Russia-Ukraine war live: Ex-British soldier Ryan Evans killed as Kyiv asks Belarus to pull back from border

Ukraine has urged Belarus to withdraw its military forces and equipment from the shared border, cautioning Belarus against making “tragic mistakes” while under Russian influence.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry highlighted the presence of Belarusian special forces and former Wagner mercenaries, along with tanks, artillery, and air defence systems near the border.

The statement from the ministry said Ukraine “has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people”. Ukraine emphasised that it has no hostile intentions towards Belarus.

Meanwhile, Belarus said on Monday that it sent aircraft, air defence forces and armour to its border with Ukraine. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Ukraine has stationed over 120,000 troops along the border.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has condoled the death of an ex-British soldier who was killed in a suspected Russian missile strike on a hotel in Ukraine.

Ryan Evans, a safety adviser for the Reuters news agency, was in the Hotel Sapphire in the eastern city of Kramatorsk when it was hit on Saturday night.

In a statement, the agency said it was “devastated” to learn of his death and that two of its journalists were also injured, one seriously.

Mr Evans was part of a six-person team staying at the hotel while covering the war in Ukraine. Mr Zelensky said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile in a “deliberate” attack.

In his evening address on Sunday, he said: “A regular city hotel was destroyed by a Russian Iskander missile. Deliberately. Calculated. Seven people were injured, and one person lost their life. My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones.”

Russia’s defence ministry has said it sent more artillery to the Kursk region where Russian forces are fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops who pierced the Russian border on 6 August.

“Additional missile and artillery weapons have been supplied to the group,” the ministry said in a statement on supplies to troops in the Russian border regions.

Pope Francis has criticised Ukraine’s move to potentially ban the activities of Russian-affiliated religious organisations amid Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, saying that “churches are not to be touched.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the bill on 24 August which was passed by the parliament a few days earlier.

“I am concerned for the freedom of those who pray because true prayer is always for everyone. One does not commit evil by praying. If someone commits harm against their people, they will be guilty of that, but they cannot have done harm because they prayed,” Pope Francis said following his Sunday Angelus blessing.

“Let those who wish to pray in what they consider their Church be allowed to do so.”

Ukrainian Defense Forces have received a new type of attack weapon named Palianytsia, described as a hybrid of a missile and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Details about the Palianytsia missile are largely classified.

The drone missile can reach more than 20 Russian military airfields and was developed in one and a half years.

It is launched from a ground-based platform and features a turbojet engine.

Former US President Donald Trump has signalled his support for Ukraine in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and said he wants to stop the war with Russia, the Ukrainian president told reporters in an interview posted on his social media.

Republican presidential candidate Trump is locked in a tight-run race with Vice President Kamala Harris in the 5 Nov US election and has threatened US withdrawal from NATO and said he would not defend allies that did not increase their defence budgets.

Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were injured in a strike on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency said on Sunday.

Evans, who was working as a safety adviser for the agency, was killed after a missile struck the Hotel Sapphire where he was staying as part of a six-person team on Saturday, Reuters said in a statement.

Two of the agency’s journalists were being treated in hospital; one of them was seriously injured, it said.

“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families,” Reuters said.

Evans, a former British soldier, had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics. He was 38.

“We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly,” Reuters said.

The three other members of the Reuters team who were in the hotel at the time of the strike were accounted for and safe, the agency said.