Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin finally speaks out on CIA director’s mysterious visit to Moscow

Ukraine heeded a special request from the Donald Trump administration not to attack major Russian cities during a visit by CIA director John Ratcliffe.

The US contacted Kyiv last week to request that it not strike Moscow , St Petersburg and a stretch of northern Russia while a plane carrying the senior US official was flying in and out of the Russian capital, sources told Reuters.

The request covered Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and was only revealed hours after Ratcliffe left Russia late on Tuesday.

Subsequently, a large US military aircraft was confirmed to have travelled to Russia from the US via Latvia on Tuesday, flight tracking data confirmed.

The purpose of Ratcliffe’s visit and the nature of his meetings in Russia were not immediately clear. It was the first known trip to Moscow by a US spy chief since his predecessor, William Burns , held talks with Vladimir Putin in November 2021.

Ukraine resumed strikes on Russia early on Wednesday after Ratcliffe's departure, with Russia saying it downed at least 426 drones overnight.

It could take up to four months to restore damaged facilities at NKHP, one of the largest grain terminals at Russia's port of Novorossiysk, where operations have been halted since August, the company said on Wednesday in its financial report.

Local officials said earlier in August that a Ukrainian drone and missile strike on the port damaged two major grain export terminals and hit the last big Russian naval base on the Black Sea.

Andy Burnham was reportedly warned that Russia is plotting retaliation against Britain for its continued support for Ukraine.

Security experts were said to have told the prime minister to be ready for a ‘direct response’, according to the Daily Mail .

Mr Burnham travelled to Kyiv on Monday for his first overseas trip since taking office last month and said London and Paris would provide long-range missile technology to Ukraine.

A unnamed senior security source told the Mail: “An attack on the UK’s defence and security infrastructure is inevitable, based on our high profile support for Ukraine.

“Ourselves and the French are front and centre, and Burnham's visit to Kyiv and his forthright stance will have been noticed at the Kremlin,” they assessed.

“There had been some optimism in Moscow that he would be softer than Starmer on Ukraine. That was not the case.”