Russia-Ukraine war live: Russians scavenge air defence from Kaliningrad, says UK MoD

Welcome as we resume the Guardian’s coverage of the Russian war against Ukraine . Here are the developments making news this morning.

Russia is having to pull air defence systems out of Kaliningrad, its external province on the Baltic Sea, toreplace the ones it has lost in the Ukraine war, according to an intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence. “This follows an uptick in losses of SA-21 air defence systems in Russian-occupied Ukraine in late October 2023.”

The move shows that Russia is so overstretched by its Ukraine war that it ishaving to accept additional risk to strategically important Kaliningrad, which is bordered on three sides by Nato member states, according to the MoD.

The Russian military death toll in Ukraine has reached 324,830 according to estimates provided by the Ukrainian military.

Russia sent waves of kamikaze drones into Ukraine on Saturday in what Kyiv said was the most intensive drone attack since the start of the war. Five people were wounded by falling debris, while several buildings were damaged as about 17,000 people in the Kyiv region were left without electricity, reports said. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 74 of the 75 drones.

In Russia, 24 drones reportedly attacked the Moscow region and three other provinces to the south and west, while two Ukrainian missiles were launched over the Azov Sea. One person was injured in the city of Tula, south of Moscow, when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, it was reported.

Russian troops continue attempts to advance near Avdiivka with Ukrainian forces repelling attacks to its north-east, west and south-west. According to reports by the Ukrainian general staff, Russia has conducted airstrikes in support of ground operations geared toward encircling the city on the outskirts of Donetsk.

Russian soldiers“seek to reoccupy” the town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, according to the spokesman for Ukraine’s ground forces, Volodymyr Fitio. “The enemy intends to advance to the settlement of Sinkivka in order to develop their further success in the offensive on Kupiansk,” he said.

Ukraine’s arms industry minister has called for the country to turn itself into the “arsenal of the free world” and provide weapons for export. Oleksandr Kamyshin aims to revive the state sector and coordinate private enterprises to boost export of weapons.

Many of the countries that have sanctioned Russia over the war in Ukraine need to take urgent action todisrupt the supply of technology for its electronic warfare campaign, according to a new report. It names companies whose parts have been found in Russian equipment .

Ukraine needs more air defences to protect grain export routes, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said at the Grain from Ukraine summit on food security in Kyiv, which was attended by leaders from European countries including Switzerland and Lithuania.

About 2,100 vehicles are unable to get into Ukraine because of a Polish blockade. According to an update by Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry reported by the Kyiv Independent, the flow of traffic at the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing – usually 680 lorries a day – is now down to a few dozen every 24 hours.