Ukraine-Russia war live: Zelensky says Putin is ‘afraid’ as Moscow suffers Satan II missile failure

Our political editor David Maddox reports:

Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan will be “defining” for the next period of the conflict in Ukraine, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Healey also said the UK will support Ukraine “at any point when they decide they may want to stop” fighting and announced a joint specialist unit between his department and the Foreign Office to facilitate aid.

The Ukrainian leader is set to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and will present President Joe Biden with a “victory plan”.

The plan is set to include long-range striking capabilities and other weapons long sought by Kyiv, and will serve as the basis for any future negotiation with Russia.

Mr Healey told the event at conference that what is next for Ukraine “is going to be defined for us all if President Zelensky delivers what he’s trailed” in his promise to turn up in New York with a victory plan.

Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine‘s central region of Poltava damaged energy infrastructure, cutting power to 20 settlements, authorities have said.

Debris from falling drones damaged several homes, but caused no casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, while emergency services scrambled to tackle the power situation.

“Debris also damaged the energy infrastructure in Poltava region, leaving 20 settlements without power,” he added.

In the northeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Monday’s attack killed one person and injured at least seven, among them a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov, said in an update.

The Ukrainian air force shot down 66 drones but lost track of 13 among the 81 unmanned aerial vehicles Russia launched in the overnight attack, along with four missiles, it said on Telegram.

Authorities have doused two fires in the Kyiv region sparked by the overnight attack, but no homes or critical facilities were hit, regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.

Around 60 per cent of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China, Ukraine‘s presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk told reporters on Tuesday.

“If you take all the usual types of weapons and count the foreign made components about 60% would be coming from China. We have had lengthy discussions with some manufacturers about this,” Vlasiuk said.

“The PRC (China) is the biggest problem I would say.”

Donald Trump has called Volodymyr Zelensky a “salesman” again as the Ukrainian leader held several meetings with allies to support Ukraine against Russian invasion. Mr Trump has not offered to help Kyiv against Moscow so far.

“I think Zelensky is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” Mr Trump said at a rally in western Pennsylvania. “He wants them to win this election so badly, but I would do differently – I will work out peace.”

Mr Trump also claimed that Zelensky wanted the Democrats to win the 2024 US election, in which the former president faces vice president Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.

Harris’ campaign has called out Mr Trump for not having said he wants Ukraine to win the war.

“Vice president Harris understands that if America walks away from Ukraine, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe and our Nato allies,” said Morgan Finkelstein, the national security spokesperson for Harris’ campaign.

Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine’s central Poltava region damaged energy infrastructure which cut power to 20 settlements, local authorities said.

The attack also damaged several private residences in the region without causing any casualties, Poltava’s regional governor said in a statement.

At least one person was killed and four more were injured in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia overnight, the local emergency services said this morning.

The injured include two children, officials said.

Russian forces launched fresh strikes on the southeastern city housing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant yesterday evening, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Strikes on the city earlier yesterday and the previous night wounded at least 23.

The issue of allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles will be discussed by G7 foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The top official said Russia was receiving new weapons, including Iranian missiles, despite Tehran’s repeated denials. “It’s clear that Russia has been receiving new arms, in particular missiles from Iran,” he said. “This is what we believe, even if Iranians deny it, but it looks like it.”

Tehran and Moscow have dismissed reports about Iran sending ballistic missiles to Russia.

“Ukraine has to improve the military situation in order to go to the peace negotiations in a good way, in a position of strength,” Mr Borrell added.