tom dumoulin tour 2023

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Tour de France: 'I don't understand it at all' – Tom Dumoulin criticises Wout van Aert for Stage 10 attack

Published 12/07/2023 at 12:36 GMT

Wout van Aert is still chasing a first win at the 2023 Tour de France, having won at least one stage at each of the last four editions. The Belgian looked primed to win on Stage 2, only to see his Jumbo-Visma team-mates fail to snuff out an attack from Victor Lafay in the final kilometre. Now his former team-mate, Tom Dumoulin, has criticised him for an audacious move on Stage 10.

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Wout van Aert y Tom Dumoulin

Image credit: Getty Images

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Favorites prologue Tour of Norway 2023 | Back to where Tom Dumoulin had his best day ever!

While the Giro d'Italia tackles the high mountains these days, the Tour of Norway kicks off in the city of Bergen. Dutch fans will surely remember this place from the 2017 UCI Road World Championships, where Tom Dumoulin claimed the time trial gold. IDLProCycling.com tells you everything you need to know about day one of the Tour of Norway !

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Course prologue Tour of Norway 2023

The Tour of Norway starts in Bergen, where Dumoulin says he had his best day ever at the 2017 World Championships. The Dutch cyclist won the gold medal by finishing a distance of 31 kilometers a staggering 57 seconds faster than second-place Primoz Roglic and 1.21 minutes faster than third-place Chris Froome.

That time trial also finished at Mount Fløyen, offering a magnificent view of the city of Bergen. However, before reaching the challenging hill via the Fløibanen station (the supporters' carriage to the top of Mount Fløyen), we will first ride 3.6 kilometers along the city's coastline.

In total, the prologue is only 7.4 kilometers long, but with a 3.4-kilometer hill averaging a nine percent gradient, we will already see the first differentiations in the standings. Who will perform well, and who will struggle?

Times Start: 5:30 p.m. (first rider) Finish: 8:00 p.m. (last rider)

Weather prologue Tour of Norway 2023

The riders are fortunate this Friday. It has been raining a lot in the vicinity of Bergen these last few days, but the weather is expected to be dry during the time trial. The temperature will be 11 degrees Celsius, and for a significant portion of Mount Fløyen, the riders will enjoy a tailwind.

Favorites prologue Tour of Norway 2023

There won't be time trialists of Dumoulin's caliber at the start, let's be honest about that. However, we do have some young riders who, in a few years' time, could be recognized as strong performers when racing against the clock. One of them is Magnus Sheffield, the American top talent with Norwegian roots from INEOS Grenadiers. He already finished second in this year's Tour Down Under prologue and third in the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The British team's Ben Tulett can also perform quite well against the clock. He placed third in the final time trial of the Étoile de Bessèges, with a finish atop Áles. An even younger teammate, Joshua Tarling, even finished second there. And Luke Plapp should be capable of a high performance as well, so there are plenty of options among the INEOS cannons. And that is before we even mention Leo Hayter.

The other major team, Jumbo-Visma, also has several great options. However, the climb up Mount Fløyen may be too much for Mick and Tim van Dijke, while Attila Valter and Johannes Staune-Mittet are likely to lose time during the first part, compared to riders like Tarling and Sheffield.

EF Education-EasyPost is also a team known for having traditionally strong time trialists. For this prologue, they will likely rely on the slender climber Simon Carr. We can also include Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) and rising star Marco Brenner (Team DSM) in the list of names that could surprise us, along with the impressively fast Rune Herregodts of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty.

Additionally, there are a few punchers who could potentially surprise us with their sharp legs. What can we expect from Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo) and his teammate Mathias Vacek, for example? Or Ide Schelling, who, on his good days, can deliver a solid time trial for BORA-hansgrohe? Who knows, the Dutch rider Bart Lemmen (Human Powered Health) might even pull off a surprise, considering he finished fourth in the final time trial of O Gran Camino this year.

Favorites prologue Tour of Norway 2023, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Magnus Sheffield and Ben Tulett (both INEOS Grenadiers) Shadow favorites: Attila Valter (Jumbo-Visma), Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) and Ide Schelling (BORA-hansgrohe) Longshots: Marco Brenner (Team DSM), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Leo Hayter, Luke Plapp (both INEOS Grenadiers), Johannes Staune Mittet (Jumbo-Visma), Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Bart Lemmen (Human Powered Health)

Tom van der Salm (Twitter: @TomvanderSalm ) | email: [email protected] )

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Dumoulin is back and he’s beginning to feel like himself again

Tom dumoulin returned to racing with 16th in the stage 1 time trial at the tour de suisse..

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

Tom Dumoulin made his return to racing with 16th place in the 10.9 km opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse, 221 days after he last raced.

The former ITT world champion and winner of the 2018 Giro d’Italia announced in January that he would be taking an indefinite break from the sport. He is still unsure what his future holds after the Tokyo Olympic Games, but since his public reappearance at the Amstel Gold Race this spring, he’s feeling more himself again.

“The problem of the last three years was that I lost the pleasure in my job and the race,” Dumoulin told the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad before starting the Tour de Suisse. “I had forgotten what I liked and didn’t like. Now I know that again. That period without racing was very instructive for me. I know again what kind of rider Tom Dumoulin is.”

“What follows after Tokyo, I don’t know yet. Maybe it will be chasing classifications in big tours again. Maybe I want to set other goals, or maybe I don’t want to be a rider at all anymore.”

Dumoulin is at the Tour de Suisse with a young but strong Jumbo-Visma team that is targeting the GC with Sam Oomen, a rider who helped Dumoulin to his Giro d’Italia victory, and then followed in his footsteps by transferring from Team Sunweb (now DSM) to Jumbo-Visma.

“I will set myself small goals during each stage and if I can help Sam with that, it’ll be a pleasure. I don’t see myself in a position to be top 10 in the general classification right now, and that’s not the intention. I am not here to kill myself, but to have a good week of racing in the legs. You shouldn’t forget that I have only trained for a month.”

Though he’s only done a month of training, Dumoulin surprised himself during a performance test after just a couple weeks at altitude, the results of which apparently persuaded him to make the Tokyo Olympics a goal once more.

Dumoulin has won 16 time trials in his career, including at least one at each Grand Tour, the 2017 World Championships and two at the Tour de Suisse in 2015 where he finished third overall. His current aim, however, is to get back to the level that took him to second behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on stage 20 of the 2020 Tour de France.

“My plan is to be as good in Tokyo as I was then. I also believe it’s possible, otherwise I wouldn’t have started this plan. Of course, everything will have to fall into the right place, and you can ask yourself if I have enough time to grow to my very best level, but I am confident that it will work.

“These time trials will make me a bit wiser,” he said of the Tour de Suisse tests. “Although you can’t compare these time trials with the ones in Tokyo. That doesn’t really matter, I see these time trials more as a test to realize what my weak points are.”

While he evaluates his physical condition in Switzerland, there are still questions to be answered about the pressures and expectations faced by anyone competing at the highest levels.

“Of course I am not alone,” Dumoulin said. “There are many top athletes and certainly also non-top athletes who sometimes struggle with themselves, but I don’t want to present myself as a role model. I have no advice for others. Each person can figure that out for himself. During the training camp in Livigno, I certainly found the love of cycling again.

“I was in a deep place before. Besides the mental difficulties, I was overtrained so physically I was not healthy either. As soon as I took some rest, I felt better. When I got back on the bike, I felt that the rider Dumoulin was not ready yet – I still have that feeling now.”

His next big test will be the 23.2 km stage 7, a mountain time trial with a lightning-fast descent to the finish line. After the Tour de Suisse, Dumoulin will race the Dutch national time trial championship before returning to train at altitude while his team aim to win the Tour de France with Primož Roglič.

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Tom Dumoulin shows that he is still in top form in another competition; watch the video

Around 32,000 sports enthusiasts participated in the Amsterdam Marathon and Half Marathon this Sunday. At the start of the half marathon was none other than Tom Dumoulin. The former Giro winner has been a runner for some time now, but he seems to be capable of covering longer distances as well.

“This was a very cool experience,” Dumoulin wrote on his Instagram account. “I aimed for a time well below one hour and fifteen minutes but found a good group that was a bit faster.”

The effort took its toll on the former Giro winner and world time trial champion, who left cycling after last year’s Clásica San Sebastian. “I think I won’t be able to walk for two weeks,” he joked.

Excellent performance!

Dumoulin achieved an impressive 21st place (out of 15,849 participants) and completed the 21 kilometers in a time of 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 4 seconds. To do this, he had to maintain an average speed of 18.07 km/h. The victory went to Iskander Yadgarov. The 32-year-old Russian crossed the finish line after 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 23 seconds, with an average speed of 19.36 km/h.

Watch the moment of Tom Dumoulin’s arrival:

. @tom_dumoulin corre demais. 1:10’ na meia maratona de Amsterdam pic.twitter.com/snvcSGZsx2 — O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) October 15, 2023

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Tom Dumoulin (I)

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Tom Dumoulin open to Grand Tour return in 2022

Dutchman to decide on racing programme in December

Tom Dumoulin has said he is open to competing at Grand Tours again next season, though he added that a decision on his racing programme for 2022 will only be made after he consults with his Jumbo-Visma team in December.

The Dutchman won the Giro d’Italia in 2017 and placed second overall at both the Giro and Tour de France the following season. He put his career on hiatus ahead of the 2021 season, citing burnout, but he returned to competition in June and went on to claim silver in the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I became a cyclist to get the most out of myself,” Dumoulin said in an interview with Dutch magazine Helden . “Trying to get results is still the best thing for me. I don't get happy when I just have to ride on the front for others. Then I can also be of great value to the team at 95 per cent of my ability.

“But the feeling that you can perform well at 95 per cent, that doesn't fit with my level of ambition. I want to go for 100 per cent. I want to ride short races and of course win. Which races? We'll see in December. But I certainly don't exclude Grand Tours. I still find that very challenging and I know I can be very good at it.”

Tour de France 2022: Tom Dumoulin could return says Jumbo-Visma boss BikeExchange confirms ongoing consideration of Tom Dumoulin for 2023 Tom Dumoulin back in the saddle two months after being hit by a car

Back in August, Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge hinted that Dumoulin could ride the Tour de France next season after a year away from Grand Tour racing.

Dumoulin abandoned the 2019 Giro d'Italia after crashing in the opening week at Frascati and he was later forced to miss that year’s Tour through injury. He switched from Sunweb to Jumbo-Visma ahead of the 2020 campaign, and he rode on behalf of his teammate Primož Roglič at the 2020 Tour, while also placing seventh overall in Paris.

Dumoulin abandoned the subsequent Vuelta a España, and he struggled when he began his preparations for the 2021 season last winter. In January, he announced that he was taking a break from competition.

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“In January I couldn't even last two hours on the bike. I felt sick and miserable for the rest of the day after such a ride. I lay on the couch for hours,” Dumoulin said. “My body completely pulled on the brakes at that point. When you feel so weak, you lose the total joy of cycling. I even started to hate it. I had no choice but to cut the knot and quit in January. I couldn't go on like that.”

Dumoulin told Helden that stepping off the carousel of professional cycling had allowed him to take stock and, to an extent, take back control, saying: “I needed that period of time to find out that this was bothering me.”

He added that he had no issue with obligations of his fame such as giving interviews or posing for pictures with fans, but he had begun to feel that he had less and less input into the direction of his career.

“All the people around me want to get the most out of me. That's not wrong, because that's what I want [too],” Dumoulin said.

“They just want to achieve that goal by creating a whole environment around me, with the best experts in all areas to determine what is best for me. Everyone wants to contribute with the best will in the world to make me better. Hardly anyone thought about what and how I actually wanted it. Choices were made for me almost continuously, so that I could no longer indicate which direction I thought best. That often felt very oppressive.”

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• Tour de France

Tom Dumoulin praises Wout Poels for Tour de France win: "For years he has done for Chris Froome what Sepp Kuss is now doing for Jonas Vingegaard"

Tom Dumoulin , now an analyst for NOS, has congratulated compatriot Wout Poels on his maiden Tour de France win, in a Sunday that proved very difficult but a perfect terrain for the climbers.

"He was so often in a domestique role for a slightly better leader. For years he has done for Chris Froome what Sepp Kuss is now doing for Jonas Vingegaard. He was sometimes very close, but now at the age of 35 he still wins the best stage of his career," Dumoulin said, happy for Poels who pierced through the fatigue-burned peloton to show his best legs, showing how despite all these years he continues to have great sense of preparation and recovery capabilities.

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Poels has not been attached to many GC responsibilities as Bahrain did not see Mikel Landa in his best level, whilst Pello Bilbao has not needed the assistance much throughout the mountain stages as the team does not have responsibilities to work. The Dutchman may change his approach now, but with his main goal achieved.

Dumoulin was also a critic of the very short broadcast given to the Dutchman as he crossed the line atop the final climb, a natural reaction taking into consideration how the race organizers were putting their focus on the battle between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

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Fri 21 Jun 2024

Russia-Ukraine war – live: Kyiv launches mass drone assault on Putin’s forces on Crimea and southern Russia

LIVE – Updated at 16:00

Ukraine has launched a “mass” drone assault on Russian infrastructure and military targets in the Black Sea, Crimea and southern Russia , officials and Kyiv ’s military said.

Ukraine’s military said its drones struck four oil refineries, radar stations and other military objects in Russia on Friday morning, as Russian officials reported a “mass” drone attack in Krasnodar and claimed to have shot down 70 drones over the Black Sea and Crimea.

It came as South Korea summoned Russia’s ambassador over the new pact signed by Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin during the latter’s visit to North Korea this week, which the Russian president said included a mutual defence clause.

Departing Pyongyang , Mr Putin claimed that Russia supplying weapons to nuclear-armed North Korea will reflect how the West is arming Ukraine.

But with the move having angered Seoul, Mr Putin simultaneously warned South Korea against making a “big mistake” if it decides to aid Ukraine with arms, threatening a “painful” response.

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“We plan to further develop the nuclear triad as a guarantee of strategic deterrence and to preserve the balance of power in the world,” said Putin.

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The Ukrainians call it a “barn” tank, a bizarre-looking Russian battlefield vehicle captured by Kyiv’s forces that shows how troops are trying to adapt to the constant threat of drone attacks.

The vehicle, built from a ramshackle, rusted T-62 tank, was modified to have a boxy metal shell as its exterior, a cage at its rear and electronic warfare devices attached to it, soldiers told Reuters after it was captured this week.

They say it was used to shuttle around food, ammunition and troops. Its canopy appeared aimed at protecting against drone attacks, particularly cheaply produced FPV (First-Person-View) drones, which are strapped with a munition and flown to their target by a pilot watching on a screen.

“It was created to defend from FPV drones and (drone bomb) drops. It’s an empty taxi for personnel with electronic warfare as its only defence,” Serhiy Misiura, a lieutenant colonel, said on an official Ukrainian army television station.

Nearly 28 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the use of drones by both sides has become ubiquitous on the battlefield, making it difficult to advance or operate safely.

“They clearly didn’t work hard on it. They hastily put it on and sent the tank to the frontline,” said Dmytro, a Ukrainian soldier who spoke to Reuters about the vehicle in the Donetsk region.

They said the vehicle was captured near Klishchiivka, a village gripped by fighting for months on end near the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut.

Dmytro said getting in and out carrying equipment was difficult through its tiny hatch. Visibility was very limited and the stench inside was overwhelming.

Aerial drone footage shot by the Ukrainian military and published on June 17 showed the tank being captured in a wooded area along with a Russian crew. Kyiv’s forces then planted a Ukrainian flag on top of it.

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A Russian guided bomb killed two people and wounded three in a residential area of the eastern Ukrainian town of Selydove on Friday, regional prosecutors said.

Five five-storey buildings and six private homes were damaged by the UMPB D-30 bomb in Selydove, about 14 km (nine miles) from the front line, the Donetsk region prosecutors said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, has dropped over 10,000 guided bombs since the start of the year, including over 3,200 in May alone, Ukrainian military spokesman Nazar Voloshyn said.

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Ukraine accused of ‘mass’ drone attack in russia’s krasnodor region.

Ukraine’s military launched a “mass” drone attack on southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, killing one person and targeting an oil refinery, among other sites, local officials said.

A worker in a boiler room was killed when drone debris crashed into it, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.

Emergency officials said three municipalities came under attack. Fragments from one drone fell on a guest house in Temriuk district, but its residents were evacuated and there were no injuries.

Emergency crews were working at the sites of the attacks.

Ukraine strikes oil refineries and military objects in Russia, military says

Ukraine’s military said its drones struck four oil refineries, radar stations and other military objects in Russia in an attack on Friday morning.

“Unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the Afipsky, Ilsky, Krasnodar, and Astrakhan oil refineries,” the Ukrainian military said.

“Additionally, radar stations and electronic intelligence centres of the Russian invaders in the Bryansk region and the temporarily occupied Crimea were struck,” the statement said.

The Ukrainian military also said it struck drone storage and preparation sites in Russia’s Krasnodar region.

Drone hits Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region

A drone has hit the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, injuring at least two people and causing a small fire, local authorities said.

Ukraine has been systematically targeting Russian energy infrastructure to try to disrupt Russia’s economy and its ability to fund its military effort, and its military said on Friday it had hit four oil refineries and military objects in Russia.

The Ilsky refinery is one of the main fuel producers in southern Russia, with a capacity to refine 6.6 million tonnes of crude (132,000 barrels per day) a year.

The head of the local district, Andrei Doroshevsky, said the fire had been put out, adding: “This night, the civilian infrastructure of our region was subjected to a massive attack by the criminal Kyiv regime.”

Watch: Putin waves goodbye to Kim Jong-un through window of private jet as he departs North Korea

South korea summons russia ambassador over north korea pact.

South Korea’s foreign ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador in protest of the pact between Moscow and North Korea signed in Pyongyang this week.

First vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun conveyed Seoul’s stance on the pact and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea to Georgy Zinoviev, the top Russian envoy to Seoul, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

Mr Kim told Mr Zinoviev that Russia’s military support for North Korea harms South Korea’s security and would inevitably have a “negative impact” on relations between Seoul and Moscow. He also urged Russia to “act responsibly,” according to the ministry.

South Korean National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said on Thursday that Seoul would review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the landmark pact.

A junkyard of burnt cars. Shattered glass and shell fragments. Bodies lining the streets.

This is Oleksandr Mykhed’s language of war. This is the language of Ukrainians. This is, he says, what we should be ready for: “Because this might happen in your country, and you’d better be prepared for that.”

Mykhed – one of Ukraine’s most prolific authors – is in London promoting his tenth book, The Language of War . His once floppy blonde hair is gone, shaved into a military-style buzz cut instead; it is a nod to his second job, the one he did not choose.

My colleague Tom Watling has more in this report:

Russia says it downed 70 Ukrainian drones over Black Sea, Crimea

Russian air defences downed 70 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Crimea overnight, the Russian defence ministry has claimed via the RIA news agency this morning.

The ministry also said Russian forces destroyed six Ukrainian sea drones in the Black Sea.

What's known, and not known, about the partnership agreement signed by Russia and North Korea

Ukraine’s use of US-given weapons in Russia not limited to near Kharkiv, Pentagon says

Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons to hit Russian forces that are firing on Ukrainian troops anywhere across the border into Russia and not just in Russian territory near Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Pentagon said yesterday.

Last month, president Joe Biden quietly authorised Kyiv to launch US-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia.

But officials said at the time that Biden’s decision applied only to targets inside Russia near the border with Ukraine‘s eastern Kharkiv region.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that while there had been no change in policy, Ukraine’s use of weapons against Russian troops was not limited to near Kharkiv on the Russian side.

“The ability to be able to fire back when fired upon is really what this policy is focused on... as we see Russian forces firing across the border, the ability for Ukraine to fire back at those ground forces using US-provided munitions,” Ryder said.

“It’s self-defense and so it makes sense for them to be able to do that,” he added.

Trial of US ballerina accused of treason begins in Russia

The trial of US ballerina Ksenia Karelina, 33, who was accused of high treason after sending a meagre $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity, has begun in western Russia today.

The 33-year-old, originally from Yekaterinburg but who moved to the US, sent money to the Ukrainian foundation Razom for Ukraine on the third day of the war in 2022. When she then visited her family at the start of this year in Russia, she was detained.

The press service of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court reported that Karelina “initiatively carried out a transfer of funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently sent for the acquisition of tactical medicine items, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

Judge Andrei Mineev, who is also considering the case of jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich, closed the trial to the press.

You can read more about the case here .

Zelensky lists measures to preserve Ukraine’s energy system

Volodymyr Zelensky announced a set of measures to protect Ukraine’s energy system, including protection for plants coming under Russian fire and the development of alternative renewable energy sources.

“Life in Ukraine must be preserved and that includes in particular energy security,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address.

Mr Zelensky outlined plans to minimise the effects of such attacks, including a programme of developing solar energy and energy storage facilities and a schedule for critical infrastructure sites to come up with alternative energy sources.

The work, he said, must be completed before winter and the increased energy demand associated with the change in seasons.

Mr Zelensky said the government would “continue to work on creating new energy generation and new decentralised energy capacities”. Also planned was “the construction of new balanced and manoeuvrable capacities for energy”.

“This process is quite challenging in wartime conditions, but we must implement it just as we have already implemented many difficulty projects,” he said.

And work was proceeding, Mr Zelensky said, on measures to protect existing energy sites.

Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy system in the first winter of the war, launched in February 2022, and renewed its assault on energy targets last March as Ukraine was running low on stocks of Western air defence missiles.

Drone and missile strikes have knocked out half of energy generating capacity since March, according to official accounts.

Attacks yesterday overnight hit four regions and cut power to more than 218,000 consumers, the Energy Ministry said.

South Korea says it could supply arms to Ukraine after Russia signs ‘absurd’ deal with North Korea

South Korea could supply arms to Ukraine after Putin’s ‘absurd’ deal with North Korea

US says Putin remarks about possible weapons for North Korea ‘incredibly concerning’

Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Russia may supply weapons for North Korea after signing a defence pact with Pyongyang are “incredibly concerning,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Putin suggested after a visit to North Korea this week that such weapons supplies to the isolated nuclear-armed country would be a mirror response to the Western arming of Ukraine.

He also warned that US ally South Korea would be making “a big mistake” if it decided to supply arms to Ukraine, and that Moscow would respond to such a move in a way that would be painful for Seoul.

“It is incredibly concerning,” Miller told a news briefing when asked about Putin’s remarks about possible arms supplies to North Korea.

“It would destabilise the Korean Peninsula, of course, and potentially... depending on the type of weapons they provide, might violate UN Security Council resolutions that Russia itself has supported.”

The treaty signed by Putin and Kim on Wednesday commits each side to provide immediate military assistance to the other in the event of armed aggression against either one of them.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called it a cause of concern but no surprise. He said Russia’s need for such foreign assistance was a sign of desperation.

“We’ve been talking about this and warning about a burgeoning defence relationship between these two countries now for many months through a series of downgraded intelligence that we’ve put out there,” he said.

“Obviously it’s something we’ve taken seriously.”

Kirby said the US also believed the Russia-North Korea pact would also be a concern to China, which the United States has urged to do more to reign in Pyongyang.

US to rush air defence interceptor missiles to Ukraine

The White House will rush delivery of air defence interceptor missiles to Ukraine by redirecting planned shipments to other allied nations, as Washington scrambles to counter increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

National security spokesperson John Kirby said the US had taken the “difficult but necessary decision to reprioritise near-term planned deliveries of foreign military sales to other countries,” though he wouldn’t say which nations would be affected or how many.

“Right now, we know that Ukraine urgently needs these additional capabilities,” Mr Kirby said on a call with reporters, adding, “Obviously more is needed, and it’s needed now.”

The announcement comes after president Joe Biden, during last week’s Group of Seven meeting in Italy, suggested such action might be necessary, saying, “We’ve let it be known for those countries that are expecting, from us, air defence systems in the future, that they’re going to have to wait.”

“Everything we have is going to go to Ukraine until their needs are met,” Biden said. “And then we will make good on the commitments we made to other countries.”

A junkyard of burnt cars. Shattered glass and shell fragments. Bodies lining the streets .

This is Oleksandr Mykhed’s language of war. This is the language of Ukrainians. This is, he says, what we should be ready for: “Because this might happen in your country , and you’d better be prepared for that.”

Mykhed, 36, enlisted in the military as soon as the full-scale invasion began. Though he had no previous experience, he was told he would be a mortar battery ammunition man. “You will pass grenades to the loader, carry a box of grenades and the mortar itself,” the enlistment officer said to him, after he asked what he meant by “mortar man”.

Tom Watling speaks to him:

‘Mass’ drone attack in Russia’s Krasnodar region

Ukraine’s military launched a “mass” drone attack on southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, but there were no casualties or damage, local Russian officials said this morning.

As a result of the attack, three municipalities came under attack, emergency officials said. Fragments from one drone fell on a guest house in Temriuk district, but its residents were evacuated and there were no injuries.

Russia hammers Ukraine's power grid again and Kyiv's drones target enemy oil depots

Russia resumed its aerial pounding of Ukraine’s power grid and Kyiv’s forces again targeted Russian oil facilities with cross-border drone strikes, officials said yesterday.

In its seventh major attack on Ukrainian power plants since Moscow intensified energy infrastructure attacks three months ago, Russia fired nine missiles and 27 Shahed drones at energy facilities and critical infrastructure in central and eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said.

The attack hit power structures in the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Vinnytsia regions of Ukraine, according to national power company Ukrenergo.

Air defences intercepted all the drones and five cruise missiles, the Ukrainian air force said.

With no major changes reported along the 1,000km (600 mile) frontline, where a recent push by the Kremlin’s forces in eastern and northeastern Ukraine has made only incremental gains, both sides in the war have taken aim at distant infrastructure targets.

Ajunkyard of burned cars. Shattered glass and shell fragments. Bodies lining the streets.

US to reprioritise missiles for Ukraine, White House says

The US will reprioritise planned deliveries of foreign military sales of Patriot and other missiles to go to Ukraine, which is in “desperate need” of more air defense capabilities amid its ongoing war with Russia, the White House said.

Putin says South Korea would be making ‘a big mistake’ if it supplies arms to Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that South Korea would be making “a big mistake” if it decides to supply arms to Ukraine and that Seoul had nothing to worry about when it came to a mutual defence pact between Moscow and North Korea.

Putin, who said Moscow would respond to any such move by South Korea, was speaking to reporters in Vietnam at the end of a two-day trip to Asia. He held talks in North Korea a day earlier.

Yonhap news reported earlier on Thursday that South Korea would review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine, after the leaders of North Korea and Russia signed a pact pledging mutual defence in the event of war.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wins race to head Nato

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is set to become the next Nato chief after his only rival dropped out of the leadership race.

Mr Rutte will become the secretary-general of the alliance in October after Romanian president Klaus Iohannis withdrew from the contest.

The 57-year-old has been one of the driving forces behind Europe’s military support for Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe.

He will replace Norway’s former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who has run the US-led military alliance since 2014 and had his term extended four times.

Pictured: Ukrainian solider launches reconnaissance drone

Zelenkyy thanks romania for 'bolstering air shield'.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Romania’s decision to provide his country with two Patriot air defence systems will strengthen security in Ukraine and throughout Europe.

“This crucial contribution will bolster our air shield and help us better protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian air terror,” the Ukrainian president said on X.

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a surface-to-air missile defence system.

The Putin-Kim bromance is a dangerous liaison

Russian interference in UK general election will likely ramp up dramatically, warns senior US senator

Russian interference in the UK general election will likely “ramp up dramatically” over the next fortnight, the chair of the United States senate intelligence committee has warned.

Washington has witnessed “egregious efforts” by Moscow to interfere in the democratic process across the globe, similar to those alleged in the 2016 US presidential election, said Mark Warner.

The senior senator, who is regularly briefed on secret US intelligence, said he had been closely monitoring the situation in the UK, adding: “I think the next big test of the state of play will be the British elections in a few weeks.”

Russian interference in UK election may ramp up dramatically, warns senior US senator