Ukraine's latest war: warship attacked by Ukrainian unmanned motor boats, says Moscow; Russia must introduce a 'state of war', Wagner's boss calls in an angry speech (2023)

Smoke rises, buildings collapse, the city turns to ruin.

Here, satellite photos from the city of Bakhmut reveal war damage.

The photos were taken at the same locations in the city in May 2022 and again in May 2023.

Bakhmut, a small town in eastern Ukraine, was the backdrop of one of the fiercest battles since the invasion last February.

After months of fighting, the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which had been involved in most of the fighting, took control of the city last week.

But Ukraine, which says it vigorously defended the city to crush Russian forces in a so-called meat grinder, has yet to admit defeat and says the battle is not over.

“They destroyed Bakhmut. They didn't capture it," said one Ukrainian commander.

Russia "screwed up and withdrew" from Kiev early in the war, said the founder of the Wagner mercenary group.

In an interview with pro-Kremlin strategist Konstantin Dolgov, published on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said: "We approached Kiev, and then, as we speak Russian, we fucked our pants and withdrew. * trousers and we went back to Kherson, then to Izjum, Krasny Liman... And somehow everything didn't work out'.

Despite describing the invasion as a "special military operation" in the Donbass and Luhansk regions, Russian troops attacked Kiev from Belarus at the start of the invasion in February 2022.

But Russia withdrew after encountering strong Ukrainian resistance, followed by a counter-offensive that threatened to encircle its forces.

Russian forces also withdrew from Izyum in September - leading to the discovery of mass graves - and Kherson in November.

Mr. Prigozhin praised the Ukrainian army as "one of the strongest armies", adding: "They have a high level of organization, training, intelligence, they have different weapons.

“They work with every system – Soviet, NATO, whatever – and they are just as successful. And they are absolutely philosophical about the losses they incur.

“Everything is moving towards an overarching goal, as we had during the Great Patriotic War. But more technologically and better managed."

He also referred to the recent invasion of Belgorod - for which he blamed "saboteurs".

"Our defense is absolutely not prepared to thwart them in any way..."

Norway will support efforts to teach Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighters.

The announcement was made by Bjorn Arild Gram, the Minister of Defence.

However, he said the Norwegian government had not yet decided whether to supply its own F-16s.

This came after the US agreed to allow Western countries to send US fighter jets to Ukraine.

See below for our explanation of how F-16s can help Ukraine defend against a Russian invasion…

The Russian Ministry of Defense has published a video of a drone attack in the Black Sea.

Sky News was unable to independently verify the footage, which shows a small boat moving through the water under fire.

One of the shells hits the ship, causing a large explosion.

Russia claims that the attack on the ship - Ivan Hurs - was carried out by unmanned motor boats near the Bosphorus Strait.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the defense ministry said the warship was protecting the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines at the time.

The pipelines transport gas from Russia to Turkey, partly through the Black Sea.

"All enemy ships have been destroyed," the ministry added.

Here are some stills from the movie...

According to the White House, claims that US vehicles were used in the incursion into Russia's Belgorod region will be investigated by US officials.

Washington provided billions of dollars in military aid to Kiev, but sought to limit its use to defend Ukraine's territory.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released photos of what it claims are abandoned Western military vehicles used by Ukraine - including what Sky News has identified as a US-made Humvee.

However, some critics have claimed that some of the images may have been staged - pointing to details in the images that they believe suggest the scene may have been staged.

Moscow said yesterday that it had repelled the attack after two days of fighting the attackers who organized the cross-border attack.

Russia pointed the finger at the Ukrainian "subversives", but Kiev defended itself against the attack.

Two Russian separatist groups claimed responsibility for the attack.

As previously reported, Russia claimed today that Ukraine used naval drones to target one of its warships in the Black Sea.

Video of the alleged attack - which has been verified by Sky News - shows a small black boat being shot at and destroyed.

It is believed that sea drones - referred to by Russia as unmanned motor boats - have been used in the Black Sea before.

The 18-foot radio-controlled boats can go up to 50 mph.

They are believed to have been used in the attack on the Russian flagship Admiral Makarov last October.

Russia said 16 naval drones were involved in the attack.

In January, Vladimir Zelensky's United24 initiative was launched to assemble a fleet of 100 sea drones - each costing around $250,000 (£205,000).

Speaking to Sky News earlier, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and drone expert Paul Lushenko said naval drones were "just another axis of approach" to targeting Russian assets.

“There are so many target detection systems today, even on these excellent ships.

"So when you have several skills, how do you prioritize goals?"

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace was in Kiev today to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov.

He is the latest in a line of British politicians to visit Ukraine since the beginning of the war - who else has?

Boris Johnson

The former prime minister made several trips to Ukraine and was the first Western leader to visit Kiev since the Russian invasion.

He visited in April 2022, two months after Vladimir Putin ordered troops to cross the border, and again in August before resigning as prime minister in September.

Mr Johnson, who has become one of Ukraine's biggest supporters, has visited Ukraine since his resignation, making a surprise visit in January to reunite with Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ryszi Altar

The prime minister followed Johnson's footsteps with a brief visit to Ukraine shortly after entering No. 10.

He met with Mr Zelensky and pledged to continue supporting the UK, tweeting: "We are with you all the way."

Sunak's arrival was accompanied by the announcement of a £50m defense aid package, including anti-aircraft weapons and equipment to help Ukraine fight Iranian-supplied drones.

Sir Keira Starmera

The Labor leader declared his party's "unwavering support" for Ukraine during a visit in February.

He met with Zelensky just over a week after the Ukrainian president visited London to meet with Sunak and the king.

"I could have told him that if there was a change of government during the general election, support for Ukraine would remain the same," Sir Keir said.

Russia claimed that Ukraine attacked one of its warships in the Black Sea.

He says the attack on the ship - Ivan Hurs - was carried out by unmanned motor boats near the Bosphorus Strait.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the defense ministry said the warship was protecting the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines at the time.

The pipelines transport gas from Russia to Turkey, partly through the Black Sea.

"All enemy ships have been destroyed," the ministry added.

There have been no comments from Kiev at the moment.

The ministry cited the attack as justification for expanding Russian defense measures in the area.

The main Ukrainian Orthodox Church will move the date of Christmas celebrations to distance itself from Russia.

Ukrainian Christians, most of whom are Orthodox, traditionally celebrate Christmas on January 7 – as in other Orthodox countries such as Russia.

But the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) says it will move the date to December 25 - in line with Western countries.

"Today, the Julian calendar is believed to be associated with Russian church culture," the church wrote in a Facebook post announcing the move.

The main Catholic Church in Ukraine announced a similar change in February.

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, entered Oslo in a show of force at a time of heightened tensions between the Alliance and Russia.

The ship and her crew will conduct exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country's coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said.

Norwegian media reported that the aircraft carrier will sail north of the Arctic Circle.

Jonny Karlsen, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military command center, declined to comment on the reports.

Karlsen said the visit was "an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the United States and Norway and a signal of the credibility of collective defense and deterrence."

The Russian embassy in Oslo condemned the aircraft carrier's visit to Oslo.

A Facebook post said: "There are no issues in the (Arctic) North that require a military solution, no topics that require outside intervention."

Norway borders Russia in the Arctic and last year became Europe's largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian gas supplies.