K. noted that over $184 billion has already been committed to Ukraine by European nations, including over $15 billion from the U.K., in addition to the nearly $74 billion already committed by the U.S. The funding, it said, “is making a huge difference on the battlefields of Ukraine and the waters of the Black Sea. Ukraine has proven time and time again that with the right tools it can succeed.”

“Success for Ukraine and failure for Putin are vital for American and European security,” Cameron said in a statement.

“This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future. The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to re-draw European borders by force, and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Chinese President Xi Jinping has received Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Beijing Tuesday.

“We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the successes that you have achieved over the years and, above all, over the last decade under your leadership,” Lavrov told Xi, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

“We are sincerely pleased with these successes, since these are the successes of friends, although not everyone in the world shares this attitude, and are trying in every possible way to restrain the development of China. In fact, just like the development of Russia,” Lavrov commented.

Earlier Tuesday, Lavrov held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The ministers praised their strategic cooperation and pledged to deepen ties.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian air defense systems destroyed 20 “Shahed” attack drones as well as four missiles from S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, the head of Ukraine’s air force said Tuesday.

The drones were shot down over the Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Vinnytsia and Lviv regions, Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk said on Telegram. “Shahed” drones are Iranian-made one-way attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that have been a prominent feature in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Oleschuk did not mention what happened to the S-300 missiles. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in Oleschuk’s post.

— Holly Ellyatt

Floods are threatening Russia’s southern Kurgan region, putting more than 19,000 people’s lives at risk, the state news agency said on Tuesday, days after unprecedented flooding displaced thousands of people and inundated a city in the Ural region.

Citing the local branch of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, TASS news agency reported that at least 4,000 homes could also be affected. Emergency measures were put in place in the region, it added.

Some of the worst floods in decades have hit a string of Russian regions in the Ural Mountains and Siberia, alongside parts of neighbouring Kazakhstan in recent days, after Europe’s third-longest river burst through a dam.

In the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, angry residents asked President Vladimir Putin for help, complaining that their local officials had not done enough to help with the worst flooding on record.

The head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, flew to the region on Tuesday to monitor the situation after being tasked to do so by Putin, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kurenkov will also visit the Kurgan and Tyumen regions in the Urals, the ministry added.

“Preventive measures are already being taken there, rescue teams have been strengthened, and the forces and means of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations have been put on high alert,” the ministry said.

The Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several metres in just hours on Friday due to melt water, bursting through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk, 1,800 km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.

— Reuters

Relations between Russia and China have reached an “unprecedented level,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

“We see that thanks to the leaders, Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction have reached an unprecedented level, without any exaggeration,” Lavrov said, Russian news agencies reported.

“And with the re-election of Vladimir Putin, the continuity of the line for their comprehensive strengthening, of course, received additional guarantees,” he said during an official visit to Beijing Tuesday.

Lavrov said cooperation between the nations “exceeds, as our leaders have stated more than once, the military-political alliances of the Cold War, and is not directed against any third party.”

Russia and China have become increasingly close in recent years, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping noting that a deep friendship had developed between them.

China is seen as the senior partner in the relationship, however, and is seen as one of the few countries that could wield influence over Moscow when it comes to the war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, China has refused to condemn Russia’s 2022 invasion and has done little to bring about peace talks.

— Holly Ellyatt

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday alleged that a Ukrainian drone was shot down over one of its reactors, a day after Russia accused Ukraine of launching three drone attacks on the plant.

Russia has also accused Ukraine without evidence of facilitating last month’s terror attack in Moscow that killed 140 people. Terror group ISIS-K claimed responsibility.

Kyiv denies having anything to do with Sunday’s strikes or the terror attack, and on Monday Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company accused Moscow of orchestrating a “campaign of provocations.”

The head of Ukraine’s center for countering disinformation, Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, said on Monday that Russia’s attempts to blame Ukraine for the terror attack were “propaganda.”

“At the same time, Russia is striking the ZNPP with drones, pretending that the threat to the plant and nuclear safety is coming from Ukraine,” he added.

– Elliot Smith

Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina told lawmakers in Russia’s lower house of parliament that production in the country is being constrained by worker shortages, according to Reuters.

Nabiullina reportedly told the State Duma that Russia’s economy is continuing to grow at an impressive rate.

— Elliot Smith

The United Nations’ atomic energy watchdog sounded the alarm Sunday after drones struck a nuclear reactor at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the serious incident “endangered nuclear safety and security” as Europe’s largest nuclear plant was directly targeted by military strikes for the first time since November 2022. However, it added that there are no indications of critical damage at this stage.

“This is a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately,” IAEA Director General Grossi said.

Russian nuclear power company Rosatom said Ukraine’s military was behind the attack, without providing any evidence. Ukraine has denied any involvement and alleged Russia launched the drones.

— Elliot Smith