Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin official killed in Kherson car bomb as Kyiv gains ground near Bakhmut

An official of Vladimir Putin’s party has been killed in a car explosion in the Ukaine’s Kherson on Saturday, the regional governor has said.

Vladimir Malov, executive secretary of of Russia‘s governing United Russia party in Nova Kakhovka, died in hospital, Vladimir Saldo said in a post on his Telegram channel.

He said it had been a “terrorist attack”, meaning one orchestrated by Ukraine.

“The law enforcement officers will do everything necessary to punish the perpetrators of the crime,” Mr Saldo posted on Telegram.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have gained ground near Bakhmut as Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia’s strike on a funeral service “inhuman” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism”.

According to the latest report from The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian military sources reported a successful offensive south of Bakhmut near Andriivka and advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 6 October.

It comes after a village where a Russian missile killed at least 52 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in the war had no military targets, according to Ukraine’s defence minister.

Key Points

• Car bomb kills Putin official in Russian-held Ukrainian town

• Boy, 10, killed and dozens injured as Russian rocket strikes Kharkiv

• Russian missile strike on Ukraine village kills over 50 during memorial service

• Ukraine gains ground in counteroffensive near Bakhmut

• Putin deliberately attacked civilians in Kharkiv strike, says Zelensky

Israeli PM Netanyahu speaks to Ukraine’s Zelensky on Sunday

15:50 , Nick Ferris

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday spoke with the leaders of Germany, Ukraine, Italy and Britain on Sunday.

Leaders of all four countries expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself “as much as it takes,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

Ukraine’s relations with Israel have been tense since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022.

Although Irael has sent tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel’s President Netanyahu has consistently refused to supply weapons to Kyiv.

Israel, a major US partner, has some of the closest ties with Russia among countries politically aligned with the West.

Two Ukrainian women among those killed in Israel

15:10 , Nick Ferris

Two Ukrainian women were among those killed in Israel after Hamas invaded the country on Saturday, the Ukrainian embassy has told news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

The identities of the two women have not been confirmed, but officials said the women had lived in Israel for a long time.

“The Embassy of Ukraine received confirmation from the Israeli police regarding the death of two Ukrainian citizens”, said the embassy in a statement on Sunday.

“Measures are being taken to organise the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased. There is currently no information on the presence of Ukrainian citizens among the wounded or missing.”

The expat community of Ukrainians in Israe is estimated to stand at around 500,000 people, according to the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

Ukrainian soldiers bid farewell to their partners before heading to frontline today

14:55 , Nick Ferris

ICYMI: Ukraine’s armed forces claim 580 Russian troops killed in 24H

14:40 , Nick Ferris

Ukraine’s armed forces claim that around 580 Russian troops have been killed during fighting over the last day.

Posting its latest overnight summary of casualties, the Ukrainian military claims Russia has suffered 282,280 losses since the war began in February last year.

The figures yet to be independently verified and are still being updated.

Record number of Russian drone attacks expected this winter, says Ukraine

14:25 , Nick Ferris

Ukraine‘s air force expects a record number of Russian drone attacks on its soil this winter, its spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said on Sunday, as Kyiv girds for a second winter of mass bombardment of its energy facilities.

Ihnat said that data for September showed the use by Russia of Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones would smash last year’s figure.

“This autumn and winter ... is already a record in terms of the number of Shahed drones. Over 500 (were used) in September,” Ihnat said in an interview on national television.

He contrasted this number with Russia’s air strike campaign on Ukraine last winter, when he said about 1,000 Shahed drones were used in six months.

Russia is seeking to return to UN rights body

14:10 , Nick Ferris

Russia will attempt to return to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, after being ousted when the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The UN General Assembly is set to elect 15 new members to the Geneva-based UN body, for terms running from 2024 to 2026.

Moscow’s candidacy has drawn criticism, and comes days after a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian village of Groza killed more than 50 people.

“We hope UN members will firmly reject (Russia’s) preposterous candidacy,” a State Department spokesperson told AFP.

Some of Ukraine’s 19,000 amputee soldiers take part in Spartan races in Kyiv on Saturday

13:55 , Nick Ferris

Violence between Hamas and Israel is useful for Russia, says Poland’s president

13:40 , Nick Ferris

The current violence between Hamas and Israel is useful for Russia in diverting the world’s attention, says Polish president Andrzej Duda.

In an interview with private broadcaster Polsat News on Sunday, Duda said that conflict distracts international scrutiny away from Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine, and may also result in new migration pressures on Europe.

“It certainly benefits Russia and Russian aggression against Ukraine. It distracts the world’s attention,” Duda said.

He added: “We will likely have another wave of migrants from the Middle East, which will hit Europe... Our security, protection of Poland’s borders of course, also the borders of the European Union and the Schengen zone, becomes even more important.”

Poland has been a leading supporter of Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022, and has sheltered more than a million Ukrainian refugees.

Leading Ukrainian folk singer, Nina Matviienko, dies aged of 75

13:25 , Nick Ferris

Matviienko became a star in her country as the lead soloist in the Ukrainian State Folk Choir from 1966 to 1991.

She toured the world singing folk songs, performing in countries such as the US, France, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Finland

Her daughter, Tonya Matvienko, announced the news by posting a portrait of her mother on instagram with the caption “mom is dead”.

Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev calls for a civil war in the US

13:10 , Nick Ferris

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former leader, has called for a civil war in the US in order to stop the country causing more conflicts.

Medvedev said that a civil war would be the only thing that would stop “America’s manic passion for sparking conflicts everywhere on the planet”.

Medvedev added that Hamas’ surprise invasion of Israel is an “expected development”, given US involvement in the region.

“This is what Washington and its allies should be busy with”, he added. “The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for decades, with the US the key player in it.”

Train traffic between North Korea and Russia ‘dramatically increases’ following summit

12:50 , Nick Ferris

Train traffic between North Korea and Russia has “dramatically increased”, suggesting a “likely” transfer of arms, according to a new report by the Beyond Parallel group, who are Washington-based analysts.

Satellite imagery reveals at least 70 freight cars at North Korea’s border Tumangang rail facility, which is a number described as “unprecedented”.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un met for a summit in Russia’s far East in September, where Kim offered his firm support for the Kremlin’s “sacred fight” against the “hegemonic forces” that oppose it.

ICYMI: Footage from inside Kharkiv apartment captures aftermath of deadly strike

12:35 , Nick Ferris

Terrifying footage posted on Telegram on Friday shows the aftermath of a blast in Kharkiv, Ukraine, filmed from inside an apartment.

Finland’s only natural gas source is shut down due to leak

12:15 , Nick Ferris

Finland’s only source of natural gas has been shut down after a suspected leak in the pipeline from Estonia, according to AFP.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Finland ended Russian gas imports in May 2022, leaving it totally reliant on the Balticconnector pipeline to Estonia for gas supplies.

“Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement. “The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped.”

Russia stopped supplying gas after Finland refused to pay in rubles, which was a condition imposed as a way to sidestep Western financial sanctions.

Four people injured in early morning rocket attack in Donetsk

11:55 , Nick Ferris

Four people - including a nine-year-old girl - have been injured in rocket attack on Konstantinivka this morning, according to the acting governor of Donetsk.

Ihor Moroz said that 19 homes, 10 multi-storey buildings, a gas pipeline and a car were all damaged in the strike. He said that injuries reported had however been minor, and had been treated.

Moroz added that Konstantinivka – an eastern Ukrainian city close to the front line – was “constantly experiencing enemy shelling”.

“It is dangerous to stay in the city! I call on everyone: be responsible! Evacuate!” he said on Facebook.

ICYMI: Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike: ‘Everything was burning’

11:40 , Nick Ferris

Every family in Ukraine’s northeastern village of Hroza was affected after a missile strike killed 52 people on Thursday, obliterating a sixth of the local population, say locals.

However, it may take several months before DNA analysis can identify the majority of the remains. For now, the names are scrawled on cardboard or white plastic squares, and strings mark the boundaries of the fresh graves.

Read more about what has happened in Hroza below.

Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike

Denmark to restart ammunition production after 55 years

11:25 , Nick Ferris

Denmark’s defence ministry has said the country will re-start ammunition production after a 55-year gap to ensure it can maintain domestic supplies.

The ministry said in a statement on Saturday it had entered into an agreement to buy a mothballed arms factory in the northwest of the country, which was previously used as Denmark’s only ammo supplier from its establishment in 1676 until 1968.

The ministry is to pay 19.6 million Danish crowns ($2.8 million) to buy back the plant in Elling in North Jutland that it sold for 18 million crowns in 2008, news agency Ritzau said, citing Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

“Ammunition production in Europe is under severe pressure, and we should also try to find solutions in Denmark to contribute where we can based on Danish needs,” Lund Poulsen said in the statement.

Russia should postpone next year’s election, says Kadyrov

11:10 , Nick Ferris

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s Chechnya region, proposed on Saturday that a presidential election due next March should either be postponed due to the war in Ukraine or limited to one candidate: Putin.

Putin, who turned 71 on Saturday, has said he will not announce if he will run before parliament calls the election, which by law it is due to do in December.

The state-run RIA news agency said Kadyrov had spoken at a rally in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny to mark Putin’s birthday.

Russia and Ukraine take different stances on Israel-Palestine conflict

10:50 , Nick Ferris

Ukraine’s relations with Israel have been tense since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. Although Irael has sent tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel’s President Netanyahu has consistently refused to supply weapons to Kyiv.

Israel, a major U.S. partner, has some of the closest ties with Russia among countries politically aligned with the West.

Nevertheless, President Zelenskiy has offered his full support to Israel as the country fights back against a surprise assault from Hamas, which has so far killed more than 200 people.

“Let the value of human life and the intolerance of terror be the principles that will finally unite the whole world,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

“Wherever they aim their missiles and whomever they attack, terrorists must lose. And this is important for the whole world.”

In a much more restrained message than Ukraine, Russia called on both Palestine and Israel to “implement an immediate ceasefire” and said it was in contact with Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries over the violence.

Kherson experiences a ‘terrible night’, says governor

10:24 , Nick Ferris

Russia’s barrage of airstrikes and shelling led to a ‘terrible night’ in the southern Ukrainian region Kherson, said the region’s governor on Sunday morning.

A dozen people were wounded in the attack, including a 27-year-old woman and her 9-month-old baby.

“The Kherson region experienced another terrible night,” Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces carried out 59 attacks on Kherson, the region’s administration said on Telegram, including 19 instances of shelling of Kherson city, the region’s administrative centre.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Ministry of Defence latest

09:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Today’s Ministry of Defence update is focused on the Velyka Novosilka sector, west of the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar, which “has become relatively quiet over the last four weeks” due to Ukraine’s effort to liberate “at least 125 square kilometres of territory on this axis” over the summer.

Kremlin ‘exploiting’ Hamas attacks in Israel- ISW

09:04 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin is “exploiting” the Hamas attacks in Israel by “blaming the West for neglecting conflicts in the Middle East in favor of supporting Ukraine,” the Institute for War (ISW) has said.

In analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the ISW said: “The Kremlin is already and will likely continue to exploit the Hamas attacks in Israel to advance several information operations intended to reduce US and Western support and attention to Ukraine.”

It comes after deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev claimed the United States and its allies should have been “busy with” working on “Palestinian-Israeli settlement” rather than “interfering” with Russia and providing Ukraine with military aid.

Why two of the EU’s biggest political headaches aren’t going away any time soon

08:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

European leaders came together to pick through the thorny issues of migration and how quickly Ukraine should be welcomed into the EU, writes Chris Stevenson. But divisions between nations mean progress will be hard won:

A summit in Granada was supposed to be a chance for Europe to gain some clarity about two major issues – how to tackle migration and what to do about welcoming war-ravaged Ukraine and other nations into the EU.

On Thursday, the European Political Community (EPC) met, with 44 heads of state or government coming together from across the continent. It included the EU member states as well as countries like the UK and Ukraine.

Migration was a key issue, with EU nations split between those who want initiatives focused on distributing those who arrive into the bloc between all members in a joint act of solidarity and those nations who see such migration as a threat.

Why two of the EU’s biggest political headaches aren’t going away any time soon

Dozen injured, including baby, in Russian attack on Ukraine's Kherson - governor

08:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A dozen people were wounded, including a 27-year-old woman and her 9-month-old baby, in a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, its governor said on Sunday.

“The Kherson region experienced another terrible night,” Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The woman and the infant were hospitalised with moderate wounds, he said, adding that a 33-year-old Red Cross medic was also wounded.

Several houses and gas pipelines were damaged in the attack.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces carried out 59 attacks on Kherson, the region’s administration said on Telegram, including 19 instances of shelling of Kherson city, the region’s administrative centre.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Russia has frequently carried out air strikes and shelling on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine says its counteroffensive in the south and east is gradually making progress.

Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians in Ukraine have been killed in attacks that have hit residential areas as well as energy, defence, port, grain and other facilities.

A look at Russia's deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine

07:00 , Athena Stavrou

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.

One of the deadliest such attacks happened Thursday when a Russian rocket struck a village cafe and store in the village of Hroza in eastern Ukraine, killing 52 civilians.

Here is a look at some of the deadliest strikes so far:

A look at Russia's deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine

Russian forces ‘conduct regimental rotation’

06:30 , Athena Stavrou

Russian forces appear to have recently conducted a regimental rotation in the Orikhiv area, demonstrating an ability to sustain their defenses in this critical sector of the frontline, war monitoring think-tank say.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) say that substantial elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division and two VDV divisions have been rotated in and out of the frontline south of Orikhiv.

This is something Russian forces have been struggling to do in recent months.

Russian ex-TV journalist sentenced in absentia

06:00 , Athena Stavrou

Reminder: A court in Moscow has handed a former state TV journalist an 8-year prison term in absentia for protesting against Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Former Russian state TV journalist gets 8 1/2-year sentence in absentia for Ukraine war criticism

05:30 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian officials say a 10-year-old boy has been killed and a further 20 people wounded after a Russian missile attack on a block of flats in the centre of Kharkiv on Friday.

The attack came less than a day after a strike on the small village of Hroza in Kharkiv oblast, which killed 52 people on Thursday.

Footage from inside Kharkiv apartment captured aftermath of deadly strike.

UN investigators search for answer at site of Russian missile strike

05:01 , Namita Singh

UN and local investigators searched for answers on Saturday at the site of a Russian missile strike that killed nearly 52 people gathered for a dead soldier’s wake, according to president Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials in Kyiv.

Representatives from the United Nations Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) spent much of the day speaking with local residents and survivors in Hroza, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, according to a statement shared with the Associated Press.

“My initial conversations with local residents and survivors indicate that virtually all those killed were civilians and that the target itself, a busy village cafe and store, was also clearly civilian,” Danielle Bell, who led the team that visited Hroza yesterday, was cited as saying in the UN statement.

“What happened here is yet another tragic reminder of the deadly impact Russia’s invasion has had on Ukraine’s civilians,” Mr Bell added.

Only six people in the cafe survived, and the town is trying to fathom why and how the wake was targeted. Dmytro Chubenko, spokesman for the regional prosecutor, said on Friday that investigators are looking into whether someone from the area transmitted the cafe’s coordinates to the Russians — a betrayal to everyone now grieving in Hroza.

Russia says it shoots down two missiles over Crimea

05:00 , Athena Stavrou

Russia’s defence ministry said the country’s air defence systems had “detected and destroyed” two Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missiles, thwarting attacks it said Kyiv attempted four hours apart on the Crimean Peninsula on Saturday.

The reports by the ministry, which have not been verified, did not say where exactly the missiles were shot down over Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.

At 10:25 p.m. in Moscow, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne quoted a resident as saying two explosions rang out in the area of Yevtaporiya in the west of Crimea.

Earlier, other local channels carried an image of smoke over Dzhankoi in the north and reported sounds of explosions.

Police identify 48 out of 52 civilians killed in Russian bomb attack on cafe

04:38 , Namita Singh

Ukrainian police have identified 48 out of the 52 civilians killed by the missile blast, according to the chief police investigator for Kharkiv province. In a Facebook post, Serhii Bolvinov said that investigation teams were “gathering up dead bodies, literally piece by piece.”

Not all of the victims have been identified. Regional police investigator Mr Bolvinov told reporters late on Thursday that authorities would have to use DNA to identify some of the victims because their remains were beyond recognition.

Hand grenade fragments found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin’s plane crash

04:00 , Athena Stavrou

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of people who died in the Aug. 23 crash of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane.

Experts investigating the crash found no indication the private jet had suffered an “external impact,” he said. Prigozhin and two of his top lieutenants of the Wagner private military contractor were among the 10 people killed when the jet came down as it flew from Moscow to St. Petersburgh.

There was no way to independently verify Putin’s statement.

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin says

Pictures: Devastated village copes with aftermath of Russian strike on funeral

03:00 , Athena Stavrou

UN and local investigators searched for answers on Saturday at the site of a Russian missile strike on the small Ukrainian village of in Hroza, in the northeastern Kharkiv region

The attack days earlier turned its sole cafe to rubble and killed nearly 52 people gathered for a dead soldier’s wake, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv.

where is Hroza?

02:00 , Athena Stavrou

A precision missile strike on a cafe hosting soldier’s wake killed 52 and decimated the Ukrainian village of Hroza.

The village cafe was obliterated and whole families perished after the missile strike on Thursday cut short a wake for Andriy Kozyr, a soldier from Hroza who died last winter fighting Russia’s invading forces in eastern Ukraine.

His son Dmytro Kozyr, also a soldier, was among those who died in the attack alongside his wife Nina, just days short of her 20th birthday, according to Ukrainian media reports. As of Saturday, Ukrainian law enforcement and the regional prosecutor’s office put the number of victims at 52.

The tiny village only had a population on around 500 before the war, and many are questioning why it was targetted.

Russian defence minister inspects factory for advanced missiles

01:00 , Athena Stavrou

Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu inspected a military factory producing the Sarmat intercontinental missile, saying it would soon be ready for use, his ministry posted on Telegram Saturday.

The Sarmat missile will be “put on combat duty in the near future,” the ministry said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia had almost completed work on the Sarmat, after Moscow earlier this year announced it had successfully tested the missiles. Putin said the “truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats.”

Russia attacks Nikopol three times in one day

Saturday 7 October 2023 23:59 , Athena Stavrou

Russia attacked the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, southern Ukraine, three times in one day, local Governor Serhii Lysak reported on Saturday

Russian forces used heavy artillery against the city twice during the day and once in the evening, Lysak said in a Telegram post.

A school, municipal enterprise, 11 homes, power lines, a gas pipeline, and nearly a dozen commercial buildings were damaged, the governor said.

However, no casualties were reported, according to the local authorities.

Zelenskyy condemns Hamas following attacks in Israel

Saturday 7 October 2023 23:00 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned Hamas’ attacks on Israel.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Ukrainian PM said: “We in Ukraine have a special feeling about what has happened. Thousands of rockets in the Israeli sky... People killed just on the streets... Civilian cars shot through... Detainees being humiliated…

“Our position is crystal clear: anyone who causes terror and death anywhere on the planet must be held accountable.”

Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

Saturday 7 October 2023 22:00 , Athena Stavrou

Russia plans to withdraw its ratification of the 1996 treaty that prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons, the country’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation [CTBTO] said on Friday.

Mr Ulyanov, Moscow’s envoy to the CTBTO, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that “#Russia plans to revoke ratification (which took place in the year 2000) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.”

“We are disturbed by the comments of Ambassador Ulyanov in Vienna today,” a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “A move like this by any State Party needlessly endangers the global norm against nuclear explosive testing.”

What are Russia’s Iskander missiles?

Saturday 7 October 2023 21:00 , Athena Stavrou

Following Russia’s Iskander missile attack, which killed 52 during funeral near Kharkiv, The Independent explains what the missiles are:

What are Russian Iskander missiles?

Russian attack on village cafe kills at least 51 people, Ukraine says

Saturday 7 October 2023 20:01 , Athena Stavrou

UN and local investigators searched for answers at the site of a Russian missile strike on a small Ukrainian village that days earlier turned its sole cafe to rubble and killed nearly 52 people gathered for a dead soldier’s wake, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv.

“My initial conversations with local residents and survivors indicate that virtually all those killed were civilians and that the target itself, a busy village cafe and store, was also clearly civilian,” Danielle Bell, who led the team that visited Hroza on Saturday, was cited as saying in the UN statement.“What happened here is yet another tragic reminder of the deadly impact Russia’s invasion has had on Ukraine‘s civilians,” Bell added.The village cafe was obliterated and whole families perished after the missile strike on Thursday cut short a wake for Andriy Kozyr, a soldier from Hroza who died last winter fighting Russia’s invading forces in eastern Ukraine.

His son Dmytro Kozyr, also a soldier, was among those who died in the attack alongside his wife Nina, who was just days short of her 21st birthday.

Ukraine condemns Hamas attacks on Israel

Saturday 7 October 2023 18:30 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine’s foreign ministry voiced its support for Israel’s “right to defend itself and its people” in a post on social media.

The ministry said it “strongly condemns the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks against the civilian population in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv”.

Earlier today Hamas took some 50 people hostage in a Israeli settlement near the border with Gaza, a broadcaster in Israel reports, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his country to be at war.

Russia thwarts Ukraine missile attack over Crimea

Saturday 7 October 2023 18:00 , Athena Stavrou

Russia’s defence ministry said the country’s air defence systems had “detected and destroyed” a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile deployed in an attempted attack on the Crimean Peninsula on Saturday.

The report has not been verified as of yet and the Russian defence ministry did not say where exactly the missile was shot down. But Ukraine in recent weeks has stepped up attacks on Crimea, which was occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014.

“On Oct. 7, at about 6 p.m. Moscow time, the Kyiv regime attempted a terrorist attack on the territory of Crimea with an anti-aircraft missile of the S-200 air defence system that had been converted to an attack version,” the defence ministry said in a Telegram post.

“Russian air defence systems promptly detected and destroyed the Ukrainian missile in the air,” it added.

Russian official killed in car explosion in Kherson oblast

Saturday 7 October 2023 17:31 , Athena Stavrou

A party official in the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s Kherson province was killed by a car bomb on Saturday, the provincial governor said.

Vladimir Malov, executive secretary of the town branch of Russia’s governing United Russia party, died in hospital, Vladimir Saldo said in a post on his Telegram channel.

He said it had been a “terrorist attack”, meaning one orchestrated by Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Officials seen as supporting Russian rule in the parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed since its full-scale invasion in February last year have often been targeted in assassination attempts, many of them fatal.

In July, Russia said it had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to kill Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of unilaterally annexed Crimea, arresting an agent before he could blow up Aksyonov’s car.

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin says

Saturday 7 October 2023 17:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of people who died in the Aug. 23 crash of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane.

Experts investigating the crash found no indication the private jet had suffered an “external impact,” he said. Prigozhin and two of his top lieutenants of the Wagner private military contractor were among the 10 people killed when the jet came down as it flew from Moscow to St. Petersburgh.

There was no way to independently verify Putin’s statement.

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin says

What are Russia’s Iskander missiles? The weapon which killed 52 following funeral near Kharkiv

Saturday 7 October 2023 16:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian officials have said a number of Russian Iskander ballistic missiles have struck the northeastern Kharkiv region in the last 24 hours.

A 10-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed in the city of Kharkiv itself , officials said on Friday morning, after a strike on Thursday afternoon in the same region killed at least 52 civilians in the village of Hroza. That attack was one of the deadliest attacks in the war in months.

Officials said preliminary information indicated the Kremlin’s forces used two Iskander missiles in the attack on Friday, the same as in the previous day’s strike. A number of people, including young children, were injured in both attacks, Kyiv said.

What are Russian Iskander missiles?

Saturday 7 October 2023 16:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Scale of deadly Russian strike in Kharkiv village shown in drone footage

In pictures: Firefighters battle blaze next to Danube river

Saturday 7 October 2023 15:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Photos show firefighters working to extinguish a fire on the port infrastructure on the Danube river in the Odesa region on Friday.

Russia hits Odesa grain facility in overnight missile strike

Saturday 7 October 2023 15:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian forces carried out an overnight missile strike on Ukraine‘s southern Odesa region, damaging port infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities said early on Saturday.

Governor Oleh Kiper said four people were wounded in the strike, which hit a boarding house and a portside grain facility. He did not specify where the attack took place.

Ukraine‘s military said the strike involved supersonic Onyx missiles fired from Russian-occupied Crimea.

Russian forces have carried out regular missile and drone strikes on port infrastructure in recent weeks, making it difficult for major grain producer Ukraine to export its products.

Moscow quit a deal in mid-July that had enabled Black Sea grain shipments and helped combat a global food crisis.

Car bomb kills official in Russian-held Ukrainian town -governor

Saturday 7 October 2023 14:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A party official in the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine‘s Kherson province was killed by a car bomb on Saturday, the provincial governor said.

Vladimir Malov, executive secretary of the town branch of Russia‘s governing United Russia party, died in hospital, Vladimir Saldo said in a post on his Telegram channel.

He said it had been a “terrorist attack”, meaning one orchestrated by Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Officials seen as supporting Russian rule in the parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed since its full-scale invasion in February last year have often been targeted in assassination attempts, many of them fatal.

In July, Russia said it had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to kill Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of unilaterally annexed Crimea, arresting an agent before he could blow up Aksyonov’s car.

Ukraine voices support for Israel’s ‘right to defend itself'

Saturday 7 October 2023 14:08 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has voiced its support for Israel’s “right to defend itself and its people” as Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel and stormed across the heavily fortified border from Gaza.

The ministry said it “strongly condemns the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks against the civilian population in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv”.

IDF says it is striking targets in Gaza

Saturday 7 October 2023 14:07 , Andy Gregory

The Israel Defence Forces have said they are striking targets in Gaza, as Al Jazeera cites medical sources claiming that scores of Palestinians have been killed.

Rishi Sunak says Russia's attack on Ukrainian supermarket shows Putin's 'barbarity'

Saturday 7 October 2023 13:39 , Andy Gregory

Saturday 7 October 2023 12:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Footage from inside Kharkiv apartment captures aftermath of deadly strike

Russian defence minister inspects nuclear missiles entering service soon

Saturday 7 October 2023 12:16 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Defence minister Sergei Shoigu has inspected the manufacture of Sarmat, Russia‘s new silo-based intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile system, due to enter service shortly, his ministry said on Saturday.

Shoigu essentially repeated comments by President Vladimir Putin that the missiles were being made combat-ready, but the timing of the statement added to an intensification of Russia‘s nuclear rhetoric in its standoff with the West over the war in Ukraine.

“Re-equipping the Strategic Missile Forces with this system, which will become the basis of Russia‘s ground-based strategic nuclear forces, is a priority in ensuring the country’s defence capability,” Shoigu was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, Putin said Russia had successfully tested the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile with a potential range of many thousands of miles.

And after Putin declined to rule out the possibility that Russia could carry out explosive nuclear weapons tests for the first time in more than three decades, officials on Friday promptly said Moscow would take steps to revoke its ratification of the global Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which it calls a “special military operation”, prompted the West to send billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine, and Finland and Sweden to seek to join the U.S.-led NATO alliance.

In response, Moscow has suspended its participation in the New START treaty, the last remaining pact limiting the size of the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals, and hinted at a possible use of nuclear weapons if it feels sufficiently threatened.

Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

Saturday 7 October 2023 11:56 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia plans to withdraw its ratification of the 1996 treaty that prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons, the country’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation [CTBTO] said on Friday.

“Disturbed” by the move, the US denounced it as endangering “the global norm” against nuclear test blasts.

The announcement by Mikhail Ulyanov on Friday added new fuel to tensions between Russia and the United States over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and arms control disputes between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers.

Russia plans to revoke global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

‘You can still smell the blood’: Inside the village where more than 50 were killed by a Russian missile

Saturday 7 October 2023 11:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Many woke up dazed in the Ukraine’s Hroza on Friday – with the village in the northeast of the country having lost a sixth of its residents in the devastation caused by a Russian missile strike the previous day.

Ihor Klymenko, minister of internal affairs of Ukraine, said the village only had 330 residents – and that at least 52 had been killed in the assault. He added that every family had at least one person they knew at the wake for Ukrainian soldier Andrii Kozyr inside the cafe (and grocery shop) that was wrecked by the missile.

That wake followed a funeral that had been an attempt to rebury a father who had been killed in Russian-occupied territory last year. Now candles mark the spot where the lives of those mourners were lost.

The Ukrainian village where 50 were killed in a Russian missile strike

In pictures: Bereaved Ukrainians grieve for killed family members in deadly Hroza strike

Saturday 7 October 2023 10:31 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The strike in Ukraine’s northeastern village of Hroza left hundreds grieving as they lost family members. The photos below show just a few of the bereaved.

Scale of deadly Russian strike in Kharkiv village shown in drone footage

Saturday 7 October 2023 10:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Scale of deadly Russian strike in Kharkiv village shown in drone footage

Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

Saturday 7 October 2023 20:11 , Athena Stavrou

Russia plans to withdraw its ratification of the 1996 treaty that prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons, the country’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation [CTBTO] said on Friday.

“Disturbed” by the move, the US denounced it as endangering “the global norm” against nuclear test blasts.

Russian journalist detained in Cyprus has left island

Saturday 7 October 2023 09:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Russian journalist detained in Cyprus for allegedly being a threat to national security has left the island, Cypriot media said on Saturday.

The journalist’s detention on Thursday in Nicosia sparked a rare crisis in relations between Russia and Cyprus, with the Cypriot ambassador summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow for an explanation.

Russian news outlets have identified the journalist as Alexander Gasyuk, who worked in Cyprus for state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He was quoted as telling TASS that he was manhandled by Cypriot police and that he was told his residence permit was being revoked because he was allegedly a security threat.

Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said any suggestion of inappropriate activities by the journalist were “absolutely far-fetched”.

Cypriot state broadcaster CyBC reported that Gasyuk had left Cyprus late Friday. His family had also left, it reported.

Cyprus has been tight lipped over the incident, other than to say authorities were taking all appropriate measures to protect national security. A foreign ministry spokesperson declined further comment when approached by Reuters on Saturday.

It was unclear how long Gasyuk worked in Cyprus.

Based on his most recent dispatches, he covered an independence day parade in Nicosia on Oct 1 which focused on Russian-made tanks being on display, celebrations by a number of Russians living in Cyprus of annexation of territories in Ukraine and an interview with Russia‘s ambassador to the island.

Cyprus and Russia have close cultural and business links, but those have cooled significantly since the war in Ukraine. Nicosia has followed its EU partners in imposing wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow.

One civilian killed in Ukrainian shelling of Russia's Belgorod region - governor

Saturday 7 October 2023 09:07 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The governor of Russia‘s Belgorod region said on Saturday that one civilian had been killed in the village of Urazovo, near the Ukrainian border, as a result of Ukrainian shelling.

Russian air defence systems downed three Ukrainian missiles over the region, he said earlier.

Attacks on regions of Russia adjoining Ukraine have become an almost daily occurrence in the last few months.

Kyiv does not typically claim responsibility for attacks on targets inside Russia.

Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

Saturday 7 October 2023 08:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia plans to withdraw its ratification of the 1996 treaty that prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons, the country’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation [CTBTO] said on Friday.

“Disturbed” by the move, the US denounced it as endangering “the global norm” against nuclear test blasts.

The announcement by Mikhail Ulyanov on Friday added new fuel to tensions between Russia and the United States over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and arms control disputes between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers.

Russia plans to revoke global nuclear test ban, announces envoy

Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike: ‘Everything was burning’

Saturday 7 October 2023 08:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Every family in Ukraine’s northeastern village of Hroza was affected after a missile strike killed 52 people on Thursday, obliterating a sixth of the local population, say locals.

However, it may take several months before DNA analysis can identify the majority of the remains. For now, the names are scrawled on cardboard or white plastic squares, and strings mark the boundaries of the fresh graves.

Dozens of people gathered in the local cafe for a meal to honour Andrii Kozyr, a soldier who died in the war against Russia, with almost every household in the village sending someone to mourn the native son.

Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike

Ukraine gains ground in counteroffensive near Bakhmut

Saturday 7 October 2023 07:56 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian forces have continued counteroffensive operations near Bakhmut and advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast on October 6, according to the Institute for the Study of War’s latest report.

Ukrainian military sources reported a successful offensive south of Bakhmut near Andriivka.