Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s troops thwart cross-border attack as he warns against long-range weapons

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.”

A furious Vladimir Putin blasted BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg when challenged at a post BRICS press conference.

Putin was asked whether the Ukraine war went against the values put forward by the BRICS of justice, regional stability and security, and a fair world on Thursday (24 October).

It was the final question introduced by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov who smiled as he claimed the BBC was “a rare guest these days”.

Putin hit back at the question saying: “Is it fair that for years our (Western) partners for years ignored our constant appeals not to expand NATO to the East? To lie to our face and violate all their obligations... to get into Ukraine and build military bases?”

Canada has sent an undisclosed number of armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian frontline.

Ukraine’s Security Forces announced the arrival on X on Sunday,

“After training on the operation and maintenance of armoured combat support vehicles in the ‘ambulance’ version in Germany, the vehicles were loaded and sent to Ukraine.

“These vehicles will help Ukraine defend against the unlawful invasion of its territory,” the post says.

Ukraine’s drones targeted an ethanol plant in Russia’s Voronezh region, Russian news Telegram channels reported last night.

The attack sparked a fire at an unspecified industrial facility and injured one person, according to the region’s governor.

Emergency services were dispatched to the fire, Alexander Gusev, governor of the Voronezh region in southern Russia, said on his Telegram channel.

He said that about 10 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or intercepted over the region late yesterday, with debris falling onto an industrial enterprise and sparking a fire.

The Baza news Telegram channel close to Russia’s security services and several other Russian news Telegram channels reported that two explosions were heard near the Ethanol Spirit plant in the village of Krasnoye.

While Kyiv has not issued a comment on the reported attacks, it has often said that its drone attacks inside Russia target infrastructure key to Russia’s war efforts and are in response to Moscow’s continued strikes on Ukraine‘s territory.

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.

Of these, 13 drones were destroyed over the border Belgorod region, six over the Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, while the remaining two were destroyed over the Voronezh and Kursk regions each, the ministry said.

Vladimir Putin has denied having any contact with former US president Donald Trump.

Speaking after the BRICS summit in Kazan on Thursday (24 October), the Russian president said: “This is something that has been constantly discussed for more than one year.

“At one time, we were accused of this, and Trump himself of being somehow connected with Russia. Then, as a result of an investigation in the United States itself, everyone came to the conclusion, including in the Congress, as far as I know, that this was complete nonsense, that nothing like this had ever happened.

“It didn’t happen before, and it doesn’t happen now.”

Volodymyr Zelensky said cooperation within the ‘Ukraine plus Northern Europe’ format is gaining speed with more steps that can increase pressure on Russia expected in the coming week.

“They understand that it is necessary to create problems for the aggressor, so that Russia loses the opportunity to spoil the life of the world,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address last night.

“We will talk (in the coming week) with the ‘Nordics’ about new fundamental steps that can increase the pressure on Russia for this war and for the sake of honest diplomacy,” he said.

The five Nordic countries - Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland - are all now Nato countries and have all been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Russia lost nearly 200 soldiers, with 80 confirmed fatalities in Ukraine’s east where a fierce battle is underway, officials said.

Russian forces made 27 attempts to breach Ukrainian defences on the Pokrovsk front near Myroliubivka, Promin, Krutyi Yar, Vyshneve and Selydove but were met with strong resistance, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.

Around 189 Russian soldiers on this front have been killed or injured, adding to Russia’s losses, the military officials said in a late night update.

In the past 24 hours, 142 combat clashes took place on the frontline and the most intense fighting was reported from Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts, with additional activity of Russian troops on the Kupiansk, Lyman and Vremivka fronts, the military officials said.

Russian forces blocked another cross-border incursion by Ukrainian troops into south-western Russia, a local official claimed.

An “armed group” attempted to breach the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Bryansk region yesterday but was beaten back, local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said.

The Russian local official did not specify whether Ukrainian soldiers carried out the attack but claimed the situation was “stable and under control” by Russia’s forces in the evening.

Responsibility for previous incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions has been claimed by two murky groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Bryansk region neighbours Kursk province, where Ukraine launched a surprise push on 6 August that rattled the Kremlin and constituted the largest attack on Russia since the second World War.