Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump aide says India financing Putin’s war by buying Russian oil

The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet was quoted as saying.

The drills are taking place two days after US president Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in “the appropriate regions” in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

However, they were scheduled well before Mr Trump’s action.

Interfax news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying Russian and Chinese vessels were moving in a joint detachment including a large Russian anti-submarine ship and two Chinese destroyers.

It said diesel-electric submarines from the two countries were also involved, as well as a Chinese submarine rescue ship. The manoeuvres are part of exercises titled “Maritime Interaction-2025” which are scheduled to end tomorrow.

More than 120 firefighters were trying to extinguish a fire at an oil depot in the Russian city of Sochi that was sparked by an Ukrainian drone attack, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.

A Ukrainian drone attack caused two oil tanks to catch fire at an oil depot in Sochi in southern Russia but the blazes were later extinguished, local authorities said.

The Russian defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the waters of the Black Sea.

The Krasnodar region is home to the Ilsky refinery near the city of Krasnodar, among the largest in southern Russia and a frequent target of Ukraine’s drone attacks.

The Russian defence ministry reports only how many drones its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launched.

Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation authority, said on Telegram that flights were halted at the city’s airport to ensure air safety.

A Russian attack killed three people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region yesterday, the regional governor said, as Moscow’s forces press on with their slow advance westward along the 1,000-km frontline with Ukraine.

Governor Ivan Fedorov said the three people were killed in the daytime strike on the town of Stepnohirsk. Private homes were destroyed.

In Kamianske, a town a few kilometres south of Stepnohirsk on the Dnipro River in Zaporizhzhia region, a military spokesperson said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops were holding on to their positions despite Russian attempts to take control.

Donald Trump has said his special envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia, potentially on Wednesday or Thursday, as he warned that he would impose sanctions if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine before Friday.

“There’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” Mr Trump told reporters yesterday.

“They’re wily characters and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we’ll see what happens,” the US president said.

A top aide to Donald Trump accused India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from the country, escalating pressure on New Delhi over its relations with Moscow.

“What he said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,” Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House, said, referring to the US president.

“People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact,” Mr Miller told Fox News.

Mr Miller’s criticism was some of the strongest yet by the Trump administration against a major partner of the US in the Indo-Pacific.

The Indian embassy in Washington did not issue a comment immediately.

Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday that New Delhi would keep purchasing oil from Moscow despite US threats.