War in Ukraine // Ukrainian army makes progress near Bahmut
Kiev has been under siege from Russian-launched kamikaze drones for the second night in a row. According to the head of Ukraine's military administration, air defences shot down 11 of the 15 Russian-launched Shahed drones. Air alerts sounded for more than two hours in several areas of Ukraine as President Volodimir Zelenski was in Lithuania for the NATO summit.
The US newspapers "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" wrote last month that the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Sergei Narashkin, had spoken by phone in late June with his American counterpart, CIA director William Burns, on the subject of "what to do about Ukraine", TASS agency reported on Wednesday.
Burns called Narashkin to reassure the Kremlin that the United States was not involved in any way in the June 24 uprising by Wagner mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Their last publicly known meeting took place last November in Turkey.
Several US officials revealed at the time that the CIA director had warned Moscow about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and raised the issue of American detainees in Russia.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military announced on Wednesday morning that it was making progress near the town of Bahmut, reports the Guardian. Ukrainian authorities have stressed that a reduction in casualties is Kiev's priority as the army tries to break through the complex defensive layers it has been building up for months.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba announced in an interview with Radio Svoboda that Ukraine wants to deploy US F-16 fighter jets by March 2024.
"I think this is a very complicated issue from a technical point of view. The training would start in August, maybe early September. In parallel, the necessary legal decisions will be prepared for the transfer of the aircraft. I believe that by the end of the first quarter of next year, the first F-16s will be flying in Ukrainian airspace, flown by Ukrainian pilots. This will be according to schedule," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba.
Norway also announced on Wednesday that it will supply 100 Black Hornet nano drones to Ukraine this year. The Norwegian government has announced an acceleration of its military support to the Ukrainian army against the Russian invasion. The government plans to fund these additional deliveries this year to the tune of NOK 2.5 billion, about €220 million.
