Ukraine-Russia war latest: Drone found with bombs at Leipzig airport was ‘work of professionals’, says Germany

German state prosecutors have taken over an investigation after a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig/Halle airport.

Earlier on Wednesday, authorities said a suspicious object had been found near the southern runway of the airport in eastern Germany, which serves as a major hub for logistics group DHL and Ukraine‘s Antonov Airlines, causing disruption and the suspension of flights.

The Central Office for Extremism Saxony (ZESA) and officers from the state counter-terrorism unit have now become involved, it said, after the drone was found to be carrying an explosive device. The detonator attached to the drone has since been removed.

Russia struck two dry cargo vessels near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Wednesday, TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.

The vessels were transporting military goods, the ministry said.

British defence minister Wes Streeting said Britain’s “quarrel” is with Vladimir Putin but not the Russian people on his visit this week to Ukraine.

Speaking to The Sun on his first trip to Kyiv, Mr Streeting said: “Putin is losing this war, he is losing badly, and he is losing the war with an intolerable and unconscionable loss of life among his own people.”

He added: “I cannot understand how any leader of a country can simply place so little value on the lives of the people he sends into battle on his behalf. I find it staggering and unconscionable.”

He insisted: that Britain “[does not] desire and [has] never desired a conflict with Russia” but would stand “unequivocally” with Ukraine.

A Russian attack damaged a foreign-flagged ship loaded with wheat in Ukraine’s Black Sea area, killing one crew member and causing a fire, Oleh Kiper, Odesa regional governor, said on Thursday.

Ukraine’s sea ports administration said that the vessel Mera Queen, under the flag of Guinea-Bissau, was hit late on Wednesday.

For more than a month, Russia has been ramping up its efforts to strangle Ukraine’s trade and export routes, launching nearly daily attacks at the country’s Black Sea ports.

Rescuers worked on Thursday to douse fires and clear debris in Ukraine’s eastern city of Balakliia after Russian strikes on homes killed three people overnight, authorities said.

Three people were also killed overnight and at least 19 wounded in Russian attacks on settlements in the northern region of Sumy.

Twelve more were wounded in the city of Sumy itself, following an attack with guided aerial bombs, the Ukrainian police said on Telegram.

A drone attack on a van wounded six in the southern region of Kherson, the regional administration said on Telegram.

A warehouse belonging to Russian logistics giant Wildberries has again come under attack from Ukrainian drones overnight, officials said.

Falling Ukrainian drone debris slightly damaged the facade of a Wildberries logistics complex in Russia’s Tver region, Vitaly Korolyov, the local governor, said on Thursday.

The incident ‌is the ‌latest in a ⁠series of Ukrainian strikes targeting Wildberries facilities. At least 20 warehouses ‌owned by the ​company ‌have been ⁠attacked ⁠since 18 July.

The gentle splash of breaking waves on a resort beach and the laughter of children having innocent fun gives way to the screech and crack of an explosion. Seven people dead – three of them are children.

This was the scene on Monday in the Russian Black Sea town of Gelendzhik where, even if every adult killed and all 40 of those injured were wide-eyed fans of Vladimir Putin and part of his war machine, the children were innocent.

It was the sort of attack that, if carried out by Russia against Ukraine, would have sparked international outrage and allegations of war crimes by targeting civilian areas.

Russia has struck two dry cargo vessels near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry said.

The vessels were transporting military ‌goods, ​the ‌ministry said.