Russia Live News from Ukraine: RAF Typhoon attempted to intercept planes as Bakhmut battle raged

In the first joint exercise between the two NATO allies, a Russian plane was intercepted by RAF and German fighter jets near Estonian airspace.

Two British and German Typhoon jets were muddled on Tuesday when a Russian air-to-air refueling plane failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control.

It comes as the UK prepares to take over Germany to lead the NATO mission in Estonia, which borders Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated a “decisive victory” over Russia in a $3 billion Eurobond case before the UK Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“Today Ukraine won another decisive victory against the attacker,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. “The court has ruled that Ukraine’s defense on the basis of Russia’s threats of aggression will receive a full public hearing. Justice will be ours.”

The Kremlin said relations with the United States were in a “deplorable state” and at their lowest point after Washington accused Russia of shooting down one of its reconnaissance drones over the Black Sea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had been no high-level contact with Washington over the incident, but said Russia will never refuse to engage in constructive dialogue.

The US military said on Tuesday that a Russian warplane cut the propeller of one of its spy drones while flying over the Black Sea in international airspace and crashed into the water.

Russia denied this, claiming it crashed because of “sharp manoeuvring”.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Denmark for setting up a new support fund for Ukraine.

He tweeted: “Sincerely grateful @folketingetpm @Statsmin and the government for setting up a support fund. More than $1 billion in military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine is a guarantee that we will bring closer our common victory over the aggressor and the return of peace in Europe!”

Ukraine can defend itself against a £3 billion Eurobond lawsuit brought by Russia since it was forced to assume the debt by force in 2013 following threats from Moscow, the UK Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The long-awaited ruling on the lawsuit, filed in 2016 and well ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, paves the way for a full trial against Ukraine for having to accept the money in the face of Russian aggression.

Turkey is closely monitoring the incident in which a US military drone crashed in the Black Sea after being intercepted by Russian jets, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told Demiroren news agency.

Akar also said they had made several contacts about the incident without giving further details, the agency reported.

China, Iran and Russia are conducting joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman from March 15 to 19, China’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The exercises will help “deepen practical cooperation between navies of participating countries,” the ministry said.

Turkey plans to approve Finland’s NATO bid independently of Sweden’s ahead of May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, two Turkish officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

Turkey’s parliament will most likely ratify Finland’s NATO membership before it closes for elections in mid-April, officials said.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto will visit Turkey on Friday to discuss his country’s NATO membership with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan.