Russia reports downing 42 drones, US to train Ukrainian F-16 pilots starting October, Trump arrested, released on bond

Novaya-Europe's round-up

It is day 548 of the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported downing 42 Ukrainian drones “over Russian airspace”, including nine over Crimea.

The ministry also says it took down a Ukrainian S-200 missile over the Kaluga region.

Former US President Donald Trump was formally arrested and had a mugshot taken of him before being released on a $200,000 bond.

Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has commented on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s alleged death: “a huge loss for the entire nation”.

Novaya-Europe’s news round-up will brief you on the main developments overnight.

Russian MoD: 42 drones downed

Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported downing 42 Ukrainian drones “over Russian airspace”, as per the agency’s statement.

“Air defence systems detected 42 unmanned aerial vehicles. As a result of the Russian Armed Forces’ actions over the territory of Crimea, nine UAVs were destroyed, 33 were neutralised by electronic warfare means and crashed without reaching the target,” the statement reads.

Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports were temporarily closed due to drone threat, Baza reports.

Russian MoD: S-200 missile taken down over Kaluga region

Russia’s Defence Ministry also claims it prevented a Ukrainian attack on civilian facilities in the Kaluga region by taking down an S-200 missile, as per another statement.

“The missile was detected and destroyed by air defence systems over the territory of Kaluga region,” the statement reads.

US to start training Ukrainian F-26 pilots in October

The US will begin training Ukrainians to fly and maintain F-16 fighter jets in the coming months, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder says.

The training is expected to begin in October at the Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, and will be facilitated by the Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing. The US-led training is “in support of the international effort to develop and strengthen Ukraine’s long-term defences,” Ryder said.

He also added that Ukraine will ultimately determine the number of pilots that will require the training. The complete training pipeline will likely take several months, depending upon the pilots' proficiency coming into the course.

“Part of this training will be assessing the individual pilots' skill level, which will determine how long that training will last,” Ryder said. “Your basic, new F-16 pilot with not a lot of training on the US side, that training typically lasts about eight months.”

Trump formally arrested, released on $200,000 bond

Former US President Donald Trump has appeared at the Fulton County jail in the state of Georgia to be placed under formal arrest on more than a dozen charges stemming from his efforts to reverse Georgia’s 2020 election results, CNN reports.

He was at the jail for about 20 minutes and had his fingerprints and a mugshot taken of him. Trump was then released on a $200,000 bond. He agreed to this condition earlier this week, and pledged not to use social media to intimidate co-defendants and witnesses in the case.

Trump has become the first acting or former US President to be handed criminal charges. A total of 18 other people will be tried alongside him.

Kadyrov comments on Prigozhin’s alleged death

Chechnya’s governor Ramzan Kadyrov has commented on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s alleged death, as per a post on his Telegram.

“Yevgeny was a very active person for his age, and he was an important person for the state. Unfortunately, recently he either did not see or refused to see the full picture of what was going on in the country. I asked him to sacrifice his personal ambitions for the sake of top priority state affairs. Other things could have been settled later. But that’s what kind of man he was, Prigozhin, a tough guy willing to have things his own way, ‘here and now’.

Undoubtedly, he greatly contributed to the special military operation. You can’t take this from his name. His death is a huge loss for the entire nation,” Kadyrov stated.

He also says he was a friend of Kadyrov’s from way back and helped him “in some of his issues in Libya and Africa”. In one of his visits to Grozny, Prigozhin awarded Kadyrov with a Wagner Group medal for “special services”.