The Ukraine war will not be ended by talks alone and Russia must be “forced into peace”, Volodymyr Zelensky has told the UN Security Council.
“[Vladimir] Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won’t stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter,” Mr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president, who is in the US this week lobbying for support from UN member states and American leaders, also criticised North Korea and Iran as “de facto accomplices” in Russia’s war.
Foreign secretary David Lammy also tore into Mr Putin and said the invasion of Ukraine serves the Russian president’s interests alone.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have recaptured a Russian stronghold in Kharkiv’s Vovchansk after intense fighting involving hand-to-hand combat in “densely built-up conditions”, military officials said.
And Russian forces have been accused of using “scorched earth” tactics to capture Vuhledar in Ukraine’s east, where fighting has grown particularly fierce.
Key Points
- Russia must be forced into peace, Zelensky tells UN
- Ukraine recaptures Russian stronghold after hand-to-hand fighting
- Lammy tears into Russian invasion: ‘In Putin's interests alone’
- Russian forces storming east Ukrainian town of Vuhledar
- Russian strike kills at least three and injures 15 in Kharkiv
Ukraine recaptures a Russian stronghold after hand-to-hand fighting
05:04
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian troops have recaptured a Russian stronghold in Kharkiv after intense fighting involving hand-to-hand combat, according to officials in Kyiv.
Vladimir Putin’s forces have been driven out of a huge processing plant in Vovchansk, the officials said.
The plant, a partly steel structure with some 30 buildings, was held by Russian forces for four months and served as their stronghold in the Kharkiv border region.
A statement from Ukrainian Military Intelligence said its units recaptured the Vovchansk plant after fierce fighting “in densely built-up conditions.”
The Russian onslaught has reduced Vovchansk, and many other Ukrainian towns and villages, to smoking piles of rubble and bombed-out residential buildings.
Russian repression worsens, UN expert says, voicing fears for political prisoners
05:00
Jabed Ahmed
State repression has worsened in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, a UN expert has said, warning of arbitrary imprisonment and risks for more than 1,000 political prisoners.
“The country is now governed by a State-sponsored system of fear and punishment, including the use of torture, with absolute impunity,” UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council,
The Bulgarian former Amnesty International investigator said in a report on Russia’s rights record that oppression had intensified since the February 2022 Ukraine war began, with the number of political prisoners up to more than 1,300.
Many were jailed on fabricated charges, she said, noting a priest’s seven-year sentence for a prayer against the war.
“They risk anything from death, like (opposition leader Alexei) Navalny, or really their health being completely taken away from them,” she said on Monday ahead of her speech, noting greater use of torture and solitary confinement.
Lammy tears into Russian invasion: ‘In Putin's interests alone’
04:11
Arpan Rai
Foreign secretary David Lammy came down heavily on Vladimir Putin in his United Nations Security Council address and said the invasion of Ukraine serves the Russian president’s interests alone.
“Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals. We know who you are. When you send mercenaries into African countries. We know who you are. When you murder opponents in European cities. We know who you are,” the foreign secretary told the gathering of member nations in New York last night.
“Your invasion is in your own interests. Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption,” Mr Lammy told the security council.
He also lauded the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to lead the defence of his country. “President Zelensky, the UK commends you not only for standing up for your people but for standing up for democracy,” he said.
“Seeing you in Kyiv a few weeks ago with Secretary Blinken I saw ordinary people from all walks of life. The soldiers and the civilians. The firefighters and the first responders,” Mr Lammy said.
Russian forces storming east Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, bloggers and media say
04:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces have begun storming the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a stronghold that has resisted Russian attack since the beginning of the 2022 war, according to Russian war bloggers and state media.
Russian forces in eastern Ukraine advanced at their fastest rate in two years in August, according to multiple open source maps, even though a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region sought to force Moscow to divert troops.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s primary tactical goal is currently to take the whole of the Donbas region in south-eastern Ukraine. Russia controls just under a fifth of Ukraine, including about 80% of the Donbas.
Russian forces have been pushing westwards at key points along some 150 km (93 miles) of the front in the Donetsk region, with the logistics hub of Pokrovsk a key target. They captured nearby Ukrainsk on 17 September and were now entering the hilltop town of Vuhledar, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Pokrovsk.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had defeated Ukrainian units at a series of settlements including Vuhledar, which Russians call Ugledar, and that the Eastern Grouping of Russian forces had improved their tactical positions. It gave no further details on Vuhledar.
Unverified video on Russian state media showed Vuhledar, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment.
Russia must be forced into peace, Zelensky tells UN
03:54
Arpan Rai
The war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be ended by talks alone and Moscow must be forced into peace, Volodymyr Zelensky has told the United Nations Security Council.
“This war can’t be calmed by talks. Action is needed,” Mr Zelensky said, thanking nations who have provided Ukraine support.
“[Vladimir] Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won’t stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter,” Mr Zelensky said.
He added that the war would end one day but not because “someone got tired of the war” or through a trade with Mr Putin, a reference to proposals that Ukraine cede some territory seized by Russia to settle the conflict.
Mr Zelensky also took aim at North Korea and Iran for providing arms to Russia for the war, calling them “de facto accomplices” of Moscow.
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
03:00
Jabed Ahmed
The downfall of Putin is inevitable, says freed dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza
02:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia will achieve all its aims in Ukraine, Kremlin says
01:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia has no alternative but to achieve all of its aims in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Peskov said that as soon as the aims were achieved, the military operation would end.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been adamant peace talks will only begin if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership ambitions.
WAtch: Arms depot ablaze deep inside Russia after massive Ukrainian drone attack
Tuesday 24 September 2024 23:58
Jabed Ahmed
Kremlin continues to show public disinterest in peace talks short of complete destruction of the Ukrainian state, think tank says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 23:00
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin have continued to show a public disinterest in peace talks unless it involves the complete destruction of the Ukrainian state, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank has said.
ISW analysts noted that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed reports that Ukraine invited Russia to attend Ukraine’s second peace summit but that the Kremlin had not demonstrated any interest in participating.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently said there is “no alternative” to Russian victory in Ukraine, reiterating Russia’s unwillingness to negotiate on terms other than Ukrainian “capitulation”.
“ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is not interested in good faith peace negotiations with Ukraine and that the Kremlin will only invoke the concept of ‘peace plans’ and ‘negotiations’ to prompt the West to pressure Ukraine into preemptive concessions on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the situation report from the ISW said.
Explained: What is the Satan II missile?
Tuesday 24 September 2024 22:00
Jabed Ahmed
The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks.
The 35-metre-long RS-28 Sarmat, known in the West as Satan II, has a range of 18,000 km (11,000 miles) and a launch weight of over 208 tonnes.
Russian media say it can carry up to 16 independently targetable nuclear warheads as well as Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, a new system that Putin has said is unmatched by Russia’s enemies.
Since the start of the conflict, President Vladimir Putin has said repeatedly that Russia has the biggest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world, and warned the West not to cross a threshold that could lead to nuclear war.
Putin said in October 2023 that Russia had almost completed work on the missile.
Watch: Putin’s Satan II missile ‘blows up during test launch’
Tuesday 24 September 2024 21:00
Jabed Ahmed
Putin’s forces are desperate for a prize eastern city and Ukraine will fight street to street to keep them out
Tuesday 24 September 2024 19:59
Jabed Ahmed
Exclusive: Zelensky demands UK extradites political opponent in Ukraine Orthodox Church row
Tuesday 24 September 2024 19:00
Jabed Ahmed
Zelensky to visit US Capitol on Thursday, Schumer’s office says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 18:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the US Capitol on Thursday to meet with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said on Tuesday.
Brazil and China propose plan for Ukraine-Russia talks
Tuesday 24 September 2024 17:00
Jabed Ahmed
Brazil and China have proposed a six-point plan for talks to begin between Russia and Ukraine to end their conflict, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said.
Lula, who has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone about the proposal, did not give any details in a speech at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ukraine says its soldiers recaptured a Russian stronghold after hand-to-hand fighting
Tuesday 24 September 2024 16:40
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat as they drove Russian forces out of a huge processing plant in the town of Vovchansk in Ukraine‘s northeast that had been occupied for four months, officials have said.
The plant, a partly steel structure with some 30 buildings, had been a Russian stronghold in the Kharkiv border region since May when Russia sought to further stretch Ukraine‘s weary forces by launching a fresh push in the area.
Taking back the plant was likely intended to demonstrate that Ukraine is not giving up the fight despite being outmanned and outgunned by the Russian army.
A statement from Ukrainian Military Intelligence said its units recaptured the Vovchansk plant after fierce fighting “in densely built-up conditions.”
Zelensky calls on allies to help Ukraine stop attacks after Russia hits apartment bloc
Tuesday 24 September 2024 16:19
Jabed Ahmed
President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to help Ukraine “stop the terror” after Russian troops hit a residential building in Ukraine‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people.
“There is much discussion now at the UN General Assembly about collective efforts for security and the future. But we just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future,” Zelenskiy said on X during his visit to the US.
Pictured: Russian attack on residential building on Kharkiv
Tuesday 24 September 2024 15:23
Jabed Ahmed
Russian strike kills at least three and injures 15 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, governor says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 14:33
Jabed Ahmed
Russia has hit a high-rise apartment block in Ukraine‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv during an attack with guided bombs, killing at least three people and injuring 15 more, the regional governor said.
Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that Russia attacked at least four districts in the afternoon.
Russian repression worsens, UN expert says, voicing fears for political prisoners
Tuesday 24 September 2024 14:20
Jabed Ahmed
State repression has worsened in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, a UN expert has said, warning of arbitrary imprisonment and risks for more than 1,000 political prisoners.
“The country is now governed by a State-sponsored system of fear and punishment, including the use of torture, with absolute impunity,” UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council,
The Bulgarian former Amnesty International investigator said in a report on Russia’s rights record that oppression had intensified since the February 2022 Ukraine war began, with the number of political prisoners up to more than 1,300.
Many were jailed on fabricated charges, she said, noting a priest’s seven-year sentence for a prayer against the war.
“They risk anything from death, like (opposition leader Alexei) Navalny, or really their health being completely taken away from them,” she said on Monday ahead of her speech, noting greater use of torture and solitary confinement.
Pictured: Zelensky meets with world leaders at UN general assembly
Tuesday 24 September 2024 14:01
Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces storming east Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, bloggers and media say
Tuesday 24 September 2024 13:39
Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces have begun storming the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a stronghold that has resisted Russian attack since the beginning of the 2022 war, according to Russian war bloggers and state media.
Russian forces in eastern Ukraine advanced at their fastest rate in two years in August, according to multiple open source maps, even though a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region sought to force Moscow to divert troops.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s primary tactical goal is currently to take the whole of the Donbas region in south-eastern Ukraine. Russia controls just under a fifth of Ukraine, including about 80% of the Donbas.
Russian forces have been pushing westwards at key points along some 150 km (93 miles) of the front in the Donetsk region, with the logistics hub of Pokrovsk a key target. They captured nearby Ukrainsk on 17 September and were now entering the hilltop town of Vuhledar, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Pokrovsk.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had defeated Ukrainian units at a series of settlements including Vuhledar, which Russians call Ugledar, and that the Eastern Grouping of Russian forces had improved their tactical positions. It gave no further details on Vuhledar.
Unverified video on Russian state media showed Vuhledar, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment.
Ukraine accuses Russia of seeking to illegally control strategic sea as arbitration hearings open
Tuesday 24 September 2024 13:20
Jabed Ahmed
Kremlin says Israeli strikes on Lebanon risk destabilising the Middle East
Tuesday 24 September 2024 13:01
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin has warned Israeli strikes on Lebanon had the potential to completely destabilise the Middle East and widen the conflict there.
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Iran-backed group attacked military facilities in northern Israel on Tuesday, a day after hundreds were killed in Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah targets.
Asked about the Israeli strikes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call: “This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous when it comes to the expansion of the conflict, to the complete destabilisation of the region. Of course, this is of extreme concern to us.”
In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow condemned what she called “indiscriminate” strikes on Lebanon that target civilians.
“It is urgent to stop the spiral of violence before the situation spirals completely out of control. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” she said.
Russia has deepened ties with Hezbollah patron Iran since the start of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. It has questioned the proportionality of Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the number of civilians killed, straining ties with Israel.
Watch: Putin’s Satan II ballistic missile ‘blows up during test launch’
Tuesday 24 September 2024 12:39
Jabed Ahmed
Explained: What is the Satan II missile?
Tuesday 24 September 2024 12:19
Jabed Ahmed
The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks.
The 35-metre-long RS-28 Sarmat, known in the West as Satan II, has a range of 18,000 km (11,000 miles) and a launch weight of over 208 tonnes.
Russian media say it can carry up to 16 independently targetable nuclear warheads as well as Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, a new system that Putin has said is unmatched by Russia’s enemies.
Since the start of the conflict, President Vladimir Putin has said repeatedly that Russia has the biggest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world, and warned the West not to cross a threshold that could lead to nuclear war.
Putin said in October 2023 that Russia had almost completed work on the missile.
Kremlin continues to show public disinterest in peace talks short of complete destruction of the Ukrainian state, think tank says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 11:59
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin have continued to show a public disinterest in peace talks unless it involves the complete destruction of the Ukrainian state, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank has said.
ISW analysts noted that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed reports that Ukraine invited Russia to attend Ukraine’s second peace summit but that the Kremlin had not demonstrated any interest in participating.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently said there is “no alternative” to Russian victory in Ukraine, reiterating Russia’s unwillingness to negotiate on terms other than Ukrainian “capitulation”.
“ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is not interested in good faith peace negotiations with Ukraine and that the Kremlin will only invoke the concept of ‘peace plans’ and ‘negotiations’ to prompt the West to pressure Ukraine into preemptive concessions on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the situation report from the ISW said.
World leaders meet at UN conference amid global divisions including three wars and possible middle-east conflict
Tuesday 24 September 2024 11:39
Jabed Ahmed
World leaders will open their annual meeting at the UN General Assembly under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening “State of the World” speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday’s “Summit of the Future,” saying “our world is heading off the rails — and we need tough decisions to get back on track.”He pointed to conflicts “raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight” and to the global security system, which he said is “threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war.”
At last year’s UN global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took center stage. Mr Zelensky will be in attendance this year.
One killed and two injured in Russian attack on east Ukrainian town
Tuesday 24 September 2024 11:20
Jabed Ahmed
A Russian guided aerial bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka has killed one person and injured two, according to the Dontesk regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
The attack damaged two unspecified infrastructure facilities, Filashkin added via the Telegram messaging app.
The eastern town lies some 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Chasiv Yar, a town on high ground where Ukrainian forces are attempting to stave off Russian westward advances.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians in its invasion of Ukraine, although it has killed thousands of them. It says its strikes on infrastructure aim to reduce Ukraine‘s ability to fight.
For Russia's response to the West, listen to Putin, the Kremlin says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 10:59
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin has said that people should re-listen President Vladimir Putin’s statements in St Petersburg to understand Russia’s response to a possible decision by the West to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western missiles.
Russia will not test a nuclear weapon as long as the United States refrains from testing, Putin’s point man for arms control said on Monday after speculation that the Kremlin might abandon its post-Soviet nuclear test moratorium.
In St Petersburg in June, Putin said he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range Western weapons.
Russia will achieve all its aims in Ukraine, Kremlin says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 10:34
Jabed Ahmed
Russia has no alternative but to achieve all of its aims in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Peskov said that as soon as the aims were achieved, the military operation would end.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been adamant peace talks will only begin if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership ambitions.
Special report: Putin’s forces are desperate for a prize eastern city and Ukraine will fight street to street to keep them out
Tuesday 24 September 2024 10:09
Jabed Ahmed
Askold Krushelnycky reports from Ukraine:
Pictured: Rescuers at residential building hit by Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Tuesday 24 September 2024 09:55
Jabed Ahmed
Exclusive: Zelensky demands UK extradites political opponent in Ukraine Orthodox Church row
Tuesday 24 September 2024 09:30
Jabed Ahmed
Our political editor David Maddox reports:
Zelensky’s victory plan will be defining for war in Ukraine, UK defence secretary says
Tuesday 24 September 2024 09:08
Jabed Ahmed
Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan will be “defining” for the next period of the conflict in Ukraine, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Healey also said the UK will support Ukraine “at any point when they decide they may want to stop” fighting and announced a joint specialist unit between his department and the Foreign Office to facilitate aid.
The Ukrainian leader is set to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and will present President Joe Biden with a “victory plan”.
The plan is set to include long-range striking capabilities and other weapons long sought by Kyiv, and will serve as the basis for any future negotiation with Russia.
Mr Healey told the event at conference that what is next for Ukraine “is going to be defined for us all if President Zelensky delivers what he’s trailed” in his promise to turn up in New York with a victory plan.
Russian attack on Ukraine's Poltava region disrupts power supply, authorities say
Tuesday 24 September 2024 08:48
Jabed Ahmed
Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine‘s central region of Poltava damaged energy infrastructure, cutting power to 20 settlements, authorities have said.
Debris from falling drones damaged several homes, but caused no casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, while emergency services scrambled to tackle the power situation.
“Debris also damaged the energy infrastructure in Poltava region, leaving 20 settlements without power,” he added.
In the northeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Monday’s attack killed one person and injured at least seven, among them a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov, said in an update.
The Ukrainian air force shot down 66 drones but lost track of 13 among the 81 unmanned aerial vehicles Russia launched in the overnight attack, along with four missiles, it said on Telegram.
Authorities have doused two fires in the Kyiv region sparked by the overnight attack, but no homes or critical facilities were hit, regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.
Ukraine says China is key route for foreign tech in Russian weapons
Tuesday 24 September 2024 08:19
Jabed Ahmed
Around 60 per cent of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China, Ukraine‘s presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk told reporters on Tuesday.
“If you take all the usual types of weapons and count the foreign made components about 60% would be coming from China. We have had lengthy discussions with some manufacturers about this,” Vlasiuk said.
“The PRC (China) is the biggest problem I would say.”
Trump calls Zelensky ‘greatest salesman’ as Ukrainian president visits Washington
Tuesday 24 September 2024 08:02
Arpan Rai
Donald Trump has called Volodymyr Zelensky a “salesman” again as the Ukrainian leader held several meetings with allies to support Ukraine against Russian invasion. Mr Trump has not offered to help Kyiv against Moscow so far.
“I think Zelensky is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” Mr Trump said at a rally in western Pennsylvania. “He wants them to win this election so badly, but I would do differently – I will work out peace.”
Mr Trump also claimed that Zelensky wanted the Democrats to win the 2024 US election, in which the former president faces vice president Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
Harris’ campaign has called out Mr Trump for not having said he wants Ukraine to win the war.
“Vice president Harris understands that if America walks away from Ukraine, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe and our Nato allies,” said Morgan Finkelstein, the national security spokesperson for Harris’ campaign.
Around 20 settlements in Ukraine without power after Russian attack
Tuesday 24 September 2024 07:45
Arpan Rai
Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine’s central Poltava region damaged energy infrastructure which cut power to 20 settlements, local authorities said.
The attack also damaged several private residences in the region without causing any casualties, Poltava’s regional governor said in a statement.
One killed in Russia’s attack on Zaporizhzhia
Tuesday 24 September 2024 07:06
Arpan Rai
At least one person was killed and four more were injured in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia overnight, the local emergency services said this morning.
The injured include two children, officials said.
Russian forces launched fresh strikes on the southeastern city housing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant yesterday evening, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Strikes on the city earlier yesterday and the previous night wounded at least 23.
G7 to discuss Ukraine long-range missiles at UN, says EU’s Borrell
Tuesday 24 September 2024 07:00
Arpan Rai
The issue of allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles will be discussed by G7 foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The top official said Russia was receiving new weapons, including Iranian missiles, despite Tehran’s repeated denials. “It’s clear that Russia has been receiving new arms, in particular missiles from Iran,” he said. “This is what we believe, even if Iranians deny it, but it looks like it.”
Tehran and Moscow have dismissed reports about Iran sending ballistic missiles to Russia.
“Ukraine has to improve the military situation in order to go to the peace negotiations in a good way, in a position of strength,” Mr Borrell added.
Ukraine will fight street-to street to keep Russia out of key city
Tuesday 24 September 2024 07:00
Tom Watling
Russia launched 81 drones, four missiles overnight on Ukraine
Tuesday 24 September 2024 06:48
Arpan Rai
Russia attacked Ukraine using 81 drones and four missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said this morning.
The air force said it shot down 66 drones and lost track of 13 more across several Ukrainian regions. “As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 66 enemy attack UAVs were shot down in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions,” the air force said on its Telegram channel.
It did not mention the extent of any damage caused by the attack.
Russia 'wants to plunge Ukraine into darkness' before winter
Tuesday 24 September 2024 06:27
Arpan Rai
Russia is trying to knock out Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of the winter to leave it dark and in the cold, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
“It’s clear that Russia wants to put Ukraine into the dark and the cold. The winter is coming, and following Russia attacks against energy targets, Ukraine energy production capacity has been reduced by two-thirds,” Mr Borrell told reporters at a press conference in New York.
He was speaking after European Union foreign ministers, and earlier G7 ministers, held talks with Ukrainian officials, including foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, to discuss how to help Ukraine in the coming weeks.
“We have to support Ukraine not only providing military capacity, but electricity production capacity. Otherwise, this country will be facing a very hard time in winter,” Mr Borrell said.
It has become a pattern of the past two and a half years of conflict for Russia to target Ukraine’s energy system before the onset of winter. This has resulted in rolling blackouts and limited electricity supply to some regions for hours each day. Sure enough these sorts of attacks have ramped up in recent weeks.
Ukraine’s electricity supply shortfall could reach 6 gigawatts this winter, about a third of the expected peak demand, the International Energy Agency said in a report published last week.
Russian TV channel simulates devastating nuclear strike on central London
Tuesday 24 September 2024 06:15
Arpan Rai
A Russian television channel, known for its pro-Putin stance, has aired a documentary simulating a nuclear attack on central London. The video, shown on Tsargrad’s Telegram channel, shows a nuclear weapons explosion that it says could cause 850,000 deaths.
“Imagine for a moment that the unimaginable happens. A nuclear weapon explodes over London. In this documentary, we explore the devastating consequences of the catastrophe,” the documentary begins.
It shows a warhead with a nuclear yield of 750 kilotons heading towards the UK. The simulated epicentre of the explosion is Westminster.
“Upon detonation, a fireball as hot as the sun rapidly expands, reaching a radius of 950 metres (1,039 yards),” the video claims.
The initial death toll in the simulation is stated to exceed 250,000 people with more than 600,000 injured within a radius of six miles. It claims a further 450,000 people will die from burns, debris, injuries or radiation sickness and “over a million will be traumatised”.
“Within that radius anything that can burn will catch fire. Petrol stations, automobiles, power substations, gas infrastructure,” it claims.
The video adds: “Explosive facilities will explode and amplify the effect of the devastation over a huge area, including areas from Camden to Greenwich and Islington to Wandsworth.”
Russia’s air defence units destroy 13 Ukrainian drones
Tuesday 24 September 2024 06:14
Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said.
Of these, six drones were destroyed each over the Belgorod and Kursk regions, while one was downed over the Bryansk region, Russian news agency TASS reported.
Watch: Russian arms depot ablaze after massive Ukrainian drone attack
Tuesday 24 September 2024 06:00
Tom Watling
Moscow suffers ‘catastrophic failure’ after firing ballistic missile named ‘Satan II’
Tuesday 24 September 2024 05:43
Arpan Rai
Russia appears to have suffered a “catastrophic failure” in a test of its Sarmat missile, a key weapon in the modernisation of its nuclear arsenal, according to arms experts who have analysed satellite images of the launch site.
The images captured by Maxar on 21 September show a crater about 60 metres wide at the launch silo at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. They reveal extensive damage that was not visible in pictures taken earlier in the month.
Timothy Wright, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, said the destruction of the area immediately surrounding the missile silo was suggestive of a failure soon after ignition.
“One possible cause is that the first stage (booster) either failed to ignite properly or suffered from a catastrophic mechanical failure, causing the missile to fall back into or land closely adjacent to the silo and explode,” he told Reuters.
The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, known in the West as Satan II, is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks.
