Russia-Ukraine war: UN probe finds new evidence of Russian war crimes; Zelenskiy ‘grateful’ to Biden for support – as it happened

Russian forces have committed ‘indiscriminate attacks’ and war crimes in Ukraine, says UN committee of inquiry

Russian forces launched 12 missiles, 60 airstrikes and 53 shellings yesterday, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 90 combat engagements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its morning briefing.

Russian forces also deployed the wing rocket Iskander-K at a civilian object in Mykolaiv and launched Iranian kamikaze Shahed drones across southern Ukraine, most of which were destroyed by anti-aircraft defence.

Continue reading...

European leaders seethe over Putin-Orbán meeting

Czech president calls on western capitals not to fall for Russian leader’s tactic to break European unity

European leaders must not “fall” for the tactics of Vladimir Putin, the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has said, two days after Hungary’s prime minister shook hands with Russia’s leader.

Viktor Orbán, in a rare move for the leader of a country that belongs to the EU and Nato, met Putin in Beijing on Tuesday for what the Hungarian leader’s office described as a discussion on energy cooperation and peace.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Putin’s ‘cynical’ comments on civilian casualties criticised by Germany – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to Pyongyang, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry did not provide any details of the meeting, which, according to state-run Tass news agency, lasted just over an hour.

Likewise the Russian Federation extends its complete support and solidarity with the aspirations of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea].

Continue reading...

Russia’s foreign minister hails ‘new level’ of ties during North Korea trip

Sergei Lavrov praises Kim Jong-un for ‘unambiguous support’ for Ukraine war on visit that could pave way for summit with Vladimir Putin

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow’s relations with North Korea have reached a “new level”, as concern grows over deepening military ties between the two countries amid the war in Ukraine.

Speaking on Thursday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Lavrov hailed last month’s summit in Russia’s far east between Vladimir Putin and the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, as evidence that bilateral ties were at a “qualitatively new, strategic level”.

Continue reading...

Russian-American journalist detained in Russia for violating foreign agents law

Alsu Kurmasheva reportedly detained due to Radio Free Europe coverage of Russia’s military mobilisation for Ukraine invasion

A Russian-American journalist has been detained in Russia on charges of violating its foreign agents law, reportedly due to her coverage of Russia’s military mobilisation for its invasion of Ukraine.

Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty’s (RFE-RL) Tatar-Bashkir service, was detained on Wednesday by masked Russian law enforcement agents.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 603 of the invasion

Putin calls delivery of ATACMS long-range missiles ‘another mistake’ by US; Russian foreign minister arrives in North Korea ahead of expected Putin trip

Vladimir Putin called the US delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Kyiv “another mistake by the United States” in his first public comments since an unprecedented Ukrainian strike destroyed helicopters at two airfields in Russian-occupied territory this week. The Russian president also claimed that the delivery of the ATACMS missiles, which can strike targets more than 100 miles away and deliver salvoes with cluster munitions, would “simply prolong [Ukraine’s] agony.”

Images of Hungary’s prime minister shaking hands with Putin were “very, very unpleasant” and defied logic given Budapest’s past history with Moscow, the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said. Viktor Orbán and Putin held talks in China on Tuesday, with the Hungarian prime minister telling the Russian president he had never wanted to oppose Moscow and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in North Korea on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said, with a Kremlin spokesperson telling the Tass news agency that the two-day visit was expected to lay the groundwork for a future trip to the country by Putin. The trip took place days after the US said Pyongyang had transferred munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

Russian attacks in the past two days have killed at least 10 civilians in Ukraine and damaged the power grid in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. Among the targets hit was a residential building in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The lower house of the Russian parliament has passed the second and third readings of a bill that revokes Russia’s ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. Both were passed unanimously by 415 votes to zero. Ukraine’s foreign ministry later condemned the steps taken, and urged the international community to respond to Moscow’s “provocations”.

US President Joe Biden is to give a primetime speech to Americans on Thursday on the war in Israel and in Ukraine, the White House said. There have been concerns that the war between Israel and Hamas may divert military and international support from Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country’s support for Ukraine during a phone call on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the French presidency said. “He assured the Ukrainian president that the proliferation of crises would not weaken French and European support for Ukraine, which will be there for as long as it takes,” said Macron’s office.

Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, in charge of Ukraine’s operations in the south, said Ukrainian forces had had “partial success to the south of Robotyne.” Robotyne is one of a group of villages in the south that Ukraine wants to secure as part of its advance towards the Sea of Azov – aimed at severing a land bridge linking Russian positions in the south and east.

Biden is reportedly to propose a joint $100bn package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border this week. The package is intended to bypass congressional chaos and bring Democrats, who have sought additional aid for Kyiv for weeks, together with Republicans, who want funds to tighten controls on the southern border.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: US supplying long-range missiles to Kyiv ‘just prolongs the agony’ for Ukraine, warns Putin – as it happened

Russian president says decision to supply army tactical missile systems shows US is wading deeper into the conflict

Speaking at a televised news conference in Beijing, Vladimir Putin said that US deliveries of long-range Atacms missiles to Ukraine were a “mistake” that would create additional threats to Russian forces.

The Russian president said, however, that they would not significantly change the situation on the front.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 602 of the invasion

Ukraine starts using Atacms missiles from US, with Russian-held airfield targeted; $14bn damage toll from destruction of Kakhovka dam

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has confirmed that Kyiv used US-provided long-range army tactical missile systems (Atacms) missiles. “Today, special thanks to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. Very accurately – Atacms missiles proved themselves,” he said. This marks the first officially confirmed use in Ukraine of Atacms, which can fly up to 190 miles.

Ukrainian forces struck airfields in Russian-held territory in eastern and southern Ukraine overnight, destroying helicopters, knocking out an air defence missile launcher and damaging runways, Kyiv’s military said. The military said its forces had carried out “well-aimed strikes on enemy airfields” near the eastern city of Luhansk and the southern city of Berdiansk. Atacms are thought to have been used.

A telecommunication cable connecting Sweden and Estonia has been damaged, Sweden’s civil defence minister has said. Carl-Oskar Bohlin said it appeared to have occurred at the same time as a subsea gas pipeline and a telecom cable connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged on 8 October.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, welcomed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to Beijing, which is to host representatives of 130 countries for a forum on Xi’s belt and road initiative.

The lower house of the Russian parliament has reportedly given preliminary approval to a bill revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty.

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in south-eastern Ukraine in June caused $14bn worth of damage and losses, according to a report by the Ukrainian government and the UN.

Grant Shapps, the UK defence secretary, is due to visit the US on Tuesday for urgent talks over conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Canada is targeting nine individuals and six TV stations in new sanctions against Russian collaborators in Moldova. Those targeted are associated with influential oligarchs, such as Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Mironovich Shor, while the TV stations promote and disseminate Russian disinformation, the Canadian foreign ministry said.

US, South Korean and Japanese officials have met in Jakarta to discuss North Korea’s engagement with Russia, including arms transfers violating UN security council resolutions.

A convoy of British ambulances has arrived in Lviv in western Ukraine and will be delivered to hospitals on the frontline. Five vehicles donated by the charity Medical Life Lines Ukraine are being sent to the southern city of Kherson – which is under intense Russian attack – as well as the towns of Kupiansk and Vorozhba in the war-torn north-east of the country. Since last year’s full-scale invasion the group has donated 43 vehicles.

Continue reading...

Ukraine deploys US-supplied ATACMS missiles for first time, Zelenskiy says

Long-range weapon ‘executed very accurately’ in strike on two airbases in Russian-held territory

Ukraine’s military has used US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said they were deployed on the battlefield against Russia and “executed very accurately”.

“Today, special thanks to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented,” Zelenskiy said, adding that the missiles “have proven themselves”.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy confirms Kyiv used US-provided ATACMs missiles – as it happened

Ukrainian military used US-supplied longer-range army tactical missile systems to strike nine Russian helicopters in eastern Ukraine

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved revoking the ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty in the first of three readings on Tuesday.

The vote was passed by 412 votes to zero, with no abstentions. Vyacheslav Volodin said Russia was revoking the treaty because of the irresponsible attitude of the US to global security, Reuters reports.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 601 of the invasion

Russia testing defences around Kupiansk-Lyman as its Avdiivka offensive wanes, says Ukraine; Moscow admits reliance on China for drones

Russia hopes to break through Ukrainian defences in the Kupiansk-Lyman sector of the frontline in north-eastern Ukraine, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Monday according to Reuters. Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi was shown in video footage telling soldiers the situation on the north-eastern frontline had “significantly escalated” and the Russian military wanted “revenge” by retaking territory it once occupied.

A days-long attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appeared to be waning, Kyiv officials said. Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian general staff said on Monday.

Russia’s drones are mostly sourced from China and Moscow will spend more than $618m on a new national project to make them itself, Russia’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov, has said. “The task is that 41% of all drones by 2025 should have the label ‘Made in Russia’. Today, drones are mainly from the People’s Republic of China.”

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing for talks on Wednesday, the Kremlin has confirmed. It will be the Russian president’s first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the international criminal court issued a warrant for him in March over the deportation of children from Ukraine. Russia’s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Beijing on Monday.

Ukraine has called for Russia to be excluded from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), warning the body faces a “slow death” if Moscow remained a member. The OSCE was founded to ease tensions between east and west during the cold war, and helps its members coordinate on issues like human rights and arms control.

Moscow can expect more diplomatic pressure from the 57-nation OSCE, according to the chief diplomat of North Macedonia, which holds that body’s rotating presidency. Its foreign minister, Bujar Osmani, on Monday urged Russia to cease its attacks on Ukraine and withdraw its forces.

The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said support for Ukraine remained a “top priority” for the US and Europe, reaffirming the Biden administration’s commitment to support Kyiv “for as long as it takes”. Yellen told reporters that Joe Biden would submit a supplemental funding request for Ukraine and Israel “as soon as we have a functional House of Representatives”.

Continue reading...

Homes for Ukraine funding halt could put thousands on streets, says watchdog

Sponsorship arrangements for more than 130,000 Ukrainians who fled to UK are due to end next March

Thousands of Ukrainians who fled to the UK after the Russian invasion are at risk of homelessness if ministers go ahead with plans to end funding for a scheme set up to help them, parliament’s spending watchdog has said.

Funding and sponsorship arrangements for more than 130,000 people helped under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are due to end next March. Many of these people face losing their homes when this funding dries up, according to an investigation into the scheme by the National Audit Office (NAO).

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian foreign minister arrives in Beijing and confirms visit to North Korea

Russia’s foreign minister is in Beijing ahead of a visit by Vladimir Putin to the Chinese capital and will then go to North Korea

The US special representative for Ukraine's economic recovery, Penny Pritzker, has arrived in Kyiv.

Reuters reports that Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday, and exchanged views on the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 600 of the invasion

Russia’s biggest offensive in months is failing, says Ukrainian commander; at least six people killed in Russian strikes

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will visit North Korea on a two-day visit on 18-19 October. The Russian foreign ministry announced the news on its website.

Russia launched five missiles and 12 kamikaze drones at Ukraine in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said early on Monday, with officials reporting further artillery and airstrikes. Ukraine’s air force said the missiles, of which it shot down two, targeted northern and eastern regions, while the drones, of which 11 were downed, were launched in several directions with a particular focus on western Ukraine.

A top Ukrainian commander has said Russia’s biggest offensive in months on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka is failing, adding that Kyiv’s own attempts to advance in the south were proving “difficult”. Russia has continued to deploy new forces in an attempt to surround the city, according to Vitaliy Barabash, the head of its military administration. Both Moscow and Washington have described the surge in violence around Avdiivka as a new Russian offensive.

At least six people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, local officials reported on Sunday. Two people were killed and three more injured in the Kherson area after more than 100 shells bombarded the region over the weekend, the local governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, wrote on social media, according to AP.

The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday that a new weapons package for Israel and Ukraine would be significantly more than $2bn. In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Sullivan said Joe Biden would have extensive talks with the US Congress this week on the need for the package to be approved.

Russian forces had improved their positions along almost the entire line of contact in Ukraine, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday. Reuters reported that in a video posted to social media by the Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin said: “What is happening now along the entire length of the [line of] contact is called an active defence.”

Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked troops in areas where fighting was “particularly hot”. In his regular address, he said: “I thank everyone who is holding their positions and destroying Russian troops”, citing Avdiivka, Maryinka and other key locations in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine was working to evacuate nearly 260 of its citizens from Gaza and to fly other Ukrainians out of Israel, Zelenskiy said on Sunday. Ukraine’s embassy in Israel said on social media on Saturday that 207 Ukrainian citizens, including 63 children, were evacuated from Tel Aviv to Romania on Saturday and that another flight would take 155 people to Romania on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia striking Avdiivka ‘with everything they have’, says city official

Volodymyr Zelenskiy praises troops for holding their positions in areas including Avdiivka, where fighting is ‘particularly hot’

In this clip, the Ukrainian commander, Dmytro Lysyuk, says Russia’s large scale tactics do not work.

At least six people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, local officials reported Sunday.

Continue reading...

Russia’s Avdiivka offensive is failing, says top Ukrainian officer

Major assault in Donetsk launched on Tuesday said to have resulted in serious losses for Moscow’s forces

A top Ukrainian commander has claimed that Russia’s biggest offensive in months – involving tanks, thousands of soldiers and armoured vehicles in an attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka – is failing, as he admitted Kyiv’s own attempts to advance in the south were proving “difficult”.

Russian forces have pummelled the town over the past week, a key bulge surrounded by Russian-held territory on the eastern Donbas front. It is one of the largest assaults by Moscow since last year’s full-scale invasion and comes at a time when Ukraine’s counteroffensive is moving slowly, and the world is focused on the imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 5998 of the invasion

Russian forces are attacking eastern city of Avdiivka with ‘everything they have’, says head of its military administration; Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanks troops for holding the line

Fierce fighting in Avdiivka on the eastern frontline entered a fifth day as Russia continued to deploy new forces in an attempt to surround the city, according to Vitaliy Barabash, the head of its military administration. Shelling was so fierce that emergency crews were unable to recover the dead from wrecked buildings, Barabash said. Both Russia and the United States have described the upsurge in violence around Avdiivka as a new Russian offensive. “They are striking with everything they have. Bouts of shooting, artillery, multiple rocket launchers, mortars and a lot of aircraft,” Barabash told national television. He said 1,620 residents remained in Avdiivka, a town with a large coking plant and a pre-war population of 32,000.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked troops in areas where fighting was “particularly hot”. In his regular address he said: “I thank everyone who is holding their positions and destroying Russian troops”, citing Avdiivka, Maryinka and other key locations in the Donetsk region.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea near the southern resort city of Sochi on Saturday morning. The city’s mayor, Alexei Kopaigorodskyi, said there had been no casualties or damage and that the situation was under control.

A top Ukraine general said fighting in the north-east had “significantly worsened” as daily Russian attacks continued.

Protesters gathered outside city hall in Odesa again to speak out against the misuse of budget funds and pay tribute to Ukrainian soldiers killed or injured in the war.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is highly likely to have reinforced its defensive and reactive posture since suffering a series of strikes in August and September, the UK Ministry of Defence said. In its latest intelligence update, the ministry said the BSF has relocated many of its prestige assets – including cruise missile-capable ships and submarines – from Sevastopol to operating and basing areas further east, such as Novorossiysk.

Russia has detained three lawyers of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and raided their homes, aides said, a step that comes as pressure on the Kremlin’s critics increases. The move was an attempt to “completely isolate Navalny”, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on social media.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukrainian general says fighting in north-east has ‘significantly worsened’ – as it happened

Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russian forces had regrouped after suffering losses

Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day so far:

Fighting in Avdiivka on the eastern frontline enters a fifth day, as Russia continues to deploy new forces in an attempt to surround the city, according to Vitaliy Barabash, the head of its military administration.

Russia’s defence ministry says its forces shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea near the southern resort city of Sochi on Saturday morning. The city’s mayor, Alexei Kopaigorodskyi, said there had been no casualties or damage and that the situation was under control.

A top Ukraine general said fighting in the north-east had “significantly worsened” as daily Russian attacks continued.

Russia has detained three lawyers of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and raided their homes, aides said, a step that comes as pressure on the Kremlin’s critics increases. The move was an attempt to “completely isolate Navalny”, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on social media.

The US has claimed North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine. The White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US believed Kim Jong-un was seeking sophisticated Russian weapon technologies in return for munitions to boost North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea that Russia damaged a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia and suggested such claims were made up to divert attention from what he said was a western attack on Nord Stream.

EU leaders meeting later in October will demand “decisive progress” on using Russian assets frozen by sanctions to help Ukraine, according to their draft statement.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, while visiting the Black Sea port of Odesa on Friday, vowed to improve Ukraine’s air defences and to increase the security of a “humanitarian corridor” for grain exports.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 598 of the invasion

Fighting on the eastern front is ‘a new Russian offensive’

See all our Ukraine war coverage

Fighting in Avdiivka on the eastern frontline enters a fifth day, as Russia continues to deploy new forces in an attempt to surround the city, according to Vitaliy Barabash, the head of its military administration.

Russia’s defence ministry says its forces shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea near the southern resort city of Sochi on Saturday morning. The city’s mayor, Alexei Kopaigorodskyi, said there had been no casualties or damage and that the situation was under control.

A top Ukraine general said fighting in the north-east had “significantly worsened” as daily Russian attacks continued.

Russia has detained three lawyers of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and raided their homes, aides said, a step that comes as pressure on the Kremlin’s critics increases. The move was an attempt to “completely isolate Navalny”, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on social media.

The US has claimed North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine. The White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US believed Kim Jong-un was seeking sophisticated Russian weapon technologies in return for munitions to boost North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea that Russia damaged a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia and suggested such claims were made up to divert attention from what he said was a western attack on Nord Stream.

EU leaders meeting later in October will demand “decisive progress” on using Russian assets frozen by sanctions to help Ukraine, according to their draft statement.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, while visiting the Black Sea port of Odesa on Friday, vowed to improve Ukraine’s air defences and to increase the security of a “humanitarian corridor” for grain exports.

Continue reading...

Hard-right House Republicans are against Ukraine aid – and they seem to be in charge

The chaos in the House may have devastating outcomes for the people of Ukraine, some experts warn

As he excoriated Kevin McCarthy over his leadership of the House Republican conference last week, hard-right congressman Matt Gaetz accused the then speaker of cutting a “secret side deal” with Joe Biden to provide additional funding to Ukraine amid its ongoing war against Russia.

“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz, who represents a solidly Republican district in Florida, said in a floor speech at the time.

Continue reading...