Ukraine has accused Russia of launching a deadly missile strike that killed at least four people in the dormitory of a boarding school in Kursk.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that a Russian bomb destroyed the school building "even though dozens of civilians were there". The school is located in a part of Kursk held by Ukrainian forces.
It comes as Mr Zelensky said Nato membership for Ukraine would be a "great victory" for US president Donald Trump.
The Ukrainian president said joining the alliance would be the "cheapest" way of guaranteeing Kyiv's security while also strengthening Mr Trump geopolitically.
"It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in Nato and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide," he said.
The remarks followed comments on Friday by Mr Trump, who said American and Russian officials were "already talking" about ending the war. Mr Trump said his administration has had "very serious" discussions with Russia, but he did not elaborate.
Key Points
- Excluding Ukraine from US-Russia talks about war very dangerous, says Zelensky
- Ukraine accuses Russia of deadly strike on boarding school in Kursk
- Russian air attack kills 15 in Ukraine, gas infrastructure targeted
- Nato membership ‘cheapest security guarantee’ against Russian aggression
Pensioner waits at missile attack site to identify bodies of family, presumed dead
07:16
,
Namita Singh
Ukrainian military pensioner Ihor Yavorskyi spent all day on Saturday at the site of a Russian missile attack to discover what he presumed was the inevitable – identifying the bodies of three family members he was certain were killed in the strike.
Mr Yavorskyi, 61, stood together with other anxious residents alongside rubble in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava. All were waiting patiently as emergency crews retrieved the bodies of victims from part of an apartment block reduced to rubble in the assault.
Each time, he rushed over to crews carrying victims on stretchers to examine bodies being brought past. But none of those recovered so far were those of his son Dmytro, 37, daughter-in-law Alyona, 38, and granddaughter Sofia, aged nine.
"My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are here," Yavorskyi said.
"They've been killed here, all three of them. Within a second."Around him, crews clambered up and down vast piles of smouldering rubble and made their way through twisted metal and debris. Cranes shifted slabs of concrete out of the way to enable rescuers to sift through the mounds.
"No, again, that's not it," he said after hurriedly checking a new victim being brought out. "That's an elderly person. It's not him."
Tulsi Gabbard’s history with Russia is even more concerning than you think
07:00
,
Holly Evans
In the summer of 2015, three Syrian girls who had narrowly survived an airstrike some weeks earlier stood before Tulsi Gabbard with horrific burns all over their bodies.
Gabbard, then a US congresswoman on a visit to the Syria-Turkey border as part of her duties for the foreign affairs committee, had a question for them.
“How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not Isis?’” she asked, according to Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who was translating her conversation with the girls.
It was a revealing insight into Gabbard’s conspiratorial views of the conflict, and it shocked Moustafa to silence. He knew, as even the young children did, that Isis did not have jets to launch airstrikes. It was such an absurd question that he chose not to translate it because he didn’t want to upset the girls, the eldest of whom was 12.
Read the full article here:
Putin ally leaves for India for 'important' negotiations
06:55
,
Namita Singh
A key Vladimir Putin ally in the Russian parliament said on Sunday that he was leaving for India for a series of “important” talks.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia's State Duma – the lower house of parliament – said in a Telegram post: "We will be in New Delhi by nightfall, important meetings and negotiations are planned tomorrow.
"India is a strategic partner. We have long-standing relations of trust and mutually beneficial cooperation with it. It is necessary to develop contacts in all areas."
One civilian killed in Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Belgorod, says governor
06:38
,
Namita Singh
At least one civilian was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Russian region of Belgorod bordering Ukraine, the regional governor said this morning.
"A man was killed," governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said of the overnight strike in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
"He died from his injuries before the ambulance crew arrived."
Mr Gladkov said the attack took place in the village of Malinovka about 8km east of the border.
Russia's defence ministry said it destroyed five Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory, including one over the Belgorod region.
Ukraine should hold election after war ends, says US
06:23
,
Namita Singh
The US has demanded that Ukraine should hold presidential and parliamentary elections after a ceasefire is agreed with Russia.
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia said votes “need to be done” if a truce is agreed.
"Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so," Keith Kellogg told the Reuters.
"I think it is good for democracy. That's the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running."
Russian air attack kills 15 in Ukraine, gas infrastructure targeted
04:58
,
Namita Singh
Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine on Saturday, killing 15 people and damaging dozens of residential buildings as well as energy infrastructure across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
In the central city of Poltava, Ukraine's Emergency Services said a Russian missile had struck a residential building, killing 11 people and wounding 16, including four children.
They said 22 people were rescued from rubble and emergency crews worked well into the night. Rescue teams carried out the dead on stretchers.
Reuters TV footage showed thick columns of smoke rising from mounds of rubble outside the building, part of which was reduced to a twisted mass of metal and building materials.
Firefighters and dozens of rescuers were searching through rubble.
One retired military veteran, certain his son, daughter-in law and granddaughter had died on the first floor of the building, waited outside the building all day, checking with rescue teams for them among the bodies pulled out.
One killed, four injured in Russian drone attack
04:47
,
Namita Singh
In Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, one person was killed and four were wounded in a Russian drone attack, the mayor said.
Three police officers were killed during the attacks as they patrolled streets in a village in the northeastern region of Sumy, regional officials said.
Ukraine accuses Russia of deadly strike on boarding school in Kursk
04:27
,
Namita Singh
Ukraine blamed Russia for a deadly missile strike yesterday that killed at least four people in the dormitory of a boarding school situated in a part of Russia's Kursk region held by Ukrainian forces.
Some of the war's fiercest battles in recent months have been taking place in the Kursk region that borders Ukraine, where Kyiv forces have held swathes of the land since staging a major cross-border incursion last August.
Ukraine's Armed Forces said on its Telegram messaging app that Russia launched an aerial bomb from Russian territory that struck a boarding school in Sudzha, killing at least four. The boarding school housed people preparing for evacuation.
As of 10pm on Saturday, 84 people had been rescued or received medical assistance, the statement said. Four of the injured were in a serious condition. Rescue efforts to clear rubble were proceeding.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on Sudzha, some 12km from the border with Ukraine, shows how Russia fights the war
."They destroyed the building even though dozens of civilians were there," Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
"This is how Russia waged war against Chechnya decades ago. They killed Syrians the same way. Russian bombs destroy Ukrainian homes the same way."
Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack. Early this morning, Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram that Ukraine's forces launched "a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the city of Sudzha" from the territory of Ukraine.
Zelensky sceptical about ‘other security guarantees’
04:06
,
Namita Singh
In the absence of Nato membership, other security guarantee proposals offered to Ukraine should be backed up by sufficient weapons from the US and Europe, and support for Kyiv to develop its own defense industry, said Volodymyr Zelensky.
He also said a French proposal to put European forces in Ukraine to act as a deterrent against Russian aggression is taking shape, but he expressed scepticism, saying many questions remained about the command-and-control structure and the number of troops and their positions.
The issue was raised by French president Emmanuel Macron and with US president Donald Trump, he said.
"I said in the presence of the two leaders that we are interested in this as a part of the security guarantee, but not as the only guarantee of safety," he said. "That's not enough."
He added: "Imagine, there is a contingent. The question is who is in charge? Who is the main one? What will they do if there are Russian strikes? Missiles, disembarkation, attack from the sea, crossing of the land borderline, offensive. What will they do? What are their mandates?"
Asked if he put those questions directly to Mr Macron, he smiled and said: "We are still in the process of this dialogue."
Australian teacher believed to have been killed by Russia in Ukraine is alive, says foreign minister
04:01
,
Holly Evans
An Australian man who was feared dead after being captured by Russian forces is alive, foreign minister Penny Wong has announced.
Oscar Jenkins, 32, a teacher who signed up to fight for Ukraine against Russia, was taken captive in December last year. A video showed him being struck by a Russian interrogator, sparking fears for his life.
“The Australian government has received confirmation from Russia that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody,” Ms Wong said on Wednesday.
Read the full article here:
Nato membership ‘cheapest security guarantee’ against Russian aggression
03:43
,
Namita Singh
Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned against allowing Vladimir Putin to take "control" over the war, an apparent reference to Russia's repeated threats of escalation during president Joe Biden's administration.
Without security guarantees from Ukraine's allies, Mr Zelensky said, any deal struck with Russia would only serve as a precursor to future aggression. Membership in the Nato alliance, a longstanding wish for Kyiv that Moscow has categorically rejected, is still Mr Zelensky's top choice.
Nato membership is the "cheapest" option for Ukraine's allies, and it would also strengthen Donald Trump geopolitically, Mr Zelensky argued.
"I really believe that these are the cheapest security guarantees that Ukraine can get, the cheapest for everyone," he said.
"It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in Nato and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide. I think this is a great victory for Mr Trump," he said, evidently appealing to the president's penchant for winners and business deals.
Ukraine visit by Trump’s envoy postponed ‘for legal reasons’
03:33
,
Namita Singh
With president Donald Trump back in the White House, Ukraine's relationship with the US, its largest and most important ally, is at a tipping point.
In an initial phone call with Mr Trump during the presidential campaign, Volodymyr Zelensky said, the two agreed that if he wins, they would meet to discuss the steps needed to end the war. But a planned visit by Mr Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was postponed "for legal reasons", Mr Zelensky said.
That was followed by a sudden foreign aid freeze that effectively caused Ukrainian organisations to halt projects.
"I believe that, first and foremost, we (must) hold a meeting with him, and that is important. And that is, by the way, something that everyone in Europe wants," Mr Zelensky said, referring to "a common vision of a quick end to the war”.
After the conversation with Mr Trump, "we should move on to some kind of format of conversation with Russians. And I would like to see the United States of America, Ukraine and the Russians at the negotiating table. ... And, to be honest, a European Union voice should also be there. I think it would be fair, effective. But how will it turn out? I don't know."
Ukraine in discussions with Trump administration at ‘general level’
03:12
,
Namita Singh
President Volodymyr Zelensky said his team has been in contact with the Trump administration, but those discussions are at a "general level," and he believes in-person meetings will take place soon to develop more detailed agreements.
"We need to work more on this," he said, adding that US president Donald Trump understandably appeared to be focused on domestic issues in the first weeks after his inauguration.
The nearly three-year war in Ukraine is at a crossroads. Mr Trump promised to end the fighting within six months of taking office, but the two sides are far apart, and it is unclear how a ceasefire deal would take shape.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to make slow but steady gains along the front, and Ukrainian forces are enduring severe manpower shortages.
Excluding Ukraine from US-Russia talks about war very dangerous, says Zelensky
03:00
,
Namita Singh
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that excluding his country from talks between the US and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be "very dangerous" and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire.
Mr Zelensky said Russia does not want to engage in ceasefire talks or to discuss any kind of concessions, which the Kremlin interprets as losing at a time when its troops have the upper hand on the battlefield.
He told the Associated Press that US president Donald Trump could bring Russian president Vladimir Putin to the table with the threat of sanctions targeting Russia's energy and banking system, as well as continued support of the Ukrainian military.
"I think these are the closest and most important steps," he said in the interview in the Ukrainian capital that lasted for more than an hour.
Mr Zelensky's remarks followed comments on Friday by Mr Trump, who said American and Russian officials were "already talking" about ending the war. Mr Trump said his administration has had "very serious" discussions with Russia, but he did not elaborate.
"They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone," Mr Zelensky said.
Battle for Pokrovsk: The Ukraine that city could be the most important of the war
02:00
,
Holly Evans
Russian forces are intensifying their offensive around the strategically vital Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, threatening key supply lines and raising concerns about a potential encirclement.
The city, a crucial logistical hub in eastern Ukraine, has become a focal point in the nearly three-year-long conflict.
While Ukrainian defenders are fiercely resisting the Russian advance, the situation in Pokrovsk grows increasingly precarious. The city’s main supply routes are under constant threat, with Russian troops encroaching from multiple directions.
Read the full article here:
North Korea troops partially withdraw from frontline in Russia’s Kursk after weeks of heavy losses
00:00
,
Holly Evans
North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia near the Ukrainian border have temporarily withdrawn following weeks of heavy losses, Kyiv’s military has claimed.
A Ukrainian special forces commander tasked with retrieving DNA samples from North Korean soldiers claimed Pyongyang’s troops had retreated from one of the axes of the Kursk region, where they have been mobilised since last December, for roughly a fortnight.
It follows claims by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last week that around a third of the 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to Kursk have already been wounded or killed.
Read the full article here:
Zelensky’s man in DC: Ukraine president’s plan to convince Trump to support the war against Russia
Saturday 1 February 2025 22:00
,
Holly Evans
Concerns that Donald Trump may be prepared to ditch America’s support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky are wrong, insiders have claimed.
People working with the newly installed White House administration point to the presence of one of Zelensky’s key allies at a place of honour at President Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
David Arakhamia, the Ukrainian parliamentary group leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, was afforded a rare place in the Capitol rotunda to witness the inauguration on Monday. He has since told Ukrainian media that he now expects a formal Ukrainian delegation to meet with the US president next month.
Read the full article here:
18 buildings and kindergarten hit by latest strikes
Saturday 1 February 2025 20:00
,
Holly Evans
In Poltava, a small city located around 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the Russian border, about 18 apartment buildings, a kindergarten, and energy infrastructure were damaged, city authorities said.
Ukrainian officials said that damage was also registered in the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast, and Khmelnytskyi in the west.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces used six missiles and 17 Shahed drones to target gas infrastructure and other facilities.
Russia's Defence Ministry said that its forces had launched attacks aimed at Ukraine's gas and other energy infrastructure and had shot down 108 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours, Russian news agencies reported.
Since March 2024, Russia has launched multiple missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's power sector and other energy infrastructure, knocking out about half of the country's available generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts.
Tulsi Gabbard’s history with Russia is even more concerning than you think
Saturday 1 February 2025 18:30
,
Holly Evans
In the summer of 2015, three Syrian girls who had narrowly survived an airstrike some weeks earlier stood before Tulsi Gabbard with horrific burns all over their bodies.
Gabbard, then a US congresswoman on a visit to the Syria-Turkey border as part of her duties for the foreign affairs committee, had a question for them.
“How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not Isis?’” she asked, according to Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who was translating her conversation with the girls.
It was a revealing insight into Gabbard’s conspiratorial views of the conflict, and it shocked Moustafa to silence. He knew, as even the young children did, that Isis did not have jets to launch airstrikes. It was such an absurd question that he chose not to translate it because he didn’t want to upset the girls, the eldest of whom was 12.
Read the full article here:
International Criminal Court has Putin, Netanyahu in its sights, yet its courtrooms are empty
Saturday 1 February 2025 17:00
,
Holly Evans
For a few hours last week, the International Criminal Court looked poised to take a Libyan warlord into custody. Instead, member state Italy sent the head of a notorious network of detention centers back home.
That has left the court without a single trial ahead for the first time since it arrested its first suspect in 2006. And it's now facing serious external pressure, notably from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Though its docket remains empty, the court still wields an $200 million annual budget and a large number of legal eagles keen to lay their hands on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Read the full article here:
Battle for Pokrovsk: The Ukraine that city could be the most important of the war
Saturday 1 February 2025 15:30
,
Holly Evans
Russian forces are intensifying their offensive around the strategically vital Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, threatening key supply lines and raising concerns about a potential encirclement.
The city, a crucial logistical hub in eastern Ukraine, has become a focal point in the nearly three-year-long conflict.
While Ukrainian defenders are fiercely resisting the Russian advance, the situation in Pokrovsk grows increasingly precarious. The city’s main supply routes are under constant threat, with Russian troops encroaching from multiple directions.
Read the full article here:
Russia launched 165 missiles and drones at Ukraine, Kyiv says
Saturday 1 February 2025 14:15
,
Holly Evans
Russia launched 165 missiles and drones at Ukraine during air attacks on Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said.
It said that air defence units shot down 56 drones and redirected 61 Russian drones.
It also downed and redirected a "significant number" of missiles, it said, but provided no detail regarding the missiles.
Home Office U-turn allows Ukrainian refugees to bring children to UK after families separated
Saturday 1 February 2025 13:30
,
Holly Evans
The Home Office has reversed “catastrophic” changes to the Homes for Ukraine refugee scheme to ensure that children can now join their parents in the UK, after The Independent highlighted instances of families being separated.
While Britain has offered sanctuary to nearly 300,000 Ukrainians after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, changes to the rules issued overnight last February by the Tory government have prevented some parents from bringing their children to the UK.
In a letter to home secretary Yvette Cooper last week, the charity Settled warned that Ukrainians were resorting to illegal routes and “rogue advisers” to bring their children to the UK as a result, putting them at risk of exploitation by criminals and traffickers.
Read the full article here:
Russian strikes kill eight people in drone and missile strikes across Ukraine
Saturday 1 February 2025 12:30
,
Holly Evans
Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine on Saturday, killing eight people and damaging dozens of residential buildings as well as energy infrastructure across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
The Interior Ministry said that a Russian missile struck a residential building in the central city of Poltava, killing four people and injuring 13, including three children.
The ministry posted pictures on the Telegram messaging app showing the building with several top floors smashed and thick columns of smoke rising into the sky. Firefighters and dozens of rescuers were searching through the rubble.
One person was killed and four were wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast in a drone attack, the mayor said.
Three police officers were killed during the attacks as they patrolled streets in a village in the northeastern region of Sumy, regional officials said.
Seven Ukrainian regions shut down after Saturday missile attack
Saturday 1 February 2025 12:17
,
Holly Evans
The full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago and shows no signs of ending, has killed more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.
Many have been evacuated from areas along the roughly 600-mile front line where Ukrainian defences are straining to hold the bigger Russian army at bay.
Civilians have also endured hardship caused by Russian attacks on the power grid that have denied them heating and running water.
Saturday's missile attack prompted emergency power grid shutdowns in seven Ukrainian regions, including Poltava, state energy company Ukrenergo said.
Ukrainian strikes also hit Russia, with air defences intercepting nine drones across the country's Bryansk, Belgorod and Saratov regions, Russia's Defence Ministry said.
Saturday 1 February 2025 11:31
,
Holly Evans
The bombardment comes as Russian forces continue their monthslong campaign to capture the key Donetsk strongholds of Pokrovsk and nearby Chasiv Yar, fighting their way across farm fields and woodland and engulfing small rural settlements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media on Saturday: "Last night, Russia launched an attack on our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs.
"Every such act of terror proves that we need greater support in defending against Russian terror.
"Every air defence system, every interceptor missile, means a life saved."
Last night, Russia launched an attack on our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs. Another wave of terrorist crimes.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 1, 2025
In Poltava, a residential building was hit, a section of the building was completely destroyed. Ten people were… pic.twitter.com/1FQAf4bfql
Death toll from overnight Russian strikes rises to five
Saturday 1 February 2025 10:44
At least five people have died overnight as Russian drone and missile strikes continued to pound Ukraine's towns and cities, local officials said.
Meanwhile, Moscow's troops continued their grinding advance through the country's east.
A Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Poltava killed at least four people and injured 10 more, Ukraine's emergency services reported.
Some 21 people were rescued from the five-storey building, which partially collapsed following the attack, said the Poltava region's acting governor, Volodymyr Kohut.
Rescue teams remain at the site.
Russia takes control of village of Krymske in eastern Ukraine, agencies cite defence ministry
Saturday 1 February 2025 09:47
,
Holly Evans
Russian forces took control of the village of Krymske in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Russian news agencies cited Russia's defence ministry as saying on Saturday.
The ministry said its forces had launched attacks aimed at Ukraine's gas and other energy infrastructure and had shot down 108 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours, the agencies reported.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
Ukrainian air defence repels attacks on Kyiv
Saturday 1 February 2025 09:15
,
Holly Evans
Officials said that the Russian forces also damaged buildings in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian air defence was also repelling the attacks in Kyiv, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties in the capital, they said.
"Russia's daily attacks on Ukraine are a signal that the aggressor will not stop committing its crimes," Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram.
"Last night and in the morning, Russia shelled Ukraine again: Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia... The terrorist targets civilian infrastructure: residential buildings, educational institutions, cars."
Russian air attack kills four in Ukraine, Kyiv says
Saturday 1 February 2025 08:32
,
Holly Evans
Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least four civilians and damaging residential buildings and infrastructure across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
The Interior Ministry said that a Russian missile slammed into a residential building in the central city of Poltava, killing three people and injuring 10, including a child.
The ministry posted pictures on the Telegram messaging app showing the residential building with several top floors smashed and thick columns of smoke rising into the sky. Fire brigades and dozens of rescuers were going through the rubble.
One person was killed and four were wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast as the result of a drone attack, the Kharkiv mayor said.
Ukraine launches second major drone attack against Russian oil refineries in a week
Saturday 1 February 2025 08:00
,
Tom Watling
Battle for Pokrovsk: The Ukraine that city could be the most important of the war
Saturday 1 February 2025 07:00
,
Tom Watling
Russia claims another Ukrainian village has fallen as it closes in on a key city
Saturday 1 February 2025 06:00
,
Tom Watling
Norwegian diplomats were in the area hit by missiles
Saturday 1 February 2025 04:05
,
Namita Singh
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Norwegian diplomats had been among those "who were in the epicentre of the strike" in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa.
Online pictures posted by regional governor Oleh Kiper and by Odesa mayor Hennady Trukhanov showed the lobby and other parts of the Hotel Bristol, a luxury landmark built at the end of the 19th century, reduced to rubble.
The Odesa Philharmonic concert hall, opposite the hotel, suffered damage with many of its windows smashed.
Online video showed fragments strewn on a street several hundred metres (yards) away near the opulent opera house from the same era.
Museums in the district also suffered damage.
Mapped: Russia-Ukraine frontline
