One person has been killed and two others injured by a Russian attack in which guided aerial bombs were used on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka, the Dontesk regional governor, Vadym Filashkin, said.
The attack this morning damaged two unspecified infrastructure facilities, Filashkin said. The eastern town lies about 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Chasiv Yar, a stragetically important town on high ground where Ukrainian forces are attempting to stave off Russian westward advances.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has been giving his regular briefing to journalists. Here are some of the highlights from what he said:
Peskov said Russia has no alternative but to achieve all of its aims in its war in Ukraine (what the Kremlin frames as its “special military operation”). He said that as soon as the aims were achieved, the conflict would end.
Vladimir Putin will today hold talks with German Gref, the CEO of Russia’s largest lender Sberbank. It is not clear what the agenda for the meeting is.
Peskov said people should re-listen to Putin’s statements in St Petersburg to understand Russia’s response to a possible decision by the west to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with western missiles. In St Petersburg in June, Putin said he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the US and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range western weapons.
Ukraine will have to be realistic about recovering territory captured by Russia, Czech president says
In an interview with the New York Times published yesterday, Petr Pavel, the Czech president, said that Ukraine “will have to be realistic” about its prospects of recovering territory occupied by Russia.
“The most probable outcome of the war will be that a part of Ukrainian territory will be under Russian occupation, temporarily,” he said. Pavel, a former senior Nato general that has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine during the full-scale Russian invasion, said that “temporary thing” could last years.
Pavel said there were “a number of examples” of territories held temporarily by Moscow, without specifying what ones.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a withdrawal of all Russian troops, the restoration of Ukraine’s post-Soviet borders and a means to bring Russia to account for its full-scale invasion, which was launched in February 2022.
Zelenskyy, who had refused to engage in direct talks with Russia, seemed to pivot slightly over the summer, indicating that direct talks with Moscow could begin as soon as November.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered a significant rise in homelessness, according to a new report, with almost a quarter of those sleeping rough or in emergency shelters people who have had to flee from their homes.
The exact number of homeless people in Ukraine is not known, but the charity Depaul International surveyed more than 200 people living on the street or in emergency shelters.
The findings highlight the war’s profound toll on Ukraine’s civilians, with more than 3.5 million people internally displaced since the conflict started. Many of the 6.2 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe are also at risk of homelessness.
Anna Skoryk, the interim chief executive of Depaul Ukraine, told the Guardian: “Every day more people lose their homes because of occupation, shelling or because they’re close to the frontline. We cannot help everyone alone.”
The UN reported in February that 2m homes had been destroyed or damaged. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine, prompting the evacuation from Pokrovsk of about 20,000 people in the past month.
You can read the full story by my colleague, Liz Cookman, here:
Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine’s central Poltava region damaged energy infrastructure which cut power to 20 settlements, local authorities have said.
The attack also damaged several private residences in the region without causing any casualties, Poltava’s regional governor said.
Volodymr Zelenskyy held talks in New York with German, Indian and Japanese leaders on Monday trying to shore up support for Kyiv’s war efforts. “We talked about how to make a just peace closer,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram after meeting with German chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The main thing is to maintain unity”, he said, adding that he had discussed energy aid with the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and that Delhi and Kyiv were “dynamically developing” their relations after a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi.
Here are some pictures of Zelenskyy from yesterday:
We mentioned reports of Russian airstrikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a frequent target for attacks, in the opening summary. Here is the latest on the situation there.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said that one man was killed and six injured, including a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, by “massive” Russian airstrikes on the city over the course of two hours after 9pm local time on Monday evening.
Airstrikes and drones set fire to an infrastructure facility and residential buildings, the regional governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
A municipal official, Regina Kharchenko, said that 74 blocks of flats and 24 private houses were damaged in various districts of the city.
Over half of foreign components in Russian weapons come via China, Ukraine says
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk has been speaking to journalists. In comments carried by Reuters, he said that 60% of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China.
He said:
If you take all the usual types of weapons and count the foreign made components – about 60% would be coming from China. We have had lengthy discussions with some manufacturers about this. The PRC (China) is the biggest problem I would say.
At a summit in Washington over the summer, Nato accused Beijing of becoming “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine” and demanded China halt shipments of “weapons components” and other technology vital to the Russian military.
The final communique, approved by the 32 Nato members at the summit, also said that Beijing had become a large-scale supporter of Russia’s “defence industrial base”.
“This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector,” the declaration said. Beijing has denied providing direct military aid to Russia and has presented itself as a mediator trying to bring Moscow and Kyiv to the table to agree to a peace plan.
Updated
Zelenskyy: War with Russia is closer to end than many believe
We are restarting our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine and will give you the latest updates throughout the day.
Here are the latest developments:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believes the war with Russia is “closer to the end” than many believe and called on allies to strengthen Ukraine’s army. In excerpts of an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America, set to be broadcast in full on Tuesday, the president said: “I think that we are closer to the peace than we think … We are closer to the end of the war.” He added: “That’s why we’re asking our friends, our allies, to strengthen us. It’s very important.” Zelenskyy told ABC that Vladimir Putin is “afraid” of Ukraine’s Kursk operation, in which it has taken more than 1,000 square km of Russian territory.
Zelenskyy is in the US to attend sessions at the UN general assembly as well as to present a “victory plan” to US President Joe Biden and presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
After a bipartisan meeting with members of the US Congress, Zelenskyy said “decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year”. The US played a “critical role” in protecting freedom around the world, he said in a Telegram post, and praised the US Congress and both main parties for their “unwavering commitment to this cause”.
His comments came as Republican presidential candidate Trump suggested Zelenskyy wanted Harris to win the November election. “I think Zelenskyy is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “He wants them [the Democrats] to win this election so badly.” Trump said if he wins the election, he would call Putin and Zelenskyy and urge them to reach a deal to end the war.
Zelenskyy also held talks in New York with German, Indian and Japanese leaders on Monday trying to shore up support for Kyiv’s war efforts. “We talked about how to make a just peace closer,” Zelenskiy said on his Telegram messaging app after meeting with German chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The main thing is to maintain unity.” He said he had discussed energy aid with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, and that Delhi and Kyiv were “dynamically developing” their relations after a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi.
Jails controlled by Russia are deliberately withholding medical care for Ukrainian prisoners, with doctors in one prison even taking part in what it called “torture”, according to a commission mandated by the UN rights council. The commission, set up by the Human Rights Council to investigate violations in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, had already concluded that Moscow’s occupying forces were using torture “systematically”. But in his oral report to the council, commission chair Erik Mose said torture had become a “common and acceptable practice”, with Russian authorities acting with “a sense of impunity”.
Russian forces launched the latest of a series of strikes on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday evening, killing one person, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. A city official, quoted by public broadcaster Suspilne, put the injury toll at five, including a 13-year-old girl. Strikes on the city earlier in the day and the previous night wounded at least 23.
Russian forces have begun storming the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a stronghold that has resisted Russian attack since the beginning of the war, according to Russian war bloggers and state media. Russian state media said the hilltop town in the Donetsk region, which some cast as a fortress due to its enduring resistance to Russian attack, was caught in a pincer movement by Russian forces and that battles were under way in the east of the settlement.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was clear that Russia was receiving new weapons, including Iranian missiles despite Tehran’s repeated denials.
