Ukraine Russia breaking news today: Putin’s only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov catches fire

A former Russian deputy prime minister was injured in a Ukrainian attack on Donetsk on Wednesday, Russian news agencies reported.

Dmitry Rogozin, who has been giving military advice to two occupied regions of Ukraine which Russia has claimed as its territory, was hurt but his life was not in danger, the state-owned Tass agency reported, quoting an aide of Vladimir Putin’s former second-in-command.

Also hurt was Vitaly Khotsenko, the head of government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, his press secretary was reported as saying.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a call today with Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, thanked Ankara’s efforts to ensure continuation of the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative, the State Department said.

The two diplomatic leaders also underscored the importance of Nato unity in supporting Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion, the State Department said, adding Blinken also expressed concern over the situation in Syria.

Turkey has played a broker role in the war so far, accomodating the discussion over the grain deal which ended a Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports, and hosting peace talks earlier this year.

German federal prosecutors have given more details about an employee of Berlin’s foreign intelligence service (BND) arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia.

Police arrested the suspect, a German citizen identified as Carsten L, on Wednesday in the German capital, the federal prosecutors office said. It said police also raided his flat and workplace as well as those of another person.

“The accused is suspected of state treason,” federal prosecutors said in a statement. “In 2022, he shared information that he came by in the course of his work with a Russian intelligence agency. The content is considered a state secret.”

In a separate statement, the BND said the employee had been placed in pre-trial detention and searches at two of its offices had been carried out.

German authorities have warned of likely heightened Russian spying given the Kremlin’s stand-off with the West over its invasion of Ukraine. The German government expelled 40 Russian “spies” in April, according to the domestic intelligence agency.

Ukrainians hailed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime visit to the United States as a success, while Russian officials said on Thursday that it only fuelled the conflict.

The US has announced a new $1.8bn (£1.49bn) military aid package, including supplies of the Patriot air defence systems, the most powerful such weapons to be delivered to Ukraine yet.

“We are returning from Washington with good results, with things that will really help,” Mr Zelensky said on a video message shared on Thursday night on his Telegram account. He thanked President Joe Biden and the US Congress for supporting Ukraine‘s fight against Russia.

Neither Mr Zelensky nor any other Ukrainian authorities have confirmed if he is already back in Kyiv. He stopped in Poland on the return trip from the US.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda for nearly two hours of talks during his trip home from the United States.

“We summed up the year, which brought historic challenges due to a full-scale war,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram after meeting Mr Duda in Rzeszow, southeastern Poland.

“We also discussed strategic plans for the future, bilateral relations and interactions at the international level in 2023.”

Mr Zelensky made his first foreign trip aboard since the Russian invasion in February. While the United States is strategically Kyiv’s most important ally, Poland is Ukraine’s neighbour and the two countries have deep historical ties.

Video footage showed Mr Duda and Mr Zelensky embracing warmly as the Ukrainian’s plane was greeted by Polish officials.

“They talked for a long time, almost two hours. First of all, about President Zelensky‘s visit to the United States and the importance of the visit for support for Ukraine, but also about bilateral relations between Poland and Ukraine,” Pawel Szrot, Mr Duda’s top aide said.

Russia has claimed Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime visit to Washington proves he is not “striving for peace” in Ukraine, as it coincides with a $1.8bn (£1.5bn) aid package from the United States (Alastair Jamieson writes).

The Ukrainian president received thunderous applause from members of Congress during his short, hastily-organised trip – his first outside the country since Russian troops invaded on 24 February.

He returned to Kyiv on Thursday after a brief stop in Poland where greeted president Andrzej Duda.

The new US deal includes supplies of the Patriot air defence systems, the most powerful such weapons yet delivered to Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin said the Patriot air defence the US is supplying to Ukraine was an old weapons system that Russia would be able to counter.

Mr Putin told reporters that the Patriot was “quite old” and did not work like Russia’s S-300 system.

“OK, we will take this into account and an antidote will always be found,” he said.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky told US Congress yesterday that US aid to his country was an investment in democracy. He said the Patriot system was an important step in creating an air shield.

Germany’s federal prosecutors said they had arrested an employee of the foreign intelligence service (BND) on suspicion of spying for Russia.

BND head Bruno Kahl said that discretion was key, as any detail of the investigation that was made public could give the “opponent an advantage in its intent to harm Germany”.

“With Russia, we are dealing with an actor where we must reckon with its ruthlessness and willingness to be violent.”