Ukraine-Russia war latest: Top Putin general shot in Moscow as Kremlin blames Kyiv without evidence

A new wargame simulating a Russian incursion into Lithuania, carried out by ex-Nato and German officials, concluded that Moscow would “achieve most of its goals” within days.

The scenario, which plays out in October 2026, suggests that an absence of US leadership and hesitancy from Nato countries could allow Moscow to gain total control over the Baltic within days, using an initial force of only 15,000 troops.

Alex Croft has the full story:

Ukraine’s defence minister revealed today that Canada is supplying AIM missiles to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.

Mykhailo Fedorov said that he and his Canadian counterpart also discussed joint drone production, military training and experience sharing in a call.

Russia’s veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that the assassination attempt on a general in Moscow shows that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky wants to derail the peace process.

Ukraine's air force meanwhile reported that Russia had conducted overnight and morning attacks on Ukraine with 328 drones and seven missiles.

The Kremlin said on Friday that two days of U.S.-brokered security talks on Ukraine in Abu Dhabi had been complex but constructive and would be continued.

Ukraine and Russia concluded the second round of the talks on Thursday aimed at ending Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two, with the two sides conducting a major prisoner swap and agreeing to resume negotiations soon.

Germany’s Friedrich Merz said this morning that the EU is always open to holding talks with Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine, but will not "open any parallel channels of communication."

"We are, of course, always ready to hold talks with Russia," the chancellor told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

"Currently, coordinated talks are taking place here in Abu Dhabi ... if we can contribute to making these talks even better, even more successful, then we will do so. But we will not open any parallel channels of communication."

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being briefed on the attempted assassination of a senior military intelligence official in Moscow on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was hospitalised after being shot several times in the Russian capital.

Russian security services are working on the case, Peskov said.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry.

He was responsible for relations between the Defence Ministry and the Wagner mercenary group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which fought in some of the fiercest battles in the early stages of the war in Ukraine.

Prigozhin was fiercely critical of the defence establishment and staged a mutiny in June 2023.

Alexeyev was one of the top officials sent to negotiate with him. The mutiny fizzled out, and Prigozhin died in a plane crash two months later.

Volodymyr Zelensky concluded two days of meetings with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi on Thursday saying that further meetings are planned in the near future, and “likely in the United States”.

He said he was still waiting to hear from his team in person, adding: “We are ready for all workable formats that can genuinely bring peace closer and make it reliable, lasting, and such that deprives Russia of any appetite to continue the war.”