Nato has begun annual and long-planned nuclear exercises, with unarmed training flights set to conduct drills over the UK, North Sea and Belgium, which is hosting the event until the end of October.
It came as Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with so-called kamikaze drones, with four people allegedly killed and 19 rescued from a residential building in the capital.
Ukraine’s air force claimed to have shot down roughly 85 per cent of the drones launched in the overnight bombardment by Russia.
Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelensky called upon Ukrainian civilians to capture any Russian soldiers they encounter in their neighbourhoods, to use as bargaining chips for the return of captured Ukrainians.
“This is extremely important – everyone who captures the Russian military provides us with the opportunity to release our heroes,” Mr Zelensky said.
There was also intense fighting overnight around two towns in the Donetsk region, a day after 11 Russian soldiers were shot dead by gunmen at a military training ground in Belgorod, prompting Moscow to call for a criminal investigation.
