Ukraine war - live: Zelensky praises troops on visit to newly liberated city
Russia ‘almost certainly’ buying weapons from Iran and North Korea, says MoD
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Your support makes all the difference.Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked his troops on a visit to a newly captured city in the northeast province of Kharkiv.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian president travelled to Izium to attend a flag-raising ceremony.
The now devastated city was used by the Russians as a key supply hub, before it was liberated late last week by the Ukrainian army as part of the significant advance it has made in northeast Ukraine.
In total, Kyiv is believed to have retaken about 8,000 square kilometres in the region in under a week.
The president said the presence of Ukraine’s forces had breathed life back into places like Izium.
“I see how people meet them, in what a sensitive moment. It means that with our army, the life comes back,” he said.
In other developments, the Kremlin is “almost certainly” sourcing weapons from Iran and North Korea as it struggles with supply shortages, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Defence experts believe the Russian army has been forced to buy from the pariah states in part because of the impact of Western sanctions.
Russian forces ‘ordered to retreat’ from Kharkiv as some leave weapons behind in ‘apparent panic’
‘What is Berlin afraid of?’ Ukraine attacks Germany over lack of military aid
Kremlin says Russians back Vladimir Putin but warns of a ‘very thin line’ on criticism- ‘Prestigious’ Russian anti-Nato unit withdraws from Kharkiv
‘They were in a sad state’: Ukraine forces find Russians in retreat
Ukraine ships 3.1m tonnes of produce across Black Sea in August
Ukraine managed to export 3.1 million tonnes of agricultural products from its Black Sea ports in August.
This comes after Kyiv signed a grain deal with Russia, allowing it to ship goods across the Black Sea for the first time in months.
In total, 134 ships left Ukrainian ports last month bound for Africa, Asia and Europe, according to the infrastructure ministry.
Photos: Ukrainian troops in newly liberated territory
Hasty Russian retreat leaves a devastated Ukrainian village
AP reports from a recently recaptured Ukrainian village:
There’s not much left of Hrakove. Its houses and shops lie in ruins, its school is a bombed-out hull. The church is scarred by rockets and shells, but the golden dome above its blasted belfry still gleams in the fading autumn light.
Only about 30 people remain, living in basements and gutted buildings in this small village southeast of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to resident Anatolii Klyzhen. About 1,000 lived here when Russian troops rolled over the border in February, occupying the village shortly after.
Hasty Russian retreat leaves a devastated Ukrainian village
There’s not much left of this small village outside of Ukraine's second-largest city
Kremlin hits out at Ukraine’s wish to join Nato
Moscow has criticised Ukraine’s wish to join Nato, saying it considers this a threat to its own security.
The Kremlin was responding to draft set of “international security guarantees for Ukraine” published by former Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskiy’s presidential administration.
The document outlines Ukraine‘s “aspiration to join Nato and benefit from its mutual defence arrangements”.
In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow viewed Ukraine’s wish as “the main threat to Russia”.
“It once again emphasises the relevance and urgent need for us to ensure our own security and our own national interests,” he claimed.
‘They punched me in the face’: Liberated Ukrainians tell of torture and killings by Russian forces
Kim Sengupta and Andryi Makarenko report on alleged Russian torture in Balakliya:
Liberated Ukrainians tell of torture and killings by Russian forces
Balakliya was the first target recaptured by Ukrainian troops in their sweeping counteroffensive near Kharkiv
Goodbye
That’s the end of our coverage for today.
We’ll be back soon with more live updates from the war in Ukraine.
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