19 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Putin warns of ‘new level of escalation’ if Tomahawk missiles supplied to Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells European leaders that Moscow’s war ‘was never just about Ukraine’. What we know on day 1,318See all our Ukraine war overageRussian president Vladimir Putin has warned that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would lead to a “whole new level of escalation”, including in relations between Moscow and Washington. Responding to questions at a forum in Sochi, Putin said it would not change the situation on the battlefield, where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances.The Trump administration’s desire to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may not be viable because current inventories are committed to the US navy and other uses, Reuters reported a US official and three sources as saying. The US may look into allowing European allies to buy other long-range weapons and supply them to Ukraine but Tomahawks were unlikely, the official said, questioning the feasibility of providing the cruise missiles with a range of 2,500km (1,550 miles) and suggesti...

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42 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Attack cutting power to Chornobyl nuclear plant a ‘global threat’, says Zelenskyy

Emergency diesel generators brought online after Russia accused of shelling substation supplying power to scene of 1986 disaster. What we know on day 1,317See all our Ukraine war overage Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy urges west to cut off Russia’s energy revenues, saying decisive action ‘long overdue’

President’s plea comes after Russia bombards Kyiv and elsewhere in one of its most sustained attacks of the war. What we know on day 1,314See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageVolodymyr Zelenskyy has again urged the international community to act decisively to cut off Russia’s energy revenues that fund its Ukraine war after Moscow carried out one of its worst attacks on Kyiv of the war. “The time for decisive action is long overdue, and we count on a strong response from the United States, Europe, the G7 and the G20,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram. While the United Nations was holding general assembly sessions, Russia had “literally used every day, every hour, to strike at Ukraine”, he said in his nightly video address. Ukraine has so far failed to convince US president Donald Trump to impose punitive sanctions on Moscow.The onslaught on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine killed at least four people in what Zelenskyy called a described as a “vile and cowardly” attack, Luke ...

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6 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russia’s latest offensives have failed, say Zelenskyy and his top commander

Ukrainian president says heavy battlefield losses inflicted on Russia while Oleksandr Syrskyi says Kyiv has disrupted Moscow’s spring and summer campaign. What we know on day 1,312See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: UN watchdog sounds warning after drone detonates near Ukraine nuclear plant

IAEA chief says no damage to South Ukraine nuclear facility but ‘next time we may not be so lucky’; Russia accused of ‘arbitrary killings’ of PoWs. What we know on day 1,311See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Trump changed position on Putin after ‘briefing on planned Ukrainian offensive’

In the lead up to his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the US president met with officials advocating a tougher stance on Moscow

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8 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Trump ‘growing incredibly impatient’ with Russia over war, warns Vance

US vice-president says if Moscow doesn’t negotiate in good faith it will be ‘very, very bad for their country’ as Zelenskyy appeals to world leaders to stop Putin. What we know on day 1,310See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageUS vice-president JD Vance has warned that Donald Trump is “growing incredibly impatient” with Moscow amid stalled efforts to resolve the Ukraine war. Trump “doesn’t feel like they’re putting enough on the table to end the war”, Vance said in North Carolina. “If the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it’s going to be very, very bad for their country. That’s what the president made clear.” In a meeting earlier on Wednesday in New York, US secretary of state Marco Rubio apparently clashed with his Russian counterpart, calling for the “killing to stop” and demanding Moscow “take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution”.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov fired back and “stressed the unacceptability of the schemes promoted by Kyiv and som...

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1 week ago Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy heads to the UN as US envoy vows to defend Nato territory

Ukrainian president is expected to meet Trump on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York; Washington’s new UN envoy convenes emergency meeting. What we know on day 1,308See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has landed in New York where he will attend the United Nations general assembly and try to drum up support for a US-led peace effort to end the war in Ukraine. “We are doing everything to stop the war,” he wrote on X on Tuesday, adding that he had two dozen meetings scheduled. The Ukrainian leader is expected to meet US president Donald Trump and other world leaders on the sidelines of the UN meeting, and deliver an address on Wednesday.Zelenskyy said he would also attend the first leaders’ summit of the Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which would for the first time be held on a global stage. The meeting, he said, underlined “the global nature of the changes brought about by this war, the war that Russia began ...

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1 week ago Ukraine war briefing: Drones blast Russia’s Saratov refinery for second time in a week

Ukrainian leadership continues to talk up recapture of territory in counteroffensive; EU moves to phase out Russian gas faster. What we know on day 1,305 Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy claims ‘important success’ as troops push back on Russian advances

President says Ukrainian forces in east have reclaimed 160 sq km of land and cleared another 170 sq km as counteroffensive ‘achieving results’. What we know on day 1,304See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageUkrainian forces have pushed back some of the gains Russia made over the summer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, calling the operation an “important success” after months of battlefield setbacks. The Ukrainian president said his troops had reclaimed 160 sq km (62 sq miles) of land near the eastern coalmining town of Dobropillia, where Russia pierced Ukraine’s defences in August. Russia did not immediately comment on the claims. Zelenskyy said after meeting troops in the eastern Donetsk region on Thursday that his army was “achieving results” in an ongoing counteroffensive there. In addition to reclaiming the 160 sq km, Ukrainian forces had “cleared” Russian troops from an additional 170 sq km of land but had not yet formally taken the territory, he said in a video address. Zelensk...

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2 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian oil system struggling under Ukrainian attacks – report

Transneft has told producers they may have to cut their output because of attacks on pipelines and ports, Reuters says. What we know on day 1,302Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine’s drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, Reuters has reported, citing industry sources. Ukrainian drones have frequently hit Russia’s oil plants, cutting refining capacity by up to a fifth, and damaged ports including Ust-Luga and Primorsk, Ukrainian military officials and Russian industry sources have said. Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it had struck the Saratov oil refinery in Russia during an overnight attack.Transneft, which handles more than 80% of all the oil extracted in Russia, has in recent days restricted oil firms’ ability to store oil in its pipeline system, two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters. Transneft has also warned producers it may have to accept less oil if its infrastruc...

Events

2 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian court sentences Pussy Riot members in absentia to jail over war criticism

Terms of eight to 13 years handed down over a music video and a Berlin show, according to reports, as collective rejects charges as politically motivated. What we know on day 1,301See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian drone alert in Poland before Belarus border closure

Warplanes scrambled after warning from Ukraine; Poland to seal border over Russian and Belarus’s ‘very aggressive’ Zapad war games. What we know on day 1,295Warplanes were scrambled early on Wednesday after Ukraine’s air force warned that Russian drones had entered Nato-member Poland’s airspace. “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said. The Ukrainian air force said drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland. Ukrainian media reported that one was heading towards the western Polish city of Rzeszow, and said airports were being temporarily closed.Poland will close its border with Belarus on Thursday as a result of the “very aggressive” Zapad military exercises taking place in Belarus involving Russia, Donald Tusk has announced. The Polish prime minister said it was also a response to a growin...

Events

3 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Putin awards ‘courage’ medal to Russian general sought by ICC over alleged crimes against humanity in Ukraine

Army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov is accused of war crimes for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine under an arrest warrant from the international criminal court. What we know on day 1,294See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Trump says ready for more Russia sanctions

US treasury secretary foreshadows oil tariffs in cooperation with Europe; Alaska meeting gave Putin the publicity he wanted, says Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,293Asked by a reporter at the White House on Sunday if he was ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions targeting Russia, Donald Trump responded: “Yeah, I am.” The US president stopped short of saying he was committed to such a decision or what a second phase might entail. The White House did not immediately respond to an email on Sunday asking what steps Trump was contemplating. Trump said on Sunday night that “certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually” and he would also speak to Vladimir Putin soon.The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday that the US and the EU could put “secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil”, pushing the Russian economy to the brink of collapse and bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. China is a major ...

Politics

3 w. ago Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says nearly 60% of weapons are domestically made as role of drones increases

President says production of arms has already exceeded target set in July; one person killed in Russian strike. What we know on day 1,292Nearly 60% of weapons used by Ukraine’s military are domestically produced, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, already exceeding a target he set two months ago. “During this war, Ukraine has reached the point where nearly 60% of the weapons we have, the weapons in the hands of our soldiers, are Ukrainian-made,” the Ukrainian president said on Saturday in his nightly video address. “And these are powerful weapons, with many advanced features.” In his address, he also pointed to a joint project to undertake weapons production in Denmark. The president in July called on his reshuffled government to take measures to boost production of weapons made in Ukraine to more than 50%, higher than at any other time since independence from Soviet rule in 1991.Ukraine has focused on drone production and on providing air defences to counter Russia’s intensive drone and mis...

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last month Ukraine war briefing: No action from Trump as another Putin deadline passes

US president ‘very disappointed’ in Russian ruler; Trump had promised to get Putin to negotiating table with Volodymr Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,288Donald Trump took no apparent action at the passing of his latest deadline for Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was “very disappointed” in the Russian ruler, and was planning on “doing something to help people live”, said the US president, without any specifics. He was speaking on the radio show of Scott Jennings, a US conservative pundit.Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russia was engaged in a new troop buildup in certain sectors of the frontline and still launching strikes on Ukrainian targets. “Now we see another buildup of Russian forces in certain sectors of the front. [Putin] refuses to be forced into peace Russia continues to launch strikes. Of course, we will respond to this,” said the Ukrainian president in his nightly address.European allies are ready to contribute to po...

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