Ukraine war latest: Kremlin denies Putin plans to invade European countries

Our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett has been at the scene of a car explosion in the city which killed a senior Russian general (see 07:44 post).

The attack happened at around 7am local time this morning in a residential suburb around 11 miles southeast of the Kremlin, he says.

The car's front bumper has been completely blown off while there is debris everywhere. 

While Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the incident so far, it has carried out similar attacks in the past.

"Ukraine has used these kinds of attacks to try and bring the war closer to home for Russians," Bennett says.

Watch Bennett's analysis here...

Samuel Ramani, an international relations expert and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), has been commenting on the assassination of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov.

He said the death was "a blow to the Russian military".

"He had experience in Chechnya and Syria, and was a key operation planner for the General Staff/Ukraine Armed Forces commander Valery Gerasimov," Ramani said on X.

He said the killing reflected Ukraine's track record of targeting officials responsible for pro-war messaging and those with operational clout.

"A way of showing Russia that the war has costs and anyone in Moscow is vulnerable," he added.

The Czech Republic's security council will debate the future of a Czech-led, Western-financed scheme organising artillery ammunition supplies for Ukraine on 7 January, the country's prime minister has said.

The scheme brings together foreign donors including Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands with Czech defence officials and arms traders and producers who purchase ammunition around the world and deliver it to Ukraine to reduce its disadvantage on the battlefield against Russia.

Andrej Babis, who took power last week and has vowed to cut Czech financial aid to Ukraine, has criticised what he calls the scheme's lack of transparency.

But the PM has not taken a clear stance on its future since his populist ANO party won an election in October.

Czech President Petr Pavel, Prague's NATO allies and Ukraine have all praised the scheme, while Babis' pro-Russian coalition allies oppose it.

"In principle, the ammunition initiative has certainly been a good thing, the question is whether it has occurred without corruption," Babis told a news conference after a government meeting today.

He added that he would propose a definitive position, without elaborating.

A senior NATO military official voiced cautious optimism last week that the initiative would continue. He said it was delivering 1.8 million rounds of artillery ammunition this year - 43% of the total ammunition supplied to Kyiv.

Donors have given around £3.35bn to pay for ammunition supplies under the scheme, while the Czech national contribution has been in tens of millions of euros.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was busy last week pushing for the EU to approve the use of frozen Russian assets in a reparations loan, before the bloc ultimately agreed to a €90bn (£79bn) interest-free loan.

Ukraine's president has now provided an update on continued European sanctions against the Kremlin.

"Several more" sanctions against Russian entities and Russian supporters are expected by the end of this year, Zelenskyy said on social media.

These will include packages against employees at a Russian military complex - of both Russian and Chinese nationality - as well as against athletes who use their sports careers to promote Russian aggression, he said.

"We are working with European institutions on the details of the 20th EU sanctions package, with the primary objective of expanding European sanction pressure on Putin's energy assets and the oligarchs connected to him," Zelenskyy added.

The EU's 19th package of sanctions against Russia - which targeted its shadow fleet and banned imports of liquefied natural gas - was announced in October and came into effect last month.

Russia is ready to confirm in a legal agreement that it has no intention of attacking either the European Union or the US-led  NATO military alliance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today, Russian state media is reporting.

"In responding to the adventurous and provocative steps taken by NATO countries , we have, on the one hand, demonstrated considerable restraint, while, on the other, we have consistently sent important warning signals to our opponents about the strategic risks they pose, coupled with our unwavering commitment to firmly defending our national security interests," he said at the Valdai Discussion Club's Moscow meeting.

He added that significant risks of a clash between Russia and NATO remained due to Europe's hostile actions.

"Frankly, this doesn't breed optimism as it clearly shows that even amid a more balanced Russia policy pursued by Washington, risks of a confrontation between Russia and NATO remain significant due to inadequate and hostile actions by European countries," he said.

However, Rybakov claimed Moscow had no plans to attack Western countries and was "even ready to legally enshrine this with regard to a potential solution to the current crisis based on the principle of equal and indivisible security".

A series of pictures published today offer a glimpse at the scale of devastation in a Ukrainian frontline town.

The images show the scene in Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region, which has been subject to repeated Russian military strikes.

Ukraine's military has hit a "critical" Russian oil terminal in the Krasnodar region, Ukrainian officials say.

According to the military officials, the Tamanneftegaz oil and petroleum products export terminal was struck.

They say Tamanneftegaz is a large Russian export terminal located near the port of Taman, which specialises in the transshipment of oil and petroleum products from tank farms for shipment by sea. 

They describe it as a "critical hub for Russian oil exports".

A statement said damage had been reported to a pipeline, two berths, and two vessels, with a fire breaking out over an area of more than 1,000 square meters and affecting at least one vessel.

by Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

A Russian general being blown up on his own doorstep isn't a good look for Moscow, and it seems it's becoming increasingly common.

The latest high-profile figure to be assassinated since Russia's invasion of Ukraine is Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov. He was killed by a car bomb that detonated outside a residential complex, little more than ten miles from the Kremlin.

He was a senior figure. Head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff, Sarvarov prepared forces for future deployment, having previously served in Chechnya and Syria. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Moscow believes Kyiv may have been behind it. No wonder - they've carried out similar attacks many times before.

This time last year, Ukraine took credit for the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who Kyiv alleged had ordered chemical weapons to be used against its troops on the battlefield. He was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment block, which Vladimir Putin referred to as a "major blunder" by the security services.

But the attacks didn't stop there. In April, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed after a car exploded in a town just outside Moscow.

And two months ago, another car bomb in Siberia killed a Russian commander accused of committing war crimes.

It's unclear why Sarvarov was targeted - perhaps simply because his rank and apparent vulnerability.

The timing appears significant. It follows the latest peace talks between US and Russian officials in Miami over the weekend, where Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

In the past, Ukraine has used these kinds of attacks to embarrass Moscow and to bring the war closer to home for Russians. This time could be Kyiv's way of undermining Moscow’s narrative in the negotiations.

The Kremlin has been trying to persuade the White House that a Russian victory is inevitable, and that it’s futile to support Ukraine, in the hope of securing a more preferential settlement.

Ukraine has been trying to convince the Trump administration of the opposite - that it’s still full of fight - and taking out Russian generals in their own backyard is one way of doing that.

It shows Washington that the Kremlin is clearly not in total control.

Russia has been carrying out limited cross-border attacks across a broad part of the previously dormant northern frontline in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

However, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War think tank describe the attacks as part of a new cognitive warfare campaign.

It cited Ukrainian authorities as reporting Russian raids on the village of Hrabovske, in Sumy, and another small rural border village in Kharkiv.

But, the analysts said, Russian forces have put in place preparations for a new offensive across the international border in northern Ukraine.

"ISW has not observed evidence that would indicate that Russian forces are preparing for or capable of conducting a significant offensive operation across the international border area into northern Ukraine," the group said.

"These two cross-border attacks likely intend to advance the Kremlin's cognitive warfare campaign to convince the West that the frontlines in Ukraine are collapsing, such that Ukraine should concede to all of Russia’s demands.

"The Kremlin likely intends to portray these limited cross-border attacks against small rural border villages in long-dormant areas of the international border as part of a broad new Russian offensive to reinforce a false narrative that Ukraine’s frontline is collapsing across the theater.

"ISW continues to assess that the frontlines in Ukraine are not in danger of rapid collapse and that a Russian victory is not inevitable."

Russia's pipeline exports of natural gas to China are expected to have risen by a quarter this year, a source familiar with the data has told Reuters.

It comes as Moscow ramps up sales to Asia and cements ties with the world's largest energy consumer.

However, calculations indicate this will not offset the fall in revenue from the loss of the European gas market.

Russia has re-routed most of its oil to India and China since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022 as Moscow and Europe - once its main commodity  export market and source of revenue - cut ties.

It's proven harder to  divert gas flows eastwards and painstaking talks to bring more Russian gas to China have yielded limited results.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to media, told Reuters that Russian energy giant Gazprom expected gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia Pipeline to reach around 38.6-38.7 billion cubic metres this year, up from 31 bcm in 2024 and exceeding the pipeline's planned annual capacity of 38 bcm.

Gazprom has not responded to a request for comment.

During Vladimir Putin's visit to China in September, the countries agreed to increase annual volumes on the route by an additional 6 bcm, to 44 bcm, a year. Russia and China also gave their blessing to the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which could one day deliver an additional 50 bcm of Russian gas per year through Mongolia from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal.

However, the main obstacle to implementing the project, the price of Russian gas, remains unresolved.

Russia's economy ministry estimates that revenue from gas exports to China will be 30%-40% lower than the value of exports to Europe in 2025-2028.

The only operational route for Russian gas supplies to Europe is via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea. Deliveries via Ukraine - which amounted to around 12-15 bcm in recent years - were halted at the start of the year as Moscow and Kyiv failed to extend a transit deal.

According to Russian finance ministry data, gas exports generated around 420 billion roubles (£3.93bn) for the state budget in January - November.

China is an ally of Russia and has been accused of helping its war in Ukraine, though Beijing has repeatedly denied allegations that it has supplied Kremlin forces with weapons.