Ukraine faces its toughest winter since Russia’s full scale invasion began in February 2022, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.
Rutte, who became Nato chief earlier this month, was speaking at a joint press conference in Brussels with the President of Findland, Alexander Stubb.
It comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces yesterday launched a hypersonic missile barrage at Kyiv, hours after a Ukrainian strike started a fire at Moscow’s largest oil depot in occupied Crimea.
Ukrainian troops were forced to down at least two eight-metre long Kinzhal missiles fired at Kyiv while another hit an airfield 170 miles further west in Starokostyantyniv. The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is a nuclear-capable, Russian air-launched ballistic missile, described as a “next-generation” weapon by Putin in 2018.
In the Donbas, Russian forces have entered the outskirts of the eastern Ukraine frontline city of Toretsk, Ukraine’s military said last night.
US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has said Ukraine will need to be in the room for any peace talks to negotiate a solution to end the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine must have a say in the future,” she told CBS News during an interview on 60 Minutes.
Key Points
- Ukraine faces toughest winter yet, NATO’s secretary general says
- At least 11 injured in Russian attack on Kharkiv, officials say
- Ukraine shoots down 18 Russian drones on Monday night
- In pictures: Volunteer medical battalion treats Ukrainian servicemen in Donetsk region
- Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine
Ukraine’s Ramstein meeting canceled as Biden postpones Germany visit
04:37
Arpan Rai
Joe Biden has cancelled his upcoming trip to Germany and Angola in a blow to plans for the highest level meeting ever of the Ramstein group of Ukraine arms donors. The gathering, critical to Kyiv’s victory plan, was supposed to underscore unwavering support for Kyiv and secure more pledges of assistance ahead of winter.
The Ramstein group was set to meet at the highest level on the sidelines of Mr Biden’s 10-13 October state visit to Germany, which would have been the first US state visit in nearly 40 years.
But the White House said Mr Biden was postponing his trip to both Germany and Angola to handle preparations for Hurricane Milton and relief efforts after Hurricane Helene which last month killed more than 200 people.
It added that it was still working out what to do with the Ramstein event, with Mr Biden and German chancellor Olaf Scholz talking later on Tuesday.
“I just don’t think I can be out of the country at this time,” the US president said, adding that he hoped to reschedule the trip “and all the conferences I said I’d participate in”.
The administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, the deadliest named storm to hit the mainland US since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has already become a point of contention in a tight race ahead of November’s presidential election.
Zelensky seeks more missiles for faster results on battlefield
04:19
Arpan Rai
Ukraine needs to secure and deploy advanced missiles and to achieve faster results with them on the battlefield, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Speaking in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said a meeting with top commanders had been devoted to the development of domestic weapons supplies in the more than two and a half year war against Russia.
This, he said, involved drones, electronic warfare and, above all, deploying missiles that would reap rapid benefits in battlefield confrontations with Russian forces.
“Special emphasis is on our national missile programme in all its elements. In all of Ukraine’s missiles achievements, there must be more combat accomplishments both at the front and on Russian territory,” he said. “Results are needed faster. And all relevant tasks are now being carried out,” the war-time president said.
Russia says it captures two villages in Ukraine's east
04:03
Arpan Rai
Russia says its forces have taken control of two settlements in eastern Ukraine, marking the latest gains for Moscow in the Donbas region.
The villages of Zolota Nyva and Zoryane Pershe have been brought under Russian control, the Russian defence ministry said. The communities have an estimated population of a few hundred residents each.
The two villages lie to the north and to the south of the town of Kurakhove, one of the focal points of military activity on the eastern front.
Ukrainian officials made no reference to control of either village being lost in their statements. But the Ukrainian General Staff acknowledged that the Kurakhove sector was the scene of the heaviest battles on the eastern front.
The General Staff last referred to Zolota Nyva on Sunday as one of two villages coming under a series of Russian assaults.
Ukraine strikes a Russian oil hub as Zelenskyy says the war is in ‘a very important phase’
04:01
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s military claimed it struck a major oil terminal Monday in Crimea that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war has entered a key phase.
Both sides are facing the issue of how to sustain their costly war of attrition — a conflict that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and that shows no signs of a resolution.
Two killed in Kharkiv strike
03:01
Alex Croft
Guided bombs sent by Russia have killed two people and injured at least three others in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Russian forces fired at least four guided bombs at the city, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram.
Three killed and nearly 50 injured over past day, Ukraine says Tuesday morning
02:04
Alex Croft
Regional authorities in Ukraine have reported their daily total of casualties over 24 hours up to Tuesday morning.
They say that at least three people were killed and 49 were injured over the past day - including children.
Russia struck a Palau-flagged vessel in Odesa on Monday, killing a 60-year-old Ukrainian national working on the boat and injuring five foreign citizens.
One person died and seven were injured in Sloviansk, in the region of Donetsk, when Russian forces struck a residential building. A 2-year-old girl was injured in the strike.
One person was killed and 24 injured in an attack on a library and administrative building in Kherson.
Russia steal nearly 200,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain through Mariupol
01:01
Alex Croft
Russia has exported more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the temporarily occupied Mariupol port in the past year.
This is according to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who said the occupied territories in Ukraine are being robbed to finance Russia’s invasion with the stolen money.
“At the same time, Russia continues to use food as an element of aggression. This year, the enemy has smuggled more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the port of Mariupol alone,” Shmyhal said.
“Undoubtedly, Russian economic terror will be one of the areas of work of the special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine,” he added.
Russian military intelligence planning to cause ‘mayhem’ in Europe, MI5 chief says
Wednesday 9 October 2024 00:02
Alex Croft
The UK’s domestic spy chief said on Tuesday that Russian military intelligence is seeking to cause “mayhem” in Britain, adding that “MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands”.
Security Service (MI5) Director General Ken McCallum also said Iran is behind “plot after plot” on British soil.
He said the growing threat from al Qaeda and Islamic State is still his greatest terrorism concern.
State threat investigations were up 48 per cent in the last year as criminals, drug traffickers and proxies were tasked by Russia and Iran to do their “dirty work”.
“The GRU in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness,” he said, without adding detail.
Since January 2022, MI5 and the police have responded to 20 Iranian-backed plots. “We’ve seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale,” Mr McCallum said.
Full report by Tom Watling:
One killed and five injured in Russian attack on Kherson
Tuesday 8 October 2024 23:41
Alex Croft
One killed and five injured in Russian attack on Kherson
Six casualties were reported after a Russian attack on Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Tuesday.
One person was killed and five people injured - including four hospitalised - the regional governor said according to Reuters.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the region’s governor, said on Telegram the village of Antonivka had come under attack.
Russia wants Trump and Iran wants Harris, US intel says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 23:09
Alex Croft
In a potential sticking point for growing Russian-Iranian relations, they are believed to favour different US presidential candidates.
Russia wants Republican Donald Trump to win, while Iran prefers Democrat Kamala Harris, according to US intelligence officials
Officials add that China, Russia and Iran continue to be behind most attempts to influence US voters, according to the Voice of America who referenced a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Russia is carrying out influence campaigns with the aim of boosting Trump’s chances at regaining the presidency.
Meanwhile, Iran’s efforts are focussed on harming Trump, including a hacking and leaking operation carried out by operatives working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
China is yet to interfere in the presidential campaign, but is interfering locally.
It is attempting to negatively influence the campaigns of candidates who express support for Taiwan and are otherwise seen as harmful to Beijing’s interests.
Meeting of Ukraine allies will send clear message to Putin, German government source says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 22:35
Alex Croft
US President Joe Biden will meet with other leaders of the Ramstein group, which supplies arms to Ukraine.
A German government source told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s summit that the meeting will send a strong signal of commitment to military support for Ukraine.
It will become clear to Putin that he cannot play for time and wait for Western support to cease, the source told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will join President Biden - who visits Germany from October 10-13 - for talks in Berlin before visiting a US air base in the western German town of Ramstein.
UK sanctions Russia for ‘inhumane’ use of chemical weapons
Tuesday 8 October 2024 22:04
Alex Croft
The UK has sanctioned Russian troops involved in using chemical weapons against Ukraine.
Foreign secretary David Lammy has described the use of chemical weapons as “cruel and inhumane”, adding that the UK will do everything it can to “combat the Kremlin’s malign activity”.
The Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Federation and its leader Igor Kirillov are amogn those sanctioned on Tuesday, a government statement read.
Mr Lammy added in a statement: “The UK will not sit idly by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
The Russian embassy has not immediately responded to a request for comment by The Independent.
Last week, the government sanctioned 16 members of Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, which it claimed was attempting to conduct operations against NATO members.
Russia’s cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent and I will use the full arsenal of powers at my disposal to combat the Kremlin's malign activity.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) October 8, 2024
The UK will not sit by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law. https://t.co/B1ZsWAVFTN
Biden pulls out of Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ summit
Tuesday 8 October 2024 21:44
Athena Stavrou
Plans Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” summit are in doubt after Joe Biden pulls out to “oversee preparations for and the response” to Hurricane Milton.
Biden postponed his four-day trip to Germany ahead of the hurricane making landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
It is unclear how his absence will impact the summit, in which 20 world leaders were expected to attend to hear Zelensky reveal his latest “victory plan”.
Kharkiv attack casualty toll increases to 16, including one child
Tuesday 8 October 2024 21:31
Alex Croft
A Russian attack on Kharkiv on Tuesday morning has injured 16 people, including a child.
The updated total comes after we earlier reported that 11 had been injured.
Ihor Terekhov, Kharkivʼs mayor, said earlier today: “There was not just one strike but several; the type of weapon used to strike the civilian business is being established. There is a large-scale fire at the scene.”
Three of the wounded are in a critical condition, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region’s military administration.
One of those injured was a 16-year-old child, Syniehubov added according to Ukrainska Pravda.
‘Getting shot saved my life’: How I escaped hell of Vladimir Putin’s war
Tuesday 8 October 2024 20:59
Alex Croft
Exclusive: After being forced to join the Russian army in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, Azad Yousuf Kumar did not believe he would make it back alive to his home in Kashmir.
He recounts his ordeal to Shweta Sharma:
Russia takes control of Zolota Nyva settlement, its army says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 20:27
Alex Croft
Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Tuesday it had taken control of Zolota Nyva, a settlement in eastern Ukraine.
The update was reported by the state TASS news agency and has not been independently verified.
Zolota Nyva is in the region of Donetsk, where many of Russia’s assaults are focussed. It is around 90 kilometres west of Donetsk city.
Growing ties between Russia and Iran destabilising world, US says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 19:52
Alex Croft
Deepening ties between Iran and Russia are destabilising both the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesperson, said: “So certainly we see the deepening ties between Iran and Russia as something that’s incredibly destabilising for the region.
“It’s incredibly destabilising for the world, and that applies to the Middle East. It applies to everywhere that Iran and Russia operate.”
In September, the US officially confirmed that Iran had supplied ballistic missiles to Russia.
Full report: Russia sentences 72-year-old American for fighting in Ukraine
Tuesday 8 October 2024 19:19
Alex Croft
Earlier, we brought you the news that a Russian court sentenced a 72-year-old American in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.
The American national, Stephen Hubbard, signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and he fought alongside them until being captured two months later, according to the prosecutors.
He is now sentenced to six years and 10 months in a general-security prison.
Here is the full report:
In pictures: Volunteer medical battalion treats Ukrainian servicemen in Donetsk region
Tuesday 8 October 2024 18:47
Alex Croft
More than 170 combat clashes in past day
Tuesday 8 October 2024 18:16
Alex Croft
Ukrainian forces engaged in 172 clashes from Monday into Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s general staff said.
Russia focussed their attacks on the eastern Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts as they continued attempts to push westwards from Donetsk.
Ukrainian forces repelled 26 assaults on the Pokrovsk front, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The Kurakhove front, roughly 50 kilometres south of Pokrovsk, saw over 37 Russian attacks, which Ukraine’s general staff say were successfully defended.
Clashes were also reported on the Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Lyman, Kramatorsk, and Toretsk fronts. These fronts are all in eastern and northeastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region also continues. Russia carried out 17 airstrikes in Kursk over the past 24 hours, Ukraine says.
North Korea is ‘highly likely’ sending troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine, South Korea says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 17:44
Alex Croft
North Korean soldiers could fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, South Korea’s defence minister told the country’s parliament after media reports claimed Pyongyang had lost troops in the war.
Kim Yong-hyun claimed that North Korean troops could be sent to Ukraine under the mutual defence treaty signed during Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June.
Mr Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a “comprehensive partnership agreement” that provided for mutual assistance “using all available means” in the event of aggression against either country. The treaty served to deepen military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Read the full report by The Independent’s Shweta Sharma:
Ukraine shoots down 18 Russian drones on Monday night
Tuesday 8 October 2024 17:17
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s air force says it shot down 18 Russian drones in an overnight attack between Monday and Tuesday.
Russian forces launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 19 drones in the attack on the southern region of Odesa, the air force said on Telegram.
But after 18 drones were shot down, the last one returned to Russian territory, Reuters reported.
Oleh Kiper, the Odesa regional governor, said a fire broke out on three floors of an apartment building in the city of Chornomorsk. No casualties were reported.
Another fire was extinguished at an administratice and production building, and one drone dropped into an open area without detonating.
On Monday, a Russian missile hit vessel bearing the flag of Palau. One Ukrainian national was killed and five crew members were injured in the second such attack in two days, officials said.
Trump spoke with Putin at least seven times since leaving White House, Bob Woodward reports
Tuesday 8 October 2024 16:51
Alex Woodward
Donald Trump has reportedly spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin as many as seven times since leaving the White House.
A new book from journalist Bob Woodward includes extensive reporting about President Joe Biden’s “blunt, profanity-laced” behind-the-scenes responses to Putin’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.
Alex Woodward reports:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-home-russia-ukraine-war-b2625788.html
Tuesday 8 October 2024 16:50
Alex Croft
Vladimir Putin has demolished his holiday villa by the Black Sea after he stopped visiting the area out of fear for his life relating to strikes from Ukraine, a Russian opposition website has claimed.
The site of his villa near Sochi has become a regular spot for Ukrainian drone attacks – something which Putin “fears”, according to Proekt.
The independent news site published a pair of satellite images, one showing the villa standing in May 2023 and another from May 2024 after it was flattened. Proekt said the “site of the dacha is now a pit”.
Read the full report below:
Hungary oppose $35 billion EU loan to Ukraine
Tuesday 8 October 2024 16:26
Alex Croft
Hungary will oppose the EU decision to provide a $35 billion loan to Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets - calling instead to wait for the US presidential election.
Mihály Varga, Hungary’s Finance Minister, said on October 8 that the “prolongation of the Russian sanctions” should be decided “after the US elections”.
He added: “That was the Hungarian position… We have to see in which direction the future US administration is going [on] this issue.”
Varga said the candidates are adopting different positions one “in the direction [of] peace” and the other “continue to the war”.
Ukraine will not have to return the money which comes as part of the $50 billion loan plan from G7 leaders, because it comes from Russian assets.
The EU is committed to providing $35 billion in total as per the terms of the plan.
Russian drones violate no-fly zone near power plant
Tuesday 8 October 2024 16:15
Alex Croft
Russian Shahed drones violated the no-fly zone near a Ukrainian nuclear powerplant - prompting suggestions Russia may be preparing to strike nuclear infrastructure.
Energoatom, a state-owned nuclear power company and Ukraine’s largest power producer, said in a statement: "On the night of 6-7 October, two Russian UAVs were spotted near the industrial site of the Pivdennoukrainsk NPP. The distance between the UAVs and the nuclear facilities was less than 10 km.”
The number of sightings of Russian UAVs near the site has recently increased drastically, the energy company notes according to Ukrainska Pravda.
It comes after a Russian drone was spotted flying at a dangerously low height near the Rivne nuclear power plant in late September.
Russia has continued striking Ukraine’s energy systems, prompting the Nato secretary general to warn that Ukraine faces its toughest winter yet.
Two killed in Kharkiv strike
Tuesday 8 October 2024 15:54
Alex Croft
Guided bombs sent by Russia have killed two people and injured at least three others in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Russian forces fired at least four guided bombs at the city, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram.
Tough winter ahead after attacks on energy infrastructure - more from Nato secretary general
Tuesday 8 October 2024 15:52
Alex Croft
Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure may leave the country facing its toughest winter yet, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.
“NATO must and will do more to help Ukraine. The more military support we give, the faster this war will end,” he told reporters in a joint news conference with Finnish president Alexander Stubb.
Russia on mission to cause 'sustained mayhem' on UK streets, MI5 warns
Tuesday 8 October 2024 15:42
Alex Croft
British intelligence is facing a “hell of a job” over rising threats from Iran and Russia, as well as the resurgence of Isis and Al-Qaeda, the head of MI5 has warned.
A day after Sir Keir Starmer called on the international community to focus on the “malign” regime in Iran, which supports proxies across the Middle East including Hamas and Hezbollah, Ken McCallum said British intelligence has thwarted 20 Tehran-backed plots that “presented potentially lethal threats to British citizens” since the start of 2022.
The Independent’s Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine faces toughest winter yet, NATO’s secretary general says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 15:26
Alex Croft
Mark Rutte, NATO’s new secretary general, says Ukraine faces its toughest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Rutte was speaking at a press conference in Brussels with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb.
We’ll bring you more of his comments as they come in.
In pictures: Locals take in damage following Russian strike on city of Chornomorsk
Tuesday 8 October 2024 15:08
Alex Croft
Three killed and nearly 50 injured over past day, Ukraine says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 14:49
Alex Croft
Regional authorities in Ukraine have reported their daily total of casualties over the past day.
They say that at least three people were killed and 49 were injured over the past day - including children.
Russia struck a Palau-flagged vessel in Odesa on Monday, killing a 60-year-old Ukrainian national working on the boat and injuring five foreign citizens.
One person died and seven were injured in Sloviansk, in the region of Donetsk, when Russian forces struck a residential building. A 2-year-old girl was injured in the strike.
One person was killed and 24 injured in an attack on a library and administrative building in Kherson.
Ukraine strikes a Russian oil hub as Zelenskyy says the war is in 'a very important phase'
Tuesday 8 October 2024 14:28
Alex Croft
Ukraine’s military claimed it struck a major oil terminal Monday in Crimea that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war has entered a key phase.
Both sides are facing the issue of how to sustain their costly war of attrition — a conflict that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and that shows no signs of a resolution.
Russia steal nearly 200,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain through Mariupol
Tuesday 8 October 2024 14:09
Alex Croft
Russia has exported more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the temporarily occupied Mariupol port in the past year.
This is according to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who said the occupied territories in Ukraine are being robbed to finance Russia’s invasion with the stolen money.
"At the same time, Russia continues to use food as an element of aggression. This year, the enemy has smuggled more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the port of Mariupol alone,” Shmyhal said.
"Undoubtedly, Russian economic terror will be one of the areas of work of the special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine," he added.
Report: Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Kyiv as Ukraine hits major oil depot in Crimea
Tuesday 8 October 2024 13:51
Alex Croft
Russia’s forces have launched hypersonic missiles at Ukraine on as Kyiv’s military said it had struck a major oil terminal in occupied Crimea that provides fuel for Vladimir Putin's war effort.
Ukraine's general staff said on social media that the oil terminal in Feodosia, on the south coast of the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula, has been supplying the Russian army with fuel and that the strike was part of an ongoing effort to "undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian Federation".
The Independent’s Alexander Butler reports:
PM will meet with allies for talks on Ukraine and Middle East
Tuesday 8 October 2024 13:33
Alex Croft
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with leaders of the US, France and Germany in Berlin on Saturday, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.
They will discuss the war in Ukraine and the latest Middle East developments.
“The Prime Minister will travel to a meeting of the Quad in Berlin on Saturday. Leaders will discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as the concerning developments in the Middle East,” the spokesperson told reporters.
The spokesperson referred to the “Quad” grouping of Britain, the United States, Germany and France.
Russian military intelligence planning to cause ‘mayhem’ in Europe, MI5 chief says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 13:16
Alex Croft
The UK’s domestic spy chief said on Tuesday that Russian military intelligence is seeking to cause “mayhem” in Britain, adding that “MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands”.
Security Service (MI5) Director General Ken McCallum also said Iran is behind “plot after plot” on British soil.
He said the growing threat from al Qaeda and Islamic State is still his greatest terrorism concern.
State threat investigations were up 48 per cent in the last year as criminals, drug traffickers and proxies were tasked by Russia and Iran to do their “dirty work”.
"The GRU in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness," he said, without adding detail.
Since January 2022, MI5 and the police have responded to 20 Iranian-backed plots. "We’ve seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale," Mr McCallum said.
Meeting of Ukraine allies will send clear message to Putin, German government source says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 12:51
Alex Croft
US President Joe Biden will meet with other leaders of the Ramstein group, which supplies arms to Ukraine.
A German government source told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s summit that the meeting will send a strong signal of commitment to military support for Ukraine.
It will become clear to Putin that he cannot play for time and wait for Western support to cease, the source told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will join President Biden - who visits Germany from October 10-13 - for talks in Berlin before visiting a US air base in the western German town of Ramstein.
Live: Putin hosts Commonwealth leaders meeting as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Kyiv
Tuesday 8 October 2024 12:33
Alex Croft
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting a summit for members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on Tuesday.
CIS is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia formed after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. It includes Amernia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The meeting comes as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine, with Kyiv’s military saying it had struck a major oil terminal in occupied Crimea that provides fuel for Putin’s war effort. During the summit, the leaders will discuss tasks of the Commonwealth, as well as topical regional and international problems, and outline main areas of work in the future.
Watch the summit live:
UK sanctions Russia for ‘inhumane’ use of chemical weapons
Tuesday 8 October 2024 12:16
Alex Croft
The UK has sanctioned Russian troops involved in using chemical weapons against Ukraine.
Foreign secretary David Lammy has described the use of chemical weapons as “cruel and inhumane”, adding that the UK will do everything it can to “combat the Kremlin’s malign activity”.
The Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Federation and its leader Igor Kirillov are amogn those sanctioned on Tuesday, a government statement read.
Mr Lammy added in a statement: "The UK will not sit idly by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
The Russian embassy has not immediately responded to a request for comment by The Independent.
Last week, the government sanctioned 16 members of Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, which it claimed was attempting to conduct operations against NATO members.
Russia’s cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent and I will use the full arsenal of powers at my disposal to combat the Kremlin's malign activity.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) October 8, 2024
The UK will not sit by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law. https://t.co/B1ZsWAVFTN
Russia wants Trump and Iran wants Harris, US intel says
Tuesday 8 October 2024 12:01
Alex Croft
In a potential sticking point for growing Russian-Iranian relations, they are believed to favour different US presidential candidates.
Russia wants Republican Donald Trump to win, while Iran prefers Democrat Kamala Harris, according to US intelligence officials
Officials add that China, Russia and Iran continue to be behind most attempts to influence US voters, according to the Voice of America who referenced a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Russia is carrying out influence campaigns with the aim of boosting Trump’s chances at regaining the presidency.
Meanwhile, Iran’s efforts are focussed on harming Trump, including a hacking and leaking operation carried out by operatives working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
China is yet to interfere in the presidential campaign, but is interfering locally.
It is attempting to negatively influence the campaigns of candidates who express support for Taiwan and are otherwise seen as harmful to Beijing’s interests.
Kharkiv attack casualty toll increases to 16, including one child
Tuesday 8 October 2024 11:41
Alex Croft
A Russian attack on Kharkiv on Tuesday morning has injured 16 people, including a child.
The updated total comes after we earlier reported that 11 had been injured.
Ihor Terekhov, Kharkivʼs mayor, said earlier today: "There was not just one strike but several; the type of weapon used to strike the civilian business is being established. There is a large-scale fire at the scene.”
Three of the wounded are in a critical condition, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region’s military administration.
One of those injured was a 16-year-old child, Syniehubov added according to Ukrainska Pravda.
One killed and five injured in Russian attack on Kherson
Tuesday 8 October 2024 11:23
Alex Croft
Six casualties were reported after a Russian attack on Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Tuesday.
One person was killed and five people injured - including four hospitalised - the regional governor said according to Reuters.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the region’s governor, said on Telegram the village of Antonivka had come under attack.
