Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s forces ‘face 40,000 casualties’ this month as Zelensky in North Korea warning

Ukraine has claimed to have shot down 44 Russian strike drones overnight as they continue to count casualties.

“As a result of air combat, as of 12:00, October 26, 44 enemy drones have been confirmed downed in Kirovohrad, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Kursk regions,” a Telegram post by the Ukrainian Air Force message reads.

It came after the Russians were accused of conducting missile strikes on civilian infrastructure in the Sumy region and Dnipro, resulting in civilian casualties.

A Russian drone strike killed a teenager in Kyiv during a nighttime barrage on the Ukrainian capital that lasted for hours, officials said, while four people were reportedly killed in a missile attack on central Ukraine that also left at least 20 injured.

As reported, three missile strikes hit Dnipro overnight. Twenty people were injured, and four people, including a 14-year-old child, were killed.

Over ten high-rise buildings, two private houses, medical facility buildings, a garage, and thirty civilian vehicles were damaged.

In Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, a Russian strike drone hit a residential building, resulting in one death and six injuries.

Russian troop casualties over October may reach around 40,000, Janek Kesselmann, the deputy commander of the Estonian Military Intelligence Center has said.

Kesselmann told ERR: “The advance of the Russian Federation armed forces has been made possible by massive bombings, including cluster bombs, killer drones and indirect fire.

“This effect is carried out by meat attacks, so to speak, where Russia cynically wastes its personnel.

“The losses in Russia are quite high. And it seems that this month will be one of the biggest losses in Russia

“We estimate that the enemy will lose somewhere around 40,000 soldiers both wounded and killed during the month.”

According to Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko, a drone slammed into a 25-storey apartment block Friday night in the city’s west, killing a 15-year-old girl and injuring five others.

Ukraine’s Emergency Service said 100 people were evacuated following the strike, which damaged several apartments on the building’s upper floors.Serhii Popko, who heads Kyiv’s local military administration, said on Saturday that Russian forces overnight pummeled the city for seven and a half hours.

Air raid sirens wailed throughout the night, and Popko said that Ukrainian air defense shot down “up to a dozen” Russian drones.Also late on Friday, a Russian missile hit a residential area in the central city of Dnipro, killing a 14-year-old and two adult women, said regional governor Serhii Lysak, adding that at least 20 others were left with injuries, including an 8-year-old and teenagers.

He said the attack damaged thirteen apartment buildings, private houses and a medical facility.

Chief of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram that the number of the injured in overnight missile strikes on Dnipro has risen to 20.

“There are already 20 injured in Dnipro including children: girls aged 8 and 16, and two boys aged 17,” the message reads.

The regional chief stressed that only civilian areas were damaged after three separate missile strikes on Dnipro killed three including a child.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the death of a teenage girl in a fresh wave of Russian air strikes on Kyiv.

Posting on X, he said: “Russian murderers have resumed their usual business.

“This proves once again that aggression cannot be stopped by words alone but only by decisive action in defense of the state and the people against whom this war is waged.

“Over the past evening and night, Russian forces attacked Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, and other regions of Ukraine. In Dnipro, one of Ukraine’s most important hospitals, the Mechnikov Hospital, was damaged, along with ordinary residential buildings. Tragically, three people were killed, including a child. In Kyiv, this Russian strike took the life of a girl who was only 14 years old.

“My condolences to their families and loved ones. Many were wounded in these strikes, and all received the necessary assistance. This war has continued for three years now, and there is only one culprit—Moscow. That is why we must exert pressure on the aggressor that can truly force them to end their terror and war. Reliable peace and security are achieved only through strength and determination.”

Weapons purchased from South Korea will not be transferred to Ukraine, the president of Poland Andrzej Duda has said.

Mr Duda was asked by reporters whether Poland would supply Kyiv with any arms it received from South Korea, if Seoul decides to supply Ukraine with weapons in future.

He said that Ukraine had requested the possible transfer of South Korean weapons to Kyiv - but Poland refused.

“There is no scenario in which we give someone the weapons we have recently bought for billions of zlotys from the pockets of our taxpayers. These weapons should serve the security and defence of the Republic of Poland,” he said.

In news that will delight Kate Bush fans, the reclusive British artist has revealed that she is ready to start working on new music.

In a rare interview with the BBC’s Emma Barnett, Bush, 66, announced the release of a new short film – which she wrote and directed – inspired by Russia’s war on Ukraine Just over four minutes long, the animated clip depicts a little shrew searching for hope as she navigates a bombed-out city, soundtracked to “Snowflake”, Bush’s song from her 2011 album, 50 Words for Snow.

Read the full report by Roisin O'Connor:

Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies yesterday reached consensus on delivery of some $50bn in loans to Ukraine backed by the earnings from frozen Russian sovereign assets starting as early as December.

“These loans will be serviced and repaid by future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilization of Russian Sovereign Assets,” the G7 statement said.

“Our aim is to begin disbursing the funds by the end of the year,” said the statement, which was released as global finance chiefs were meeting in Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings.

An accompanying statement from G7 finance ministers said that the loans would be disbursed through a series of bilateral loans, starting as soon as 1 December and continuing through the end of 2027 “in installments that will reflect Ukraine’s urgent financing needs.”

Each bilateral loan would enter into force no later than 30 June 2025, which provides some timing flexibility for G7 members to arrange details.

The Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief has refuted reports that Ukrainian troops are being surrounded in Russia’s Kursk region.

Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram, according to Ukrainska Pravda: “This is blatant disinformation that does not reflect the real situation. Ukrainian forces continue active operations on the Kursk front, for the third consecutive month, depleting the enemy’s combat potential.

“Despite intense pressure from the enemy in this direction, the occupiers are sustaining significant losses in personnel and military equipment.”

Since August 8, Russian forces on the Kursk front have lost more than 17,000 killed, with 6,662 killed, 10,446 wounded and 711 captured, Syrskyi said.

A Russian missile attack hit residences and a medical facility in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro yesterday evening, killing three people and injuring at least nine, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Mr Lysak, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said an eight-year-old girl and a teenage boy and were among the injured.

News reports from the city said several strikes hit different areas there.

Mr Lysak said a two-storey building was partly destroyed and one person could still be under rubble. A medical facility and four apartment buildings suffered damage.

Pictures posted online showed residents and rescue teams outside shattered houses and damaged facilities at the medical building.