Ukraine war latest: US raises threat level at European military bases; British volunteer medic dies in Ukraine (2024)

These photographs show Ukrainian servicemen of the Ochi reconnaissance unit launching a Furia drone to fly over Russian frontline positions in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

The Furia made its first flight in 2014 and was commissioned by the Ukrainian armed forces in 2020.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, is to chair theUS-basedHuman Rights Foundation (HRF).

The HRFcampaigns against authoritarian leaders around the world as well asproviding humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Alexei Navalny died at the age of 47 in an Arcticprison in February after being sentenced to long jail terms onfraud and extremism charges.

He, the West and his supporters said the charges were politically motivated.

MrsNavalnaya, who does not live in Russia, said she was "deeply honoured" to be offered the role with the HRF, describing herself as "someone who has personally witnessed the threatdictatorships pose to our loved ones and the world at large".

Herappointment will allow the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by her late husband, to share its experience in conductinghigh-profile investigations and organising the work ofactivists more widely, she added.

The US military has increased security protection measures at its bases across Europe.

The threat level is being raised to "Charlie" -the second-highest level for service members.

It is activated when an "incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating that some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely".

US officials said a combination of events had led to the move.

These include elections in the UK and France, the forthcoming Paris Olympics, other major sporting events, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Service members and their families should maintain a lower profile and be extra aware of their surroundings, one official said.

The Russian-appointed governor of the Crimean port of Sevastopol says Russia has shot down four aerial targets over Crimea.

Mikhail Razvozhayev made the comments on hisTelegram channel.

Fragments of the downed targets are said to have fallen in the coastal area andnear Balaklava, which is part of the Sevastopol agglomeration.

Images have been released of aNational Prayer Breakfast held in Kyiv over the weekend.

The event was attended by 836 people from 15 countries, including representatives of 12 denominations, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said.

The president was there, alongside Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, members of parliament, church leaders, volunteers, chaplains, military personnel, veterans and athletes.

Mr Zelenskyy said the gathering comprised people with different views who were united by the desire to "ensure a true victory of good over evil for Ukraine", his office said.

Participants were addressed by the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and former US vice president Mike Pence.

Mr Pence said the Ukrainian people had resisted invasion by a nation four times larger than it in population and 10 times more economically powerful.

A similar event is held every year in Washington DC.

Russia has been asked to stop interfering withEuropean satellite systems - with air traffic control said to have been endangered.

Last week a UN body - theInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU) -reviewed a series of complaints from Ukraine and four EuropeanUnion countries - France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg - about alleged interference in recent months.

They claimedGPSsignals had been jammed, air traffic control compromised andchildren's TV channelsinterruptedto show violent images of the Ukrainewar.

The ITU, based in Geneva, "expressed its grave concern regarding the use ofsignals to cause intentional harmful interference".

It added that disruptions to French and Swedish satellitenetworks "seemed to originate from earth station(s) located inthe areas of Moscow, Kaliningrad and Pavlovka".

It described the incidents as "extremely worrisome and unacceptable" and has asked Russia to stop immediately and toinvestigate.

The ITU has also suggested a meeting between Russia and the affected countries.

Moscow has denies breaking ITU rules.

It has also complainedabout alleged satellite interference by NATO countries - something not included in last week's ITU meeting.

An intact guidance system from a long-range, US-made ATACMS missile has been captured by Russian forces, Russia's RIA state news agency has reported.

Video footage released by RIA showed an unidentified individual, his face concealed by a balaclava, examining whathe said was part of an Army Tactical MissileSystems weapon.

He shows labels on the back of themissile's GPS guidance system, indicating it came from aUS army store in Alabama.

Capturing the hardware allows Russia to study how the missiles are controlled during flight, he said.

Sky News is unable to verify the footage.

Washington began to supply Ukraine with ATACMS several months ago.

They can hit targets up to 186 miles away - roughly double the range of the HIMARS systems that the United States began sending to Ukraine in 2022.

Moscow has described the supply of such weapons as an escalatory move.

Russia claims the US helps Ukrainian troops to fire them - something Washington denies.

A British volunteer medic reportedly involved in saving more than 200 lives on the front line has died in Ukraine, his charity has confirmed.

Peter Fouche, who was born in South Africa, travelled to Ukraine in 2022 where he helped to build a field hospital, and then later served in the Territorial Defence Forces and Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He co-founded Project Konstantin, a Ukrainian charity supporting frontline Ukrainian troops, which confirmed his death in a post on social media.

The charity said Mr Fouche was "actively involved in saving more than 200 wounded Ukrainian soldiers" and bringing aid to people in affected towns and cities.

It praised his "bravery and selflessness" and called his death "the worst nightmare".

"We will honour Pete's memory by continuing the work he was so passionate about, carrying forward his legacy of courage and kindness," it said.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities."

These pictures were taken near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Russian attacks have focused on the town, with Ukrainian commanders in the area saying their resources remain stretched.

That is partly because of a recent gap in US funding, caused by deadlock in Congress.

The House of Representatives finally approved sending $60.8bn (£49bn) in foreign aid to Ukraine in April.

Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics (WA), has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Coe, the British double Olympic gold medallist, met the Ukrainian president on Friday beforeattending the Ukraine athletics championships in Lviv.

WA said today that Coe "underscored World Athletics' unwavering support for the people and athletes of Ukraine as they defend themselves against ongoing Russian aggression".

He has also committed to the continued support of Ukrainian athletes through the Ukraine Fund.

The fund provides support to professional athletes, ensuring they can continue to train, qualify for and participate in World Athletics Series events and the World Athletics Championships.

The International Olympic Committee has suggested that Russian and Belarusian sportsmen and women could compete at the Paris Olympics as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems.

But WA is standing firm on a blanket ban.