Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 591 of the invasion

Boy and his grandmother killed in Russian missile attack on block of flats in Kharkiv, hours after strike in regional village of Hroza that left 52 dead

A 10-year-old boy and his grandmother have been killed and more than 20 people wounded after a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said. Rescuers found the boy’s body under debris after the strike on the north-eastern city’s densely populated downtown area early on Friday. Two Iskander missiles hit the flats in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called another act of “Russian terror”.

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on Hroza village in Kharkiv province the previous day rose to 52 on Friday after another victim died overnight in hospital, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. A missile slammed into a cafe and grocery store in the village on Thursday as people gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Separately, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people from every family in Hroza had been affected by the attack.

Russian airstrikes also damaged grain and port infrastructure in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine early on Friday, Ukrainian officials said.

The head of an international watchdog on nuclear tests has raised concern about Russian intentions after remarks by President Vladimir Putin, who said Moscow could withdraw its ratification of a global ban on testing. “It would be concerning and deeply unfortunate if any state signatory were to reconsider its ratification of the CTBT,” Robert Floyd, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, said.

Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, said Russia’s Wagner paramilitary force was the main force behind an attempt to foment a coup against her. She told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday that Wagner’s late leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was behind the bid to overthrow her and that Moscow remained engaged in attempts to destabilise the country, located between Ukraine and EU member Romania, notably by funnelling money into Moldova to bribe voters in next month’s local elections.

European leaders rallied around the Ukrainian president in the face of US jitters over defence funding. The gathering at the European political community (EPC) summit in Granada, Spain, gave leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and British prime minister Rishi Sunak a chance to restate their commitment to Ukraine after political turbulence in the US and Europe raised questions about continued support.

Russia is seeking re-election to the UN’s top human rights body next week in what is seen as a crucial test of western efforts to keep Moscow diplomatically isolated over its invasion of Ukraine. Some diplomats are reported to have said Russia has a reasonable chance of getting voted back on to the UN Human Rights Council in Tuesday’s secret ballot, 18 months after it was ousted in a US-led drive.

The US said on Friday it was expelling two Russian diplomats – a retaliatory step after Moscow kicked out two American diplomats last month.

Sweden will send Ukraine a new military support package worth 2.2bn crowns ($199m), consisting mainly of ammunition and spare parts to earlier donated systems, Swedish defence minister Pål Jonson said on Friday.

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France closes seven schools over bedbug infestations

Education minister says ‘cases are piling up’ and that ‘an immediate response is needed’

France has been forced to shut seven schools over growing concerns over an infestation of bedbugs, the education minister has said.

“Bedbugs were detected at various levels in … I believe 17 institutions, and currently as I speak to you, seven institutions are closed for this reason,” Gabriel Attal told France 5 television.

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Russia will revoke ratification of nuclear test ban treaty, envoy says

US condemns announcement by Mikhail Ulyanov, saying it ‘needlessly endangers the global norm’ against nuclear testing

A senior Russian diplomat has said that Moscow will revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), in a move Washington denounced as jeopardising the “global norm” against nuclear test blasts.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian representative to the international nuclear agencies in Vienna, was speaking after Vladimir Putin suggested Moscow might resuming testing for the first time in 33 years, signalling another downward turn in relations between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers

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EU leaders clash with Hungary over proposed laws on migration

Viktor Orbán used provocative language at summit, saying EU had gone ahead without his or Poland’s support

EU leaders have clashed again with Hungary after the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, insisted at a summit in Granada that it would not support proposed laws to deal with migration.

Poland also joined the protest, accusing Brussels of imposing a “diktat” on other member states regarding the proposed laws that would apply in the event of a sudden refugee crisis such as that of 2015, when more than 1 million people arrived in the EU from Syria and beyond.

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Kazakhstan drafts media law to increase use of Kazakh language over Russian

Legislation under debate stipulates share of state language on television and radio should grow to 70%

Kazakhstan has announced efforts to promote the use of the Kazakh language over Russian in its media, amid growing scepticism over Moscow’s influence in the country since the invasion of Ukraine.

Kazakh is the official language of the former Soviet republic in central Asia, but Russian is recognised too and is widely spoken among the tightly controlled country’s population of about 20 million.

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‘Bedbugs don’t discriminate’: Paris ‘scourge’ sparks fears of international infestation

After French capital hosted fashion week and Rugby World Cup there are concerns the problem will spread

Paris is burning its luggage and bed linen as it battles a “scourge” of bedbugs, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report an uptick in inquiries and transport operators and hoteliers seek to assuage concerns.

The city of light is reportedly under siege from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, leading the French transport minister, Clément Beaune, to meet transport operators. “It’s a real nightmare,” says Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris who declined to give his surname. “I’m so afraid to take the Métro, I don’t go to the cinema – it’s very alarmant.”

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UK government pressed for answers on Sheikh Mansour and Russians

  • Ukrainian activist urges government to investigate City owner
  • ‘Many oligarchs appear to have found home for wealth in UAE’

The UK government has been asked to reveal what steps it has taken to investigate whether Manchester City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, assisted wealthy Russians on whom it has imposed sanctions in moving their assets to the United Arab Emirates.

Lawyers acting on behalf of a Ukrainian activist – who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from Russia – have written to the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, to ask whether investigations have been carried out to determine whether Mansour, the UAE’s deputy prime minister, should be identified as a “designated person” subject to financial sanctions under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

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EU summit statement adopted without migration paragraph – as it happened

EU’s 27 leaders have adopted statement at Granada but planned section on migration has been left out, senior EU diplomat confirms

The Irish leader, Leo Varadkar, said in Granada this morning that the EU should accelerate its enlargement process.

I’m very ambitious about enlargement. I think some countries, particularly some of the countries in the Balkans, have been asked to wait too long. I think we should speed it up. But I also think we need to be honest and realistic with people about how long it takes. You have to meet certain standards to join the European Union.

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Russia-Ukraine war: death toll rises to 52 after attack on Kharkiv village; boy, 10, and grandmother killed in new attack – as it happened

US and European leaders accuse Russia over attack on cafe and grocery store in Hroza that killed dozens; further airstrikes in Kharkiv kill two and injure 28

The office for the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) on Friday deployed a field team to investigate the Russian attack on the Ukrainian village of Hroza that left at least 52 people dead.

“The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, who saw for himself the horrific impact of such strikes, is profoundly shocked and condemns these killings,” OHCHR spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

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Feeding seaweed to cows can cut methane emissions, says Swedish report

Study proposes government commission more research into environmental benefits of cattle feed additives

Sweden is one step closer to making the use of methane-reducing cow feed additives such as seaweed government policy after experts recommended further investigation into the area.

A report by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency into reduced methane emissions says development in the field has been “rapid in recent years” and is among “a number of new interesting additives with higher potential”.

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‘Choose London’: Sadiq Khan steps up efforts to lure EU citizens post-Brexit

Exclusive: Mayor vows to make capital a better place to live to offset ‘shockwaves’ from EU departure

The mayor of London has urged EU citizens to “choose London” over other European cities, promising to make the UK capital a better place to live and work despite Brexit.

Sadiq Khan told the Guardian he had redoubled his efforts to attract EU citizens since the UK left the bloc, notwithstanding new barriers such as visa requirements.

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Polish elections: who are the key players and what is at stake?

Tusk-led Civic Platform aims to unseat nationalist Law and Justice party in bitterly contested ballot

Poland’s elections on 15 October could give the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party an unprecedented third term in office, or hand its longstanding opposition the chance to reverse what critics describe as eight years of democratic backsliding.

Another possibility is that they end in stalemate, with neither party able to form a coalition. Whatever happens, Poland’s politics will remain deeply polarised after a ballot that – amid war in Ukraine and a bitter dispute with the EU – is of more than usual interest abroad.

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Russia condemned over ‘horrifying’ strike on Ukraine village that killed more than 50

White House blames Moscow for killing dozens of innocent people, while British PM speaks of ‘depravity’ of Russian forces

The White House has condemned the attack on a cafe and grocery store in Ukraine’s Hroza village that killed 51 people, as “horrifying”, while British prime minister Rishi Sunak said the strike “demonstrated the depths of depravity Russian forces are willing to sink to”, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

In a briefing before the death toll rose, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Let’s stop and think about what we’re seeing: 49 innocent people who were killed by a Russian airstrike while they were shopping for food at a supermarket. That’s what they were doing.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 590 of the invasion

At least 51 killed in missile strike during village wake service; European leaders rally around Zelenskiy amid US funding uncertainty

At least 51 people including a six-year-old boy were killed during a missile attack on a cafe during a wake service in a village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said. According to preliminary findings, Russian targeted the cafe with an Iskander ballistic missile, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of “genocidal aggression” after the attack. He described it as “a demonstrably brutal Russian crime – a rocket attack on an ordinary grocery store, a completely deliberate act of terrorism”, later saying it was “no blind strike”.

European leaders rallied around the Ukrainian president in the face of US jitters over defence funding. The gathering at the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada, Spain, gave leaders including the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, a chance to restate their commitment to Ukraine after political turbulence in the US and Europe raised questions about continued support.

Germany will “do everything possible” so that Ukraine can protect itself from Russian missiles, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday after Moscow’s latest deadly strike in Ukraine. “More than 50 people dead in Hrosa,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter. “As long as bombs hail on supermarkets and cafes, we do everything for Ukraine to protect itself from Putin’s missile terror.”

The Biden administration is considering using a US State Department grant program to send additional military aid to Ukraine, Politico reported on Thursday citing two US officials with knowledge of the discussions.

Slovakia will not send more military aid to Ukraine for now, prime minister Ľudovít Ódor said. Instead, the decision will be delayed until a new government is formed following last week’s election, which saw a victory for Robert Fico, a populist, pro-Russian three-time former prime minister who campaigned on a promise to end military aid to Ukraine.

The US president, Joe Biden, wants to give a “major” speech on support for Ukraine, the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, without specifying when that would happen. She described the Hroza missile attack as “horrifying”.

Vladimir Putin ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, saying his country had successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile, as he suggested Russia could resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades.

Putin also suggested that the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in August was caused by hand grenades detonating inside the aircraft, not by a missile attack. “Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash. There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact,” he said.

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Onboard grenade blast caused plane crash that killed Wagner boss, claims Putin

Russian president suggests Yevgeny Prigozhin was on drugs when he died in explosion on private jet from Moscow to St Petersburg in August

Vladimir Putin has claimed that the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin was caused by hand grenades detonating inside the aircraft, and suggested the Wagner boss may have been on drugs.

Prigozhin died when his business jet crashed on 23 August, two months after he staged an aborted mutiny against Russian military commanders in which his Wagner mercenary troops briefly took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow. Two other top Wagner commanders, Prigozhin’s four bodyguards and a crew of three were also killed.

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Taki Theodoracopulos given 12-month suspended sentence for attempted rape

Spectator journalist, 87, is found guilty of attacking woman on ski weekend at his Swiss chalet in 2009

The journalist Taki Theodoracopulos has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence by a judge in Switzerland for an attempted rape in 2009.

The 87-year-old, who writes a column for the Spectator, was found guilty of attacking a woman on a ski weekend at his chalet in Gstaad in the Swiss Alps.

During a nine-hour hearing at the Oberland regional court in Thun on Thursday, Theodoracopulos dismissed the woman’s accusations as “monstrous” and a plot to destroy his career. He said he was “absolutely not guilty”.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke down in tears as she told the court about the violent assault. She said: “I felt like a piece of meat. I didn’t feel that he saw me as a person at all. I tried very hard to put the incident behind me but it really shook my confidence professionally and it has had ongoing emotional consequences.”

The woman said another journalist had invited her to Theodoracopulos’s chalet, called Palataki or Little Palace, in early 2009.

She explained why she had waited a decade to report the attack, having first made a complaint to the Metropolitan police in 2019. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me. The accused was, is, a wealthy and powerful man. I thought everyone would think I was lying and I was trying to make my way in [my career].

“But, also, I felt ashamed. I thought I shouldn’t have accepted the invitation, I shouldn’t have gone, and that if I tried to say something everyone would say it was my own fault.”

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Vladimir Putin escalates nuclear rhetoric with threat to resume testing

Russian president uses speech to highlight new missile capabilities and says he may abandon test ban treaty

Vladimir Putin has ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, saying his country had successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile, as he suggested Russia could resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades.

The Russian president said in a speech on Thursday at the annual Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that Russia had also almost completed work on its nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system, which is capable of carrying at least 10 nuclear warheads on each missile.

“In the event of an attack on Russia, no one has any chance of survival,” he said, adding that he was “not sure if we need to carry out nuclear tests or not”.

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EU forges plan with UK and Albania to combat people smuggling

Five-point plan seeks to tackle organised crime across Europe as well as criminals operating boats

The EU has joined forces with the UK and Albania to extend the fight against people smugglers across the wider continent, after forceful interventions by Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak at a summit of 47 European leaders in Spain.

The plan was forged at the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, the Netherlands and Albania – Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte and Edi Rama – joining the Italian and UK prime ministers.

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Italian police investigate Indian tycoon over fatal supercar collision

Vikas Oberoi named as suspect after Swiss couple die in collision between Lamborghini and Ferrari

An Indian billionaire is under investigation in Italy after his Lamborghini collided with a Ferrari during a supercar tour in Sardinia, leaving two people dead.

Vikas Oberoi was driving the car accompanied by his wife, Gayatri Joshi, a model and actor, when the collision occurred on Monday in southern Sardinia, an official from the carabinieri told Agence France-Presse.

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Zelenskiy says deadly village missile attack was ‘no blind strike’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read the latest Ukraine coverage here.

Two people were killed in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office said on Thursday.

Andriy Yermak, the president’s chief of staff, said on Telegram that one of the dead was a utility worker who trimmed trees.

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