Summary of the day
Seven people, including three children, were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack on Lviv.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his government needed “new energy” during a major reshuffle that saw the foreign minister and several others hand in their resignation.
The president reiterated a call to Kyiv’s partners. “Every one of our partners around the world who helps Ukraine with air defense is a true defender of life,” he said.
Zelenskiy also said that “anyone who convinces partners to provide Ukraine with more long-range capabilities, enabling us to respond justly to terror, is working to prevent such Russian terrorist strikes on Ukrainian cities.”
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said that Germany will not slacken in its military support for Ukraine.
Ukraine and Ireland signed a bilateral agreement.
The Kremlin said that Russia was adjusting its nuclear doctrine.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin met Serbia’s deputy premier in Russia.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said that Germany will not slacken in its military support for Ukraine, Reuters reported.
“Germany’s support for Ukraine will not cease. We have made provisions, struck (defence) deals and secured the funding in good time so that Ukraine can continue to fully rely on us in future,” he said.
“For me, it’s time for new challenges,” said Alexander Kamyshin, who has stepped down as Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries.
“I will remain part of the team and continue doing everything possible to bring our Victory closer. I will keep building the Arsenal of the Free World,” he said.
534 days ago I was appointed as the Minister. My task was clear: to restart the ministry’s operations according to wartime realities. Today I am stepping down. In 2023, production tripled, and by September 2024, it doubled again.
— Alexander Kamyshin (@AKamyshin) September 4, 2024
🧵 pic.twitter.com/02NBFxccAc
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he signed a bilateral agreement with Ireland.
“I want to express my special gratitude to Ireland for the joint efforts in demining our land – this is truly saving countless lives,” he said.
“We will, of course, continue working together to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine, Ireland, and all of Europe, including in areas such as cybersecurity,” he added.
Today, we signed a bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and Ireland, which will enable us to fully realize the potential of cooperation between our countries, as well as with our partners within the entire framework of security agreements.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 4, 2024
The agreement also ensures… pic.twitter.com/BpYmCUTR8f
Ukrainian government needs 'new energy', says Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Wednesday his government needed “new energy” during a major reshuffle that saw the foreign minister and several others hand in their resignation.
“We need new energy. And these steps are related to strengthening our state in various areas,” said Zelenskiy, when asked about the reshuffle and foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba’s future.
“I am very grateful to the ministers and the entire cabinet team who have been working for Ukraine, for the sake of Ukrainians, for four and a half years, and some of them have been our ministers for five years,” he added.
A source close to the presidential office told AFP that Zelenskiy and Kuleba “will discuss and decide” his future post.
The announcement came a day after several other ministers and officials resigned in one of Kyiv’s most significant government reshuffles since Russia invaded two and a half years ago.
Kuleba – the face of Ukrainian diplomacy during the war – is the most senior of the ministers to offer to step down.
The 43-year-old has held the post since 2020 and since Russia’s 2022 attack has travelled the world to advocate for western support for Kyiv and sanctions on Moscow.
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President Vladimir Putin met Serbia’s deputy premier in Russia on Wednesday, less than a week after Belgrade signed a multibillion-dollar fighter jet deal with France.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of an economic forum in Vladivostok, where Putin arrived on Tuesday after a state visit to Mongolia.
Russia television showed Putin telling Serbia’s deputy prime minister Aleksandar Vulin that Russia had invited president Aleksandar Vucic to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan in October.
Vulin said that Serbia being both an “ally of Russia” and a strategic partner had brought “immense” pressure on the Balkan country.
Serbia “will never become a Nato member, will never impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, and will never allow any anti-Russian actions to be carried out from its territory,” Vulin added.
Serbia and Russia have historically close ties. Belgrade has also remained a rare outlier in Europe for refusing to join international sanctions against the Kremlin over Ukraine.
The meeting comes on the heels of a major arms deal signed between France and Serbia last week that will see Belgrade purchase 12 Rafale warplanes from France’s Dassault Aviation.
The dozen multi-role fighter aircraft will help Serbia modernise its air force and replace ageing Soviet-era combat jets.
After the signing of the deal, Vulin told Russian news agency TASS that the agreement “was done for military and practical reasons and will in no way have a negative impact on relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation”.
Capacity reduced at South Ukraine nuclear power plant after Russian attacks on electricity transmission system
Capacity was reduced at one unit of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant after Russian attacks damaged the country’s electricity transmission system, nuclear firm Energoatom said on Wednesday.
“No accidents occurred at the South Ukraine nuclear power plant,” Energoatom said on Telegram messenger. Instead, it said output was reduced after “hostile shelling of Ukrenergo’s infrastructure” and “significant fluctuations in the parameters of the grid”.
Energoatom said electricity generation at the unit was reduced by 33% but did not specify when this occurred.
Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been subjected to increased Russian missile and drone attacks in recent months. Officials have said the country has lost about half of its generating capacity and now relies mainly on energy generated by three nuclear power plants. A fourth, the Europe’s biggest, Zaporizhzhia NPP, was occupied by Russia at the beginning of the war and is now not in operation
Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, has said “words are not enough and we owe the people of Ukraine more.”
“I appeal to all leaders to fully allow Ukrainians to defend themselves against these horrific attacks, with dignity and sovereignty, by any legal means necessary,” he said.
I utterly condemn the attacks in Lviv and Kryvyi Rih, but words are not enough and we owe the people of Ukraine more. I appeal to all leaders to fully allow Ukrainians to defend themselves against these horrific attacks, with dignity and sovereignty, by any legal means necessary.
— Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 (@GLandsbergis) September 4, 2024
Russian missile and drones targeted the western city of Lviv today, in a deadly attack that killed seven people and injured almost 50.
Watch footage from the city:
Russian foreign minister warns US not to joke about Russia's 'red lines'
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov has warned the US not to joke about Moscow’s “red lines,” Reuters reported.
Lavrov said the US was losing its sense of “mutual containment” with Russia, and this was dangerous.
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The Ukrainian parliament has started voting on ministerial dismissals, Reuters reported.
The mayor of Lviv shared a photo of a mother and her three daughters who were killed in Russia’s attack today.
After today’s 🇷🇺 attack, the only person in this photo who survived is the man.
— Андрій Садовий (@AndriySadovyi) September 4, 2024
Mother Yevheniya and her three daughters — Yaryna, Daryna, and Emiliya — were killed.
Standing in the back is Yaryna Bazylevych. She was 21 y.o. Yaryna worked in our office for “Youth Capital 2025” pic.twitter.com/XmSU3FPEbS
Norway has contributed funding for buying drones and strengthening Ukrainian air defence.
Norway contributed NOK 570 million ($53 million) to the British-led International Fund for Ukraine.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 4, 2024
The funds will be used for the acquisition of drones and strengthening 🇺🇦 air defense.
We are grateful to our Norwegian friends for their unwavering support. Together, we are… pic.twitter.com/FIs00tSr6j
Dmytro Kuleba calls on Kyiv's partners to deliver on promised assistance in resignation post
Dmytro Kuleba, who has tendered his resignation as Ukraine’s foreign minister, has just shared a lengthy post on social media calling on Kyiv’s partners to deliver on promised assistance and for neighbouring countries to use their own systems to help protect Ukraine.
To put an end to this terror, Ukraine’s partners must promptly deliver the promised air defense systems and ammunition, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and allow us to launch long-range strikes on all legitimate military targets in Russia.
Partner air defense can and must be used to protect civilian people in Ukraine. Shooting down pieces of deadly metal in the air does not constitute a country’s participation in the war. The simple act of saving human lives cannot be considered an escalation. The decision to allow neighbouring countries to use air defense systems must finally be made.
This night, Russia launched another brutal attack on the residential areas of two major cities, Lviv and Kryvyi Rih. There are civilians who have been injured or killed, including children.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) September 4, 2024
Russia used missiles and drones to attack people in their homes while they were sleeping…
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The Irish prime minister, Simon Harris, is in Kyiv today to discuss EU support for Ukraine and its accession to the bloc as well as its specific support to help the country’s efforts to return children abducted to Russia and Belarus.
He will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, and is set to discuss Kyiv’s EU membership bid and other issues.
Harris will also sign a bilateral support and cooperation agreement with Ukraine pledging support for “as long as it takes”.
Ireland, which is politically neutral in war, contributes to EU funding of Ukraine but money is ringfenced for non-lethal activities such as land-mine clearance.
Speaking ahead of the meeting Harris said the killing of at least 50 people in Poltava was a “grim and horrific reminder of the threat Ukraine is facing every day”.
The Kremlin said today that Russia was adjusting its nuclear doctrine, Reuters reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that revision of the nuclear doctrine was at an early stage.
The spokesperson said that the current tensions would be analysed carefully and then form the basis of proposed changes. He linked the decision to the “threats” created by the West.
Here are the latest images from Lviv.
7 killed in Russian attack on Lviv, mayor says
Russia’s attack early today on Lviv killed seven people, including three children, the mayor, Andriy Sadovy, said, Reuters reported.
The US ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget Brink, has thanked “Ukraine’s brave defenders for your work to protect us all.”
Overnight Russia attacked Ukraine with 13 missiles & 29 drones. Seven Ukrainians lost their lives, and more than 50 buildings, including schools, were damaged in Lviv.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) September 4, 2024
Thank you to Ukraine's brave defenders for your work to protect us all. pic.twitter.com/KMK7ircJAW
'Terror must be stopped': Zelenskiy underscores importance of air defence after Lviv strike
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spoken out after 5 people were killed in a Russian strike on Lviv, including a teenage girl.
“Every one of our partners around the world who helps Ukraine with air defense is a true defender of life,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
“Anyone who convinces partners to provide Ukraine with more long-range capabilities, enabling us to respond justly to terror, is working to prevent such Russian terrorist strikes on Ukrainian cities. Terror must be stopped,” he added.
Russian missiles against our cities and people. The strike on Lviv killed 5 people, including a 14-year-old girl. My condolences go out to the families and loved ones of the victims. More than 30 people were injured. Ordinary residential buildings, schools, and medical facilities… pic.twitter.com/RYeA2k1PY8
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 4, 2024
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as it is reported that Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, has tendered his resignation.
The parliamentary speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said the resignation request would be discussed by lawmakers.
The reported move on Wednesday comes amid a wider reshuffle of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s cabinet. There have been rumours of an imminent government shake-up for months.
Zelenskiy said in a Tuesday evening address that changes would be made to strengthen the government. He said: “The autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need … We must strengthen some areas in the government, and personnel decisions have been prepared.”
It comes as the country reels from one of the most deadly attacks of the war after a Russian missile strike on the central city of Poltava hit a military training institute and a nearby hospital, killing more than 50 people and injuring more than 200 others.
The strike has triggered anger on Ukrainian social media after unconfirmed reports said it had targeted an outdoor military ceremony, or roll call, with many blaming officials who allowed the event to take place despite the threat of Russian attacks.
In other news:
Seven people were killed, including three children, and residential buildings were on fire in Lviv, officials reported, as Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched missiles and drones on Wednesday morning against the western Ukrainian city.
Russian president Vladimir Putin received a red-carpet welcome to Mongolia as the country ignored calls to arrest him on an international warrant for alleged war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. His visit on Tuesday was Putin’s first to a member country of the international criminal court since it issued the warrant in March 2023.
Washington’s escalation of the war in Ukraine and the actions of the “collective West” have made it necessary for Russia to revise its nuclear doctrine, Russian agencies cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying on Wednesday.
Russia has said recently it was set to make changes to the policy setting out the circumstances for its use of nuclear weapons, but has not yet detailed the changes.
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