Ukraine-Russia war: Zelenskyy says 'victory plan' is ready as Russia counterattacks Kyiv's advances

We begin every week with an overview of the major events from the past seven days.

Our live coverage will remain paused today, but below is everything you need to know ahead of more war reporting later this week.

Over 20 injured in Russian strikes 

Some 21 people were injured in Russian strikes on high-rise apartment blocks in Ukraine's Kharkiv region.

The bombs fell on Saturday night on the district of Shevchenkivsky, in Ukraine's northeast, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

The wounded included an eight-year-old and two 17-year-olds, according to Mr Syniehubov.

Nursing home hit

At least one person was killed and more than a dozen were injured after a missile struck a nursing home in Sumy, the region's military administration said. 

The facility reportedly housed 221 patients who were transferred to other care homes after the strike. 

There are no known military sites in the region.

Zelenskyy says 'victory plan' ready

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his "victory plan" is now complete, after much consultation.

The Ukrainian president indicated it only aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine while keeping the country strong and avoiding all "frozen conflicts".

"All the points, all key focus areas and all necessary detailed additions of the plan have been defined," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"The most important thing is the determination to implement it."

Mr Zelenskyy said there was no alternative to peace: "No freezing of the war or any other manipulations that would simply postpone Russian aggression to another stage."

The Ukrainian leader will also travel to Washington this Thursday for talks with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

Russian military advances

Russia took two villages in the western Kursk region, a senior commander said.

Moscow's forces were also advancing against thousands of Ukrainian troops who smashed through the Russian border last month in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since the Second World War.

Ukraine drone attack causes huge blast

A drone attack destroyed a Russian weapons arsenal storing missiles, bombs and ammunition last week, according to a Ukrainian security source.

Unverified images and video on social media showed a large ball of flame shooting into the night sky and detonations across a lake.

NASA satellites detected heat from a site in the Tver region and monitoring stations recorded what sensors equated to a minor earthquake.

Regional governor Igor Rudenya said on Telegram that firefighters were trying to contain a blaze in the town of Toropets, but did not specify what was on fire.

Power outages were also reported by officials in Tver's Zapadnodvinsky district.

Russia says firefighter killed by Ukrainian drone

A firefighter was killed by a Ukrainian drone in the Russia-controlled Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, the Russian emergencies ministry said yesterday.

The drone's explosives detonated when Vyacheslav Glazunov, 33, was extinguishing a fire in the Novoaidar district triggered by fallen drones, the ministry said on Telegram.

Another two firefighters were injured, it added.

 While we haven't been able to bring you live updates on the war in Ukraine today, we have been keeping an eye on the latest developments.

Here's what you need to know from the last 24 hours: 

Nursing home hit in northeastern Ukraine

At least one person was killed and more than a dozen were injured after a missile struck a nursing home in Sumy, the region's military administration said. 

The facility reportedly housed 221 patients who were transferred to other care homes after the strike. 

Emergency responders worked to evacuate residents, with the video below showing them pushing elderly people in wheelchairs or carrying them on stretchers. 

There are no known military sites in the area.

Ukrainian troops reduce potential of Russian military - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian forces have reduced the potential of Russian troops to launch attacks in the Donetsk region, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. 

The Ukrainian president said his country's military had been doing its utmost to protect its battle brigades. 

"At this time, the Ukrainian Defence Forces have managed to diminish the occupiers' assault potential in Donetsk region," he said.

Donetsk forms part of the eastern front line, and has been embroiled in fighting for months. 

Mr Zelenskyy said the situation remained "critically difficult, with tough battles every day" in two sectors of the eastern front subjected to the most Russian attacks - areas near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Ukraine's operation in southern Russia's Kursk region, launched last month, succeeded in getting the Russian military to redirect resources away from the eastern front, the Ukrainian president added. 

Russia will restore control of Kursk in 'timely manner' - Kremlin 

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said that Russia's forces will take back control of Kursk in a "timely manner". 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities did not doubt that its forces would return control over the region, though the situation there was "extreme".

He declined to say how soon this could be achieved. 

Ukraine launched the attack on Kursk on 6 August has been holding ground there ever since. 

Russia has been fighting since then to expel the Ukrainian forces.

On Thursday, a senior Russian commander said Russian troops had recaptured two villages in the Kursk region.

Russia warns West of 'disastrous consequences'

Russia has warned the West and Ukraine of "disastrous consequences" if they pursued what it called "provocative scenarios" against Belarus.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned by increasingly "provocative" NATO activity on the border with Belarus. 

She did not rule out that there could be attempts to escalate in the region.

As a result, she confirmed that Russia had deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. 

Zelenskyy to meet Biden next week

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Washington next Thursday for talks with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

It comes as the Ukrainian leader continues to press the US to allow his forces to use Western-provided weapons to strike deeper into Russia. 

"I'm looking forward to hosting my friend President Zelenskyy of Ukraine next week at the White House," Mr Biden said on X. 

"During his visit, I'll reaffirm America's commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends its freedom and independence."

The Biden administration is still not convinced that it should give Ukraine the authority to launch long-range missiles deeper into Russia. 

US officials say they are seeking more detailed information about how Kyiv would use the weapons and how they fit into the broader strategy for the war.

We won't be bringing you live coverage of the Ukraine war today, but here's a round-up of the key developments in the past 24 hours.

Zelenskyy says 'victory plan' is ready

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his "victory plan" is now complete after much consultation.

Giving daily updates on the plan's preparation, the Ukrainian president indicated it only aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine while keeping the country strong and avoiding all "frozen conflicts".

"Today, it can be said that our victory plan is fully prepared. All the points, all key focus areas and all necessary detailed additions of the plan have been defined," Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. "The most important thing is the determination to implement it."

Mr Zelenskyy said there was no alternative to peace, "no freezing of the war or any other manipulations that would simply postpone Russian aggression to another stage".

Discussions over long-range missiles continue

We've been reporting on discussions between Ukraine and the West about allowing Kyiv to launch long-range missiles deeper into Russia.

Ukraine is requesting the use of US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to hit deeper into Russia.

US President Joe Biden discussed the issue during a meeting last week with Sir Keir Starmer, but no decision was made.

Now Reuters reports US officials say they are seeking more detailed information about how Ukraine would use the weapons and how they fit into the broader strategy for the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week warned Russia would be "at war" with the US and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

Russian military advances

Russia has taken two villages in the western Kursk region, a senior commander has said.

Moscow's forces are advancing against thousands of Ukrainian troops who smashed through the Russian border last month in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since the Second World War.

Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya's Akhmat special forces and deputy head of the Russian defence ministry's military-political department, said Russia had taken Nikolayevo-Darino and Darino.

The villages give Russian forces a position from which to attack Sverdlikovo, which Ukrainian forces have been using as a logistical centre.

Ukrainian drones strike large military depot

Ukrainian drones have hit a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia, creating a huge blaze, Russian news reports said.

Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia's Tver region about 240 miles northwest of Moscow and about 300 miles from the border with Ukraine.

Attacks on energy grid may violate humanitarian law

Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy grid probably violate international humanitarian law, a UN human rights monitoring body has said.

Russia has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Ukraine's electricity generation, transmission and distribution facilities during the course of the war.

Each strike has left Ukrainian cities without power for hours at a time for weeks on end.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said: "There are reasonable grounds to believe that multiple aspects of the military campaign to damage or destroy Ukraine’s civilian electricity and heat-producing and transmission infrastructure have violated foundational principles of international humanitarian law."

Ukraine downs 42 drones during overnight attacks

Ukraine's air force said it shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles used by Russia during overnight attacks.

Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said six people were wounded in a Russian attack on the eastern town of Kupiansk, 8km (five miles) from the front line. 

A school, kindergarten and 10 apartment buildings were damaged in Kharkiv, he added.

We aren't bringing you live coverage of the Ukraine war today, but here's a round-up of the main developments in the past 24 hours:

Ukraine drone attack causes huge blast

A drone attack has destroyed a Russian weapons arsenal storing missiles, bombs and ammunition, according to a Ukrainian security source.

Unverified images and video on social media showed a large ball of flame shooting into the night sky and detonations across a lake.

NASA satellites detected heat from a site in the Tver region and monitoring stations recorded what sensors thought was a minor earthquake.

Regional governor Igor Rudenya said on Telegram that firefighters were trying to contain a blaze in the town of Toropets, but did not specify what was on fire.

Power outages were also reported by officials in Tver's Zapadnodvinsky district.

No information on casualties has been given and Moscow hasn't yet commented.

Jailed journalist declares hunger strike

Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Siberia serving a six-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war in Ukraine, declared a hunger strike.

The 46-year-old was detained less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 for accusing the Russian air force of bombing a theatre in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

She was found guilty last February of spreading false information about the Russian military.

Kyiv investigates alleged Russian execution of serviceman

Ukrainian prosecutors said yesterday they had opened an investigation into a suspected Russian execution of a Ukrainian serviceman found dead with a sword in his body.

In the latest in a series of criminal investigations opened during Russia's war in Ukraine, the prosecutor general's office said that it was looking into a social media post showing images of an apparent execution.

Sumy strikes

Russia fired missiles at energy infrastructure in the northeast Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday, hours after an overnight drone strike on the region.

The Sumy region's governor, Volodymyr Artiukh, citing an initial assessment, said Russia had used at least four missiles in the latest attack on energy facilities.

Kursk

Russia said yesterday it had repelled five new attempts by Ukrainian forces to smash through its border into the Kursk region.

This comes after Ukraine burst through the border last month.

Russian troops take control of Ukrainsk in eastern Ukraine

Russian soliders captured the Ukrainian city of Ukrainsk in the eastern Donetsk region on Tuesday, Russian state-run RIA news agency reported.

Russian troops raised their flag on a mine ventilation shaft on the outskirts of the city, it added.  

Sky News was unbale to verify this battlefield report.

Blinken briefed on Ukraine plan to push Russia to end the war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was briefed last week during his trip to Kyiv on elements of a Ukrainian plan to push Russia to end the war, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said yesterday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy first spoke of his "victory plan" last month, saying he wanted to discuss it with Joe Biden.

Mr Miller said: "I think I ought to let President Zelenskyy, whose plan ultimately this is, speak to the details of it."

Russian and North Korean ministers meet

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui yesterday.

The pair exchanged views on how to develop bilateral relations "in accordance with the current level of comprehensive strategic partnership" between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Ukraine boxing champ released after Poland detention

Oleksandr Usyk has been released after detention by law enforcement officers at Poland's Krakow airport.

It was not immediately clear why the 37-year-old was detained. 

But Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that his ministry will contact the Polish foreign ministry, as it considered the detention "disproportionate and unacceptable in relation to our champion."

"There was a misunderstanding that was quickly resolved. Thank you to everyone who was concerned," Usyk said in an Instagram post.

That's it for our live updates today. We'll be back soon with more updates on the Ukraine war.

Volunteers have been pictured evacuating civilians from the town of Kurakhove in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Russia is thought to have the objective of capturing the whole of the Donetsk region.

Russia is likely to have suffered more than 610,000 casualties since the war in Ukraine began - both killed and wounded - the UK's Ministry of Defence has said.

Tactics based on "mass infantry waves" have required Moscow to "continuously replenish frontline forces with a constant stream of new recruits", the MoD added.

It is likely that recruitment rates this year have declined compared to 2023, the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

That has led Russia to "increase sign-on bonuses in August 2024".

The MoD added: "Estimates suggest military personnel payments amounted to around 8% of federal spending in the year to June 2024."

As we have been reporting, Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it is banning Russian state media networks from its platforms.

It claims they have used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influencing operations online.

Sky News asked RT for a response and got an interesting reply.

The RT press office wrote: "It's cute how there's a competition in the West [over] who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better."

The email went on: "Meta/Facebook already blocked RT in Europe two years ago [and] now they're censoring information flow to the rest of the world. 

"Don't worry - where they close a door, and then a window, our 'partisans' (or in your parlance, guerrilla fighters) will find the cracks to crawl through - as by your own admission we are apt at doing.

"Best regards,

"RT Press Office"

If "Ukraine falls" then Moldova is "the next country in line", Germany's foreign minister has warned.

Annalena Baerbock has been discussing the security situation with various counterparts at a conference in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau. 

"Everything that we do to support Ukraine also means fostering stabilisation with regards to Moldova," Ms Baerbock said. 

"It is clear what the greatest concern of the people here is: that if Ukraine falls, Moldova is the next country in line." 

Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, said the war in Ukraine has caused severe financial damage.

"Russia's war against Ukraine, which we condemned from the very first day, has caused enormous damage to our economy," Ms Sandu said. 

"The uncertainty caused by the war continues to seriously hinder our economic development and will continue to hinder it as long as the war lasts."

Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian army to expand by 180,000 troops, the Kremlin has said.

That will mean it comprises 1.5 million active servicemen, becoming second in size only to the Chinese army.

Such an increase would also mean Russia overtaking the United States and India, according to data from a military think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"This is due to the number of threats that exist to our country along the perimeter of our borders," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"It is caused by the extremely hostile environment on our western borders and instability on our eastern borders. 

"This demands appropriate measures to be taken."

It is the third time Vladimir Putin has expanded the Russian army since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.