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Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow launches 80 drones amid warnings Putin planning airstrikes on nuclear sites

Kyiv asks UN nuclear watchdog to establish permanent monitoring missions at its nuclear plants

Alexander Butler,Arpan Rai
Sunday 22 September 2024 09:08
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Related: Ukraine’s attack is only way to force Russia to negotiating table, Zelensky aide says

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Vladimir Putin’s troops launched 80 attack drones at Ukraine overnight as Kyiv warned Russia was planning airstrikes on the country’s nuclear sites.

Ukraine’s air defence units destroyed 71 of the drones while six of them were scrambled with electronic warfare, Kyiv said.

It comes as Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha warned Moscow was planning strikes on Ukraine’s nuclear facilities before the winter.

“According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Kremlin is preparing strikes on Ukrainian nuclear energy critical objects ahead of winter,” Mr Sybiha wrote on X.

He urged the International Atomic Energy Agency and Ukraine’s allies to establish permanent monitoring missions at the country’s nuclear plants.

“This is preparation for a possible nuclear disaster scenario. Russia is a terrorist,” Andriy Yermak, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile, at least 12 people were injured after Russian forces struck a multistorey apartment building in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Saturday evening, officials said.

On the other side of the border, Russia evacuated over 1,000 people from Krasnodar in the wake of a Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday.

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In sharing nuclear secrets with Iran, Putin may have crossed his own ‘red line’

In sharing nuclear secrets with Iran, Putin may have crossed his own ‘red line’

While his predecessors in the Soviet Union worried that sharing their bomb with rogue regimes could set them loose to cause havoc, the Russian president has indicated that he shares no such concerns, writes Mark Almond

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 20:00
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Iran withheld launchers for missiles sent to Russia, sources say

Iran did not include mobile launchers with the close-range ballistic missiles that Washington last week accused Tehran of delivering to Russia for use against Ukraine, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.

The sources - a European diplomat, a European intelligence official and a U.S. official - said it was not clear why Iran did not supply launchers with the Fath-360 missiles, raising questions about when and if the weapons will be operational.

The US official, who like the other sources spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had not delivered the launchers at the time of the US announcement about Iran’s delivery of the weapons. The European intelligence official said without elaborating that they did not expect Iran to provide launchers.

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 19:00
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I’ve witnessed first-hand the horrific cost of Putin’s war – as casualties hit 1 million

I’ve witnessed first-hand the horrific cost of Putin’s war – as casualties hit 1m

As the conflict reaches its grim milestone, The Independent’s frontline reporter Askold Krushelnycky explains why Russian forces are taking the brunt of the damage

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 18:00
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He led Ukraine’s drone industry – now he’s fighting to keep Moscow out of world chess

He led Ukraine’s drone industry – now he’s fighting to keep Moscow out of world chess

Oleksandr Kamyshin spent more than a year as minister of strategic industries, overseeing Ukraine’s defence industry. He tells Askold Krushelnycky about his latest challenge

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 17:00
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Comment: Is this the next target on Russia’s hitlist?

Is this the next target on Russia’s hitlist?

A year after Armenia was abandoned by the West during the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, it cannot be left to face a new threat on its own, says David Alton

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 16:00
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Kremlin prisoner-swap exclusive: How I survived 11 months in Putin’s gulag

Vladimir Kara-Murza: How I survived 11 months of torture in Putin’s gulag

Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of the faces of Russian opposition to Putin alongside Evan Gershkovich, sits down with The Independent for the first time since being freed in a historic prisoner swap. Tom Watling reports

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 15:00
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Ukraine says Russia planning strikes on nuclear facilities

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Saturday that Russia appeared to be planning strikes on Ukrainian nuclear facilities before the winter, urging the IAEA and Ukraine’s allies to establish permanent monitoring missions at the country’s nuclear plants.

“In particular, it concerns open distribution devices at (nuclear power plants and) transmission substations, critical for the safe operation of nuclear energy,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 14:10
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Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained

Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained

Ukraine’s attack into Kursk has left Vladimir Putin’s forces scrambling

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 14:00
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The downfall of Putin is inevitable, says freed dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza

The fall of Putin is inevitable, says freed dissident Vladimir Kara Murza

Exclusive: Key British-Russian activist tells Tom Watling that even if he and other opposition leaders are killed, others will come in their place to challenge Putin, as he thanked The Independent for reporting his plight

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 13:00
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Zelensky hopes to meet Donald Trump next week

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to meet Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump next week when he travels to the United States to present Ukraine’s “victory plan” in the war against Russia.

“We will most likely have a meeting, I think, on September 26-27,” Zelensky told media late on Friday, without providing further details.

Alexander Butler21 September 2024 11:44

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