Talks between Kim and Putin begin at cosmodromeFormal negotiations between Putin and and Kim have begun at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Amur, Tass reports and include members of the delegations from each country.
The meeting is taking place “in the meeting room on the first floor of the engineering building of the technical complex of the Soyuz-2 space rocket complex,” the Russian news agency writes.
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On the ground in Ukraine, Suspilne has this round-up of overnight news, posting to Telegram to report:
At night, the Russian army attacked Odeshchyna with drones: there is damage to the port and civil infrastructure. Seven people were injured.
Air defence forces destroyed 32 “Shahed” drones out of 44 launched. Russian troops attacked Odeshchyna and Sumy region with them at night.
Defence forces have partial success near Klishchiivka in the Bakhmut direction, said the spokesperson of the general staff.
In the last 24 hours three people were killed and three others were injured as a result of shelling by the Russian Federation in Donetsk region. Four people were injured in Kherson region. One person was injured in Zaporizhzhia.
Here are a couple more of the official images being released to the press of Kim Jong-un’s visit to meet Vladimir Putin today.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Photograph: Mikhail Metzel/AFP/Getty ImagesVladimir Putin andKim Jong-un study an information display at the Vostochny cosmodrome. Photograph: Mikhail Metzel/AFP/Getty ImagesAmid the flurry of diplomatic activity between Russia and North Korea today, Reuters reports that Russia has announced Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will visit Moscow on 18 September for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at [email protected].
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, just an hour before leader Kim Jong-un met President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Citing South Korean officials, Reuters reports the missiles were launched from near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, and flew about 650 km (404 miles).
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the launch as a violation of UN security council resolutions and Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Japan had lodged a protest through diplomatic channels in Beijing.
It appeared to be the first such launch to occur while Kim was abroad.
North Korea supports all Putin’s decisions, Kim has told the Russian president according to Russian media, and it will always stand with Russia in the fight against imperialism.
“Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security … against the hegemonic forces,” Kim told Putin via a translator.
“We will always support the decisions of president Putin and the Russian leadership … and we will be together in the fight against imperialism.”
He also said that he hoped today’s negotiations would raise relations between their two countries to a new level.
North Korea’s “first priority” is its relations with Russia, Kim has told Putin according to Russian media.
Putin told Kim he was aware the North Korea leader was visiting “at a special time”, noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the country’s founding, Tass reported. Putin noted that it was the USSR that was the first to recognise it.
In case you’re hungry for more information about the Vostochny Cosmodrome where Kim and Putin are meeting, Reuters has prepared a fact sheet about it – here are some of the highlights:
The cosmodrome, which came into service in 2016, is in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East, not far from the Russian border with China and about 1,500 km (930 miles) from the port of Vladivostok. In Russian, the name means simply “Eastern Cosmodrome”.
Putin ordered the construction of the cosmodrome to reduce reliance on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which gained independence after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
There was once a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) base known as Svobodny 18 just a few kilometres from the Vostochny complex. That base shut down in 1993.
Vostochny cost billions of dollars, giving a boost to the local economy. But construction was mired by repeated delays and several corruption scandals.
The first launch was in 2016, when a Soyuz-2 rocket blasted off. The most recent launch was a Soyuz rocket carrying the ill-fated Luna-25 moon spacecraft, which crashed into the moon.
The Luna-25 blasts off from Vostochny Cosmodrome in August. Photograph: ROSCOSMOS/ReutersTalks between Kim and Putin begin at cosmodromeFormal negotiations between Putin and and Kim have begun at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Amur, Tass reports and include members of the delegations from each country.
The meeting is taking place “in the meeting room on the first floor of the engineering building of the technical complex of the Soyuz-2 space rocket complex,” the Russian news agency writes.
While Ukraine was launching its attack on Sevastopol, Russia was attacking the Black Sea city of Odesa with drones that targeted port infrastructure, Ukraine’s air force has said. The north-eastern Sumy region was also targeted.
A total of 44 drones were recorded, the airforce said, with most aimed at Odesa. Thirty-two were shot down.
In Russia, a drone was shot down in the Konakovo district of the Tver region, north-west of Moscow, the news agency Ria reported citing regional authorities. No casualties were reported.
Reuters has some comment from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who was asked whether Kim and Putin would discuss weapons supplies, as expected by western observers.
In response, he said: “As neighbours, our countries implement cooperation in sensitive areas that should not become the subject of public disclosure and announcement. But this is quite natural for neighbouring states.”
More pictures are coming through on the wires. Here Putin and Kim are enjoying a tour of the cosmodrome:
Photograph: SPUTNIK/ReutersKim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who has become an influential figure in North Korean politics, has also been spotted at the cosmodrome talks:
Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters