Ukraine-Russia war latest: Blow to Putin’s forces as Kyiv destroys weapons store with North Korean missiles

The leaves have started turning brown and yellow in Kyiv, marking the war-hit country’s third autumn under the shadow of Russian invasion.

Fierce scenes of fighting have engulfed eastern Ukraine as Russia looks to make gains before the winter snow freezes the battlefield. Residents in Kyiv continue to show resilience despite concerns that Russia’s focused attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure could plunge them into darkness and cold in the coming months.

Mark Rutte, NATO’s new secretary general, says Ukraine faces its toughest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Rutte was speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday, alongside president of Finland Alexander Stubb.

Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure may leave the country facing its toughest winter yet, he said.

“NATO must and will do more to help Ukraine. The more military support we give, the faster this war will end.”

Russia launched three ballistic missiles and 22 drones in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said in a morning update.

The air force shot down 21 drones and the last returned towards Russian territory, it said.

“As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 21 enemy UAVs were shot down in Odesa, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions. Another attack drone turned in the direction of Russia!,” the air force said on its Telegram channel.

Russian Shahed drones violated the no-fly zone near a Ukrainian nuclear powerplant - prompting suggestions Russia may be preparing to strike nuclear infrastructure.

Energoatom, a state-owned nuclear power company and Ukraine’s largest power producer, said in a statement: “On the night of 6-7 October, two Russian UAVs were spotted near the industrial site of the Pivdennoukrainsk NPP. The distance between the UAVs and the nuclear facilities was less than 10 km.”

The number of sightings of Russian UAVs near the site has recently increased drastically, the energy company notes according to Ukrainska Pravda.

It comes after a Russian drone was spotted flying at a dangerously low height near the Rivne nuclear power plant in late September.

Russia has continued striking Ukraine’s energy systems, prompting the Nato secretary general to warn that Ukraine faces its toughest winter yet.

Donald Trump had secretly sent Vladimir Putin several Covid-19 test machines for his personal use at the height of the pandemic, a new book from journalist Bob Woodward claims.

Russia and the US did exchange medical equipment at the time, but Mr Putin reportedly told Mr Trump to keep the deployment of testing machines quiet.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Mr Putin told Mr Trump, according to the journalist. “I don’t care,” Mr Trump replied, Mr Woodward writes. “Fine.”

“No, no,” Mr Putin reportedly said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”

War, a new book from Mr Woodward which includes extensive reporting about the presidential terms of Mr Trump and Joe Biden, is scheduled for publication on 15 October.

Vladimir Putin has demolished his holiday villa by the Black Sea after he stopped visiting the area out of fear for his life relating to strikes from Ukraine, a Russian opposition website has claimed.

The site of his villa near Sochi has become a regular spot for Ukrainian drone attacks – something which Putin “fears”, according to Proekt.

The independent news site published a pair of satellite images, one showing the villa standing in May 2023 and another from May 2024 after it was flattened. Proekt said the “site of the dacha is now a pit”.

Read the full report below:

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones targeting its west, the defence ministry said this morning.

Around 24 drones were downed over the southwestern border region of Bryansk, with the rest destroyed over the regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov and Krasnodar and the waters of the Sea of Azov, the ministry said.

Regional officials said the attacks caused no casualties.

A fire sparked by debris falling in an undeveloped area in the southern region of Rostov bordering Ukraine was promptly put out, regional governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, adding there was no other damage.

Bryansk head Aleksander Bogomaz said emergency services were working at sites where debris fell, without saying if there was damage. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.

Donald Trump has reportedly spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin as many as seven times since leaving the White House.

A new book from journalist Bob Woodward includes extensive reporting about President Joe Biden’s “blunt, profanity-laced” behind-the-scenes responses to Putin’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.

Alex Woodward reports:

Britain imposed sanctions on Russian troops it said were involved in using chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of “cruel and inhumane tactics”.

Among those sanctioned were the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Federation and its leader Igor Kirillov, the government said in a statement.

“The UK will not sit idly by whilst (Russian president Vladimir) Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention,” foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement.

The accusations have been dubbed as “groundless” by Moscow’s embassy in London, reported Russian state news agency TASS.

The fresh sanctions come a week after the government sanctioned 16 members of the Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, a group it said had been tasked by Russia to conduct operations against Nato allies.