Russia Ukraine war live: Putin sends in new troops to ‘overstretched’ frontline as Kyiv ‘digs in’ in Verbove

The MoD says that following the creation of Russia’s 25th Combined Arms Army (25 CAA), which was reportedly seen in Ukraine for the first time in August, Moscow has deployed them to reinforce under-defended areas on the frontline.

“[The] 67th Motor Rifle Division and 164th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade are reported to be fighting on the front in a sector west of Severodonetsk and Kreminna, along the border between Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts,” the MoD said.

They suggest that this makes a fresh offensive from Russian forces unlikely, as they were not deployed en masse to one area.

The MoD said: “With 25 CAA apparently being deployed piecemeal to reinforce the over-stretched line, a concerted new Russian offensive is less likely over the coming weeks.”

Ukraine say Russian troops shelled the Nikpol district of Dnipropetrovsk overnight.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s national broadcaster, said in a post on Telegram that six houses, a private enterprise,a car, power lines were also damaged.

They added that the ‘heavy artillery’ used has injured at least two people so far.

As Russian reportedly sends in new troops to reinforce the ‘overstretched’ frontline, Ukraine say they are expecting ‘good news’.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s troops in the south, Oleksandr Shtupun, told the news site Espreso TV that Ukrainian troops were digging in and poised to move on the village of Verbove as part of their advance to the Sea of Azov.

“I believe we will soon have good news,” Shtupun said.

A VDV-affiliated source reported that Ukrainian forces broke into Verbove on 22 September and continued attacking the settlement with armoured vehicles as of Sunday, as per The Institute for the Study of War think-tank.

It was reported by the think-tank that the source said Ukrainian forces had occupied half of the area by September 24.

Previously unseen home video footage shows a younger, untidy and awkward-looking Vladimir Putin socialising and playing table tennis during a visit to Finland around three decades ago.

The rare clip, obtained by Finnish outlet Yle, shows the future Russian president dressed in a shellsuit playing darts and eating with other guests at a hospitality venue near Helsinki.

According to sources spoken to by Yle, the Finnish broadcasting company, the video was shot around a May Day holiday in the early 90s.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Five Bulgarians have appeared in court charged with spying and carrying out surveillance to assist the Russian state.

The three men and two women are accused of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February this year.

Orlin Roussev, 45, of Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk; Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, of High Road, Harrow, north-west London; Katrin Ivanova, 31, of the same Harrow address; Ivan Stoyanov, 31, from Bannister Close, Greenford, west London; and Vanya Gaberova, 29, from Churchfield Road, Acton, west London, are charged with conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023.

Ukraine’s forces have made a number of breakthroughs against Russian positions in recent weeks as intense fighting rages on in southern and northeastern parts of the country.