Ukraine-Russia war live: Frontline ‘very, very difficult’, says Zelensky as Putin issues new conscription order
Russia is ramping up its military recruitment before ground conditions deteriorate
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Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the situation on the battlefield against Russia is “very, very difficult” as Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its third autumn.
“Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in his nightly video address.
“Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved,” he said.
Russia is ramping up its military recruitment before ground conditions deteriorate with the arrival of winter, ordering the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in an autumn draft campaign that starts today.
That figure is on top of the additional 180,000 active servicemen Putin ordered in an expansion of the regular Russian army last month.
Meanwhile, outgoing Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance’s members should not be deterred from giving more military aid to Ukraine by “reckless Russian nuclear rhetoric”.
Trump touts strong relationships with Zelensky – and Putin – in awkward exchange
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Zelensky urges world leaders to stand with Ukraine as he presents ‘victory plan’ to UN
White House slaps down House Republicans for ‘political stunt’ over Zelensky visit
Putin’s forces are desperate for a prize eastern city and Ukraine will fight street to street to keep them out
Vladimir Putin wants to wipe us off the map, Ukraine’s top tennis player warns
Russian president Vladimir Putin is waging war to try and wipe Ukraine off the map, the country’s top tennis player has warned.
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.
Vladimir Putin wants to wipe us off the map, Ukraine’s top tennis player warns
Exclusive: Kyiv’s top tennis player Elina Svitolina tells Alexander Butler the West must act to get Ukraine’s stolen children back from Russia
Ukraine’s defence minister fires three deputies
Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said he has submitted to the government a request to dismiss three of his deputies in a new military shake-up.
Mr Umerov also added that he has requested the dismissal of Liudmyla Darahan, the state secretary of the defence ministry.
Ukraine downs 29 Russian drones in overnight attack
Ukraine’s military shot down 29 out of 32 drones launched by Russia during an overnight attack, Kyiv’s air force said today.
It added that the Iranian-made “Shahed-type” drones were downed over parts of central, southern and northeastern Ukraine.
Trump now says he likes Zelensky
Donald Trump has said he “likes” president Volodymyr Zelensky, a week after he called the war-time leader a “great salesman”.
The two met in New York on Friday as Mr Zelensky wrapped up his bilateral visit to the US, seeking a boost in support for fast military action from Kyiv’s most important ally.
Mr Trump did not meet with the Ukrainian leader till the last day of his trip and at one stage it looked like the meeting might not happen.
“I had a good relationship with Zelensky…I like him. Because during the impeachment hoax … he could have said he didn’t know the [conversation] was taped. … But instead of grandstanding and saying, ‘Yes, I felt threatened,’ he said, ‘He [Trump] did absolutely nothing wrong’,” the Republican presidential candidate told the Washington Post in an interview.
Mr Trump has been consistently critical of US spending on Ukraine since Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Two days before meeting Zelensky, he described Ukraine in bleak and mournful terms, referring to its people as “dead” and the country itself as “demolished”.
Putin: Russia will accomplish “all goals set” in Ukraine invasion
Vladimir Putin has told the Russian people that its military will accomplish “all goals set” in Ukraine.
Putin was speaking in a video message to mark the second anniversary of “Reunification Day” - when Moscow officially claimed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as its own.
“The truth is on our side. All goals set will be achieved,” Putin said on Monday as he addressed the nation.
He said Ukraine’s western allies had “turned Ukraine into their colony, a military base aimed at Russia” and promoted “hate, radical nationalism” against Russia.
“Today we are fighting for a secure, prosperous future for our children and grandchildren,” Putin added.
Russia held sham referendums in the four regions on September 30, 2022, seven months after Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
Putin signed a document to unilaterally incorporate the occupied regions of Ukraine into the Russian Federation - a move which has not been recognised by any western countries.
Russia does not fully control the territories which it has laid claim to.
Mark Rutte becomes new Nato chief
Former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte takes over as Nato boss today, his immediate task being to support Ukraine at a critical time in its war with Russia.
Mr Rutte will take over as secretary-general from Jens Stoltenberg of Norway today at a ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels. Mr Stoltenberg has overseen the organisation during a turbulent decade marked above all by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Rutte, who stepped down as Dutch premier this year after a record 14 years in the job, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine. He has also urged Europeans to “stop whining” about former US president Donald Trump and get on with boosting the continent’s defences.
His key tasks are laid out – primary being pushing Nato nations to spend more on defence and keep the US engaged in European security.
However, uncertainty hangs over both – the conflict in Ukraine, which has turned into a grinding war of attrition, and future US support for Nato and Kyiv, with Nato-sceptic Trump in a close electoral contest with vice president Kamala Harris.
US explains delay in allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with long-range weapons
The US State Department has finally explained the delay in reaching a decision on whether to permit Ukraine to hit Russia with US-supplied long-range weapons.
Washington will assess how the move will impact the entire battlefield, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters yesterday.
“...we look at all of the capabilities and all the tactics and all the support that we provide Ukraine in totality, and look at how – when we approve any new weapon system or any new tactic, we look at how it’s going to affect the entire battlefield and Ukraine’s entire strategy. And that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Mr Miller said on being asked about why is the US not letting Ukraine hit Russia with American weapons.
He also said that the US does not view other weapons systems or tactics as “the one magic capability that would change the face of the conflict”.
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.
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