Live: Australia says would consider sending troops to join peacekeeping mission in Ukraine

France to tap frozen Russian assets for 195 million euros this year, minister says

France will use interest from frozen Russian assets to fund another 195 million euros in arms for Ukraine, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in a newspaper interview.

France also plans to hand over some of its older armoured fighting vehicles, such as its AMX-10RC and personnel carriers, Lecournu told La Tribune weekend newspaper.

“Thanks to interest from frozen Russian assets, we will also tap new funds worth 195 million euros,” Lecournu said, adding that it would be used for 155-mm artillery shells and glide bombs for Mirage 2000 fighter jets France has given Ukraine.

The Group of Seven powers agreed last year to provide Ukraine with $50 billion via a series of bilateral loans that Kyiv could pay off using windfall profits from $300 billion of frozen Russian state assets.

Russia claims capture of village in Ukraine’s Sumy region

Russia on Sunday claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region after mounting a cross-border offensive while battling Ukrainian troops in its Kursk region.

The defence ministry said in a briefing that its forces in a counter-offensive had “liberated” the small village of Novenke in Sumy region near the border with Russia’s Kursk region.

Russia also said that its forces had taken back the village of Lebedevka in the Kursk region, where it said it was “continuing to rout Ukrainian units”.

Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in last August, seizing territory viewed by Kyiv as a potential bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. But Russia has since taken back more than two-thirds of the territory.

Recent Russian attacks have reportedly cut off supply routes for Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, although Kyiv has not confirmed this. Kyiv on Saturday denied that Russian forces had made any major breakthrough.

Ukrainian drone hits industrial plant deep inside Russia

A Ukrainian drone hit an industrial facility overnight in Russia’s Volga river region of Chuvashia, some 1,300 km (800 miles) from the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said on Sunday.

The strike – one of the deepest yet into Russia by a Ukrainian drone – caused no casualties, Chuvashia Governor Oleg Nikolayev said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Emergency services were at the scene at the Kombinat Burevestnik facility in the region’s capital, Cheboksaray, Nikolayev added. He provided no further details about the strike and the extent of any damage was unclear.

Russian authorities said earlier that air defence units had destroyed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight, with no injuries or other damage reported.

Ukraine’s air defences down 73 of 119 Russian drones, Kyiv says

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 73 of 119 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Sunday, the air force said.

It said that 37 drones were “lost”, in reference to the military’s use of electronic warfare to redirect them. The military said damage was recorded in six Ukrainian regions but provided no immediate details.

Russia says it downed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight with no injuries or damage reported, Russian authorities said on Sunday.

The Russian defence ministry said that 52 of the drones were destroyed over the border Belgorod region, while 13 were over the Lipetsk region and nine were over the Rostov region, both in Russia’s southwest.

The rest of the Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia’s Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan and Kursk regions.

Governors of the Lipetsk and Ryazan regions said overnight that their regions were under air raid alerts but they did not report any damage or injuries.

Unofficial Russian news Telegram channels reported that the Ukrainian attack on Ryazan and Lipetsk targeted local oil refineries.

Australia says would consider sending troops to join peacekeeping mission in Ukraine

 Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday his country would consider taking part in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine but stressed it was too early for any deployment.

The Australian leader spoke Saturday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has joined France in trying to rally a “coalition of the willing” to protect any ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Both of our nations are very clear about our support for Ukraine, and it of course is too early – you can’t have peacekeeping forces without having peace,” Albanese told a news conference. 

“I certainly have said very clearly, publicly, repeatedly, that we would give consideration to participating in any peacekeeping mission in the Ukraine.”