Ukraine war: Moscow 'targets' Black Sea ship, Poland Ukrainian grain ban, Baltics buys air defences

Estonia and Latvia on Monday struck a joint deal to purchase a German-made medium-range air defence system. 

The two Baltic states also signed a letter of intent to participate in Germany's European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), launched last year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"This is by far the biggest defence investment in Estonia's history. It's something we don't see every day," Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told reporters.

"Russia's barbaric war in Ukraine has shown that air defence is essential to protect the armed forces and critical infrastructure from aerial attack." 

The IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence system that was sold for one billion dollars is developed by the German arms company Diehl Defence. 

At a signing ceremony in Rothenbach, southern Germany, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he "appreciated" that Estonia and Latvia had joined the ESSI. 

19 European countries, including Germany, the UK, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden, have come together to develop a ground-based air defence system under the ESSI project.

The Sky Shield would involve joint purchases of short, medium and long range systems, including US Patriots and the US-Israeli Arrow 3 missiles.

France, Italy and Poland have not signed up to the project, with Paris arguing instead for an air defence system using European equipment.

The UK on Monday accused Russian forces of attempting to destroy a Liberian-flagged civilian cargo ship in the port of Odessa, southwest Ukraine, with several missile attacks on 24  August. 

The attempt was foiled by Kyiv, however. 

The Kalibr-type missiles, fired from a Russian warship at sea, “were successfully shot down by Ukrainian forces,” the British Foreign Office wrote