TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine will be looking to conduct more attacks on Russian ships, said Ukraine's Digital Transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who has played a key role in building the country's drone industry, after a recent series of sea raids. READ MORE BELOW

• DPRK leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin's defense minister. READ MORE BELOW

• South Korea and the U.S. said that military cooperation between DPRK and Russia violated UN sanctions against Pyongyang and that the allies would ensure there was a price to pay.

• Moscow has dismissed as "politically motivated" the conviction of Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin in a U.S. court for participating in a $93 million insider-trading scheme, the state news agency RIA reported.

• Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said they planned to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, including one belonging to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

• Russian air defenses shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Kaluga and Tver region, Russian Defense Ministry said.

• The U.S. expects to announce additional aid to Ukraine next week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, while announcing President Joe Biden would host Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday at the White House.

• A Ukrainian court ordered former government minister Nestor Shufrych detained for 60 days with no option of bail on suspicion of espousing pro-Russian sentiments and committing treason. 

• Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports after the European Commission decided not to extend its ban on imports into Ukraine's five EU neighbors.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine steps up naval strategy in Black Sea

Ukraine will be carrying out more attacks on Russian ships, said a Ukrainian minister who has played a key role in building the country's drone industry after a recent series of sea raids.

"There will be more drones, more attacks, and fewer Russian ships. That's for sure," Digital Transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.

This week, Ukraine has made several attacks using sea drones and missiles on Russia's Black Sea fleet in and around the Crimean peninsula, which became part of Russia in 2014.

In a sign of growing confidence, Ukraine has recently claimed responsibility for attacks on Crimea, having previously not directly confirmed involvement in blasts at military targets.

Russia has acknowledged a Ukrainian missile attack that damaged a warship and a submarine this week, but says it has repelled all sea drone attacks.

On Thursday, Fedorov posted a grainy video on social media that appeared to be filmed from a vessel heading towards a much larger warship, followed by an explosion.

He said at the time that attack was the work of Ukrainian systems paid for by funds from a government-run crowdfunding platform that raises money for equipment including drones. Fedorov also said Ukraine's aerial drone production had increased by over 100 times in 2023 from last year.

Kim gets tour of Russian military hardware

Meanwhile, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin's defense minister.

Kim was greeted in Russia's Knevichi airfield, about 50 km from the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The DPRK leader then inspected a guard of honor.

The U.S. and South Korea fear the revival of Moscow's friendship with Pyongyang could give Kim access to some of Russia's sensitive missile and other technology while helping arm Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.

Shoigu showed Kim Russia's strategic bombers - the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 - which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of Russia's nuclear air attack force, Russia's defense ministry said.

"It can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again," Shoigu told Kim of one aircraft.

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