IOC suspends Russian Olympic Committee; Ukraine claims to have foiled attempted incursion into Sumy; Putin visits Kyrgystan
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognising regional organisations from four territories annexed from Ukraine. The Russian Olympic Committee denounced the move, saying it was “yet another counterproductive, politically motivated decision”.
Ukraine claims it thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian saboteur group to cross its border in the north-eastern Sumy region. Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, said: “The saboteurs tried to cross the state border of Ukraine and intended to move further towards one of the civilian critical infrastructure facilities. He said the eight-member group was repelled by Ukrainian fire and there were no losses among Ukrainian troops, Reuters reports.
Russia expects its military and defence cooperation with Kyrgyzstan to expand, Vladimir Putin said during a visit to a Russian airbase near the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, in his first trip outside Russia since the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukraine claims to have downed 28 of 33 drones launched at its territory overnight by Russia. Port infrastructure was damaged and a woman in Odesa was injured by one of the drones that got through. Some of the drones were aimed at ports on the Danube.
A photograph distributed by the general prosecutor’s office of Ukraine is said to show damage to a grain warehouse as a result of a drone strike. “Unfortunately, there was a hit on port infrastructure. A grain storage facility was damaged, there is damage directly to the grain itself,” Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the southern military command, told an online briefing.
Romania’s defence ministry reported the discovery of a drone crater near the Nato member’s border with Ukraine after the Russian attacks.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed Ukraine was holding ground in Avdviika, which appears to have been the target of concerted Russian military efforts over the last few days. On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had redirected large numbers of troops and equipment to Avdiivka in their largest attack on the town since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Belgorod’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said three people including a small child had been killed by falling debris from a drone over Russia. Earlier he claimed that air defence had downed several Ukrainian drones over the region.
Antti Pelttari, Finland’s security intelligence service director, has said his country cannot rule out the possibility that a “state actor” was involved in damaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline and a parallel telecoms cable. Speaking at Nato headquarters, Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said the security of undersea infrastructure was “one of the most acute topics at the moment for Estonia and Finland”.
The Czech Republic’s foreign ministry will summon Russia’s ambassador over Russian attacks on the Ukrainian hamlet of Hroza earlier this month.
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