Russia plans to raise its defence spending to more than £150bn next year to bolster its war on Ukraine, according to a draft budget due to be submitted to parliament tomorrow.
Total defence spending will amount to £450bn (50 trillion roubles) in the next three years, reported Reuters, as Putin doubles down on his now four-and-a-half year war with Russia's European neighbour.
It comes as Germany identified Ukraine’s air defence shortage as its “weakest point” heading into the winter. German chancellor Friedrich Merz made the remark during a briefing in Berlin, where he said he was speaking personally with several allies to try and secure more supplies.
Sharing his concerns about securing Kyiv, he said: “If Ukraine falls, peace and freedom throughout Europe will be under threat.”
Meanwhile, Russian air strikes killed three, including a child, and injured another seven people in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Wednesday, officials said.
Poland's Air Traffic Authority said on Wednesday that airports in Rzeszow and Lublin temporarily suspended air operations due to military aviation activity during Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Key Points
- Russia raises 2027 military spending by 27% to £154bn
- Six dead as Russian long-range bomber crashes in far east
- Germany identifies air defence shortages as Ukraine's 'weakest point'
- Russian air strikes kill 3, injure 7 in and around Kyiv, officials say
- South Korea made no military aid pledge to Ukraine over transfer of North Koreans
Six dead as Russian long-range bomber crashes in far east
07:00 , Namita Singh
At least six crew members were killed after a Russian bomber crashed during a training flight.
The incident occurred in an uninhabited part of the Amur region in the country's far east, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.
The sole crew member who survived the crash was taken to hospital with injuries.
Report:
Six dead after Russia’s long-range bomber crashes on training mission
Germany identifies air defence shortages as Ukraine's 'weakest point'
06:38 , Namita Singh
Ukraine’s shortage of air defence missiles is currently its weakest point, the German Chancellor said on Tuesday, adding that Berlin is working with its partners to bolster Kyiv’s capabilities before winter sets in.
Friedrich Merz made the remarks during a briefing in Berlin, reported by DW.
Merz said he was raising the issue and trying to secure fresh supplies for Kyiv in discussions with multiple heads of state.
“At the moment, this is the weakest point. I hope that we will be able to prepare Ukraine for the upcoming winter, including in the field of energy supply,” he said.
Russia, he said, “will continue to bombard ruthlessly and destroy civilian infrastructure”.
“But we will not let ourselves be intimidated by this,” he continued. “We will continue to support Ukraine, because we know: Ukraine is part of Europe. If Ukraine falls, peace and freedom throughout Europe will be under threat.”
Russian air strikes kill 3, injure 7 in and around Kyiv, officials say
06:30 , Namita Singh
Russian air strikes killed three, including a child, and injured another seven people in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Wednesday, officials said.
The attack has killed two and injured four in the capital, Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram, and mayor Vitali Klitschko said fires broke out, affecting private houses along with a store and a warehouse.
Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv regional governor, writing on Telegram, said that a Russian missile and a drone strike killed a child and injured three more people in the area, also damaging infrastructure facilities, houses, warehouses and cars.
Ukraine's neighbours, European Union and Nato members Romania and Poland, have both scrambled military jets to protect their airspaces amid Russian attacks on Ukraine, according to defence ministry and armed forces statements on X.
Russia raises 2027 military spending by 27% to £154bn
06:17 , Namita Singh
Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion roubles (£154bn) on defence in 2027, around 27 per cent more than the 13.5 trillion roubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, government documents revealed.
Total defence spending will amount to 50 trillion roubles in the next three years, according to the documents, reported Reuters. In 2026, the government planned to spend 12.1 trillion roubles on defence, but the actual amount is classified and will not be disclosed. Some military spending can also be accounted for in other parts of the budget.
The documents also showed the government raised its estimate for its 2026 budget deficit to 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product, from 1.6 per cent of GDP previously. Budget spending in 2026 will increase by 13.2 per cent to 48.6 trillion roubles or 20.9 per cent of GDP.
The government is expected to submit the draft budget to parliament by 1 October. Last week, it announced plans for new tax hikes in 2027 to finance the growing deficit. The documents showed that a new windfall tax on metals and mining companies was expected to raise about 200 billion roubles annually.
Russian military seizes food dropped for local residents
06:05 , Namita Singh
Russian military personnel in Oleshky seized food packages dropped by Ukrainian forces for the residents of Oleshky, reported state news agency Ukrinform.
Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky Military Administration, said that the Russians have been taking food away from locals for a while and questioning how residents are obtaining food if it is not manufactured in Russia.
She added that if the Ukrainian Armed Forces were dropping the food, accepting it could be construed as cooperation – making it grounds for their detention.
Some locals have disappeared after being abducted by Russian forces, she alleged.
Ukraine sets its sights on boosting high-tech exports, hails digital resilience
06:00 , Namita Singh
Ukraine aims to leverage its expertise in military technologies and digital innovation to sharply increase high-tech exports in coming years, including through the use of AI, the country's minister for digital transformation told Reuters on Tuesday.
Oksana Ferchuk said Ukraine was exploring cooperation agreements with the US, other countries and international institutions, drawing on its experiences maintaining digital services during the war against Russia's invasion, now in its fifth year.
"Ukraine during the war showed this tremendous speed of digitising the state services and providing the services to the population in a digital way," said Ms Ferchuk, who travelled to Washington this week to meet with US economic, cybersecurity and telecommunications officials, as well as senior leaders at the World Bank.
"We are ready to cooperate and consult other states in this experience, how it was done, how it was analysed, what is the architecture."
Ukraine, which has become a test bed for the newest weaponry during the war, is already helping other countries build their drone defences, but could do the same in non-military sectors, while incorporating AI technologies, said Ms Ferchuk, who previously oversaw digital transformation at the defence ministry.
South Korea made no military aid pledge to Ukraine over transfer of North Koreans, lawmaker says
05:55 , Namita Singh
South Korea made no promise to support Ukraine's fight against Russia in exchange for the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers, a South Korean lawmaker said on Wednesday, citing the country's intelligence agency.
Ukraine imposed no preconditions on the transfer of the pair captured during fighting in Russia's Kursk region, Yoo Yeong-ha, a lawmaker from the opposition People Power Party, told reporters after a briefing by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly last week that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
After Zelensky disclosed the transfer, South Korea's presidential office demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine and accused Kyiv of violating an agreement to keep the move confidential to protect the soldiers and their relatives in North Korea.
Ukraine has not apologised or expressed regret over the disclosure so far, Yoo said, citing the NIS.
Kyiv has said no secrecy agreement existed.
According to Yoo, Zelensky may have announced the transfer of the North Koreans because he had hoped it would spur public support in South Korea for providing weapons and other aid to Ukraine.
Poland temporarily closes Rzeszow, Lublin airports
05:41 , Namita Singh
Poland's Air Traffic Authority said on Wednesday that airports in Rzeszow and Lublin temporarily suspended air operations due to military aviation activity during Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Russian air strikes kill one and injure five in Kyiv
05:00 , Namita Singh
Russian air strikes killed a child and injured another five people in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Wednesday, officials said.
Fires broke out affecting private houses, as well as a store and a warehouse, and leaving two people injured, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv's regional governor, said on Telegram that a Russian missile and a drone strike killed a child and injured three more people in the area, also damaging infrastructure facilities, houses, warehouses and cars.
Russian strikes leave Ukraine’s steel industry in shambles
04:02 , Namita Singh
Ukraine’s prized local steel factory, employing over 8,500 people, has been shut down after a spate of attacks from Russia.
Zaporizhstal suffered four major attacks including two in August and two in September, leading to its closure after all the equipments were completely destroyed.
“There are no windows left, and there are hole in the roofs,” an employee Denys Maksyshko told the BBC News.
President Vladimir Putin’s forces fired at least 17 missiles at the steel factory, killing eight workers and leaving 31 wounded, said Oleksandr Myronenko, the chief operating officer of steelworks owner Metinvest.
In focus: The critical infrastructure Europe - and Nato - needs to protect from Russia
03:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Putin could attack ports, transport and communications in a bid to test Nato’s resolve. Experts tell Maira Butt that Nato members must start preparing for the worst.
The critical infrastructure Europe - and Nato - needs to protect from Russia
Russia boost fleet of ships sailing under its flag by a third in defiance of sanctions
02:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russia has boosted the number of ships flying its own flag by more than one third as it looks to keep oil flowing by avoiding tanker seizures from other countries.
Between January 2025 and June 2026, some 107 vessels were added to Russia’s flag registry, marking a 36 per cent increase from 280 to 382 vessels, according to analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published on Friday.
European nations and the US have ramped up seizures and detentions of tankers violating maritime law by flying false flags and working as part of Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet”, which carries Russian oil in defiance of Western sanctions.
You can read more below:
Russia boosts fleet of ships sailing under its flag by a third to defy sanctions
In depth: Inside the real war games as Europe readies for an attack by Russia
01:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
As warnings increase about a Russian attack on a NATO country, real-world war-games, whether played out around a conference table or on the ground as military exercises, are happening all the time. But the real danger is the potential for hysteria, fear and miscalculation to turn a shadow war into something much worse, writes Owen Matthews.
Inside the real war games as Europe readies for an attack by Russia
Russia to cut welfare and education funding in 2027 as war spending soars
Wednesday 30 September 2026 00:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russia will cut funding for welfare, education and healthcare in next year's state budget, in addition to previously announced tax hikes, to help cover soaring military spending, fiscal documents obtained by Reuters showed.
Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion roubles ($202.58 billion) on defence in 2027, around 27 per cent more than the 13.5 trillion roubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.
Funding for social policy, which covers items such as state pensions, payments to war veterans and maternity benefits, will shrink by 7 per cent in 2027. Funding for education will fall by 6 per cent and healthcare funding by 6.8 per cent, compared with the initial plan.
Spending under the "national economy" section, which includes road construction and other infrastructure projects, as well as subsidies for agriculture and other sectors, will shrink by 7.4 per cent in 2027.
Russia's budget situation has gradually deteriorated throughout the four-and-a-half years of war in Ukraine as the country has had to tap its fiscal reserve fund, increase borrowing and raise taxes to keep up with growing military spending.
Russia is drawing up a three-year budget in an attempt to improve long-term planning, but it has had to revise figures sharply upwards each year and has repeatedly missed its annual deficit targets.
Six dead after Russia’s long-range bomber crashes on training mission
Tuesday 29 September 2026 23:17 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Six crew members have died after a Russian nuclear-capable strategic bomber crashed during a training flight in the country's far east.
A Defence Ministry statement confirmed that the Tu-95 aircraft came down in an uninhabited part of the Amur region. One crew member survived the crash and was taken to hospital with injuries.
Officials said the bomber was unarmed at the time, and a team of military investigators has flown to the site to determine what caused the incident, according to the ministry.
A number of Russian Tu-95 bombers were damaged or destroyed in June 2025 during Ukraine's "Spiderweb" operation, in which covertly truck-launched drones struck several air bases hosting long-range bomber aircraft across Russia.
You can read more below:
Six dead after Russia’s long-range bomber crashes on training mission
Watch: Don't weaken sanctions on Russian oligarchs, Zelensky pleads with world leaders
Tuesday 29 September 2026 23:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
CIA warns Russia is preparing attacks on Spain, France or Italy with drones from the sea
Tuesday 29 September 2026 22:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
The CIA has warned Russia is preparing to carry out drone strikes in Europe targeting France, Spain and Italy from the sea, according to a report.
Several European governments have been passed information about the Kremlin’s supposed plans to escalate its interference on the continent, an unnamed source close to the Lithuanian ministry of defence told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
Lithuanian authorities believe Russia could use an explosive-laden Gerbera drone, launched from the sea, to cause a fire, damage exposed equipment or temporarily close a port or airport, according to the report.
You can read more below:
CIA warns Russia is preparing drone attacks on Spain, France or Italy: report
Belgium to transfer three F-16s to Ukraine this year, Zelensky says
Tuesday 29 September 2026 21:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Belgium will transfer three F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of the year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
"There is an important agreement with Belgium on the transfer of three F-16 fighter jets by the end of this year," he wrote on X. "We will work to receive these aircraft through an accelerated procedure."
Zelensky said Ukraine had already received "urgent deliveries" of F-16 ammunition from Belgium and Spain, among other countries.
In depth: Europe’s far-right turmoil is only the beginning – all the signs point to worse to come
Tuesday 29 September 2026 20:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Germany has provided the warning. Now elections across Europe will test whether nationalist and populist parties can turn growing support into lasting political power. John Kampfner reports on the terrifying surge of the far right across Europe and why it’s good news for Russia.
Europe’s far-right turmoil is only the start – all the signs point to worse to come
Watch: 'At least six dead' after Russian bomber crashes in flames
Tuesday 29 September 2026 19:30 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russia preparing to deploy 10,000 North Korean troops, warns Zelensky
Tuesday 29 September 2026 19:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russia is preparing to deploy 10,000 additional North Korean troops on top of the existing 8,000 fighting in Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Citing "new data", Mr Zelensky said in a post on X North Koreans were "being selected for training and subsequent deployment to Russia”.
In a latest presidential decree on Monday, the Russian president ordered increasing the size of the army to 1.55 million active servicemen. The number of uniformed personnel will increase by 15,500, while raising the strength of the armed force to 2.4 million, according to the decree.
Earlier last year, Mr Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had confirmed for the first time that North Korean troops were sent to Russia to fight the war in Ukraine, with both the leaders referring to them as “heroes”.
You can read more below:
Russia preparing to deploy 10,000 North Korean troops, warns Zelensky
Czechs would be ready to respond to attack on Baltics, PM says
Tuesday 29 September 2026 18:30 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
The Czech Republic would be ready to honour its NATO commitments in the event of a Russian attack on a Baltic country, prime minister Andrej Babis told a Czech news website on Tuesday.
Babis, whose government includes a pro-Russian anti-immigrant party, has halted Czech contributions to military aid for Ukraine and also opted out of EU and NATO financing and military aid pledges for Kyiv.
He has repeatedly spoken about the need for European leaders to promote peace, and was criticised in a presidential campaign in 2023 for saying he would not send Czech soldiers to fight for allies.
Asked if Prague was preparing for the eventuality of Russian action against NATO, a possibility raised by some NATO members' secret services, Babis said he was having discussions on security challenges, including with President Petr Pavel.
"The fact we do not talk about it and journalists don't get fodder for their articles does not mean we don't address it," Babis said in the video interview.
"Of course we are preparing. If, God forbid, Russia were to attack a Baltic state, then, under Article 5 (NATO members' mutual defence commitment), we have to send two of our mechanised brigades," he said.
"Of course we would be active and we talk about it, but I don't see a reason to share classified information."
Russian bomb attack kills two in Ukraine's Sumy, governor says
Tuesday 29 September 2026 18:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Two people have died after Russian glide bombs struck a school in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday, the regional governor said.
Governor Oleh Hryhorov, writing on Telegram, said three children were among the six injured in the attack. He said teachers and school officials had managed to evacuate 100 people into a shelter.
Nearby houses were also damaged.
Sumy is a frequent target of Russian attacks. Russia's military has said it wants to establish a buffer zone in the areas of the region on the Russian border.
Watch: Trump says 'I want Zelensky to settle with Putin' in deal to end the conflict
Tuesday 29 September 2026 17:30 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russian imperialism 'greatest threat to Europe', top diplomat says
Tuesday 29 September 2026 17:00 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Russian imperialism is the “greatest threat to Europe” and questioning that is “irresponsible,” a top German diplomat has said.
"The greatest threat to the freedom of our continent comes from Moscow. The greatest danger to Europe is Putin's belligerent imperialism," said German foreign minister Johann Wadephul as he met Slovak counterpart Juraj Blanar.
"To question these facts is not only lacking in solidarity, but it would be simply irresponsible."
Slovakia, led by Prime Minister Robert Fico's leftist-nationalist government, has questioned the European Union and NATO's reaction to the war that followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Fico has maintained warm relations with Moscow, including meetings with Putin, and battled the EU over measures to end Russian oil and gas supplies, which Bratislava still needs.
This month, Fico criticised unnamed Western politicians for wanting to stoke conflict between NATO and Russia after a "failed" strategy to defeat Moscow.
He also said Europe was closer than ever to war and that he wanted to keep Slovakia out of conflict.
Putin envoy and US officials had 'constructive' meeting on Ukraine, US official says
Tuesday 29 September 2026 16:39 , Nicole Wootton-Cane
Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev held "constructive" talks with US officials on ending the Ukraine war, including possible US-Russia energy initiatives in the postwar period, a US official said on Tuesday.
The visit Monday by Dmitriev, who is also head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, follows a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskiy last week in New York, where Zelensky said they discussed a potential ceasefire on energy-related targets.
Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month.
Dmitriev was in Washington "to continue constructive discussions on a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and possible US-Russia energy initiatives after the war ends," the US official said.
Life in the village on the edge of Russia where locals fear the next hybrid attack
Tuesday 29 September 2026 12:30 , Shweta Sharma
Residents across a Polish border community received three emergency phone alerts in a single day, warning that a missile or drone could enter from Ukraine.
Above the eastern village of Dorohusk, vapour trails carved through the pale blue sky while military helicopters rumbled overhead. Just two kilometres (1.24 miles) away, traffic at the border crossing into Ukraine was halted three times, with personnel evacuated from the checkpoint on one occasion.
Thursday’s alerts and operational stoppages highlight an uneasy reality along Poland’s eastern frontier, where the war in Ukraine — now four and a half years old — feels increasingly immediate.
Life in the village on the edge of Russia where locals fear the next hybrid attack
Macron offers Estonia 'full solidarity' after suspected Russian attack
Tuesday 29 September 2026 12:03 , Adam Withnall
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France was in full solidarity with Estonia after it said it was the victim of a Russian arson attack.
Estonia, a Nato member bordering Russia, said earlier today that an investigation had concluded that an August fire at defence company Milrem Robotics was caused by an arson attack commissioned by Russia.
Macron said threats from Russia would not weaken French support for Ukraine.
“The proliferation of these hostile acts reflects a dangerous headlong rush by Russia —one that will only lead it into a dead end," Macron said in a post on X.
Inside Ukraine’s fortress cities – and the ex-convicts keeping them from Putin
Tuesday 29 September 2026 11:00 , Shweta Sharma
Even as Ukraine and Russia intensify mass aerial attacks against each other, the unrelenting slaughter on the battlefields below continues, particularly in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which Vladimir Putin has been obsessed with seizing since he launched his invasion.
Two large cities, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, and a number of smaller towns in the region remain in Ukrainian hands and have become known as the “fortress belt”. The area is key to Ukraine’s overall security.
Putin has vowed every year since 2022 to take the Donetsk region in its entirety. And each year that has not happened, Putin has felt more humiliated and again ordered his commanders to capture the region that year. Despite marginal advances with suicidal frontal attacks – at tremendous cost in Russian lives – Moscow has failed in its mission.
Defending this area are troops who in times of peace would make for the unlikeliest of allies – prisoners and police officers, whom The Independent met on visits to the frontlines.
Inside Ukraine’s fortress cities – and the ex-convicts keeping them from Putin
Estonia says Russia ordered August arson attack
Tuesday 29 September 2026 10:36 , Adam Withnall
Estonia says it has concluded that an August fire at Estonian defence company Milrem Robotics, a supplier of unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine, was caused by an arson attack commissioned by Russian security services.
Prime minister Kristen Michal said the conclusion was based on information gathered by Estonia's Internal Security Service KAPO.
Estonia did not disclose its evidence in the case, citing confidentiality of security services, but said the incident was consistent with other sabotage conducted on Russia's behalf in Europe.
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said the case was "extremely serious" and that Sweden stood fully behind the Baltic nation.
The Kremlin denied the claim that Russia was behind the attack, calling the accusations unfounded and saying it would not take them seriously.
