Russia Ukraine war live: Putin’s forces unleash new offensive as UK sends weapons to Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier has described to The Independent the “very difficult” situation facing those fighting in Avdiivka, a small town in eastern Ukraine that has become the flashpoint of the frontline.

Serhiy Zhuykov, a Ukrainian section chief and sniper currently stationed nearby to the town, said: “We try to stay but there are many, many Russian attacks on our army. It is difficult, very difficult.”

A British Ministry of Defence update from this morning suggested that as much as 40 percent of combat engagements across the frontline at the moment are occurring near Avdiivka.

“It was as frank as possible – and obviously, it was focussed on our European affairs,” said Mr Zelensky in his nightly address, referring to his interaction with the Hungarian leader.

The two leaders were seen conversing in a corner of the Argentine parliament after Mr Orban threatened to block more European Union financial support to Kyiv. A nearly 20-second-long video showed Mr Zelensky engaging with Mr Orban animatedly in parliament where hundreds of leaders had gathered.

His clenched hands hung by his sides, like a schoolboy waiting for the headmaster. It was 19 October 2023. The Russian chief of the general staff, Mr Putin’s top soldier, had been appointed the operational commander of the invasion of Ukraine in January.

It was a move akin to the owner of a football club appointing the manager as his captain on the field. Since 2012, when he was appointed chief of the Russian military, his job had been big-picture strategy; from January 2023, he had needed to be engaged in day-to-day tactics as well.

Pressure mounted on Hungary on Monday not to veto the opening of European Union membership talks and the supply of economic aid to war-torn Ukraine at a pivotal EU summit this week, after Prime Minister Viktor Orban demanded that the issue be struck from the agenda.

With tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance blocked by Senate Republicans in the United States, Ukraine is desperate to ensure longer-term financial and military assistance as fighting in its almost 2-year war with Russia bogs down.

Ukraine‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in Argentina on Monday, where he attended the swearing-in of the country’s new president, Javier Milei.

It was the Ukrainian leader’s first official trip to South America as Kyiv continues to court support among developing nations for its 21-month-old fight against Russia‘s invading forces.

Mr Zelensky met with Mr Milei as well as with the presidents of Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador. During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Zelenskyy could be seen exchanging words with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, widely considered one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe and one of the few European leaders who has not sided with Ukraine in the war.

In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said he had a “highly straightforward conversation” with Mr Orban, “focused on our European affairs”.

He said he also spoke by phone with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, “about joint work at the EU level and about the joint defence of Europe”.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia will target energy infrastructure to cause power outages and blackouts like it did last winter.

In an intelligence update over the weekend, the UK Defence Ministry noted that Russia last week used its heavy bomber fleet for the first time since September.

It predicted the start of a more concerted campaign aimed at degrading Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure as winter sets in.

Kyiv is routinely targeted by Russian drone and missile attacks.

Just over two weeks ago, Kyiv came under what Ukrainian officials said was the most intense drone attack since the beginning of Russia‘s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Ukraine‘s air force said Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against the capital, of which 74 were destroyed by air defences.

Russia fired eight ballistic missiles at Kyiv early on Monday, all of which were shot down, Ukraine‘s air force said.

The thwarted attack still left one person injured by shrapnel and three more suffered severe stress reactions, officials said.

Several homes were also destroyed and more than 100 were left without electricity.

The predawn attack on Kyiv came amid warnings that Russia will step up its attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure as winter sets in with freezing temperatures.

A series of loud explosions rang out in Ukraine‘s capital just after 4am, as the city was under its nightly curfew, followed by air raid sirens.

Ukraine‘s military said its air defenses intercepted all eight ballistic missiles. However, falling debris from rockets damaged homes on the ground, leaving one person wounded and three others suffering severe shock, officials said.

The attack also left some 120 households in the city without electricity, Ukraine‘s Ministry of Energy said.

Nearly 200 Nepalese nationals are serving as mercenaries in the Russian army – but it’s not only a phenomenon benefitting the Kremlin’s military recruitment, as Namita Singh explains:

Afew months ago, a Ukrainian official posted a video of a man who had been captured while fighting for Russia. The man was neither trained by Russia nor a resident of that country, and he had no direct stake in the Ukraine war. Yet he had flown over 4,000km to serve in “one of the Russian Airborne Forces brigade”, the video said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a U.S. military audience on Monday that he hoped he can still count on the United States and urged Congress not play into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands, as he started a critical visit to Washington to shore up security assistance.

“We won’t give up. We know what to do and you can count on Ukraine. And we hope just as much to be able to count on you,” Zelensky said in an address to the National Defense University.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has warned Congress that a failure to renew military assistance to Ukraine could tip the nearly two-year-old war in Russia‘s favor, creating national security threats for the West.

Zelensky, in an oblique reference to disputes in Congress over allocating aid, said it was “crucial that politics … not betray the soldiers.”

“Let me be frank with you, friends. If there’s anyone inspired by unresolved issues on Capital Hill, it’s just Putin and his sick clique,” Zelensky added.