Ukraine-Russia war live: At least 21 injured after Putin’s forces hit Kharkiv apartment block with glide bomb
Zelensky again urged the West to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range missiles
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
At least 21 people have been injured in Kharkiv after Vladimir Putin’s forces dropped a deadly glide bomb on an apartment block.
An eight-year-old was injured in the attack and 60 people were evacuated from the building as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky again urged Western allies for long-range missile capabilities.
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.
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.
13 hurt in Russian glide bomb attack in Zaporizhzhia
At least 13 civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, were injured in Russian airstrikes on Zaporizhzhia late Sunday, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry.
The strikes reportedly involved KAB guided aerial bombs, causing damage to several apartment buildings, Reuters reported.
Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram that Russia conducted a total of 363 air and ground strikes across 12 settlements in the region within a day.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians, though the war has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, predominantly among Ukrainians.
Russian dissident warns Putin’s regime will fall without warning
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition leader, who was reunited with his family in London following his release from a Siberian prison as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, said that Putin’s regime will collapse without warning.
Mr Kara-Murza, a vocal critic of the Kremlin, had been jailed on political charges and was allegedly poisoned twice. He told The Guardian: “That’s how things happen in Russia. Both the Romanov empire in the early 20th century, and the Soviet regime at the end of the 20th century collapsed in three days. That’s not a metaphor, it was literally three days in both cases.”
He believes that Western leaders, besides the Russians, need to take collective responsibility who “for all these years were buying gas from Putin, inviting him to international summits, rolling out red carpets”.
“These guys keep meticulous records. When the end comes – and it will – the archives will open, we will find out about Trump and Marine Le Pen and your British guys too.”
Earlier, he told The Independent: “Even if Vladimir Putin kills all of us, the current leaders of the opposition, others will come in our place.”
He said: “Others from the younger generation. The people who turned out in the tens of thousands for the funeral procession of Alexei Navalny in Moscow earlier this year. People who have been leaving these flowers at makeshift memorials all over the country. They will come and take our place to find a democratic Russia, even when none of us are there.”
Poll reveals increasing support for Russian withdrawal
A new poll has revealed that half of Russians now want their soldiers to return home from Ukraine.
Despite the Kremlin’s pro-war propaganda, recent setbacks, including Ukraine’s counter-offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, have shaken public morale, the survey revealed.
The poll, conducted by independent Russian pollster Chronicles, shows a 9 per cent increase since January in those supporting peace talks, with 49 per cent now favouring withdrawal, according to Newsweek.
Aleksei Miniailo, a Russian opposition politician and co-founder of Chronicles told the outlet: “The longer the war drags on, the less people have faith that it will end in a beneficial way for them and for Russia.
“The Ukrainian invasion into the Kursk region was a shocking thing for many and decreased the number of those who want to fight till the goals (of the war) are reached.”
This comes amid reports of significant Russian casualties, with around 70,000 soldiers killed and 600,000 wounded in the war.
900 glide bombs dropped in a week on Ukraine
Russia intensified its aerial assault on Ukraine, dropping over 900 glide bombs, 400 Shahed drones, and nearly 30 missiles this week, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
A barrage on Friday left at least 15 people injured in Kharkiv, including children, while bombs struck apartment buildings on Saturday, wounding 21 people, among them an eight-year-old child.
According to The Telegraph, the bombs, particularly KAB-type aerial glide bombs, were used in both instances.
Ukraine has struggled to counter these bombs and continues to request long-range missiles from Western allies to strike Russian territory, though restrictions are still in place.
“There are no words to describe the aftermath of a glide bomb attack,” Vovchansk police chief Oleksii Kharkivsky said in May. “You arrive to see people who are lying there, torn apart.”
Russia’s bid to derail UN’s ‘pact for the future’ rejected
At a high-profile UN summit in New York, Russia was isolated after attempting to derail a proposed “Pact for the Future” to revive the UN and address multilateralism.
Russia called for the deferral of the pact, arguing it favoured Western interests and interfered with national sovereignty.
However, the motion was rejected by a large majority — 143 votes to 7 — with only limited support from allies like Belarus, Venezuela, and Syria.
Russia’s objections targeted issues like sexual and reproductive health rights and gender empowerment.
Despite Russia’s opposition, the pact, seen as crucial by the global south and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, seeks to reform multilateral cooperation, including the UN Security Council, financial institutions, and handling of modern crises like AI and climate change.
Mr Guterres told the summit that the pact’s aim was “to bring multilateralism back from the brink at a time when the world [is] heading off the rails”.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK gives surprise speech at Labour party conference
In a surprise speech on the main stage, Ukrainian ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi thanked the government for their support.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary for their commitment to the Ukrainian people,” he said.
“The Labour Party has a long history of opposing fascism and terrorism.”
“It was [Labour wartime minister Ernest] Bevin who understood the importance of strength... Bevin’s legacy includes the founding of NATO, the cornerstone of European security.
“He would have understood the urgent need for Ukraine’s fast-track membership of Nato as a necessity that should be recognised.”
Exclusive report: 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
Two dead in mine after Russian strike causes fire
Two female mine workers were found dead after a Russian strike in the Donetsk region caused a fire.
One more person was taken to hospital following the strike, which forced 371 workers to evacuate.
The fire was above the mine and did not enter go underground, the ministry noted according to Ukrainian Pravda.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry did not specify the location of the attack but the Governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said early on Sunday that two people had been killed and one injured in Udachne, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The village of Udachne, 12 kilometres west of Pokrovsk - one of the main battlegrounds in recent weeks - is home to one of the largest coal mines in Ukraine.
Russia says firefighter killed by Ukrainian drone in Moscow-controlled Luhansk region
A firefighter was killed by a Ukrainian drone in Russia-controlled Luhansk region in the eastern Ukraine, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Sunday.
The drone’s explosives detonated when Vyacheslav Glazunov, 33, was extinguishing a fire in the Novoaidar district triggered by fallen drones, the ministry said on Telegram.
Watch: Arms depot ablaze deep inside Russia after massive Ukrainian drone attack
An arms depot in Russia’s south-western region of Krasnodar appeared to have been hit in a massive Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Friday 20 September, as verified footage on social media showed explosions at the scene.
Other attacks were also reported in occupied Crimea and the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, and Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down more than 100 drones.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments