Ukraine-Russia war latest: Biden deals blow to Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ as Russia claims two more villages
Biden forced to pull out of Germany trip due to Florida hurricanes
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Joe Biden has been forced to pull out of what would have been the highest-level meeting yet of Ukrainian donors in Germany, as the US president cancelled his upcoming trip to focus on the hurricane approaching Florida.
The gathering, seen as critical to the “victory plan” Volodymyr Zelensky presented to allies last month, was supposed to underscore unwavering support for Kyiv and secure more pledges of assistance ahead of winter.
On the battlefield, Russia says its forces have taken control of two more settlements in eastern Ukraine. If confirmed it would represent the latest gains for Moscow in its offensive in the Donbas region.
Ukraine officials made no reference to control of either village being lost in their latest statements, but the Ukrainian military acknowledged that the Kurakhove sector was the scene of the heaviest battles on the eastern front.
Earlier, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte warned that Ukraine faces its toughest winter since Russia’s full scale invasion began in February 2022.
“Nato must and will do more to help Ukraine. The more military support we give, the faster this war will end,” Mr Rutte told a joint news conference in Brussels.
MI5 ‘alive’ to risk Middle East tensions pose to terror threat in UK, boss says
North Korea is ‘highly likely’ sending troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine, South Korea says
Putin said to have demolished holiday home out of fear for his life as Ukraine strikes region
Trump spoke with Putin at least seven times since leaving White House, Bob Woodward reports
Ukraine faces toughest winter yet, NATO’s secretary general says
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 on Tuesday, alongside president of Finland Alexander Stubb.
Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure may leave the country facing its toughest winter yet, he said.
“NATO must and will do more to help Ukraine. The more military support we give, the faster this war will end.”
Ukraine shoots down 21 Russian drones overnight
Russia launched three ballistic missiles and 22 drones in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said in a morning update.
The air force shot down 21 drones and the last returned towards Russian territory, it said.
“As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 21 enemy UAVs were shot down in Odesa, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions. Another attack drone turned in the direction of Russia!,” the air force said on its Telegram channel.
Russian drones violate no-fly zone near power plant
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.
Trump secretly sent Putin his Covid-19 test machines, says Bob Woodward
Donald Trump had secretly sent Vladimir Putin several Covid-19 test machines for his personal use at the height of the pandemic, a new book from journalist Bob Woodward claims.
Russia and the US did exchange medical equipment at the time, but Mr Putin reportedly told Mr Trump to keep the deployment of testing machines quiet.
“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Mr Putin told Mr Trump, according to the journalist. “I don’t care,” Mr Trump replied, Mr Woodward writes. “Fine.”
“No, no,” Mr Putin reportedly said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”
War, a new book from Mr Woodward which includes extensive reporting about the presidential terms of Mr Trump and Joe Biden, is scheduled for publication on 15 October.
Putin said to have demolished holiday home out of fear for his life as Ukraine strikes region
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:
Putin ‘demolishes holiday home out of fear for his life’ as Ukraine strikes region
Putin stopped visiting one of his favourite homes due to intensified Ukrainian drone strikes, Russian opposition outlet claims
Russia under attack with nearly 50 Ukrainian drones, says Moscow
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones targeting its west, the defence ministry said this morning.
Around 24 drones were downed over the southwestern border region of Bryansk, with the rest destroyed over the regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov and Krasnodar and the waters of the Sea of Azov, the ministry said.
Regional officials said the attacks caused no casualties.
A fire sparked by debris falling in an undeveloped area in the southern region of Rostov bordering Ukraine was promptly put out, regional governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, adding there was no other damage.
Bryansk head Aleksander Bogomaz said emergency services were working at sites where debris fell, without saying if there was damage. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.
Trump spoke with Putin at least seven times since leaving White House, Bob Woodward reports
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:
Trump reportedly spoke with Putin at least seven times since leaving White House
Trump’s campaign denies journalist’s reporting and calls him an ‘angry, little man’ and a ‘sleazebag’
UK sanctions Russian troops for chemical weapons use in Ukraine
Britain imposed sanctions on Russian troops it said were involved in using chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of “cruel and inhumane tactics”.
Among those sanctioned were the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Federation and its leader Igor Kirillov, the government said in a statement.
“The UK will not sit idly by whilst (Russian president Vladimir) Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention,” foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement.
The accusations have been dubbed as “groundless” by Moscow’s embassy in London, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
The fresh sanctions come a week after the government sanctioned 16 members of the Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, a group it said had been tasked by Russia to conduct operations against Nato allies.
Hungary oppose $35 billion EU loan to Ukraine
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.
In pics: Ukraine’s frontline villages reduced to ghost towns
Liubov and Ivan Solod, 65-year-old pensioners, stand in the stairway as they visit their apartment that was recently damaged during shelling to collect their remaining belongings, in the town of Kurakhove. It is located near the frontline in the Pokrovsk district of the eastern Donetsk region yesterday amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s army announced last week that it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vuhledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial advances in weeks.
The coal mining town’s fall raised new questions about Ukraine’s defensive positions along its southeastern frontline as Russian forces advance ahead of winter. Around 14,000 people lived in Vuhledar before Russia invaded, making it one of Moscow’s more important gains in months of grinding advances across the east.
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