Ukraine-Russia latest: Brazil urged to arrest Putin as Zelensky issues new North Korea warning

Ukraine is preparing for large-scale Russian attacks on their energy system due to the start of the “heating season”.

Oleksandr Lytvynenko , the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said according to Interfax-Ukraine: “With the start of the heating season, we can expect large-scale Russian attacks on the energy sector.”

The Ukrainian energy sector has shown its capacity for innovative solutions, Lytvynenko said, adding that the Russians’ intentions to destroyr the Ukrainian economy have not succeeded.

But the Energy Community Secretariat has warned Ukraine it could lose its certification of compliance with European standards, meaning it could lose electricity imports from Europe.

Ukraine’s energy resources are “enough to pass the winter”, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday.

Shmyhal said on Telegram that Ukraine has 12.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 3.1 million metric tons of coal in warehouses.

It comes despite Russian attempts to damage Ukraine’s energy systems ahead of the winter.

There are no intact buildings or shelters left in Toretsk, a town in the region of Donetsk, leaving Russia free to occupy new areas of the embattled down, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said.

"Now the town looks more like a desert planet: there are no shelters for civilians or soldiers, and unfortunately, this allows the enemy to occupy new areas, but on scorched earth," said Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk, on October 14.

Toretsk is around 35 kilometres (20 miles) north of occupied Donetsk and is one of the hottest areas on the eastern front, as Russian troops continue to make slow but steady progress in the region.

DeepState, a crowdsourced monitoring website, reported on October 15 that Russian troops have advanced in Toretsk over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Ukraine’s Foreign ministry has rejected accusations that it has supplied drones to Malian rebels.

French outlet Le Monde claimed that Tuareg fighters in the anti-government CSP movement had used Ukrainian drones against government forces.

The Malian government has been allied with the Wagner mercenary group, who were involved in fighting for the Russians against Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian ministry dismissed the claims as  "accusations spread by some international media".

After the Tuareg rebels inflicted heavy damage on Wagner mercenaries and government soldiers in July, Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said rebels had received “useful information, and not just that, which allowed them to carry out a successful military operation against Russian war criminals”.

The Malian government took it as an admission of Ukrainian support for the Tuareg rebels, and broke off diplomatic ties.

But in a statement on October 15, the foreign ministry said: "We also categorically deny all the regular accusations made by the high-ranking officials of the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger that Ukraine is allegedly involved in ‘cooperation with terrorists,’ ‘arms supplies and providing them with information,’ ‘support to the terrorist coalition,’ etc.”

A Russian missile attack on the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight on Oct. 15 killed a woman and injured 16 others, the region’s governor said.

Russian forces hit the city with a S-300 anti-aircraft missiles at around 2:30am, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Residential buildings, cars, an industrial facility, restaurant complex and shops were all damaged, according to governor Vitalii Kim.

The Mykolaiv region, which neighbours the Kherson region, has suffered regular Russian attacks. Three Shahed-type drones were downed in the region overnight on October 15, Kim said.

Iran has denied providing ballistic missiles for Russia, condemning the sanctions by the EU and Britain on Tehran.

The EU agreed to impose sanctions on seven people and seven organisations on Monday, including Iran Air, Saha Airlines, Mahan Air and Iran’s deputy defence minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari.

The UK added nine designations to its Iran sanctions regime.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said in a post on X on Tuesday: "Some European countries and the UK have unfortunately claimed without evidence that Iran has militarily intervened in this conflict which is totally refuted.”

Last month, the US said it had shared intelligence with allies that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran for its war in Ukraine.

Jared Leto is facing backlash from Ukraine after he praised Russia during a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert on 11 October.

The 52-year-old actor and musician made the comments during a gig in the Serbian capital in Belgrade as part of his band’s Seasons Tour, which he promoted by climbing the Empire State Building in November 2023.

Speaking to the crowd in Serbia, Leto asked them if there were many Russians in attendance, which was met with enthusiastic cheers.

Read the full report from Greg Evans:

Kyiv’s forces are holding firm as Russian troops attempt to break through their lines in the Kursk region for a fifth straight day, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“For five days now, the Russians have been trying to break through our defence in the Kursk region. Our guys are standing firm and counterattacking,” the Ukrainian president said on X after holding a meeting with Ukraine’s top commander.

Ukraine pressed past Russia’s western region’s border on 6 August and rapidly secured control of 1,300 sq km (501.93 square miles), with over 100 settlements. The initial advance has stalled, and Moscow said it took back several settlements last week.

Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook the Kursk operation was going on while Moscow’s troops continued hitting Russian territories with guided bombs.

The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said it is not clear if Russian president Vladimir Putin will be attending the G20 Summit in Brazil next month.

On being asked if a decision had been made on whether Mr Putin would attend the meeting of the world’s 20 leading economies, Mr Peskov said: “No. When a decision is made, we will let you know.”

Ukrainian officials said they have intelligence inputs indicating Mr Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil next month, and called on authorities there to carry out a warrant for his arrest if he showed up.

Brazil sent the Russian president a standard invitation for the 18 to 19 November meetings in Rio de Janeiro of the G20 group but has received no indication he planned to attend, according to two Brazilian government officials.