Russia-Ukraine war: 'Putin's henchmen' threatening UK, Britons warned; Moscow's troops reach key Ukrainian city (2024)

After Russian forces reached the outskirts of the eastern Ukraine frontline city of Toretsk last week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered his top brass to do "everything that can be done" to minimise Moscow's advance along the frontline.

Here's what you need to know as we enter a new week...

Zelenskyy says North Koreans fighting with Russia

Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's relationships with its allies must evolve after claiming North Korea is supporting Russia with troops and weapons.

"We see that the alliance between Russia and such regimes as the North Korean one is getting stronger," Ukraine's president said in his nightly video address.

"This is not just about the transfer of weapons, this is in fact about the transfer of people from North Korea to the armed forces of the occupiers."

South Korea's defence minister Kim Yong-hyun said last week that "there was a high possibility" North Korea could deploy troops to help Russia in the war with Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea of North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine as "fake news".

UK sanctions Russian troops using 'barbaric' chemical weapons in Ukraine

The UK sanctioned troops in a Russian unit and their commander for the use of "barbaric chemical weapons" on the battlefield in Ukraine last week.

The Foreign Office said Moscow's forces had "openly admitted to using hazardous chemical weapons on the battlefield", with "widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin", which was first used during the First World War.

Russia claims another village as forces advance in Donetsk

Russian troops are continuing their advance in eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow.

Soldiers captured the small village of Zolota Nyva in the Donetsk region, according to the defence ministry.

The village is 20km west of Vuhledar, which was captured earlier this month.

Further north in the region, Russian troops are said to have reached the outskirts of the key city of Toretsk.Outmanned Ukrainian forces have been fending off assaults by Russian troops inside the strategic city.

Ukraine is 'holding its frontline' in Kursk despite attacks

Ukrainian troops are still holding their lines in Russia's Kursk region despite attempts from Moscow's forces to break through, Mr Zelenskyy said.

Russian military sources claimed last week to have recaptured nearly two dozen settlements in the area.

"There were attempts by Russia to push back our positions. But we are holding the defined lines," said Ukraine's president.

UK, France, Italy and Germany to help grow Ukraine's industrial defences

Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov said he came back from a meeting with Western defence partners with "concrete results" for Kyiv.

Mr Umerov visited counterparts from France, the UK, Italy and Germany to discuss "specific steps to increase the production of weapons".

"All four countries confirmed that investments in the Ukrainian defence-industrial complex will grow," he said.

The UK has pledged to provide additionallong-range weapons, artillery systems, and robotic systems, while French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the possibility of opening a training centre for drone operators in France, according to the announcement.

Prosecutors open investigation into alleged POW killings

Ukraine's prosecutor general said his office had opened an investigation after Russian troops reportedly shot nine Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners in Kursk on 10 October.

"The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and an international crime," Andriy Kostin said.

"A criminal case has been opened over the violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder."

Our live coverage remains paused today, but we're always monitoring the situation in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

If you're checking in, here is a summary of what's happened over the last 24 hours:

• Russian forces are trying to force Ukrainian troops from their positions inside Russia's Kursk region, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. In his nightly address, he said Ukraine's troops were "holding the designated lines" despite attempts by Russia to push back their positions.
• Ukraine's president also called for more support from Ukraine's allies amid warnings that Russia is "transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces". He said Ukraine needs "more long-rangecapabilities" and "more sustained supplies for ourforces rather than a simple list of military hardware".
• Elsewhere, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 68 drones and four missiles into its territory overnight. It added that 31 drones were shot down over the regions of Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy and Cherkasy.
• It comes after Kyiv claimed its forces hit a fuel depot in Luhansk supplying Russia's army on Friday night, causing a large fire.
• Ukraine's prosecutor general says his office has opened an investigation after Russian troops reportedly shot nine Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners in Kursk Oblast on 10 October.

We won't have live coverage of the conflict in Ukraine today, but here are the key lines from the past 24 hours:

• Outmanned Ukrainian forces have been fending off assaults by Russian troops inside the strategic city of Toretsk, Kyiv's military said late on Wednesday, as Russia continued its grinding offensive in Ukraine's east. Ukrainian military spokesperson Anastasia Bobovnikova said Russian troops were pushing forward in Toretsk, a frontline city since 2014, and "completely erasing" buildings and structures.
• The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it struck an ammunition depot at the Khanskaya airfield in Russia's Adygeya region overnight, saying a fire was observed at the military facility after the attack.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been at 10 Downing St in London for talks with the leaders of Britain and NATO on his "victory plan" for the war against Russia. US leader Joe Biden dropped out of the summit due to the arrival of Hurricane Milton in Florida.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were many media reports about ceasefire plans, but that Moscow had not received concrete signals from Kyiv.
• Russian overnight and early morning attacks on Ukraine hit civilian and critical infrastructure facilities, injuring at least seven people across the country, authorities said on Thursday. Officials said at least six people were hurt and 29 buildings damaged in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, while a drone attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih injured two people and damaged a five-storey residential building.
• A cruise missile attack late on Wednesday damaged a storage area at an infrastructure facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, causing a blaze that was later extinguished, governor Vitaliy Kim said.
• A ballistic missile attack had hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region late on Wednesday, killing six people and damaging a Panama-flagged container ship.

We're pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for now, but if you missed anything, here are the key events from today:

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it's impossible for Ukraine to win against Russia on the battlefield;
• His finance minister also announced that Budapest would hold up a massive G7 loan for Ukraine;
• The head of MI5 warned the UK is at risk from an increased threat from "Putin's henchmen" who want to see "mayhem" on British streets;
• The UK sanctioned troops in a Russian unit and their commander for the use of "barbaric chemical weapons" on the battlefield in Ukraine;
• Russian troops are continuing their advance in eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow, capturing one village and reaching the outskirts of a major city

Before we go, here's a look at the battlefield situation:

A guided bomb attack in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv has killed two people, according to officials.

Russian forces struck a "densely populated district", regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.

At least three people were injured, he added.

Over in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is hosting Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, at the Kremlin.

The meeting takes place on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, with discussions set to be dominated by the normalisation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, in which Russia takes a particular interest.

Armenia's ties with its longtime sponsor and ally Russia have grown increasingly strained after a lightning Azerbaijani military campaign last September, in which it captured the long-disputed Karabakh region from Armenia.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that it is impossible for Ukraine to win against Russia on the battlefield, as he stressed the need for a ceasefire.

Hungary is among the most supportive European nations of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, consistently opposing sanctions and frustrating the European Union, NATO and as (recently as today) the G7 (see 1.46pm post).

Speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, Mr Orban added that both direct and indirect communication is needed between Kyiv and Moscow - and suggested a third party mediates between them.

Sir Keir Starmer will head to Berlin on Saturday for talks with leaders from the US, France and Germany.

Number 10 said the prime minister, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz will discuss the war in Ukraine and worsening conflict in the Middle East.

The meeting will send a strong signal of continued military support for Ukraine, a German government source told the Reuters news agency.

The summit promises todrive home the message that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot hope to play for time and wait for Western support to cease, the source added.

The Middle East is also on the agenda.

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

An American pensioner has been sentenced to nearly seven years in a Russian prison after being convicted of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Stephen Hubbard, 72, was accused of signing a $1,000-per-month contract with a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in the city of Izyum in February 2022.

He was captured by Russian forces in April that year, shortly after the war began.

It is unclear when or how he arrived in Moscow.

After a trial was held behind closed doors in Moscow's highest city court, journalists were allowed to witness the verdict - which was delivered yesterday.

Read more of Bennett's report here:

Hungary will hold up a $50bn (£38bn) G7 loan for Ukraine until after the US presidential election next month, its finance minister has said.

Budapest is able to indirectly hold up the deal by delaying its own decision on the timing of the renewal of EU sanctions against Russia.

That's because Washington needs the EU to revise its timeframe for the renewal of sanctions to every three years for it to contribute some $20bn (£15bn) to the G7 loan, matching the European Union's contribution, EU officials have said.

"We believe that this issue, the prolongation of the Russian sanctions, should be decided after the US elections. We have to see in which direction the future US administration is going with this issue," finance minister Mihaly Varga said.

Hungary is among the most supportive European nations of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, consistently opposing sanctions and frustrating the European Union and NATO over aid for Ukraine and accession of Kyiv and other neighbours to the alliance.

Viktor Orban, the country's leader, is also a close ally of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has signalled a massive drawback of American financial and military assistance to Ukraine if he wins the race for the White House next month.