Russian strikes killed nine people, injured dozens, and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across Ukraine on Saturday.
Three people were killed in the frontline region of Kramatorsk after Russian forces struck a private car and four were left injured, local officials said. Two people were killed and 11 injured in Zaporizhzhia, and two killed in Kryvyi Rih. It wasn't immediately clear where the other two deaths occurred.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that Russia had “expanded the war away from the front, where they have no success, into the economy”.
“Russia wants to kill the Ukrainian economy and break our resistance,” he said.
On the other side of the frontline, the administrator of Russian-held eastern Donetsk said Ukrainian drone attacks killed at least three people.
Meanwhile, UK national security advisor Jonathan Powell said Europe should be ready to endure “ real hardship” this winter to maintain sustained economic pressure on Russia, claiming sanctions on Moscow were yielding results, the BBC reported.
He characterised Russian president Vladimir Putin as a “terrorist” but advocated for Europe and the US to maintain contact with him.
Read MorePutin sends bones of medieval warrior to Ukraine frontline in desperate bid to boost morale
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Key Points
- Russian strikes kill seven and wound 76 in Ukraine industrial hub of Pavlohrad
- Two injured as Russian air strikes hit nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv
- Russia's Ozon says Ukraine drones cause fire at its logistics hub in Saratov
- No trilateral talks before Russian election, Zelensky warns
Ukrainian tennis star says her family home was destroyed in Russian missile attack
09:45 , James ReynoldsUkrainian tennis star Dayana Yastremska has shared that her family home was struck by a Russian missile on Friday.
The world No. 113, who competed at the US Open this month, wrote on social media: “A Russian missile destroyed our apartment in Odesa. The only thing that survived was a Roland Garros towel.
“SYMBOLIC,” she went on. “A piece of world tennis survived a Russian missile.Our home did not.”
Sharing video of an apartment block burning, she demanded that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) “look at these images through our eyes”.
“This is the true meaning of your ‘neutrality’ – from the Ukrainian side of the court.”
Nine killed and dozens injured in Russian strikes across Ukraine
09:20 , James ReynoldsRussian air strikes in several Ukrainian regions on Saturday killed nine people, injured dozens and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across the country, local officials said.
The civilian death toll has risen sharply in Ukraine over the past two months as Russia steps up attacks on power plants and other infrastructure.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on Telegram, said Russia had deployed nearly 500 drones against Ukrainian targets since early morning.
"Basically, the Russians have expanded the war away from the front, where they have no success, into the economy, and their tactics are as basic as it gets: destroying every site that could help people cope with the conditions of war," Zelenskyy wrote.
"Russia wants to kill the Ukrainian economy and break our resistance," Zelenskyy added.
Russia hits border area on Ukrainian-Polish border, Kyiv says
09:05 , James ReynoldsA Russian drone strike hit a border area on the Ukrainian-Polish border overnight, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday.
"Russia's barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing point in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders," Sybiha said on X.
"This is Putin's terror 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners," he added.
Russia’s barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 13, 2026
This is Putin’s terror “knocking” directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners.
Act now: throw the…
China and India offer Putin help with Ukraine peace talks
08:50 , James ReynoldsChinese president Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi both offered their services for peace talks on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, adding that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had welcomed their readiness.
The three leaders are among those attending the BRICS summit in Delhi.
Russia accuses Ukraine of attacks near occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
08:17 , James ReynoldsThe head of Russia's state nuclear energy company has accused Ukraine of attacking diesel fuel trucks, killing two Russian servicemen and deliberately jeopardising safety at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Alexei Likhachev said in Sunday that the attack took place on Friday and also resulted in injuries to other Russian soldiers.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, was seized by Russian forces in the early weeks of the Ukraine war that broke out in February 2022. Each side has regularly accused the other of actions that endanger safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident.
Likhachev issued a statement saying Ukrainian forces had launched "a series of combined strikes" on Friday on fuel trucks which deliver diesel to the station.
"The strikes hit very close to the perimeter of the station's site," he said.
National security advisor asks Europe to endure ‘real hardship’ to keep pressure on Russia
07:02 , Namita SinghThe national security advisor of the UK has asked the rest of Europe to be ready to endure “real hardship” during the winters to maintain sustained economic pressure on Russia, reported the BBC.
Jonathan Powell said that the strategy of imposing economic sanctions on Russia was working as the talk of Russian escalation was “not a problem” but a “sign of success”, as it showed that the pressure was working.
During a press conference in Kyiv at the Yalta European Strategy Forum, he said Ukraine had “already won” the war, as Putin would no longer be able to seize the whole of the country.
He, however, added that the US and Europe should continue to engage with the Russian president.
Kremlin says no decision yet on Putin's G20 visit, dismisses Zelensky's meeting proposal
06:45 , Namita SinghMoscow has yet to decide whether Russian president Vladimir Putin will travel to the G20 summit in Miami in December, Interfax reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
"We don't know yet whether we'll be going to Miami," Peskov said.
Earlier on Saturday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the possibility of Putin attending the summit "has not even been discussed" in Moscow.
In April, the Kremlin said Putin could travel to the G20 summit after US president Donald Trump suggested his attendance would be very helpful.
Commenting on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's remarks that he would travel to Miami if Putin attends and would seek a meeting with him, Peskov reiterated Moscow's long-standing position that if the Ukrainian leader wants to meet his Russian counterpart, he should come to Moscow.
Kyiv preparing for talks to resume in October, senior Ukrainian official says
06:20 , Namita SinghUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff was quoted as saying on Saturday that Kyiv was preparing for the resumption in October of three-sided talks aimed at resolving the more than 4-1/2-year-old war with Russia.
Kyrylo Budanov, quoted by Ukrainian media, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kyiv that Ukraine was readying itself for the prospect of new talks involving Russia and the United States.
"We are getting ready. In October," Budanov was quoted as saying. Budanov was speaking several days after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks in both Moscow and Kyiv. It was their first such visit to Moscow since February and their first visit to the Ukrainian capital.
The last three-sided meeting took place in Geneva in February. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts had stalled as Washington was focused on the conflict with Iran. Witkoff said after visiting both capitals that they welcomed new momentum in proceeding with talks.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the two envoys had presented some "very decent, worthwhile ideas". He suggested that a new three-sided meeting could be hosted by Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland or other countries.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not rule out a resumption of peace talks but added that it was too early to say when and where such talks might take place.
Major differences on how to end the war remain between the two sides. A key issue is the fate of the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow has claimed as its own but has failed to capture despite years of fierce fighting.
Russian strikes target Ukrainian port
06:00 , Namita SinghThe Russian defence ministry said its forces continued their strikes on Ukrainian ports, hitting a cargo ship in Odesa it said was carrying goods for military use.
Earlier in the day, the ministry said its forces struck two cargo vessels overnight in the port of Chornomorsk. Ukraine's military said it hit one of Russia's largest synthetic rubber producers in Togliatti in the Samara region, causing a fire.
The Togliattikauchuk plant specialised in the production of synthetic rubbers and fuel additives that are used in fuel for Russian missiles, it said.
Russian regional governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said industrial facilities in Samara region had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, without specifying which they were or whether they had been damaged, Interfax news agency reported.
Ilya Sukhikh, mayor of the city of Togliatti in Samara region, said several residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured
Two killed and 11 injured in Zaporizhzhia
05:40 , Namita SinghThe governor of Zaporizhzhia Region, Ivan Fedorov, said two people were killed and 11 injured in assaults on Zaporizhzhia and other localities.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration, said two people were killed in overnight attacks on the city by drones and missiles.
The Russian military said its forces hit Ukrainian steelmaker Zaporizhstal in the city of Zaporizhzhia, an Interpipe Steel complex in Dnipro and several plants in Kryvyi Rih, including the Northern Iron Ore Beneficiation Works complex. Reuters could not independently verify accounts from either side.
In the Black Sea port of Odesa, regional governor Oleh Kiper said nearly 40 people had been injured in attacks that extended from overnight well into Saturday evening. The Russia-installed head of areas of eastern Donetsk Region under Moscow's control said three people had been killed in Ukrainian drone attacks.
In Moldova, on Ukraine's western border, authorities closed national airspace for nearly an hour after a drone was detected near the border. Seven border crossings were temporarily closed. Russian drones have regularly entered Moldovan airspace despite official protests. During one instance this week, the departure of Volodymyr Zelensky's aircraft to Norway was delayed.
At least three killed in Russian attack in Kramatorsk
05:20 , Namita SinghThe city council in Kramatorsk, one of Ukraine's frontline "fortress cities" that Russia wants to capture, said Russian forces attacked private cars, killing three people in three incidents over a 90-minute period.
Four people were injured.
"These are not military targets," the council said. "They are ordinary civilian cars. People were going about their business.
"The governor of Ukraine's Zhytomyr Region, west of Kyiv, Vitaliy Bunechko, said a Russian strike on a grocery store killed two people in the town of Zvyahel. Bunechko said two petrol stations also came under attack, as well as an unidentified "enterprise with foreign investment.
"Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky reported attacks on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih, his hometown.
Zelensky accuses Russia of expanding war on different fronts
05:00 , Namita SinghVolodymyr Zelensky says Russia has ballooned its attacks on different frontiers, away from the war zone.
"Basically, the Russians have expanded the war away from the front, where they have no success, into the economy, and their tactics are as basic as it gets: destroying every site that could help people cope with the conditions of war," he wrote on Telegram.
"Russia wants to kill the Ukrainian economy and break our resistance," Zelensky added.
Russian attacks kill 10 and injure dozens in Ukraine
04:48 , Namita SinghRussian air strikes in several Ukrainian regions on Saturday killed 10 people, injured dozens, and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across the country, local officials said.
The civilian death toll has risen sharply in Ukraine over the past two months as Russia has stepped up attacks on power plants and other infrastructure. Ukraine has hit energy facilities and warehouses in distant parts of Russia, and both sides have targeted each other's shipping.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on Telegram, said Russia had deployed nearly 500 drones against Ukrainian targets since early morning.
RT launches Hindi language channel as Putin and Modi forge closer ties
03:00 , Bryony Gooch
RT launches Hindi language channel as Putin and Modi forge closer ties
Pictured: Participants attend the Equality March, organized by the LGBTQ+ community, in Kharkiv
02:00 , Bryony Gooch
Putin has ‘absurd’ view of war amid Russian army’s ‘culture of lying’
01:00 , Bryony Gooch
Putin has ‘absurd’ view of Ukraine war due to ‘culture of lying’ in Russian army
Kyiv preparing for talks to resume in October, senior Ukrainian official says
Sunday 13 September 2026 00:00 , Bryony GoochUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff was quoted as saying on Saturday that Kyiv was preparing for the resumption in October of three-sided talks aimed at resolving the more than four-and-a half-year-old war with Russia.
Kyrylo Budanov, quoted by Ukrainian media, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kyiv that Ukraine was readying itself for the prospect of new talks involving Russia and the United States.
"We are getting ready. In October," Budanov was quoted as saying.
Budanov was speaking several days after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks in both Moscow and Kyiv. It was their first such visit to Moscow since February and their first visit to the Ukrainian capital.
The last three-sided meeting took place in Geneva in February. US-led diplomatic efforts had stalled as Washington was focused on the conflict with Iran.
Witkoff said after visiting both capitals that they welcomed new momentum in proceeding with talks.
Zelensky said the two envoys had presented some "very decent, worthwhile ideas". He suggested that a new three-sided meeting could be hosted by Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland or other countries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not rule out a resumption of peace talks but added that it was too early to say when and where such talks might take place.
Major differences on how to end the war remain between the two sides. A key issue is the fate of the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow has claimed as its own but has failed to capture despite years of fierce fighting.
In pictures: Aftermath of Russian strikes on Chornomorsk
Saturday 12 September 2026 23:00 , James Reynolds
Russia says it struck cargo vessels, steel plants across Ukraine
Saturday 12 September 2026 22:00 , James ReynoldsRussia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck two cargo vessels overnight in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday.
The ministry also said Russian forces hit Ukrainian steel maker Zaporizhstal in the city of Zaporizhzhia, an Interpipe Steel complex in Dnipro and several plants in Kryvyi Rih, including the Northern Iron Ore Beneficiation Works complex.
Sweden, NATO’s newest member, is holding an election. Here’s what is at stake
Saturday 12 September 2026 21:00 , Alex CroftVoters in Sweden will go to the polls on Sunday in a contest that will decide if the conservative government stays in power, potentially granting a hard-right party its first cabinet seats, or if the centre-left will regain control.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is bidding for a second four-year term leading the European Union country, which recently became NATO’s newest member. His predecessor is attempting to reclaim office, with the battle over leadership largely overshadowing core policy debates.
More than eight million people, from a total population of around 10.6 million, are registered to vote for the 349-seat parliament in Stockholm, the Riksdag, which will subsequently select the nation's next prime minister.
Read more here:
Sweden, NATO’s newest member, is holding an election. Here’s what is at stake
Ukraine says it hit major Russian rubber producer
Saturday 12 September 2026 20:00 , James ReynoldsUkraine's military hit one of Russia's largest synthetic rubber producers in Togliatti in the Samara region, causing a fire, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday.
It said in a statement that the Togliattikauchuk plant specialised in the production of synthetic rubbers and fuel additives that are used in fuel for Russian missiles.
Zelensky says no trilateral peace talks before elections in Russia
Saturday 12 September 2026 19:00 , Arpan RaiVolodymyr Zelensky has said there will be no trilateral meeting on how to end the war before the elections in Russia, due to be held on Sunday 20 September.
Zelensky said Ukrainian and US negotiators were in constant contact and he hoped for progress in talks on energy and grain at the end of September after his meeting with US president Donald Trump.
Just last week, the US sent its peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv to hold back to back talks with the leaders for finding a settlement on the war. However, no breakthroughs were reported from both sides.
Putin being repeatedly misled over frontline battle in Ukraine, reports claim
Saturday 12 September 2026 18:00 , James ReynoldsThe Russian army has a “pervasive culture of lying” over battlefield gains which has left Vladimir Putin with a “severely distorted” view of the frontline situation in Ukraine, military analysts have said.
Several Russian military bloggers have offered a bleak picture of the frontline near Lyman in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian counterattacks are pushing back Russia’s forward positions and exposing misleading military reports from Russian forces.
One milblogger, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), argued that “beautiful reports” – a term milbloggers have coined to refer to the pervasive culture of lying within the Russian armed forces and misinformation about the state of the frontlines – need to be “absolutely forbidden”.
Putin has ‘absurd’ view of Ukraine war due to ‘culture of lying’ in Russian army
The killer robots behind Ukraine’s warfare ‘revolution’ hunting the frontline
Saturday 12 September 2026 17:00 , James ReynoldsIn a tiny Ukrainian workshop near the frontline ‘Chimera’ is preparing his robot army for battle.
Lined up in a row, the four-wheeled unmanned vehicles known as "Hyenas" will crawl toward Russian lines full of explosives. Hunting, looking to attack an enemy dugout or halt an advance.
"Imagine what 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives is like: it's very powerful," Chimera, 44, who asked to be identified by his call sign, said. "Very powerful."
Workshops like this one, run by Ukraine's Third Army Corps, have sprouted up across the 1,200-km (745-mile) front as Kyiv's outmanned army seeks to gain the technological edge against Russia's unrelenting infantry assaults in the fifth year of war.
Unmanned ground vehicles are a critical new component of Ukraine's strategy to fight smarter by preserving the lives of its troops on a drone-saturated battlefield, where virtually any movement can prove deadly.
Read the full report:
The killer robots behind Ukraine’s warfare ‘revolution’ hunting the frontline
Today's headlines: BRICS leaders meet in India as wars and US tensions test the bloc
Saturday 12 September 2026 16:00 , James ReynoldsIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and counterparts from the other eight BRICS members in New Delhi today.
The summit comes as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with rising U.S.-China tensions, test the bloc’s ability to find common ground among countries with competing geopolitical interests.
Here are the highlights from today’s talks:
BRICS leaders meet in India as wars and US tensions test the bloc
Ukrainians embed with US forces during drills in Germany
Saturday 12 September 2026 15:40 , James ReynoldsThe US military joined Ukrainian forces in Germany for several weeks of drills this summer, picking up vital skills in using drones from Europe’s most battle-hardened warriors.
Here’s how it went:
Ukrainians embed with US forces during drills in Germany to teach the latest in drone warfare
Modi urges Putin to end Ukraine war at BRICS summit
Saturday 12 September 2026 15:10 , James ReynoldsIndian prime minister Narendra Modi urged Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine during their meeting at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on Saturday, according to a report.
Speaking to the Russian president on the sidelines of the event, prime minister Modi “again reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy was the way forward in resolving conflicts and India stood ready to assist in peace efforts”, the foreign affairs ministry said in a readout.
They were said to have discussed the “conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region which have impacted maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers”.
Three killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine, says Zelensky
Saturday 12 September 2026 14:40 , James ReynoldsRussian air strikes on ten Ukrainian regions killed three people, injured dozens and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across the country, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Two people were killed in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine and one in Zelenskiy's native city of Kryvyi Rih, the president said on the Telegram app.
People were injured in the Odesa region, Kryvyi Rih and Kyiv, he said.
Kremlin still to decide whether Putin will attend G20 summit in Miami
Saturday 12 September 2026 14:10 , James ReynoldsMoscow has yet to decide whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the G20 summit in Miami in December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
"We don't know yet whether we'll be going to Miami," Peskov said, according to Interfax.
Earlier on Saturday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the possibility of Putin attending the summit "has not even been discussed" in Moscow.
In April, the Kremlin said Putin could travel to the G20 summit after US President Donald Trump suggested his attendance would be very helpful.
Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's remarks that he would travel to Miami if Putin attends and would seek a meeting with him, Peskov reiterated Moscow's long-standing position that if the Ukrainian leader wants to meet his Russian counterpart, he should come to Moscow.
Bulgaria investigating fire at weapons storage facility
Saturday 12 September 2026 13:40 , James ReynoldsBulgaria is investigating the cause of a fire at a weapons storage facility, including the possibility of sabotage, the interior minister said on Saturday.
No injuries were reported in the fire, which broke out near the village of Tsareva Livada weeks after an explosion and fire at another EMCO weapons depot in western Bulgaria.
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told journalists on Saturday that the fire was under control and that an investigation was underway.
"We are not ruling out outside interference,” he said.
EMCO is run by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, who Bulgarian prosecutors have previously alleged was the target of attacks on his facilities by Russian operatives.
MI5 chief: Britain faces greater danger now than on 9/11
Saturday 12 September 2026 13:10 , James ReynoldsIn an exclusive op-ed for The Independent on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Sir Ken McCallum warns that Britain faces the ‘worst of both worlds’ – as Russia and China pose growing threats alongside terrorism
MI5 chief: Britain faces greater danger now than on 9/11
Watch: MI5 chief says Britain faces greater danger now than on 9/11
Saturday 12 September 2026 12:40 , James ReynoldsUkraine faces 'toughest winter' since invasion: UN
Saturday 12 September 2026 12:10 , James ReynoldsUkraine will face its toughest winter since the full-scale invasion this year, a top UN official has warned, as Kyiv scrambles to shore up support ahead of the colder months.
Alexander De Croo, the head of the UN development agency, told the BBC that there is a risk of “humanitarian catastrophe” if Russian attacks cut off water and power, as they did last year.
“This winter is going to be the toughest one since the war,” he said.
He said the UN was “very, very worried... about what this winter could become”, with concerns driven by Russia's “very systematic” targeting of civilian and energy infrastructure.
Kyiv has been seeking additional support from allies ahead of the bitter winter months, warning Russia is likely to step up its air attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure.
Both sides deny targeting civilians.
In focus: Russia kills two in fresh strikes on petrol stations
Saturday 12 September 2026 10:10 , James ReynoldsRussia attacked two Kyiv petrol stations with jet-powered drones early on Friday, killing two people in an escalation of strikes that President Volodymyr Zelensky said were becoming "increasingly terrorist in nature."
The two dead in Kyiv were at one of the two petrol stations that was attacked, officials said, one by a double-tap strike.
Friday's strikes followed what appeared to be the first attack on a Kyiv petrol station a day earlier. In recent months, Russia hit some 300 petrol stations, mainly in or near Ukraine's frontline regions.
"There is no military objective behind such strikes. This is terror of the civilian population," said Bohdan Kukura, CEO of Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta.
A further 12 people, including a 12-year-old boy, were injured in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. An attack on a Kyiv residential block injured eight people overnight.
Zelensky said Russia had hit a building used by Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar in Kyiv, and there were strikes in eight other Ukrainian regions. Kyivstar's network continued to operate, the company said.
Five killed and 67 injured as Russian strike hits shopping centre
Saturday 12 September 2026 09:40 , James ReynoldsReport: Putin has ‘absurd’ view of Ukraine war due to ‘culture of lying’ in Russian army
Saturday 12 September 2026 09:10 , James ReynoldsThe Russian army has a “pervasive culture of lying” over battlefield gains which has left Vladimir Putin with a “severely distorted” view of the frontline situation in Ukraine, military analysts have said.
Several Russian military bloggers have offered a bleak picture of the frontline near Lyman in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian counterattacks are pushing back Russia’s forward positions and exposing misleading military reports from Russian forces.
One milblogger, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), argued that “beautiful reports” – a term milbloggers have coined to refer to the pervasive culture of lying within the Russian armed forces and misinformation about the state of the frontlines – need to be “absolutely forbidden”.
Putin has ‘absurd’ view of Ukraine war due to ‘culture of lying’ in Russian army
Putin sends bones of medieval warrior to Ukraine frontline
Saturday 12 September 2026 08:40 , James ReynoldsRussia has sent bone fragments from a legendary Russian prince in a bizarre attempt to boost morale for its soldiers fighting in Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Tiny fragments from the sword hand of the medieval Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who won a famous victory over the Mongols, have been sent in the Russian Orthodox Church's latest show of support for Putin's war.
The sarcophagus of the Grand Prince, who died in 1389 and is revered by Russian nationalists for defeating the Mongol Golden Horde at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo, was uncovered this summer during restoration work at Moscow's Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin.
Russian military and church officials presented the discovery as a fortuitous find that could help Russian forces prevail in Ukraine, now in the fifth year of a grinding war.
Read our full story below.
Putin sends bones of warrior prince to Ukraine in desperate bid to boost morale
US House to vote on Russia sanctions backed by late Senator Graham
Saturday 12 September 2026 08:10 , Namita SinghThe US House of Representatives will begin consideration next week of a sweeping Russia sanctions bill championed by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, which has passed the Senate but faces stiff opposition from House Democrats.
The House Rules Committee said it scheduled a meeting to consider the measure for Monday afternoon. Approval by the Republican-majority Rules Committee would pave the way for a vote in the full chamber later in the week.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died in July, was among Ukraine's most outspoken allies in Congress. His bill would sanction Russian officials and authorise stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas. Its passage would be seen as an important message to Ukraine – and Russia – of US support for the government in Kyiv in its defence against Russia's full-scale invasion.
The bill aims to increase economic pressure on Moscow by cutting off sources of revenue used to fund the war.
Putin blames ‘Western global elites’ for his invasion of Ukraine
Saturday 12 September 2026 07:59 , Namita SinghVladimir Putin on Friday said Western countries had disregarded Russia's opposition to Nato's eastward expansion.
After a Russia-friendly president was forced to flee Ukraine in 2014, he said the West "immediately set the goal of dragging Ukraine into Nato. And this ultimately turned out to be the main reason for today's tragic events in Ukraine”.
"It is the Western globalist elites that are to blame for this, though they keep shifting the blame onto us all the time."
Putin says events in Europe, like AfD's win in Germany, caused by Western globalists
Saturday 12 September 2026 07:34 , Namita SinghRussian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that events in Europe, including the far-right victory in a German state election, were the result of "system errors" committed by globalists in the West.
Putin, speaking to reporters in a pool report on the first day of a visit to India, also said the conflict in Ukraine was the fault of the West for constantly putting pressure on Moscow and seeking to "drag" Ukraine into the Nato alliance.
The Russian president said he would offer no comment on Sunday's top result for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, but then added that Western elites were to blame for events on the continent, including the election.
"I think that everything happening in Europe right now is basically the result of system errors by the so-called West ... the Western globalists in politics, security, and economics," Putin said.
Explosion hits another weapons site in Bulgaria
Saturday 12 September 2026 07:33 , Namita SinghAn explosion caused a fire at a weapons storage site in central Bulgaria overnight, local media and officials said on Saturday, the second blaze at a munitions facility in the past few weeks.
No one was reported injured in the blaze, which broke out near the village of Tsareva Livada and could be seen lighting up the night sky in videos broadcast locally.
"At the moment, the fire is on the territory of the storage base of the factory. It is moving from warehouse to warehouse," Gabrovo regional governor Kristina Sidorova told journalists in the early hours of Saturday.
Local media reported that the fire was at a site run by EMCO, which experienced an explosion at another facility last month, citing an EMCO company official. Reuters was not immediately able to reach EMCO for comment.
EMCO is run by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, who Bulgarian prosecutors allege was the target of past attacks on his facilities by Russian operatives.
In 2024, Bulgaria issued an arrest warrant for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in the destruction of EMCO arms depots that were storing munitions for export to Ukraine and Georgia between 2011 and 2020.
Prosecutors at the time said that they could reasonably assume links between the blasts in Bulgaria, an attempted poisoning of Gebrev in 2015, and munitions depot explosions in the Czech Republic in 2014. Moscow has dismissed the allegations.
Ukraine hits Russia’s largest online retailer
Saturday 12 September 2026 06:06 , Namita SinghUkraine has attacked Russia's largest online retailers and oil refineries, often deep inside the country, as well as energy and fuel logistics in regions of its own territory occupied by Russian forces.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had hit an enterprise and an oil industry facility in the Saratov and Volgograd regions. He also reported strikes on unnamed targets in other regions and the Black Sea.
Dmitry Milyayev, the governor of Russia's Tula region, said two people were killed and three injured in Ukrainian drone attacks overnight. A 37-year-old man had been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Kursk region, its governor said.
Russian e-commerce company Ozon said a drone had caused a fire at its logistics hub in the central city of Saratov. More than two dozen warehouses owned by Ozon and fellow online retailer Wildberries have been hit in recent attacks which Ukraine casts as part of a campaign against economic infrastructure underpinning Russia's war.
Ukraine's military said it hit an oil refinery in Saratov. Two people were injured in a missile attack that hit two residential buildings and damaged an industrial facility in Volgograd, south of Saratov on the Volga River, local authorities said, without identifying the industrial facility.
Two killed and 12 injured on Friday in Kyiv
Saturday 12 September 2026 06:03 , Namita SinghThe two dead in Kyiv were at one of the two petrol stations that was attacked, officials said, one by a double-tap strike.
Friday's strikes followed what appeared to be the first attack on a Kyiv petrol station a day earlier. In recent months, Russia hit some 300 petrol stations, mainly in or near Ukraine's frontline regions.
"There is no military objective behind such strikes. This is terror of the civilian population," said Bohdan Kukura, CEO of Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta.
A further 12 people, including a 12-year-old boy, were injured in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
An attack on a Kyiv residential block injured eight people overnight. Zelenskiy said Russia had hit a building used by Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar in Kyiv, and there were strikes in eight other Ukrainian regions. Kyivstar's network continued to operate, the company said.
Ukrainian strikes kill three in Russia
Saturday 12 September 2026 05:21 , Namita SinghUkraine also carried out drone attacks on Russia, killing two people in the Tula region overnight and one on Friday in the Kursk region, local officials said.
With fighting on the front line largely stalled more than four and a half years into the war in Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine increasingly have struck logistics and other economic targets in recent weeks to try to damage the other's war effort.
Russian attacks on Kyiv petrol stations kill two
Saturday 12 September 2026 05:20 , Namita SinghRussia attacked two Kyiv petrol stations with jet-powered drones early on Friday, killing two people in an escalation of strikes that president Volodymyr Zelensky said were becoming "increasingly terrorist in nature".
Three more people were killed in Russian strikes in southeastern Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and in Kharkiv in the northeast, according to the governors of those regions.
EU approves £5.2bn tranche of defence funds to Ukraine
Saturday 12 September 2026 03:00 , Alex CroftThe European Commission has approved a disbursement of 6.1 billion euros (£5.2bn) to Ukraine, which it can use to buy Patriot air defence missiles and other supplies.
The funds are part of the 90 billion euros (£77.2bn) support loan the EU has promised Ukraine.
The new disbursement means the 28.3 billion euro in military support promised from the loan for 2026 has now been allocated, the Commission said.
Portugal says it supports use of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine - but understands Belgium's concerns
Saturday 12 September 2026 01:30 , Alex CroftPortugal has declared that it supports the use of frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine, but is understanding of Belgium’s concerns over the financial risks, foreign minister Paulo Rangel said.
Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear hosts most of the roughly €200 billion ($232.54 billion) in frozen Russian assets held in Europe.
Last year, when the European Commission proposed using the assets to support a Ukraine loan, Belgium opposed the plan due to concerns over guarantees against the possibility of lawsuits and Russian compensation claims. It demanded the risks be shared across the EU.
"Portugal is favourable and will never be an obstacle to the use of those €200 billion," Mr Rangel said on Thursday.
But he added that the concerns in Brussels were “truly pertinent” and hoped for a “very constructive solution”.
