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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Vivian Ho (now); Tom Ambrose and Helen Sullivan (earlier)

Russia-Ukraine war: British PM urges west to equip Ukraine to ‘finish the job’; Ukrainian journalist reported missing – as it happened

Ukraine Russia Belgorod United Kingdom United States Bryansk Drone Kevin McCarthy Kursk Moscow
A Ukrainian member of the OPFOR (opposing force) battalion during military training in the Donetsk region.
A Ukrainian member of the OPFOR (opposing force) battalion during military training in the Donetsk region. Photograph: Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images

Closing summary

  • Volodymyr Zelenskiy is working to provide Ukraine with more air defence systems as winter approaches. Last winter, Russian forces deliberately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure, knocking out power and gas at a time when heating was necessary. More air defence systems could work in preventing that from happening again.

  • Out of the chaos that was the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as US speaker of the House comes more uncertainty around US aid to Ukraine. As more and more hardline Republicans begin to throw their hat in the ring for the coveted leadership position, Washington insiders are beginning to have doubts on whether additional Ukraine funding will be possible – even with Ukraine’s ambassador already engaging in dialogue with most of the candidates.

  • The US will transfer thousands of seized Iranian weapons and rounds of ammunitions to Ukraine. While this move should alleviate some of the critical shortages facing the Ukraine, it’s unclear what legal authorities the US will use to facilitate the weapons’ transfer – currently, seized weapons must be destroyed or stored, according to the UN.

  • Award-winning freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna, an award-winning freelance journalist, has not been heard from since 3 August. She had been reporting from a Russia-occupied territory of Ukraine, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) said today. Roshchyna had been reporting from the frontlines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, and was previously captured by Russian forces in March 2022 and held for 10 days in Berdyansk.

  • The Princess of Wales has sent a message of support to Ukraine saying “we are all thinking of you” as she left her handprint on a picture which marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. Kate wrote the words on a parcel she filled with food, clothes and toiletries for those affected by the war, during a visit to a Bracknell centre providing services for Ukrainian families settled in the area.

  • The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, urged western allies to continue supporting and arming Ukraine so it can “finish the job” against Russia. His comments come as US aid to Ukraine remains uncertain after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Before yesterday’s vote, McCarthy had avoided government shutdown by pushing to pass a US government funding bill that excluded support for Kyiv, leaving Joe Biden to rely on the Republican speaker for a separate deal. Yesterday, Adm Rob Bauer, Nato’s most senior military official, warned that western military powers are running out of ammunition to give to Ukraine. “The bottom of the barrel is now visible,” Bauer said.

  • Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked three Russian regions overnight, according to the Russian ministry of defence, which claimed to have shot down 31 unmanned aircrafts. However, there are reports now that a drone struck a Russian air defence system in the Belgorod oblast.

  • Ukraine’s navy said on Wednesday that 12 more vessels were ready to enter a Black Sea shipping corridor on their way towards Ukrainian ports, and that 10 other vessels were ready to depart from the country’s ports. Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk made his remarks as Ukraine tries to defy a de facto Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea after Moscow pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to safely export grain.

  • A Russian court has sentenced the former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who burst into a news broadcast with a placard that read “Stop the war” and “They’re lying to you”, to eight and half years in jail in absentia on Wednesday. Ovsyannikova was found guilty of “spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces”, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram. Ovsyannikova, 45, fled Russia with her daughter for an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping from house arrest, according to her lawyer, saying she had no case to answer.

  • Ukraine increased its road shipments of agricultural goods in September, according to Spike Brokers, a commercial agent broker on the grain and oil market of Ukraine. In September, 514,000 metric tons of agricultural goods were exported by lorries, while in August, 506,000 tons were exported. The increase is still down from the year before, which saw 639,000 tons in September 2022.

A 75-year-old woman sustained shrapnel wounds in Russian attacks on Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast today, the regional governor said.

Russian forces shelled Nikopol in both the morning and in the afternoon, and in between shellings, struck the city with an unmanned drone, Serhii Lysak said on Telegram.

Ten private houses and several commercial buildings were damaged, with one completely destroyed. “Infrastructure objects, cars and power lines were also damaged,” Lysak said.

Russian forces launched five missiles and 43 airstrikes, executed 30 shelling from the jet systems, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 45 combat engagements today, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in their evening briefing.

More than 140 settlements came under artillery and mortar shelling, among them Klûsi, Turâ in the Chernihiv oblast; Sorokyne, Progress, Stepok in the Sumy oblast; Staritsa, Synkivka and Figolivka in the Kharkiv oblast; and Makiyivka, Nevsk and Belogorivka in the Luhansk oblast. The Donetsk oblast was hit particularly hard today with villages including Torsk, Siversk, Verhnyokamyananske, Pervomaysk, Nevelske, Karlivka and Rozdolivka coming under fire.

Zelenskiy working to provide Ukraine with more air defence systems

With winter approaching, Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that his government was working to provide Ukraine with more air defence systems.

Last winter, Russian forces deliberately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure, knocking out power and gas at a time when heating was necessary. More air defence systems could work in preventing that from happening again.

Out of the chaos that was the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as US speaker of the House comes more uncertainty around US aid to Ukraine.

As more and more hardline Republicans begin to throw their hat in the ring for the coveted leadership position, Washington insiders are beginning to have doubts on whether additional Ukraine funding will be possible – even with Ukraine’s ambassador already engaging in dialogue with most of the candidates.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, spoke at the Warsaw Security Forum and called for Russia to be held accountable for its actions now. “Impunity has become part of Russia’s culture,” she said,

Here are some of the latest images coming in from Ukraine via news agency wires:

Liudmila Melnik wipes tears as she looks at a photo of her husband Oleksandr, who was killed in a battle with the Russian troops, near the City Hall in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. Over one thousand photos of Kyiv residents killed in the war have been displayed in front of the City Hall.
Liudmila Melnik wipes tears as she looks at a photo of her husband Oleksandr, who was killed in a battle with the Russian troops, near the City Hall in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. Over one thousand photos of Kyiv residents killed in the war have been displayed in front of the City Hall. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Ukrainian servicemen attend on the funeral of a sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pastukh on October 4, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sergeant of the 67th Mechanized Brigade Oleksandr Pastukh, 42 years old, received a farewell at Independence Square in Kyiv. He died on September 29 while on combat duty near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast. On the day of his death, the soldier was to receive the award “The Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Ukrainian servicemen attend on the funeral of a sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pastukh on October 4, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sergeant of the 67th Mechanized Brigade Oleksandr Pastukh, 42 years old, received a farewell at Independence Square in Kyiv. He died on September 29 while on combat duty near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast. On the day of his death, the soldier was to receive the award “The Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
A Ukrainian serviceman holds a portrait of sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pastukh during the funeral on October 4, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sergeant of the 67th Mechanized Brigade Oleksandr Pastukh, 42 years old, received a farewell at Independence Square in Kyiv. He died on September 29 while on combat duty near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast. On the day of his death, the soldier was to receive the award “The Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
A Ukrainian serviceman holds a portrait of sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pastukh during the funeral on October 4, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sergeant of the 67th Mechanized Brigade Oleksandr Pastukh, 42 years old, received a farewell at Independence Square in Kyiv. He died on September 29 while on combat duty near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast. On the day of his death, the soldier was to receive the award “The Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
A wounded Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Yabchanka walks on a street, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in central Lviv, Ukraine October 1, 2023.
A wounded Ukrainian serviceman Oleksandr Yabchanka walks on a street, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in central Lviv, Ukraine October 1, 2023. Photograph: Roman Baluk/Reuters
Street sellers in the central Odessa, Ukraine.
Street sellers in the central Odessa, Ukraine. Photograph: No Credit

Updated

Report: US will transfer weapons seized in Iran to Ukraine

As experts continue sounding the alarm, warning Ukraine’s western allies will soon run out of weapons and ammunition to send in aid, CNN is now reporting that the US will transfers thousands of seized Iranian weapons and rounds of ammunitions to Ukraine.

While this move should alleviate some of the critical shortages facing the Ukraine, it’s unclear what legal authorities the US will use to facilitate the weapons’ transfer – currently, seized weapons must be destroyed or stored, according to the UN.

But according to CNN’s sources, the Biden administration has for months been weighing how to legally send the weapons.

Some more on Ukraine’s advances in Crimea these past two months: more than $3.5bn in losses for Russia.

James Heappey, the UK’s junior minister of defence, said in a speech yesterday at the Warsaw Security Forum that “Ukraine has achieved a functional defeat of the Russian Black Sea Fleet”.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, went more in depth today about the significance of Heappey’s comment and Ukraine’s recent victories in Crimea.

“Crimea and the Black Sea near Crimea are now the most important area where a turning point in the war may take place,” Gerashchenko said.

He noted how “Ukraine’s systemic attacks on Crimea’s military infrastructure, logistics centres, Black Sea Fleet command centres and Black Sea Fleet ships led to gradual relocation and withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol.

According to Crimean media, it appears that the Black Sea Fleet has relocated all submarines from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk. “Largely due to this partial neutralization of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the fact that the actual fleet is now locked in Sevastopol, navigation northwest of the Black Sea, along the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria has become safer,” Gerashchenko said. “Ukraine’s three Black Sea ports have been able to resume receiving ships for grain exports. This is despite Russia’s threats to shell ships traveling to Ukrainian ports. The first 10 ships have already used the corridor that Ukraine started building after Russia refused to renew the grain agreement. It is also reported that international insurance companies have started to restore coverage of insurance risks.”

Gerashchenko quoted former US commanding general Ben Hodges in saying: “Who controls Crimea at the end of this war will be the winner”.

Norway announced last week that it was banning cars with Russian registration, mirroring earlier sanctions imposed by the European Union against Moscow.

Today, the Russian ministry of foreign affairs hit back, calling the ban “yet another attempt to reinstate the iron curtain in Europe.”

Updated

Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna has been missing for two months

Victoria Roshchyna, an award-winning freelance journalist, has not been heard from since 3 August. She had been reporting from a Russia-occupied territory of Ukraine, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) said today.

Roshchyna had been reporting from the frontlines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, and was previously captured by Russian forces in March 2022 and held for 10 days in Berdyansk. According to IWMF, she has covered complex and dangerous topics including crime, courts and human rights for independent media outlets such as Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske and Radio Free Europe.

“We are extremely concerned for her safety and urge international attention on this situation,” IWMF said in a statement. “Russia’s systemic censorship of free speech cannot go overlooked or unchecked. Free, independent journalism is essential to informing the global public of the realities of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“We ask our peers in the human rights and press freedom space to join our demand for information on Roshchyna’s whereabouts and stand with journalists continuing to bring truth to light amid Russia’s invasion.”

Updated

Moldova’s parliament began moves on Wednesday to prevent members of the banned pro-Russian Shor party running in local elections for other parties or as independent candidates.

The constitutional court declared the opposition party unconstitutional in June, but said on Tuesday that its members have the right to run in local elections on 5 November if they do not represent the banned party, Reuters reported.

The party, headed by the exiled businessman Ilan Shor, led months of protests against President Maia Sandu and her government over rising prices. Sandu has accused Shor and Russia of trying to destabilise Moldova since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which she has fiercely criticised.

In a move aimed against Shor members, Moldova’s parliament approved an amendment to the electoral code to bar “specific people” from the local elections in its first and second readings.

The amendment, which has now completed its passage through parliament, envisages law enforcement agencies submitting a list of such people to the central election commission, which will draw up a final list.

Updated

The Princess of Wales has sent a message of support to Ukraine saying “we are all thinking of you” as she left her handprint on a picture which marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Kate wrote the words on a parcel she filled with food, clothes and toiletries for those affected by the war, during a visit to a Bracknell centre providing services for Ukrainian families settled in the area, PA reported.

The future queen has attended a number of events in support of the people of Ukraine and their struggle against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Her tour of the Vsi Razom – Ukrainian for all together – community hub saw her make a Ukrainian ribbon brooch, help a little girl complete some artwork and chat to a Ukrainian psychologist providing support to her fellow countrymen and women.

The princess’s visit coincided with the one-year anniversary of the hub, founded by Natalia Vil, originally from Estonia but a UK resident for 25 years who is married to a Ukrainian, and Ashleigh Toomey from the UK.

Updated

Summary of the day so far

  • Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked three Russian regions overnight, according to the Russian ministry of defence, which claimed to have shot down 31 unmanned aircrafts. However, there are reports now that a drone struck a Russian air defence system in the Belgorod oblast.

  • The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, urged western allies to continue supporting and arming Ukraine so it can “finish the job” against Russia. His comments come as US aid to Ukraine remains uncertain after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Before yesterday’s vote, McCarthy had avoided government shutdown by pushing to pass a US government funding bill that excluded support for Kyiv, leaving Joe Biden to rely on the Republican speaker for a separate deal. Yesterday, Adm Rob Bauer, Nato’s most senior military official, warned that western military powers are running out of ammunition to give to Ukraine. “The bottom of the barrel is now visible,” Bauer said.

  • Ukraine’s navy said on Wednesday that 12 more vessels were ready to enter a Black Sea shipping corridor on their way towards Ukrainian ports, and that 10 other vessels were ready to depart from the country’s ports. Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk made his remarks as Ukraine tries to defy a de facto Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea after Moscow pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to safely export grain.

  • A Russian court has sentenced the former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who burst into a news broadcast with a placard that read “Stop the war” and “They’re lying to you”, to eight and half years in jail in absentia on Wednesday. Ovsyannikova was found guilty of “spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces”, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram. Ovsyannikova, 45, fled Russia with her daughter for an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping from house arrest, according to her lawyer, saying she had no case to answer.

  • Ukrainian police recorded 15 Russian war crimes in relation to strikes yesterday on several locations in Kherson oblast. One strike in a residential quarter of Antonivka killed a 54-year-old man and injured seven other local residents, aged from 27 to 77, were injured. Russian forces then shelled Antonivka again in the evening, wounding a 61-year-old man.

  • Ukraine increased its road shipments of agricultural goods in September, according to Spike Brokers, a commercial agent broker on the grain and oil market of Ukraine. In September, 514,000 metric tons of agricultural goods were exported by lorries, while in August, 506,000 tons were exported. The increase is still down from the year before, which saw 639,000 tons in September 2022.

  • A fire broke out at the Rusal-owned Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter early on Wednesday, Russia’s Tass state news agency reports, citing local emergency ministry officials. “At 08.57am (1.57sm GMT) a fire was reported on the territory of the KrAZ (Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter),” the agency cited the officials as saying. “A transformer caught fire on an area of 50 sq metres (538 sq feet).” It was not immediately known what caused the fire. Rusal is the largest aluminium producer outside China.

Though the Russian military of defence said air defence systems were able to intercept and shoot down dozens of Ukrainian drones that attacked three Russian regions overnight, there are reports now that a drone attack on the Belgorod oblast of Russia destroyed an S-400 Russian Triumf air defence system.

Updated

Ukraine’s defence intelligence posted a video of Ukrainian special forces landing in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Updated

Sunak urges west to equip Ukraine to 'finish the job'

The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, urged western allies to continue supporting and arming Ukraine so it can “finish the job” against Russia.

His comments come as US aid to Ukraine remains uncertain after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Before yesterday’s vote, McCarthy had avoided government shutdown by pushing to pass a US government funding bill that excluded support for Kyiv, leaving Joe Biden to rely on the Republican speaker for a separate deal.

Yesterday, Adm Rob Bauer, Nato’s most senior military official, warned that
western military powers are running out of ammunition to give to Ukraine. “The bottom of the barrel is now visible,” Bauer said.

Updated

Here are some of the latest images coming in from Ukraine via news agency wires:

A boy rides on a wooden swing next to the Dnipro River with the Motherland monument, left, in the background in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on 3 October 2023.
A boy rides on a wooden swing next to the Dnipro River with the Motherland monument, left, in the background in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on 3 October. Photograph: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is photographed on a working trip in the Kharkiv oblast. The Kupyansk-Lyman direction is one of the hottest on the frontline.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets soldiers on a trip to the Kharkiv oblast. The Kupyansk-Lyman direction is one of the hottest on the frontline. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidency/Sipa/Shutterstock
Members of a drone unit of the 28th brigade of the Ukrainian army scout for enemy positions using a modified flying device at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 3 October 2023.
Members of a drone unit of the 28th brigade of the Ukrainian army scout for enemy positions using a modified flying device at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 3 October. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
Alex, a drone operator of Brigade 28th of Ukrainian Army, scouts for enemy positions inside a trench using a modified flying device at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 03, 2023.
Alex, a drone operator of the 28th brigade of the Ukrainian army, scouts for enemy positions inside a trench using a modified flying device at the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 3 October. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
The bulk carriers Equator and Maranta enter the region’s ports via a new transportation corridor near Odesa, southern Ukraine, on 3 Oct 2023.
The bulk carriers Equator and Maranta enter the region’s ports via a new transportation corridor near Odesa, southern Ukraine, on 3 Oct. Photograph: Ukrinform/Shutterstock

Updated

Russian forces attacked 22 towns and villagaes in the Zaporizhzhia oblast yesterday, the area’s military administration said on Telegram.

Orikhov and Novodarivka were struck by four aerial bombs. Russian forces carried out 10 anti-aircraft missile attacks on Gulyaipol, Malaya Tokmachka, Poltavka, Novodarivka and Stepovoy, as well as nine unmanned drone attacks on Gulyaipol, Levadny, Poltava, Temyrivka and Mali Shcherbakiv.

Ninety-nine artillery shells fell in the territory of Olhivsky, Chervony, Charivny Biloghirya, Preobrazhenka, Robotyny, Stepovoy, Pyatikhatok and other frontline settlement.

There were 22 reports of damaged residential buildings, farm buildings and infrastructure facilities, but no casualties.

Updated

Ukraine increased road shipments of agricultural goods in September

Ukraine increased its road shipments of agricultural goods in September, according to Spike Brokers, a commercial agent broker on the grain and oil market of Ukraine.

In September, 514,000 metric tons of agricultural goods were exported by lorries, while in August, 506,000 tons were exported. The increase is still down from the year before, which saw 639,000 tons in September 2022.

Rapeseed, sunoil and wheat dominated the export shipments, Spike Brokers said. About 35% of automotive exports passed through checkpoints on the border with Poland and about through the border with Romania.

Spike Brokers noted that the removal of import barriers by eastern European countries could lead to an increase in motor vehicle exports of “almost 1m tons per month or 12m tons per year”. Warsaw has recently banned Ukrainian food imports, citing the need to protect its own farmers, although it still allows the transit of Ukrainian goods through Poland to other countries.

Ukraine is still trying to secure a deal with Warsaw over the import restrictions.

Updated

Ukrainian police record 15 Russian war crimes in Kherson oblast

Ukrainian police recorded 15 Russian war crimes in relation to strikes yesterday on several locations in Kherson oblast.

A 54-year-old man was killed by a Russian airstrike that destroyed houses in a residential quarter of Antonivka. Seven other local residents, aged from 27 to 77, were injured with shrapnel wounds. Russian forces shelled Antonivka again in the evening, wounding a 61-year-old man.

Russian airstrikes on Olhivka in the Beryslav district and Kozats’ke in the Kakhovka district damaged a village club and an educational institution.

An 81-year-old woman was injured from mortar shelling in the Kakhovka district. A 52-year-old local resident was also wounded during Russian shelling, as was a 65-year-old woman in Zmiivka.

Russian forces fired on Bilozerka from multiple rocket launchers, wounding a 45-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, who sustained mine-explosive injuries and shrapnel injuries.

“The Russians bombarded various districts of Kherson around the clock, the shelling intensified at night,” the Ukrainian police said. “High-rise and private buildings were damaged in the city, windows and balcony frames were blown out by projectiles and the shock wave, cars, facades and roof coverings were also damaged.”

Updated

Russian forces launched five missiles, 108 airstrikes and 55 fires from the reactive fire systems yesterday, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 43 combat engagements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in their morning briefing.

Russian forces also deployed the wing rocket Iskander-K and 31 Iranian kamikaze Shahed drones. Ukraine’s aerial defence system destroyed one winged rocket and 29 Shahed drones.

More than 120 settlements in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire. Airstrikes took place in Petropavlivka, Senkove and Synkivka in the Kharkiv oblast; Novoselivka in the Luhansk oblast; New, Kols, Ivanivka, Yampolivka, Ponds, Vesele, Controversial, Vasyukivka, Bogdanivka, Konstantinivka, Klishyivka, Andriyivka, Hours of Yar, Alexander-Shultine, Katerinivka, Maryinka, Novomykhajlivka, Water, Harvest and Mining in the Donetsk oblast; and Mykolaivka, Antonivka and Olgivka in the Kherson oblast.

According to the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian forces lost 450 personnel yesterday.

Updated

Morning summary

  • Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked three Russian regions overnight, according to the Russian ministry of defence, which claimed to have shot down 31 unmanned aircraft in what it described as a “terrorist attack”. The ministry wrote on Telegram: “On the night of October 4, the demands of the Kiev regime were suppressed and terrorist attacks were carried out on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation. 31 Ukrainian unmanned aircraft of the airplane type were intercepted and destroyed by air defense units on duty over the territory of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions.”

  • Ukraine’s navy said on Wednesday that 12 more vessels were ready to enter a Black Sea shipping corridor on their way towards Ukrainian ports, and that 10 other vessels were ready to depart from the country’s ports. Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk made his remarks as Ukraine tries to defy a de facto Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea after Moscow pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to safely export grain.

  • Ukrainian forces also apparently fired cluster munitions at several villages in Russia’s southern region of Bryansk, its governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on the Telegram messaging app. There were no casualties in the attacks, although several homes were damaged, he added.

  • A Russian court has sentenced the former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who burst into a news broadcast with a placard that read “Stop the war” and “They’re lying to you”, to eight and half years in jail in absentia on Wednesday. Ovsyannikova was found guilty of “spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces”, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram. Ovsyannikova, 45, fled Russia with her daughter for an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping from house arrest, according to her lawyer, saying she had no case to answer.

  • A fire broke out at the Rusal-owned Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter early on Wednesday, Russia’s Tass state news agency reports, citing local emergency ministry officials. “At 08.57am (1.57sm GMT) a fire was reported on the territory of the KrAZ (Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter),” the agency cited the officials as saying. “A transformer caught fire on an area of 50 sq metres (538 sq feet).” It was not immediately known what caused the fire. Rusal is the largest aluminium producer outside China.

  • Russia will conduct a nationwide test of its emergency public warning systems on Wednesday, blaring out sirens and interrupting television broadcasts to warn the population of an impending danger. The test, first conducted in 2020, is part of a new initiative that requires authorities to conduct tests twice a year, starting from 1 September, Reuters reports. It comes, though, amid the war in Ukraine which has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the west since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

  • A Ukraine “report card” by political group Defending Democracy Together’ rated the leading candidates for US House speaker from A to F on the strength of their past support for Ukraine aid, with A signifying the strongest support. Representative Steve Scalise, the No 2 House Republican, has long been favoured to take over as speaker after McCarthy, and received a B, a step up from McCarthy’s B-minus grade. However, hard-right Republican Matt Gaetz, who led the push to oust McCarthy and has said he would support Scalise, received an F.

My colleague Vivian Ho will be along shortly to continue bringing you the latest from Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Updated

Volodymyr Rafeyenko is a distinguished Ukrainian novelist. Ten years ago he wrote and published entirely in Russian. Born in Russian-speaking Donetsk, in the east of the country, he won literary awards for his work, including the prestigious Russian prize, given in Moscow.

In July 2014, Rafeyenko was forced to flee his home city after the Kremlin staged a covert takeover. He recalled standing in Donetsk’s central boulevard – named after the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin – as soldiers rolled in. “I saw a military column arrive. I understood that with my beliefs it was time to leave,” Rafeyenko said.

Vladimir Putin said he annexed Crimea and much of the Donbas region to “save” its Russophone population. The claim infuriates Rafeyenko. “It was an out and out lie, aimed at a western audience. My conscience began to hurt. I was 46 years old and didn’t know Ukrainian. I decided to learn it to a level where I could speak and write it.”

Rafeyenko moved to Kyiv leaving behind his job as a writer, literary critic, poet and scholar. “I began to study Ukrainian. It was a principled decision,” he said. Three and half years later, he published Mondegreen, his seventh book, and his first written in the Ukrainian language. His second Ukrainian novel, Petrichor, is out soon.

Ukraine’s navy said on Wednesday that 12 more vessels were ready to enter a Black Sea shipping corridor on their way towards Ukrainian ports, and that 10 other vessels were ready to depart from the country’s ports.

Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk made his remarks as Ukraine tries to defy a de facto Russian blockade on Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea after Moscow pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to safely export grain.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects a Leopard 2 tank
Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects a Leopard 2 tank as he visits a position of Ukrainian troops in a front line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

Updated

A Russian court has sentenced the former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who burst into a news broadcast with a placard that read “Stop the war” and “They’re lying to you”, to eight and half years in jail in absentia on Wednesday.

Ovsyannikova was found guilty of “spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces”, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram.

Ovsyannikova, 45, fled Russia with her daughter for an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping from house arrest, according to her lawyer, saying she had no case to answer.

Updated

A fire broke out at the Rusal-owned Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter early on Wednesday, Russia’s TASS state news agency reports, citing local emergency ministry officials.

“At 08.57am (1.57sm GMT) a fire was reported on the territory of the KrAZ (Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter),” the agency cited the officials as saying. “A transformer caught fire on an area of 50 square metres (538 square feet).”

It was not immediately known what caused the fire. Rusal is the largest aluminium producer outside China.

Russia will conduct a nationwide test of its emergency public warning systems on Wednesday, blaring out sirens and interrupting television broadcasts to warn the population of an impending danger.

The test, first conducted in 2020, is part of a new initiative that requires authorities to conduct tests twice a year, starting from 1 September, Reuters reports.

It comes, though, amid the war in Ukraine which has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the west since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

At 10.43am Moscow time (7.43am GMT), sirens will wail and stern announcements demanding “Attention everyone!” will alert the public, mimicking what would happen in a true disaster or catastrophe.

“When you hear the sound of a siren, you need to remain calm and not panic, turn on the TV – any publicly accessible channel or radio – and listen to the information message,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement.

“The warning system is designed to timely convey a signal to the population in the event of a threat or emergency of a natural or man-made nature.”

The US is also conducting a large-scale test of its public warning systems on Wednesday, via US mobile phones and TV and radio stations.

The purpose of the US test is to ensure that the systems “continue to be effective in alerting the public to emergencies, particularly at the national level”, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a press release.

Many other countries have also conducted alert system tests for crisis and disasters in recent years.

Updated

A Ukraine “report card” by political group Defending Democracy Together’ rated the leading candidates for US House speaker from A to F on the strength of their past support for Ukraine aid, with A signifying the strongest support.

Representative Steve Scalise, the No 2 House Republican, has long been favoured to take over as speaker after McCarthy, and received a B, a step up from McCarthy’s B-minus grade. However, hard-right Republican Matt Gaetz, who led the push to oust McCarthy and has said he would support Scalise, received an F.

House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan and hardline rising star Representative Byron Donalds also received Fs.

Representative Tom Emmer, the House Republican whip, got the highest rating, an A:

US aid for Kyiv in limbo amid search for new House speaker

Eyes are on the search for a new US house speaker as chaos in Washington puts further US aid in jeopardy.

Shortly before Republicans ousted House speaker Kevin McCarthy, likely putting a hold on any legislation being passed for further aid to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden called allies to reassure them of US support, and National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby warned “time is not on our side”.

New assistance for Ukraine was dropped from a deal in the US Congress to avoid a government shutdown on Saturday, amid opposition from hardline Republicans.

The next speaker could quash more Ukraine aid before a proposal reaches the House floor. And while some of McCarthy’s possible successors are strongly in favor of assisting Kyiv, others are staunchly opposed.

The search for a new speaker is expected to take three days, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned earlier on Tuesday that if fresh aid is not approved, existing funds to help Ukraine fight Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion will only last “a couple of months.”

“Time is not our friend,” Kirby told reporters. A lapse in funding would not only harm Ukraine on the battlefield but “make Putin believe that he can wait us out.”

Ukraine also fired cluster munitions at Bryansk villages, says governor

Ukrainian forces also apparently fired cluster munitions at several villages in Russia’s southern region of Bryansk, its governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no casualties in the attacks, although several homes were damaged, he added.

Neither the Guardian nor Reuters were able to verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from the government in Kyiv.

Ukraine has received cluster munitions from the United States and pledged to use them only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.

Russian officials in Bryansk and other regions bordering Ukraine have repeatedly accused Ukraine’s armed forces of indiscriminate shelling.

Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode can pose a danger for decades.

Updated

Buildings damaged in Belgorod, TASS reports governor as saying

Russia’s TASS news reports that 19 drones were shot down over Belgorod, but that “an administrative building in Belgorod, a house in the village of Shishino, Belgorod district, and three cars were damaged”, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The Guardian has not independently verified this claim

31 drones shot down over Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk overnight, says Russian Ministry of Defence

Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked three Russian regions overnight, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, which claimed to have shot down 31 unmanned aircraft in what it described as a ‘terrorist attack’.

The ministry wrote on Telegram:

On the night of October 4, the demands of the Kiev regime were suppressed and terrorist attacks were carried out on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation.

31 Ukrainian unmanned aircraft of the airplane type were intercepted and destroyed by air defense units on duty over the territory of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions.

The Guardian has not independently verified these claims.

Opening summary

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.

Our top story this morning: Dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked three Russian regions overnight, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, which claimed to have shot down 31 unmanned aircraft in what it described as a ‘terrorist attack’.

More shortly.

Elsewhere meanwhile:

  • A huge fire erupted at an oil pipeline in the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk on Saturday, injuring nine people, five of them critically, authorities said. The blaze near the village of Strymba caused an oil spill spanning 100 sq metres before it was extinguished. Footage shared on social media showed thick clouds of black smoke billowing out over the village. The cause of the rupture was not immediately clear, but local media outlets reported there had been a powerful explosion. The regional governor, Svitlana Onyshchuk, said two children and three adults were in critical condition with numerous burns.

  • A Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday in the southern Russian region of Bryansk injured one person and damaged windows and the roof of an administrative building, the region’s governor said. Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram the incident occurred in Trubchevsk town. He earlier said a village in the region had been shelled by Ukrainian forces, damaging three homes.

  • Ukraine signed 20 agreements and memorandums with foreign partners on the manufacture of drones and the repair and production of armoured vehicles and ammunition at the first international Defence Industries Forum, which Kyiv organised with international producers. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he wanted to turn Ukraine’s defence industry into a “large military hub”, also announcing the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance.

  • The UK’s new defence secretary says he has held talks with army leaders about deploying British troops within Ukraine for the first time for a training program. Grant Shapps, who met Zelenskiy for talks in Kyiv this week, said the proposal being discussed would reduce the reliance on the UK and other Nato members’ bases.

  • Nato member Romania reported possible violations of its airspace during overnight drone attacks by Russia on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine. “Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border,” residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted, the defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “The radar surveillance system … indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace.” The ministry said no objects so far appeared to have fallen on Romanian territory but the search would continue.

  • Vladimir Putin has signed a decree marking Saturday 30 September as “Reunification Day”, commemorating Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In a video address the Russian president said their “accession” to the Russian Federation a year ago was “a defining, truly historic and life-changing event”.

  • Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev marked the anniversary by suggesting Russia may annex more of Ukraine. “Victory will be ours. And there will be more new regions within Russia,” said Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia’s security council.

  • The Ukrainian air force shot down Iranian kamikaze drones overnight on Friday, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said. In conjunction with anti-air defences, Ukrainian forces destroyed 30 Shahed drones within the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia regions.

  • Russia has been recruiting struggling Cubans to fight in Ukraine. The Havana government, a longstanding ally of Russia which says it is “not part” of the war, arrested 17 people last month in connection with a people-trafficking ring that lured Cubans to fight for Moscow. But a Reuters investigation has found recruits who volunteered to go to Russia to work for the military following overtures on social media from a recruiter.

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