A summary of today's developments
Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had captured 594 Russian servicemen during its operation in the Kursk region. Ukraine has also captured 100 settlements during its three-week long incursion, he said. Moscow’s troops were trying to counterattack in the area and encircle Kyiv’s forces, but those attempts were being repelled, he added.
A fifth person has died following Russia’s overnight strikes on Ukraine.
According to the regional head of administration for Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Fedorov, an elderly woman has since died in hospital after suffering “severe burns”. Along with the three people that died in Zaporizhzhia, another two people were killed after strikes in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said after visiting Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant today that there was a risk of a “nuclear incident,” Reuters reported. Grossi said the situation was serious.
In a press conference today, Volodymyr Zelenskiy revealed that Ukraine had tested its first domestically-produced ballistic missile. He also said that Ukraine had the ability to produce 1.5-2m drones this year, but currently lacks the funding to do so.
Zelenskiy said that his military deployed western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to down Russian drones and missiles fired in recent attacks, AFP reports.
A fifth person has died following Russia’s overnight strikes on Ukraine.
According to the regional head of administration for Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Fedorov, an elderly woman has since died in hospital after suffering “severe burns”.
Fedorov said: “Doctors fought for her life for several hours, but could not save her.”
Along with the three people that died in Zaporizhzhia, another two people were killed after strikes in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.
Here is footage of rescuers looking for people after the strike on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih killed two people and injured five.
Another two people were killed and four injured in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg will convene a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council on Wednesday at Ukraine’s request, a spokesperson said.
“The meeting will be held at ambassadorial level,” said the spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah.
“Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov is expected to brief allies via video-link on the battlefield situation and priority capability needs,” she added.
Ambassadors from NATO’s member countries and Ukrainian officials normally attend meetings of the council.
“Tomorrow’s meeting comes after recent waves of heavy Russian strikes against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure,” Dakhlallah added.
“NATO allies have delivered substantial support to Ukraine’s air defence and they are committed to further bolstering Ukraine’s defences.”
Updated
Ukraine has said it wants the next peace summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine to be held in a country of the global south, according to AFP.
Leaders and top officials from more than 90 states gathered in Switzerland in June for a first summit organised by Ukraine, held without Russia or China.
“We would like for the second summit to be held in one of the countries of the Global South,” Andriy Yermak, head of the president’s office, said at a forum in Kyiv.
The global south refers to countries and blocs outside Europe and North America, whose foreign policy interests are generally not fully aligned with either Kyiv or Moscow.
Kyiv’s announcement comes a few days after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visited Kyiv, where he advocated for peace.
There has been little in the way of updates on the situation in Belgorod this afternoon, after it was reported earlier today that Ukraine had launched an attack on the Russian border region that sits next to Kursk.
Belgorod governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov said this morning that Ukraine appeared to attempting to break through the border. In a Telegram post about an hour ago he said:
“Shebekino and Novaya Tavolzhanka came under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Initially, there were no casualties.
“In the city of Shebekino, as a result of shelling, the roof of a private house caught fire – fire crews began extinguishing it. In another 8 private households, windows, facades, outbuildings and roofs were damaged. The power line in one of the houses was cut. 2 cars were also damaged.
“In the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, after a direct shell hit on the territory of a private household, an outbuilding caught fire – the fire was promptly extinguished. Information about the consequences is being clarified. The administration and operational services continue their rounds.”
The post was accompanied with photos purporting to show the damage. The Guardian could not independently verify the claims or the photos.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has claimed some Russian military units are experiencing water shortages, citing “pro-Russian sources”.
In a video posted to X, the MoD said Russian pilots are restricted to one litre of water a day and said some had been forced to filter drinking water from puddles. The video said shortages were likely caused by Russian attacks on infrastructure, but did not provide any further details about the shortages, or the units impacted.
🚱 Russian units are running out of water in Ukraine. #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/4Xzokx5rbH
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 27, 2024
Russia’s foreign minister has warned the US that the Third World War would not be confined to Europe, Reuters reports.
Sergei Lavrov said that the west was seeking to escalate the Ukraine war and was “asking for trouble” by considering Ukrainian requests to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.
Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much broader war involving the world’s biggest nuclear powers, though he has said Russia does not want a conflict with the US-led NATO alliance.
“We are now confirming once again that playing with fire – and they are like small children playing with matches – is a very dangerous thing for grown-up uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another western country,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.
“Americans unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that, God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively,” Lavrov said. Lavrov added that Russia was “clarifying” its nuclear doctrine.
AFP provides further quotes from IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, who earlier visited Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant.
Grossi said his tour enabled him to “look at the most important parts” of the plant, which is less than 30 miles from fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“A nuclear power plant of this type so close to a point of contact or military front is an extremely serious fact,” Grossi said after visiting the plant.
“The fact we have military activity a few kilometres, a few miles away from here, make it an immediate point of attention,” he added.
“At the end of the day, again, this may sound common sense and simple: Don’t attack a nuclear power plant.”
He said he was in “close contact” with Russian authorities and would visit Kyiv next week to talk to Ukrainian resident Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding it was “important to talk” and “keep dialogue”.
He added the power plant currently was “operating in very close to normal conditions”.
Ukraine used western-supplied F-16 jets to repel air attacks – Zelenskiy
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his military deployed western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to down Russian drones and missiles fired in recent attacks, AFP reports.
Zelenskiy announced earlier this month that Ukraine had received the first batch of the fighter jets promised by western countries, declining to say how many had been delivered.
“We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16,” Zelenskiy said in English at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday without elaborating.
He said at the press conference that Ukraine still needed more of the jets. In May, he told the AFP news agency that Kyiv needed at least 120 to achieve “parity” with Russia.
Ukraine’s Paralympic fencer, Artem Manko told AFP that a strong medal haul for his country at the Paris Paralympics would be a boost for disabled veterans back home.
The 25-year-old, who won fencing silver at the last Paralympics, said previous impressive medal hauls have raised respect for disabled people in Ukraine to the highest level it has ever been. Ukraine finished third in the medals table at Rio 2016 and sixth at Tokyo 2020.
“It not only helps boost morale back home, it helps disability in society,” Manko told AFP by phone from his training camp. “After the last Paralympics, Ukraine got so many medals we inspired the nation and I think we are now at the highest level of disability acceptance.
“That is really important right now as there are a lot of injured soldiers without legs, hands and in wheelchairs.
“It is hugely important for them to feel disabled people are accepted in society.”
Updated
Library books are piled in the street, waiting to be removed in a truck. Two men across the road take down a supermarket sign. The modern grocery store shut a couple of weeks ago. Half a mile away an evacuation train waits to depart. People crowd on to the platform and outside the station, preparing to flee.
Pokrovsk, a mining city in eastern Ukraine, is packing up fast. The Russians are 7 miles (11km) away, already close enough for the city to be struck, after a remorseless advance that has taken the invaders close to a place that had been considered safe. Fearing the worst, Ukrainian officials have given people two weeks to leave.
Read the Guardian’s report from Pokrovsk, where residents are bundling their lives into bags and fleeing as Russia advances and Ukrainian officials gave people in the city two weeks to leave:
The White House has condemned a Russian missile attack that injured Reuters journalists and killed a safety adviser for the news agency.
“Over the weekend, Russia attacked a hotel in Ukraine in a missile strike, injuring multiple journalists and killing one. We condemn this attack in the strongest of terms and extend our deepest condolences to Reuters on the loss of one of their own,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett wrote.
Over the weekend, Russia attacked a hotel in Ukraine in a missile strike, injuring multiple journalists and killing one. We condemn this attack in the strongest of terms and extend our deepest condolences to @Reuters on the loss of one of their own. https://t.co/TmUB8Z92iI
— Sean Savett (@NSC_Spox) August 27, 2024
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of the Ukrainian armed forces, said today that Ukraine’s troops control nearly 1,300 square kilometres of Russia’s Kursk region, the Associated Press reported.
“The enemy drags troops from other directions, in such way weakening them; They attempt to create a ring of defense around our offensive group of troops and plan counter-offensive actions,” Syrskyi said, speaking of the situation in the Kursk region.
Updated
IAEA chief warns of risk in Kursk region
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said after visiting Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant today that there was a risk of a “nuclear incident,” Reuters reported.
Grossi said the situation was serious.
Updated
Ukraine tests first domestically-produced ballistic missile
In a press conference today, Volodymyr Zelenskiy revealed that Ukraine had tested its first domestically-produced ballistic missile.
He also said that Ukraine had the ability to produce 1.5-2m drones this year, but currently lacks the funding to do so.
In further comments, reported by Reuters, he said that the war with Russia would eventually end through dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a powerful position at a summit that it hopes to convene this year to advance its vision of peace.
Updated
The number of people killed by Russia’s overnight air attack on Ukraine is now five, according to Reuters.
Two people were killed when a hotel was “wiped out” by a missile in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. Three died in drone attacks on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Separately, a child was killed in a drone attack on the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Polohy, which is also in the Zaporizhzhia region. The Russian official said the child was killed and four family members were injured on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Reuters could not independently verify the report and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine plans to present a plan on how to end the war with Russia to the Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
Apart from the incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the plan, the Ukrainian leader told a news conference in Kyiv today, included more steps on the diplomatic and economic fronts. He would also present the plan to US president Joe Biden, he said.
Air raid sirens heard near nuclear plant in Russia's Kursk region
A witness has reported hearing air raid sirens near the nuclear power plant in Kurchatov a Russian town in Kursk, Reuters reports.
Air raid sirens went off briefly on Tuesday afternoon, indicating a missile threat, a Reuters reporter said.
UN nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi is currently on an inspection tour of the plant
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Russia reported drone fragments located roughly 100 metres from the plant’s spent fuel nuclear storage facility as Ukraine continues its offensive into Russian territory.
Updated
Ukraine has captured 100 settlements, almost 600 servicemen in Kursk incursion
Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had captured 594 Russian servicemen during its operation in the Kursk region, disclosing that figure for the first time.
Ukraine has also captured 100 settlements during its three-week long incursion, he said. Moscow’s troops were trying to counterattack in the area and encircle Kyiv’s forces, but those attempts were being repelled, he added. The Guardian could not independently verify the figures provided by Syrskyi.
He said that one of the objectives of the Kursk operation was to divert Russian forces from other areas, primarily away from Pokrovsk and Kurakhove. “The Kursk operation diverted a significant number of its forces,” he said, noting that Russian troops had been drawn from Ukraine’s south. “As of now, we can say that around 30,000 servicemen have been sent to the Kursk front and this figure is growing.”
On Pokrovsk, a coal mining city that has strategic military value as a transport hub that Russia has been advancing on recently, Syrskyi said Russia was trying to disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines to the front. “The situation on the Pokrovsk front is fairly difficult ... the enemy is using its advantage in personnel, weapons and military equipment, it is actively using artillery and aviation,” he said.
Updated
The relationship between Russia and France is at its “lowest” level following the arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov in Paris over the weekend, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said, Reuters reports.
Durov, a Russian-born billionaire who also reportedly holds passports for France and the UAE, was arrested in France on Saturday as part of an investigation into crimes related to images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the messaging platform, French prosecutors said. Telegram has been widely used by both sides of the Ukraine conflict to disseminate information.
Lavrov also accused Ukraine of blackmailing the West by demanding powers allow it to strike deep into Russia. In further sabre rattling comments, Lavrov said that Russia was “adjusting” its nuclear weapons doctrine, and that it was dangerous for Western nuclear powers to be “playing with fire”.
Updated
The Guardian’s video team has put together a report on the overnight attacks on Ukraine that struck a hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rih.
The strike, part of a large-scale overnight air attack on Ukraine, killed two people and injured five, while another two people were killed and four injured in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told Russian president Vladimir Putin that he supports a swift end to the conflict in Ukraine after visiting the war-hit country, AFP reports.
Modi has struck a delicate balance between maintaining India’s historically warm ties with Russia while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.
Delhi has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.
I a post on X, Modi said he had “exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict” with Putin and shared “my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine”, in a post on social media.
Spoke with President Putin today. Discussed measures to further strengthen Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. Exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine. Reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an early,…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 27, 2024
Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that “no problem should be solved on the battlefield.”
Ukraine’s top commander said that Kyiv’s forces were still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, Reuters reports. But General Oleksandr Syrskyi also warned that Moscow was building up its forces on the eastern Pokrovsk front, where Russian troops have been advancing inside Ukraine.
Syrskyi said in remarks by video link that were broadcast on Ukrainian television that Russia was trying to disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines to the Pokrovsk front. He described the overall situation there as difficult.
Updated
Russia’s FSB security service said it opened a criminal case against two foreign journalists who illegally crossed the Russian border to report from the Kursk region after a Ukrainian incursion, Reuters reports, citing the Russian Interfax news agency.
Interfax said the journalists included a reporter for German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and a correspondent for Ukraine’s 1+1 TV channel.
The FSB has now brought criminal cases against at least seven foreign journalists who have reported from Kursk.
Here’s a map of Russia’s strikes against Ukraine over 26 and 27 August:
You can read more detail about the latest wave of attacks in this piece from the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent, Shaun Walker:
Updated
Ukraine has not seen any sign of Belarusian personnel and equipment moving near its border but is aware of potential threats, Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko said.
“We ... do not record the movement of equipment or personnel ... in close proximity to the border, but this direction in general still remains a threat to us,” Demchenko said on national television in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
His statement came two days after Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on Belarus to pull back what it described as significant levels of Belarusian forces and equipment deployed at their shared frontier.
Russia’s ministry of defence said its forces had captured the village of Orlivka in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports citing Russia’s state news agency TASS.
Ukraine and Russia have fought over Orlivka since the fall of Avdiivka to Russian forces in February. Orlivka is about six miles from the city of Avdiivka.
The Guardian could not independently verify the report.
A senior ally of Vladimir Putin has accused the US of being involved in the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France, though he provided no evidence for the claim, Reuters reports.
Durov, a Russian-born billionaire, was arrested in France over the weekend as part of an investigation into crimes related to images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the messaging platform, French prosecutors said. A spokesperson said Durov’s detention had been extended by up to 48 hours late yesterday.
The messaging platform, which analysts have described as a virtual battlefield, has been heavily used by both sides of the war in Ukraine.
Without providing evidence, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said the US, through France, was attempting to exert control over the messaging platform.
“Telegram is one of the few and at the same time the largest Internet platform over which the United States has no influence,” Volodin said in a post. “On the eve of the US presidential election, it is important for Biden to take Telegram under control.”
The White House did not immediately comment on Durov’s arrest. You can read more about Telegram and Durov’s arrest, here:
There are unconfirmed reports, coming from Russian sources, of Ukrainian attempts to make incursions into Russia at two locations in Belgorod region.
The Mash channel claimed fighting was underway at two border points, Nekhoteyevka and Shebekino, in Belgorod region, which borders the Kursk region where Ukrainian troops launched a surprise attack and took control of territory earlier this month. Shot, another Russian channel, said there had been no attack at Shebekino, but that Ukrainian forces had attacked the border post at Nekhoteyvka, adding that Russian forces repelled the attack.
There was no immediate confirmation of fighting at either location, and Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the reports. The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram that the situation on the border was “difficult, but under control”, noting in a post on Telegram that there is “information that the enemy is trying to break through the border of the Belgorod region”.
Gladkov did not say whether the reports were true, but added: “Our military is carrying out planned work. Please remain calm and trust only official sources of information.”
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday that Ukraine needs an extra $15bn (£11bn) to cover its budget deficit in 2025.
Shmyhal said the government planned tax increases and more borrowing on the domestic debt market to raise additional funds for its war against Russia. Parliament is due to debate these proposals in September.
Ukraine has received about $100bn of financial support from its partners since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he added.
China is calling for more countries to endorse its peace plan for Ukraine, after a round of diplomacy with Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa to support its plan, AP reports.
China’s Special Representative on Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui called the three countries representative of the Global South and “important forces in promoting world peace” who share similar positions with China.
China and Brazil issued a joint peace plan earlier this year that calls for a peace conference with both Ukraine and Russia and no expansion of the battlefield.
China and Russia were absent from a peace summit hosted in Switzerland and attended by Western powers in June. Russia was not invited while China chose not to attend.
Initially, Ukraine said China had pressured other countries to not attend the Switzerland peace summit. But since then, Ukraine has recognised China’s role in a peace process, given its close relationship with Russia. The Ukrainian foreign minister paid a visit to the country in July, the first since the war began.
In his remarks, Li noted Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia and blamed the West for its support of Ukraine.
Belgorod Oblast governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that “information has appeared that the enemy is trying to break through the border.”
“According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the situation at the border remains difficult, but controllable,” his post read. “Our military is carrying out planned work. Please remain calm and trust only official sources of information.”
Gladkov also said Ukraine attacked the region with more than 20 drones in the last 24 hours.
AFP provides some more detail on the International Atomic Energy Agency chief’s visit to the Russian nuclear power plant in the Kursk region.
The plant lies some 60 kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border, next to the Seym river, and less than 50 kilometres away from Kursk city, the region’s capital with a population of around 440,000.
The plant has four reactor units though only two are operational and two more reactors are under construction. All four reactors are the same type as Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, without a protecting dome around them.
Tariq Rauf, a former IAEA official, said these types of reactors have undergone “significant safety upgrades” since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
Robert Kelley, a former IAEA director of inspections, said: “The possibility of a Chernobyl-type incident with the reactor blowing up and burning for days is zero.”
But he added that an errant bomb or large artillery strike on spent fuel storage ponds could damage the fuel and release radioactive gases and particles.
Updated
In a post on X, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy sent condolences to the relatives of those killed and injured in Russia’s overnight attacks. He also posted a video that appeared to show victims being pulled from the rubble by first responders.
“Rescue operations are ongoing at the sites of strikes and falling debris in the regions of Ukraine that were attacked by Russia last night. All services are on the ground, and the rubble is being cleared,” his post read.
“Unfortunately, despite the effective work of our air defense, 4 people were killed and 16 were injured. My condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.
“In total, the enemy used over 90 aerial targets against civilians and infrastructure: 81 Shahed drones, as well as cruise, ballistic, and air-launched ballistics missiles.
“We will undoubtedly respond to Russia for this and all other attacks. Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.”
Rescue operations are ongoing at the sites of strikes and falling debris in the regions of Ukraine that were attacked by Russia last night. All services are on the ground, and the rubble is being cleared.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 27, 2024
Unfortunately, despite the effective work of our air defense, 4 people… pic.twitter.com/IJ6uQx6mpy
Ukraine forces attempt to break through border in Belgorod region
Ukrainian forces are attempting to punch through the Russian border into the southern Belgorod region, and fighting is ongoing, Russian Telegram channels said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The Mash Telegram channel said roughly 500 Ukrainian troops were attacking two checkpoints at Nekhoteyevka and Shebekino in Belgorod, and battles were raging in both areas.
Belgorod borders the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have seized Russian territory since staging a lightning incursion on 6 August.
Updated
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi is today visiting Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant near the town of Kurchatov, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported.
Last week, the IAEA said Russia reported drone fragments located roughly 100 metres from the plant’s spent fuel nuclear storage facility as Ukraine continues its offensive into Russian territory.
The IAEA confirmed Grossi’s visit last week, saying: “During his visit, Director General Grossi will assess the situation on site and discuss modalities for further activities as may be needed to evaluate the nuclear safety and security conditions of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.”
“Military activity in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant is a serious risk to nuclear safety and security. My visit to KNPP next week will provide us with timely access to independently assess the situation,” Director General Grossi said.
Russia launches new barrage of air attacks overnight
At least four more people were killed overnight in Ukraine by Russian attacks, AFP reports, two in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and two in the central city of Kryvyi Rig after a missile struck a hotel. Two more were missing in Kryvyi Rig, “likely under the rubble”, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said in a post on Telegram.
Ukrainian authorities issued new air raid alerts across the country on Tuesday as Russian bombers took to the skies, a day after Moscow carried out a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s power grid.
Ukraine’s air force confirmed early Tuesday the “takeoff of several Tu-95MS [bombers] from the Engels airfield” in western Russia, prompting air raid alerts across the country.
Updated
Opening summary
Ukraine’s air defence systems were activated early on Tuesday to repel a further Russian drone attack, the military administration of the Kyiv region said. Ukraine shot down five missiles and 60 drones launched by Russia during an overnight attack, the Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday. Russia launched 10 missiles and 81 drones during the assault, the air force added in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
It comes after Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, killing at least seven people and battering the already weakened energy grid. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, responded to Monday’s attack with a familiar call to western allies to provide more by way of air defence support and lift restrictions on using western weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. “We could do much more to protect lives if the aviation of our European neighbours worked together with our F-16s and together with our air defence,” he said.
“Ukraine cannot be constrained in its long-range capabilities when the terrorists face no such limitations,” Zelenskiy said, adding: “America, Britain, France, and our other partners have the power to help us stop this terror. The time for decisive action is now.” Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said the attack showed that Kyiv needed permission to strike “deep into the territory of Russia with western weapons”.
The commander of the Ukrainian air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, said Russia launched 127 missiles at Ukraine on Monday, of which 102 were intercepted. He added that Russian forces had also launched 109 drones. The prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said 15 regions had sustained damage during the strikes, and Zelenskiy said the energy sector had suffered “a lot of damage”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said a hydropower plant in the Kyiv region had been targeted. A video posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed a damaged dam and a fire after an apparent strike at a plant. A separate clip, also verified, showed a missile hitting a water reservoir. Targeting hydroelectric dams and reservoirs is a war crime under the Geneva conventions, even if a military objective is behind the attack. The Russian defence ministry confirmed it hit energy facilities in a statement, claiming that they were being used to aid Ukraine’s “military-production complex” and that “all designated targets were hit”.
Joe Biden denounced the attack on Ukraine as “outrageous”. “I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s continued war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness,” said the US president.
Among the casualties of the Russian barrage, at least one person died and five could still be under the rubble after a missile struck a civilian infrastructure building in the city of Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, regional officials said. Four people were hospitalised. Serhiy Lisak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region where Kryvyi Rih is located, said the building was “wiped out”.
Nato member Poland said it was searching for a Russian drone after its airspace was violated. What was “probably an unmanned aerial vehicle” came around 30km (18 miles) into Polish territory during the barrage against Ukraine. “The object was confirmed by at least three radiolocation stations,” said Gen Maciej Klisz, operational commander of the armed forces. Army command spokesman Jacek Goryszewski said “it is highly likely that it could have been a Shahed-type drone” of Iranian design, used by the Russian army. “But this has to be verified,” he said, adding that it might have flown back out of Polish territory.
Russia said on Monday it had struck Ukrainian forces at more than a dozen places along the front in the Kursk region of western Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that his forces had advanced up to three kilometres (1.86 miles) in Kursk, taking control of two more settlements.
In Ukraine’s Donbas region, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the military would “further strengthen” the direction of the eastern strategic hub of Pokrovsk which Russian forces are throwing everything into capturing. Zelenskiy said he was briefed by his army chief on the situation there.
One person died and six others were injured in a fire at an oil refinery in the Siberian city of Omsk on Monday, said the regional governor, Vitaly Khotsenko. Authorities did not specify the source of the fire. Russian media reported that loud explosions were heard near the refinery, operated by Gazprom and about 2,300km from Ukraine. Ukraine regularly carries out drone attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in Russia, sometimes far from its border.
Russia stayed away as Switzerland hosted UN security council members in Geneva on Monday to commemorate the Geneva conventions, signed 75 years ago after the second world war to limit the barbarity of war. Russia was the only security council member absent – its UN envoy in New York called the meeting a “waste of time”.
Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey, a journalist for Reuters, remained in a critical condition after a missile strike on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency said on Monday. Lyubysh-Kirdey was part of a team of six from Reuters covering the war staying at the Hotel Sapphire when it was hit on Saturday. Ryan Evans, a safety adviser for the agency, was killed. One other Reuters journalist, Daniel Peleschuk, was injured while the other three team members were accounted for, according to the agency.
