Russia-Ukraine war news: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un meets Putin at Vostochny Cosmodrome

Ukrainian forces launched cruise missiles and unmanned boats at a ship repair plant in Sevastopol, a city in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said. At least two dozen people were injured, according to a Kremlin-appointed official in the region.

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Putin said he would discuss “all topics” when asked whether he would talk about “military-technical cooperation,” with Kim, according to Reuters, which cited Russian media. The United States and its Asian allies have been concerned that Putin could help build Kim’s nuclear arsenal and modernize North Korea’s outdated conventional military.

A Pentagon press secretary repeated U.S. concerns that the summit between Putin and Kim would focus on arms negotiations. The United States suspects that Moscow and Pyongyang will seek to strike a deal aimed at resupplying Russia’s military, which has expended much of its prewar munitions in Ukraine. “We would call on North Korea to meet its previous stated public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia, which will only end up prolonging the unnecessary war in Ukraine,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Tuesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said two ships undergoing repairs in Sevastopol had been damaged by an attack that it blamed on Ukraine. Air defense systems had shot down seven cruise missiles, while a Russian patrol ship had destroyed all enemy unmanned boats, it added. At least 24 people were injured in the attack early Wednesday, according to Mikhail Razvozhaev, a Kremlin-appointed official overseeing the area, who said that the assault resulted in a fire.

The United States could complete F-16 training for a group of Ukrainian pilots by the end of the year, though it will take longer than that for them to be flying combat missions, Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, the head of Air National Guard said, according to the Associated Press. Loh said Tuesday that Ukraine’s most experienced fighter pilots could complete training in Arizona on the F-16 in as little as three months. After that, those pilots will get some more training in Europe, the AP reported.

Drones attacked Ukraine’s Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, the Ukrainian governor of the area, said early Wednesday. The attack damaged port facilities, civil infrastructure and injured at least six people, with three of them in serious condition.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said its forces recaptured a strategic group of oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of Crimea, a peninsula Russia seized in 2015 and used for military purposes. A video posted to the agency’s Telegram channel Monday and verified by The Washington Post showed Ukrainian soldiers climbing onto a drilling platform and removing a radar system.

Denmark will donate a military defense package worth approximately $833 million to Ukraine, the country’s ministry of defense announced Tuesday. The package, which includes tanks, ammunition, other vehicles and antiaircraft weapons, is the “largest financial donation to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion,” the ministry said. “A good reinforcement, thank you for it!,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Tuesday.

Zelensky will meet Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. Israeli and Ukrainian officials confirmed the meeting, though they did not specify a date. Zelensky is expected to be in New York City for the high-level meetings of U.N. leaders and is scheduled to give a speech to the General Assembly on Monday. Tensions between the two nations have been high due to Israel’s continued relationship with Russia, as well as a pending visit from Israeli pilgrims to Uman in Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah.

Russia ramps up drone, guided bomb attacks to thwart counteroffensive: Moscow has stepped up aerial attacks against Ukrainian forces attacking Russian positions in southern Ukraine, exploiting Kyiv’s limited air defense systems and shortage of fighter jets, report Alex Horton and Serhii Korolchuk. Russian forces are irking their adversaries with attack drones and guided bombs, soldiers and analysts said.

“It’s important to know that it’s relatively cheap stuff,” one military expert said. “And Russia has almost unlimited stocks.”