Ukraine-Russia war live: Killed security chief at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was ‘collaborator’

Two people have died in Russian shelling in Ukraine‘s southern Zaporizhzhia region, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Ukraine‘s air force said that Russia had launched three guided missiles and 13 attack drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday.

It said the missiles were intercepted, three drones were shot down over the Odesa region and 10 others were lost.

Nine people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus in the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight in three border regions, including seven over the Belgorod region, two over the Kursk region, and one over the Voronezh region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe. 

If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense. 

Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv’s worsening position, in part the result of Washington’s refusal to grant Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory and preventing Kyiv from degrading Moscow’s capabilities. 

Ukrainian forces have have shot down a Russian fighter plane in Donetsk, local officials have said.

The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov said.

Photos showed showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire.

A Ukrainian aircraft fired British-French cruise missiles at Russian troops attempting to advance towards a city in Ukraine, Sky news has reported.

A Ukrainian security source shared drone footage with the broadcaster that reportedly shows strikes on Russian troops advancing towards Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces used Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles, gifted by Western nations,” the source said.

The Independent could not confirm the assertions or the drone footage.

Here is a roundup of the events that happened yesterday:

• Russia attacks Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with 19 drones overnight

• Ukraine’s military says it hit fuel storage facility in Russia’s Voronezh region

• Huge Russian fuel depot blaze put out

  • Firefighters put out a huge blaze at a fuel depot in Russia’s Ural mountains, and a series of drone strikes were reported in areas close to the Ukrainian border, one of which also started a small fire at a fuel depot.

• More than 140 clashes on the frontline in past day, Ukraine says

  • Putins forces conducted 67 airstrikes, including dropping of 135 guided aerial bombs, according to a situation update from the Ukrainian army

• Russia knocked out most infrastructure in Ukraine’s Pokrovsk, local official says

  • Russia has knocked out around 80 per cent of critical infrastructure in the town of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Ukraine‘s east

Russia’s Defence Ministry has said that its forces had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region, the Russian state-run TASS news agency reported.

The Independent could not independently confirm the battlefield report.

A Russian prosecutor has called for a seven-year prison sentence for a 72-year-old American man who Russia accuses of working as a mercenary for Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported.

Stephen Hubbard is 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, and faces a sentence of seven to 15 years if convicted.

Russia’s RIA news agency reported that Hubbard pleaded guilty to the charges at a hearing in Moscow City Court on Monday. Hubbard’s sister and another relative cast doubt on his reported confession, telling Reuters he held pro-Russian views and was unlikely to have taken up arms at his age.

Hubbard’s trial is being held behind closed doors and the verdict will be announced on 7 October.