Live Updates - Russia says 'destroyed' air defence systems

Igor Konashenkov said the military used sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles to destroy four S-300 air defence missile launchers on the southern outskirts of the city of Dnipro.He said about 25 Ukrainian troops were also hit by the strike on Sunday.Konashenkov in a statement said Ukraine had received the air defence systems from a European country.

The Russian military on Monday said it had destroyed a shipment of air defense missile systems provided by the West.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the military used sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles to destroy four S-300 air defense missile launchers on the southern outskirts of the city of Dnipro.

He said about 25 Ukrainian troops were also hit by the strike on Sunday.

Konashenkov in a statement said Ukraine had received the air defense systems from a European country. He, however, did not name the country that provided the systems. Konashenkov's claim could not be independently verified.

Last week, Slovakia said it had handed over its Soviet-designed S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine, which has pleaded with the West to give it more weapons, including long-range air defense systems.

Slovakia's prime minister's office in a statement on Sunday called the news that the S-300 system given to Ukraine was destroyed by "disinformation".

It was, however, unclear whether both sides were referring to the same airstrike. The Russians have targeted missile defense systems in three different locations in recent days.

___ KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: — Ukrainian defenders dig in as Russia boosts firepower — Biden, Modi to speak as US presses for a hard line on Russia — Ukrainian nuns open their monastery doors to the displaced — US doubts new Russian war chief can end Moscow's floundering — Analysis: War, the economy could weaken Putin's place as leader ___ OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: BRUSSELS — Austria's foreign minister on Monday said Chancellor Karl Nehammer was taking "very clear messages of a humanitarian and political kind" to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said Nehammer decided to make the trip after meeting in Kyiv on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and following contacts with the leaders of Turkey, Germany, and the European Union.

Schallenberg said ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg that "we don't want to leave any opportunity unused and must seize every chance to end the humanitarian hell in Ukraine".

He added that "every voice that makes clear to President Putin what reality looks like outside the walls of Kremlin is not a wasted voice".

Schallenberg said that Nehammer and Putin will meet one-on-one without media opportunities.

He insisted that Austria had done everything to ensure that the visit was not abused, "and I think he (Putin) himself should have an interest in someone telling him the truth and finding out what's going on outside''.

___ BRUSSELS — Germany's foreign minister says Ukraine needs heavy weapons to defend itself and this is no time for "excuses".

Ukraine's president has warned that his country faces a crucial time and that Russian troops will step up operations in the east.

"What is clear is that Ukraine needs further military material, above all heavy weapons, and now is not the time for excuses -- now is the time for creativity and pragmatism," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said as she arrived for a meeting with her European Union counterparts on Monday: Germany broke with a foreign policy tradition after Russia's invasion to supply arms to Ukraine but has faced criticism from Kyiv for perceived hesitancy and slowness in providing material.

___ BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers are meeting to weigh the effectiveness of the bloc's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid concern about Moscow's preparations for a major attack in the east.

The ministers will hold talks with the International Criminal Court's Prosecutor-General Karim A.A. Khan as Western pressure mounts to hold to account those responsible for any war crimes in Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is chairing Monday's meeting in Luxembourg, deplored the "brutal, brutal aggression" of Russian troops.

Borrell, who was in Ukraine over the weekend, said further EU sanctions against Russia were ''always on the table".

He says he's "afraid the Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack on the Donbas", region in the east after Moscow withdrew its forces from around the capital Kyiv last week.

___ LONDON — Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Monday that Ukraine has beaten back several assaults by Kremlin forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, destroying Russian tanks, vehicles, and artillery.

In an intelligence update, the ministry said Russian shelling in the two eastern regions was continuing.

"Russia's continued reliance on unguided bombs decreases their ability to discriminate when targeting and conducting strikes, while greatly increasing the risk of civilian casualties," the ministry statement said.

The ministry also said Russia's "prior use" of phosphorus munitions in the Donetsk region raised the possibility they may be used in Mariupol as the battle for the city on Ukraine's south coast intensified.