Ukraine-Russia war live: Anger in Moscow at Putin’s war spending as Russia closes in on key frontline city
Russian forces have reached Vuhledar which has resisted repeated Russian assaults since Moscow’s full-scale invasion
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Vladimir Putin’s plans to hike defence spending to the highest level on record have sparked outrage among some people in Russia as the war with Ukraine drags into the third year.
Russia is expected to allocate over 40 per cent of its total budget to defence and security, committing to prolonging the invasion of Ukraine and confronting the West.
Several in Russia objected to the spending which was more than the money allocated for education and social welfare sectors in the country.
It’s a “shame and a disgrace”, Irina, a 70-year-old pensioner said to AFP. She said the government is spending on war when the “country has no money to treat its own children”.
It comes as Russian forces have made frontline gains in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have reached the centre of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine, a bastion on strategic high ground in the industrial Donbas region, according to Ukraine’s regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
Vuhledar has resisted repeated Russian assaults since Moscow’s full-scale invasion but now risks falling into Putin’s hands. Footage posted to social media showed Russian soldiers waving a flag from atop a bombed-out multi-storey building and unfurling another flag on a metal spire on a roof.
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ICYMI: Kyiv defends several waves of overnight drone attacks on Sunday
Kyiv went through multiple waves of drone attacks over Sunday night, the city’s authorities said.
An air raid alert was in place in the capital from 1am until just after 6am this morning, as Ukrainian air defense systems battled the drones.
Vitalii Klitschlo, the mayor of Kyiv, warned residents shortly before 5am to “stay in shelters” due to a wave of drones “over and near the capital”, The Kyiv Independent reported.
There have been no casualties or damage to the city reported.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russian forces launched 73 Shahed-type drones across Ukraine overnight, with 67 intercepted.
Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said: “All Russian attack drones that threatened Kyiv were neutralized.” It is not clear how many drones attacked Kyiv.
US says Kyiv can strike Russia with own weapons to defend itself
Ukraine does not need the US’s permission to strike back on targets deep within Russia with its own weapons, the US State Department has said.
“Ukraine does not need our permission to strike back against Russian targets. They are a sovereign country and can use the weapons that they build on their own, of which [there] are many, if you look at the programs that they have put in place over the last year,” said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a press briefing yesterday.
“And then when you look at the weapons that we have provided to them, we’ve made clear that they can use them to strike back against Russian targets across the border that are launching attacks,” he said.
The US official said Ukraine has an “enormous amount of material to defend itself” and the US always looks to provide the war-hit nation with additional tools.
“We always look at whether there are additional tools that we can provide them. If you notice the announcement that the president made on Thursday, we are providing them with an additional $8bn in security assistance, and we will continue to support them,” he said.
Dramatic photos capture Kyiv dawn sky as Russian drones shot down
As Russia sent a barrage of 76 drones and missiles in an overnight attack yesterday, Ukraine’s air force swiftly moved to intercept the aerial munitions.
New photos show drones exploding as they are being destroyed by Ukrainian air defence during a strike on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Russia pitches record defence spending as Ukraine war intensifies
The Russian government is rapidly pushing its defence spending for next year to a record high as it pursues victory in Ukraine.
Moscow wants to earmark 32.5 per cent of its spending next year for defence, a record amount and up from a reported 28.3 per cent this year, according to the draft budget released yesterday.
The government’s draft proposes spending just under 13.5 trillion roubles (over $145bn) on national defence. This is about 3 trillion roubles ($32bn) more than was set aside for defence this year – itself a record.
According to the draft budget, spending on defence should decline in 2026.
Vladimir Putin is also looking at how to sustain his war effort as military spending has placed a huge strain on the Russian economy.
Zelensky commends ‘superhuman’ combat medics and doctors
President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised the “professional, brave and resilient” Ukrainian medics, who are central in helping the country “stand against Russian territory”.
He posted a handful of powerful pictures alongside the message on Monday.
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Elina Svitolina, 30, accused Russia of genocide and urged the West to help bring back roughly 20,000 Ukrainian children deported to Russian camps since Putin’s invasion in February 2022.
More than 70 camps used to forcibly “re-educate” children have been found across Russia, Belarus and occupied Crimea, according to the Ukrainian government.
Svitolina stunned the sporting world in 2023 after she beat world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon quarter-finals just eight months after giving birth to her daughter.
Svitolina tells Alexander Butler the West must act to get Ukraine’s stolen children back from Russia:
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Three killed and at least 45 injured in past day, Ukraine says
Russian attacks on Ukraine killed three people and injured at least 45 more over the past day, regional authorities said on Sept 30.
Two people were killed in the villages of Lysivka and Shevchenko in the Donetsk region, with three injured across the region.
One person was killed and 12 injured in the Kherson region, where Russian forces targeted 17 towns and cities including Kherson city itself.
An air strike on Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine injured at least 16 people, including two boys aged 17 and eight, while damaging residential buildings and a railway.
Ten people were injured in the northeastern Sumy region as a result of guided aerial boom and FPV drone attacks, The Kyiv Independent reported.
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