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

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: 

Russia launches more overnight strikes

Ukraine said it shot down 28 out of 32 drones and four out of eight missiles fired by Russia overnight.

Kyiv's air force said Moscow launched four missiles at the southern region of Odesa. Its regional governor said one missile hit an open area and caused a fire, while debris also damaged two trucks.

The head of Kherson's regional military administration said an 80-year-old woman died as a result of Russian shelling, while two others were injured.

There were also reports that attacks on the northeastern region of Kharkiv damaged a hanger in the early hours of the morning.

Zelenskyy calls on countries to 'force Russia into peace'

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to a broad alliance of nations to "force Russia into peace".

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Mr Zelenskyy said that Vladimir Putin has violated the foundations of the UN and that the war "can't be conquered by talks" alone.

The Ukrainian leader also appealed to countries like Brazil and India, as well as countries across Africa and Latin America, to increase pressure on Russia.

"We know some in the world want to talk to Putin," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"To meet, to talk, to speak. But what could they possibly hear from him? That he's upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people? Or that he wants to keep the war and terror going, just so no one thinks he was wrong?"

He added: "It's insane."

Kremlin says forcing Russia into peace is 'fatal mistake'

But the Kremlin said this approach would be a "fatal mistake".

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it is "impossible" to force Russia into peace, adding that My Zelenskyy has made a "profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime".

Russian advances

The Kremlin said the battlefield dynamic for Russian forces in eastern Ukraine was "positive".

Russia's army said it captured two more villages in the east, where its forces were advancing towards the logistics hub, Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.

The defence ministry said its troops had captured the settlements of Ostroye and Grigorovka.

Donetsk's regional governor Vadym Filashkin said Russian troops have not yet reached the outskirts of Vuhledar, which is 80km south of Pokrovsk.

"Our defenders are trying to knock them out. The town has not been captured," he said.

Trump expected to snub meeting Zelenskyy 

An official with Donald Trump's campaign said the Republican nominee will not meet with Mr Zelenskyy this week while he is in the US.

Speaking to the Associated Press, the official said no meeting has been scheduled, despite a Ukrainian statement last week saying Mr Zelenskyy had planned to see the former president.

Mr Trump previously said he thought Mr Zelenskyy wanted the Democrats to win the upcoming US presidential election.

Putin to chair meeting on nuclear deterrence

The Kremlin said Mr Putin will chair a meeting of Russia's security council on nuclear deterrence.

"There will be a speech by the president. The rest, for obvious reasons, will be marked 'top secret'," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russia said it is in the process of revising its nuclear doctrine, which sets out the circumstances in which it might resort to the use of nuclear weapons.

On Monday, the head of Russia's nuclear test site said that Moscow will not test a nuclear weapon as long as the US refrains from doing the same.

Sanctions were imposed on Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine began, with the theory being that starving the Kremlin's war machine of the parts it needed would cause economic damage to Vladimir Putin.

But the data told a different story - and raised a mystery.

While exports of those goods to Russia certainly fell to zero, they suddenly rose sharply to a host of Russia's neighbours.

All of a sudden, Britain was sending drone equipment to Kyrgyzstan and luxury cars to Azerbaijan in numbers we had never come anywhere close to before.

Things got odder when you looked at Azerbaijan's own export data, which showed a sudden spurt in its own luxury car exports, despite not manufacturing any themselves.

This led our economics and data editor Ed Conway to travel to Georgia to see what he could find on the roads to Russia.

What he witnessed was the breaking of sanctions rules in plain sight.

Read more here…

There's been no live coverage of the Ukraine war today, but you can catch up on the latest developments over the past 24 hours below.

Russia strikes apartment block

Russia has been targeting the eastern city of Kharkiv in recent days, with today's airstrike on an apartment block killing three, according to the regional governor.

Oleh Syniehubov said a high-rise building was "hit directly", with authorities claiming another 31 people were injured.

The mayor of Kharkiv - Ukraine's second largest city - Ihor Terekhov, said Russia attacked at least four districts in the afternoon, including the most densely populated area.

Just hours after that strike, Joe Biden used part of his final UN General Assembly speech as US president to warn: "We cannot look away.

"The good news is Putin's war has failed at his core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," said Mr Biden.

"We cannot grow weary, we cannot look away, and we will not let up on our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins with a just, durable peace."

Russian forces 'storming eastern town'

The southeastern town of Vuhledar has resisted attacks since the beginning of the war.

But according to Russian war bloggers and state media, the Kremlin's forces have begun storming the stronghold in the Donbas region, which Mr Putin said he wants full control over.

Russians occupy about 80% of the region and have been pushing westwards, seemingly closing in on Vuhledar, which is 80km south of the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

"Russian units have entered Vuhledar - the storm of the town has begun," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. Multiple pro-Russian war bloggers claim the attack has begun.

While the town's military administration has not commented, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Security Council's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said Russia's use of guided aerial bombs had helped it to advance in the area.

"[Vuhledar] used to be easy to defend, it is on high ground. But with the active arrival of guided aerial bombs at the front, the enemy managed to destroy it and move to the flank," Mr Kovalenko said.

"Guided aerial bombs and aviation are the only things that allow the enemy infantry to move."

Separately, Ukraine's Deep State open-source intelligence analysts said Russian troops were trying to encircle Vuhledar and had been pummeling it with artillery and guided bombs.

China 'key route' for Russian weapons

According to Ukraine, such Russian advances are possible because of weapon parts reaching the battlefield through China.

Ukraine's presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk claimed roughly 60% of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons come from China, with thousands of drones also bought from Iran.

"The PRC [China] is the biggest problem I would say."

Russia 'won't stop' - as repression 'worsens' at home

While Russia sets out to occupy more parts of Ukraine, the Kremlin has maintained the war will not stop until all of its aims have been achieved.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the war - which Russia still refers to as a "special military operation" - will end once Moscow is satisfied.

Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, a UN expert said domestic repression has worsened, warning of arbitrary imprisonment and risks for more than 1,000 political prisoners.

"The country is now governed by a state-sponsored system of fear and punishment, including the use of torture, with absolute impunity," UN special rapporteur Mariana Katzarova told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

The Bulgarian former Amnesty International investigator said in a report that the number of political prisoners is up to more than 1,300.

Many were jailed on fabricated charges, she said, noting a priest's seven-year sentence for a prayer against the war.

Trump: Zelenskyy wants Democrats to win

Over in the US, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants the Democrats to win the election, which takes place on 5 November.

Mr Trump's statement on the campaign trail contrasts with the line adopted by some of his allies, who have argued Ukraine would welcome him back as only he - they claim - has the acumen to end the war.

"I think Zelenskyy 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."

Kamala Harris's rival campaign called out Mr Trump for not having said he wants Ukraine to win the war.

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."