Ukraine "holds the initiative" as it makes progress in counteroffensive, senior military officer says Britain’s most senior military officer, Sir Tony Radakin, said that Ukraine “continues to hold the initiative, it is pushing Russia back” in a short assessment of the current state of the fighting given at the DSEI arms fair in London. Rejecting claims that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was struggling, he said “in the north they are holding and fixing Russian forces there and in the south they are making progress between 10 and 20km depending on how you judge it”. Radakin, who is closely involved with advising Ukraine’s most senior commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that Ukraine’s slow counteroffensive progress could not be measured by a predictable timetable. “The idea that war is neat and tidy, and you can plan and predict it to the nth degree is nonsense”. Closing summary Cuba is not against the legal participation of its citizens in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Russian state-run RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Cuban envoy to Moscow. Britain’s most senior military officer, Sir Tony Radakin, said that Ukraine “continues to hold the initiative, it is pushing Russia back” in a short assessment of the current state of the fighting. Russia said it is expelling two US diplomats accused of working with a Russian national who is accused of collaborating with a foreign state. Slovakia has expelled a diplomat based in Russia’s embassy, the Slovak foreign ministry said on its website on Thursday. The ministry said: “The reason is his activities, which were in direct violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.” South Korea has expressed “deep concern and regret” over a meeting between the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, which apparently focused on expanding military cooperation. Alexander Lukashenko left Belarus on Thursday for an official visit to Russia, according to his press service. Talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, are scheduled for Friday. Bulgaria decided on Thursday not to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five eastern EU nations that is set to expire this week, AFP reported. Ukraine’s foreign ministry reportedly said that any decision by European states to extend import restrictions on Ukrainian food from 15 September would be illegal and harm common economic interests. Ukraine earlier claimed to have destroyed a Russian air defence system near the town of Yevpatoriya in occupied Crimea in an overnight drone and missile attack which was conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine and the navy on Thursday morning. Suspilne reported that a six-year-old boy was killed and other people injured by Russian shelling in the village of Novodmytrivka, which is located in Kherson region. Boris Johnson, the UK’s former prime minister, has attacked the government over its policy on Ukraine, saying it should urgently provide more weaponry requested by Kyiv and asking the west: “What the hell are we waiting for?” Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, is planning to attend the UN general assembly next week and is expected to meet with US president Joe Biden, NBC reported on Thursday, citing a senior Ukrainian official. Ukraine’s military said on Thursday it had damaged two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea in a morning attack, Reuters reports. A report on Telegram said the attack took place in the south-west part of the Black Sea and had inflicted “certain damage”. Russia’s defence ministry said it had detected and destroyed an uncrewed Ukrainian boat in the Black Sea. These claims are yet to be independently verified. Romania, a Nato member, has imposed additional flight restrictions in parts of its airspace along the border with Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Thursday. It comes after elements of a possible drone were identified on Romanian territory on Wednesday, according to the defence ministry. Ukraine said the attack early on Wednesday had struck the ports of Reni and Izmail, which lie across the Danube from Romania, damaging warehouses used for grain cargoes, oil storage tanks and administrative buildings. The attacks, which have intensified since mid-July when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, have increased security risks for Nato, whose members have a mutual defence commitment. Cuba is not against its citizens fighting on Russia"s side in Ukraine war - reports Cuba is not against the legal participation of its citizens in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Russian state-run RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Cuban envoy to Moscow. Last week, Cuban authorities said they had arrested 17 people on charges related to a ring of human traffickers that allegedly had lured young Cuban men to serve in the Russian military amid the war in Ukraine. The Cuban ambassador to Moscow, Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña, said the arrested people, all Cuban citizens, had been engaged in illegal activities and had broken the law. RIA quoted the ambassador as saying: We have nothing against Cubans who just want to sign a contract and legally take part with the Russian army in this operation. But we are against illegality and these operations that have nothing to do with the legal field. He did not say whether Cuba would also be relaxed about its citizens fighting on Ukraine’s side in the war, now in its 19th month. The US president, Joe Biden, said he had appointed the former commerce secretary Penny Pritzker to serve as the new US special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery. Biden said she would mobilise public and private investment, shape donor priorities, and work to open export markets and businesses shut down by what he called Russia’s brutal attacks and destruction. He said in a statement: As we take this next step to help Ukraine forge a stronger future, we remain steadfastly committed to helping it defend its freedom today. Pritzker, 64, served as secretary of the US commerce department under president Barack Obama from June 2013 to January 2017. The US has blacklisted five Turkish companies as part of sweeping new sanctions aiming to hamstring the Russian economy over its war on Ukraine, AFP reports. Three Turkish firms were placed under sanctions for supplying Russian defence-related manufacturers, including UAV producers, with parts and technology equipment. Another two Turkish firms, and the owner of one of them, were hit for providing ship repair services to vessels controlled by or involved with the Russian defence sector. They were among more than 150 individuals, companies and institutions added to the US Treasury and state department blacklists for their alleged roles in supporting Russia’s nearly 19-month-old war against Ukraine. Most of those named were Russian manufacturers, trading companies and institutes supporting the production of arms and other supplies for the Russian armed forces, and individuals who own or manage those entities. Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers have carried out a patrol over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian seas, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday, citing the defence ministry. According to the ministry, the patrol was planned and lasted about four hours, Reuters reports. Slovakia expels Russian diplomat – foreign ministry Slovakia has expelled a diplomat based in Russia’s embassy, the Slovak foreign ministry said on its website on Thursday. The ministry said: The reason is his activities, which were in direct violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which were thoroughly documented by the competent authorities of the Slovak Republic. It added that the Russian diplomat had 48 hours to leave the country, Reuters reports. The ministry further said it had summoned the Russian ambassador and urged the embassy to conduct its activities in accordance with the Vienna convention. Russia will give “an appropriate response” to the expulsion of one of its diplomats from Slovakia, state-run RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Russian foreign ministry. Ukraine "holds the initiative" as it makes progress in counteroffensive, senior military officer says Britain’s most senior military officer, Sir Tony Radakin, said that Ukraine “continues to hold the initiative, it is pushing Russia back” in a short assessment of the current state of the fighting given at the DSEI arms fair in London. Rejecting claims that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was struggling, he said “in the north they are holding and fixing Russian forces there and in the south they are making progress between 10 and 20km depending on how you judge it”. Radakin, who is closely involved with advising Ukraine’s most senior commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that Ukraine’s slow counteroffensive progress could not be measured by a predictable timetable. “The idea that war is neat and tidy, and you can plan and predict it to the nth degree is nonsense”. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said he expects the European Commission to “keep its word and lift all restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports tomorrow”. Kuleba tweeted: No form of continuing the ban is acceptable since it would undermine the single market, the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, and trust in EU commitments. Restrictions imposed by the EU in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere. The restrictions, designed to ease excess supply, are due to expire on Friday. Ukraine’s prosecutor general said the international criminal court (ICC) had opened a field office in Kyiv, as part of efforts to hold Russian forces accountable for potential war crimes, AFP reports. Kyiv has called for a special tribunal to be created to hold Moscow responsible for violations committed during its full-scale invasion, launched last February. “Today marks a pivotal stride in our journey towards restoring justice,” Prosecutor Gen Andriy Kostin wrote on social media. “The field office of the international criminal court has opened in Ukraine, the largest ICC office outside The Hague. Now our cooperation will be even more effective and efficient.” The move comes after an international office to probe Russia for the war crime of aggression opened in The Hague in March in what Kyiv called a “historic” first step towards a tribunal for Moscow’s leadership. “Unlike Russia’s criminal regime, Ukraine has nothing to hide,” Kostin said. “Together with the entire civilised world, we are united by one goal – to ensure the aggressor is held accountable for all the crimes perpetrated,” he added.