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Sea Drone Alert Ends in Russia's Key Black Sea Port

A Ukrainian serviceman belonging to the attack drones battalion of the Achilles, 92nd brigade, launches a mid-range reconnaissance type drone, Vector, for flying over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a Kharkiv region, Ukraine June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
A Ukrainian serviceman belonging to the attack drones battalion of the Achilles, 92nd brigade, launches a mid-range reconnaissance type drone, Vector, for flying over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a Kharkiv region, Ukraine June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
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Sea Drone Alert Ends in Russia's Key Black Sea Port

A Ukrainian serviceman belonging to the attack drones battalion of the Achilles, 92nd brigade, launches a mid-range reconnaissance type drone, Vector, for flying over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a Kharkiv region, Ukraine June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
A Ukrainian serviceman belonging to the attack drones battalion of the Achilles, 92nd brigade, launches a mid-range reconnaissance type drone, Vector, for flying over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a Kharkiv region, Ukraine June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia

The mayor of the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk issued a sea drone alert on Thursday morning which lasted for more than two hours, while a group of unmanned Ukrainian boats was destroyed near Crimea.
Mayor Andrei Kravchenko urged residents to stay away from the city's shoreline in his initial message on the Telegram app. Ukrainian sea drones have in the past attacked Russian ships near the port, disrupting traffic, said Reuters.
Novorossiisk is Russia's largest Black Sea port and a key outlet for crude oil and oil product exports in the south. It also loads oil from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and handles grain, coal, fertilizers, timber as well as food and chemical cargoes.
Separately, the TASS news agency cited the Russian defense ministry as saying 10 Ukrainian sea drones had been destroyed as they approached Crimea, and 33 air drones had been destroyed over the peninsula overnight.

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Defense Chief Says Ukraine Will Find Battlefield Solutions No Matter Who Wins US Election

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Defense Chief Says Ukraine Will Find Battlefield Solutions No Matter Who Wins US Election

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

Ukraine will find a way to battle Russia's invading forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and imperils vital US support for its defense, Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday.

In carefully framed comments to an audience of US policymakers and journalists, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reflected the diplomatic and military difficulty facing Ukraine as Trump and running mate JD Vance gain momentum in the US presidential race.

Vance, an Ohio senator, has battled in Congress to block US military and financial aid to Ukraine as it fights Russian forces and cross-border attacks, while Trump has said he will bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November.

Trump, a Republican, has not said how he would do that. Analysts say that could include withdrawal of US aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to a ceasefire on Russian terms, including surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia.

“We believe in US leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well,” Umerov said, speaking remotely to an audience of government officials and others at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

“At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield,” Umerov said. “Whatever the outcome” of the US elections, “we will find solutions.”

Umerov, much like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Washington last week, stopped short of saying whether Ukraine would attempt to keep fighting or would agree to a ceasefire deal that ceded territory to Russia if the US were to withdraw its support.

While other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also help provide arms, money and other aid to Ukraine, US support has been the most invaluable since Russia launched its war in early 2022.

For now, Umerov insisted that Ukraine — which has broadened its mobilization efforts to bring in more troops than the 4 million Umerov said were now registered — would keep fighting to regain territory already lost to the Russians.

It was “within our goals” to take back the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russians early in their offensive, he said.

The defense minister also pushed back against President Joe Biden on one point, although not by name. While Biden has been the most important single backer of Ukraine’s defense, he has resisted growing pressure to roll back tough restrictions placed on Ukraine’s use of US weapons against military targets in Russia. Biden suggested at the NATO summit that Ukraine might use the weapons to hit Moscow.

Umerov said Ukraine couldn’t stop Russian strikes on its cities and infrastructure unless it could hit the airbases and other military sites in Russia from which the strikes come.

“We want to say it loudly: We are focusing on military targets, so that they are not able to hit the civilians” in Ukraine, he said.