Ukraine war latest: Russia's new hypersonic missile was carefully planned to scare West before Putin's 'surprise' - report (2025)

A Russian warship has fired signal ammunition at a German military helicopter, it is being reported.

German press agency DPA said the crew of the Russian vessel fired the ammunition - which can be used as a high intensity aerial visual signal, or warning shot - towards the German aircraft over the Baltic sea.

We'll bring you more detail on this story as we get it.

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence Editor

The entire British Army would be destroyed in "six months to a year" in a major war – underlining the importance of rebuilding the UK's reserve forces, a defence minister has said.

Al Carns, the veterans minister, who is also a reservist, said the casualty rate suffered by Russian forces in Ukraine - killed and injured - is around 1,500 soldiers a day.

He said this ability to absorb such losses and keep fighting is part of Russia's plan and is why Britain needs to rebuild depth when it comes to the layers of fighting forces it has available, from professional soldiers to a wider pool of reservists from across society.

Read more here.

A top Ukrainian official has reportedly begun a visit to the US to build contacts with the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump.

The Republican begins his second term in the White House in January, and has promised to end Russia's war inUkraineon "day one".

Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak is already in the US to work on establishing a relationship with Trump's team, foreign minister Andriy Sybiha told reporters in Brussels, according to news agency InterfaxUkraine.

"This contact at the level of the head of the (president's) office is very important for establishing, among other things, relations with representatives of the new administration," Sybiha was quoted as saying.

Trump has so far avoided giving details about his plans to stop the 33-month invasion, but three plans put forward by people close to him all see Kyiv's long-coveted NATO membership prospects taken off the table.

Trump's advisors have also floated proposals that would see large territorial concessions made to Moscow, which occupies one-sixth ofUkraine.

Russia's use of a new hypersonic, non-nuclear ballistic missile against Ukraine last week instantly became the focus of widespread attention, prompting international headlines and a huge volume of speculation from analysts.

Vladimir Putin said Russia would now start mass-producing the Oreshnik missile, which was fired on the city of Dnipro in response to US and UK weapons being used by Kyiv to strike deep inside Russia.

However, a report has emerged suggesting the episode was effectively designed as a propaganda exercise by Moscow, in an effort to revive fear among Western leaders that had become used to threats involving nuclear weapons.

The Moscow Times cites four Russian officials - who all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject - as saying the Oreshnik strike and the resulting media coverage were "carefully crafted with the involvement of officials, military personnel, intelligence agencies and Kremlin PR experts".

"There were brainstorming sessions about how to respond and put the Americans and the British in their place for allowing Zelenskyy to use long-range weapons. And how to scare Berlin and other Europeans into submission," one Russian official told the newspaper.

Another Russian official said: "This show, which was staged and presented to the public, consisted of several phases. The main ones were the actual Oreshnik strike, the dissemination of footage on social media, and its coverage in foreign media."

Among those reportedly involved in the campaign were foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and high-ranking Kremlin official Alexei Gromov.

Gromov is said to have been the person whocalledZakharova during a news briefing with journalists and, on speakerphone, told her not to comment on the "ballistic missile strike on a military factory in Dnipro".

"Some of those who were in the brainstorming sessions were particularly proud of that stunt," a Russian official told the Moscow Times.

As we reported in some detail here, Vladimir Putin then went on to use the launch to issue a number of threats to the West at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kazakhstan.

An official familiar with preparations for the summit reportedly said: "The summit was supposed to address member-state issues. However, the boss [Putin] essentially hijacked the public agenda and used it to threaten Zelenskyy's allies.

"I suspect that for the other summit participants, the heads of CSTO states, this came as a surprise. They essentially became side dishes to our main course: a psychological warfare act against the West."

Vladimir Putin is using Ukraine as a "testing ground for experimental missiles" and is "not interested in peace", NATO's secretary-general warned yesterday.

Mark Rutte made the remarks as foreign ministers from the alliance's 32 members gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting, where there will be several discussions on Ukraine.

In a letter to his NATO counterparts ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said his country would not settle for anything less than NATO membership to guarantee its future security.

Read the full story here:

The UK's foreign secretary has called on fellow NATO member states to "get serious" about defence spending targets ahead of Donald Trump's looming return to the White House.

"It's hugely important that we step up defence spending, across NATO allies particularly," David Lammy said at a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers.

Trump, in his last term as president, consistently criticised members of the alliance for not "pulling their weight" when it came to defence spending, and NATO countries have been urged to raise more funds in response to his re-election.

"In the United Kingdom, we are at 2.3%, heading to 2.5% as soon as we can get there, and we urge all allies across the NATO family to get serious about defence spending," Lammy said.

"All of our populations require us to understand the tremendous security challenges that we are facing at this time, the time to act is now."

Syrian rebels fighting against the Assad regime in Syria are receiving Ukrainian drones, Russia's foreign ministry has said.

Russia is supporting the Syrian government in its fight against the rebels, who launched a devastating and ongoing offensive last week.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was doing what it could to counter the offensive, which the Kremlin says is being carried out by "terrorist groups" receiving support, including drones and training, from outside the country.

"We strongly condemn this attack ... there is no doubt that they would not have dared to commit such an audacious act without the instigation and comprehensive support of external forces that seek to provoke a new round of armed confrontation in Syria, unfurl a the spiral of violence," she told reporters.

Zakharova also said, without providing evidence, that the rebels - including some from former Soviet countries - had received drones from Ukraine and training in how to operate them.

Ukraine has not commented on the claims.

It's been more than 1,000 days since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, with both sides showing no sign of giving up.

But as Ukraine struggles to hold back the Russian advance, the conflict is still prompting many questions. Our military analyst Sean Bell is on hand to answer some of yours.

Read his answers here:

More from the NATO foreign ministers meeting now, where the delegation from the Czech Republic has said that up 100 "suspicious incidents" in Europe this year can be attributed to Russia.

Jan Lipavsky said "this year there were 500 suspicious incidents" across the continent in total, and "up to 100 of them can be attributed to Russian hybrid attacks, espionage, influence operations.

"We need to send a strong signal to Moscow that this won't be tolerated," Lipavsky added.

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

On the streets of Tbilisi right now, there is a battle for Georgia's future.

On one side are protesters and pyrotechnics. On the other, is the increasingly strong arm of the law.

Flashes of pink, green and gold light up the night sky, as fireworks sparkle and rockets scream past.

Flying in the other direction are tear gas canisters. First you hear the low thud of them being fired, then the rattle and hiss as they hit the ground.

But the protesters are undeterred - building barricades out of wheelie bins, and taunting police from behind them.

For six nights now, they've massed outsideGeorgia'sparliament, angry at the ruling party's decision to pause plans to join the EU.

People feel cheated, and they believeRussiais behind it.

Read more from Bennett here.