Ukraine hopes for bolstered support as EU defence ministers meet in Dublin
EU defence ministers grapple with bolstering Ukraine's air defences, as worries grow over Russia's campaign to destabilise Kyiv's European backers. This comes as Moscow is taking advantage of Kyiv running low on US-built air defence missiles to intensify its attacks on the country. EU ministers are also expected to discuss Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine's European allies. the broadcaster's Angela Diffley tells us more.
One person killed in drone attack on Russia's Belgorod, authorities say
One person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, local authorities said on Tuesday.
Russian hybrid attacks will not 'scare' EU off supporting Ukraine: Kallas
The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas vowed Tuesday that Russia would not succeed in scaring the 27-nation bloc off supporting Ukraine, as worries grow over a hybrid campaign by Moscow to destabilise Kyiv's European backers.
"Russia is hitting Europe with a wave of increasingly kinetic hybrid attacks," Kallas told journalists after a meeting of European Union defence ministers in Ireland. "Russia wants to scare us away from supporting Ukraine. They will not succeed."
Russia hit thermal power plant in Ukraine's south, Naftogaz says
A Russian drone and missile attack on Monday damaged the thermal power plant in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, state energy company Naftogaz said on Tuesday.
Russia targets Kyiv and its region for sixth consecutive night of attacks
At least nine people have been killed and 14 injured in Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight. Moscow targeted Kyiv and the wider region in the attack, hitting a railway depot in the Kyiv. Russia's defence ministry said it had also struck infrastructure in the Southern Odesa region.
Russia has intensified strikes on the beleaguered Ukrainian cities in recent weeks disrupting the daily lives of millions of people and triggering up to a dozen air-raid alerts a day.
Four people killed by Ukrainian drones in Russian-controlled Luhansk region, Moscow says
Four people were killed and three more wounded by a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks in the Russian-controlled part of Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, the region's Russian-installed governor, Leonid Pasechnik, said.
Brussels floats fresh plans to increase sanctions against Russia
Beyond ramping up intelligence sharing and police cooperation, the EU is trying to raise the cost of the war for the Kremlin by bolstering support for Ukraine and hitting Moscow with sanctions.
Brussels has floated fresh plans to add 1,600 more firms and individuals to its already long list of Russians sanctioned over the war.
Meanwhile discussion has resurfaced on whether the bloc should tap some 200 billion euros ($235 billion) of frozen Russian central bank assets to fund Ukraine.
A proposal to use the funds failed last year after opposition from Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are held, and the EU came up with a 90 billion euro loan for Kyiv off its own back. But there is already a sense that the money might not last the two years it was intended for and the EU may need to find a way sooner or later to use the immobilised Russian funds.
"As each day passes, the cost of the war is rising," the top diplomats of the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden wrote in a letter last week.
Russia fired more than 2,800 drones at Ukraine in August as battlefield tactics evolve
Over the course of the month of August, Russia launched more than 2,800 jet-propelled drones at Ukraine, a type of drone that is harder to shoot down.
That has come with a massive uptick in the number of drones used, considerind those now found on the front line are quite a new model: Ukrainian authorities say they are pressed into service almost immediately after leaving the factory.
the broadcaster's Oliver Farry looks at those new drones, and how Russia is using them to try and change the course of the war.
In Pictures: Apartment building struck during Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv
Firefighters and residents gather at the site of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photos: Gleb Garanich, Reuters.
Death toll from Russian strikes in and around Kyiv rises to 12 dead, 21 wounded
The death toll from Russian air attacks in and around Kyiv overnight has risen to 12 people with at least 21 injured, authorities said, in the sixth consecutive day of aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital.
Russia to name new ambassador to UK after 'difficult period' in bilateral relations
Russia said it would announce a new ambassador to Britain in due course, weeks after its previous envoy left London at a time of exceptional tension in bilateral ties.
The departure of Andrei Kelin in July, after more than seven years in the post, prompted media speculation – denied by the embassy – that Moscow was downgrading diplomatic relations with Britain.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Kelin had served through an extremely difficult period "in the face of British efforts to completely dismantle bilateral relations".
More than 2,800 jet-powered drones launched at Ukraine by Russia in August
More than 2,800 jet-powered Russian drones were fired at Ukraine in August, a spokesman for Ukraine's air force said on Tuesday.
Ukraine grain harvest on track to nearly reach last year's output, farm lobby says
For several weeks, missile strikes have targeted grain export terminals and commercial container ships in and around Black Sea ports cutting off access in and out of the crucial sea route. However, farmers in Ukraine hope to harvest almost the same total amount of grain this year as in 2025.
Ukraine has harvested about 32 million metric tons of grain from 6.82 million hectares, or from 58 percent of the sown area, as of August 31, the farm lobby UCAB said on Tuesday.
It noted the yield averaged 4.68 tons per hectare. UCAB said farmers had also started the sunflower harvest, threshing the fist 10,860 tons from 9,200 hectares. They also started harvesting soy beans.
Ukraine plans to harvest around 60 million tons of grain in 2026, ministry officials have previously said.
Russia says its response to any hostile action in the Baltic will be 'devastating'
Russia will deliver a devastating response to any hostile action against it in the Baltic region, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"In the event of a further escalation of the military-political situation in the Baltic region, it must be emphasised once again: Russia’s response to the instigators of reckless anti-Russian ventures will be decisive. And they need to know this – it will be devastating for them," Zakharova told reporters at her weekly briefing.
Nearly 350 first responders mobilised in Kyiv region in wake of Russian strikes, Zelensky says
Russia rejects a moratorium on Black Sea attacks, deputy FM says
Russia believes that a moratorium on attacks in the Black Sea, a major grain trading route, will not bring the prospect of a peaceful resolution to the war any closer, Interfax quoted deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko as saying.
Both Russia and Ukraine have been pounding each other's export terminals and grain-carrying vessels in the Black Sea in an escalation that has created the biggest risks to Black Sea trade in the 4-1/2 years of the war.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on August 31 that Turkey had prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain through the Black Sea and was working on an agreement similar to the 2022 grain deal to allow safe exports.
Port infrastructure in southern Odesa region came under Russian attack, emergency service says
Port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Black Sea region of Odesa came under Russian attack, Ukraine's emergency service said.
The "massive" strike also targeted energy infrastructure and caused a fire at a residential building, where one person was hurt, it said on the Telegram messaging app.
In Pictures: Russian strikes on Boryspil east of Kyiv kill one person
Residents stand near burned cars and a gutted apartment building after a Russian missile strike in the town of Boryspil, east of Kyiv. Photos by Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters.
Ukraine hit 54 Russian 'shadow fleet' vessels in August, drone forces commander says
Ukraine hit 54 vessels alleged to belong to Russian "shadow fleet" in August, according to the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi.
(the broadcaster with AFP, AP and Reuters)
