Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments of the day:
In a tweet about his meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, described Nato as a “defacto” ally and said it was “only a matter of time before Ukraine becomes a de jure one as well”.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said “every metre that Ukrainian forces regain is a metre that Russia loses”. He added: “And there is a stark contrast: Ukrainians are fighting for their families, their future, their freedom. Moscow is fighting for imperial delusions.”
The EU has extended the right of refugees from Ukraine to stay in the bloc by a year to March 2025, as Russia’s war against their country continues. The EU triggered its temporary protection directive days after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion to allow the millions of people fleeing Ukraine to remain.
The British and French defence ministers have visited Kyiv to discuss further military aid to Ukraine to bolster a counteroffensive against Russian forces. Their visits came in advance of Kyiv’s first Defence Industries Forum, where Ukrainian officials were to meet representatives from more than 160 defence firms and 26 countries.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said an escalating grain exports dispute between Kyiv and Warsaw was detrimental to both countries, in an interview published today. Poland has extended an embargo on Ukrainian grain, going against a European Commission decision to end the restrictions and triggering a diplomatic spat between the allies.
Brussels has warned European companies and governments that it could ban the sale of certain components to Turkey and other countries from where Iran and Russia are sourcing parts for drones and other weapons striking Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine’s air force claimed on Thursday its air defence systems shot down 34 of 44 Shahed drones that Russia launched overnight, while a regional official said no casualties were caused by the attack. “Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units and mobile fire groups were engaged to repel the attack,” the military said on the Telegram messaging app.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said his region was the main target, but the attack left no casualties. “Our air defence forces did an excellent job,” Kiper said on Telegram.
There were also strikes on Kirovohrad oblast and an infrastructure object was hit in Mykolaiv. One man was killed and another was injured in Kherson overnight. Three people have been hospitalised after a strike on Antonivka, near the Dnipro River.
Britain’s defence secretary, Grant Shapps, discussed how to bolster Ukraine’s air defences during talks in an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president’s office said on Thursday. The visit to the Ukrainian capital was Shapps’s first to Kyiv since he became defence secretary last month. “On behalf of the whole nation, I thank you for everything you are doing for us. We are grateful for your help – military, financial, humanitarian. We greatly appreciate that we can rely on you,” a statement released by Zelenskiy’s office quoted the president as saying.
Shapps said: “We have trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, delivered hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, and provided millions of pounds of economic and humanitarian aid to help Ukraine’s citizens reclaim and rebuild what has been taken from them by Putin’s barbaric invasion,” while accompanying him, Adm Tony Radakin, chief of the UK’s defence staff, said: “This visit, together with my visits over the summer, have reinforced my conviction that Ukraine will prevail. The UK will remain with them every step of the way.”
International regulators are incapable of properly monitoring safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, according to a critical dossier compiled by Greenpeace that is being sent to western governments on Thursday. The environmental campaign group concludes the International Atomic Energy Agency has too few inspectors at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant – four – and that there are too many restrictions placed on their access. It argues that the IAEA is “unable to meet its mandate requirements” but it is not prepared to admit as much in public, and as a result what it describes as Russian violations of safety principles are not being called out.
Alexander Bogomaz, governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, has claimed on Telegram that electronic warfare was used to down a Ukrainian drone on the approach to the city of Bryansk. He reports”: “There were no casualties or damage. Operational and emergency services are on site.”
We are closing this liveblog shortly. Thanks so much for joining us today.
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