+++ Ukraine War +++: New Russian attacks on Kyiv

After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj warned of a new major Russian attack, the capital Kiev was attacked again during the night. The Kyiv Independent portal reported that Russia had launched a massive missile and drone attack on the capital. Reporters reported that numerous explosions could be heard in the city in the early hours of the morning. "The rockets are hitting one after another. As far as I can count, there are at least 10 to 12 explosions. It's quite loud in the city center," one of the reporters was quoted as saying.

According to the portal, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an attack on buildings in the Obolonskyj district that are not used for residential purposes. Warehouses were hit in the Podilsky district. Media journalists also reported attacks there and flames and smoke could be seen. No damage was initially known.

According to another report, there had already been a drone attack in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy that evening. The RBK Ukraine news agency reported one dead and several injured, citing the mayor.

At least eleven people were killed in Ukraine on Wednesday in one of the worst Russian air strikes since the start of the war, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia fired on the country with around 70 missiles and numerous drones and specifically targeted the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. “The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” Zelenskyj said on the short message service Telegram. Ballistic missiles remain the greatest threat, which is why additional air defense systems are vital for Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired a total of 130 drones, 48 ​​cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. The air defense intercepted 161 missiles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un assured Russian President Vladimir Putin of continued support for his war effort in a birthday message. Kim is convinced that Russia's "holy war of justice" to defend its sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity will end in victory, KCNA reported. The war in Ukraine was not specifically mentioned in the message. Estimates from Ukraine and South Korea indicate that North Korea has sent about 14,000 to 15,000 troops to Ukraine since 2024 to support Russia. Both countries have greatly expanded their relations since signing a mutual defense pact in June 2024.

A Liberian-flagged tanker caught fire off Russia's Black Sea coast near Sochi. The “Aframax Rio” was attacked by sea drones, the Russian Transport Ministry in Moscow said, according to the state agency Tass. “A Liberian-flagged ship carrying a cargo of oil was attacked by unmanned boats,” the statement said. The 23 crew members from India were rescued.

According to reports, the tanker was ablaze in the evening. An attempt to extinguish the fire can only be made once the intensity of the fire has reduced, the ministry said. The nearest beaches were closed for the time being, and Sochi residents were asked by the authorities to close windows and stay off the streets. The Ukrainian website BlackSeaNews assigns the ship to the Russian shadow fleet.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is preparing a massive attack on Ukraine. “There is current intelligence information that suggests that Russia is preparing a massive attack,” Zelensky said in his evening video speech. “The Ukrainian security services and our air force are ready to respond within the framework of our available defense resources.”

Sweden is moving Patriot air defense systems to Poland to secure a NATO logistics hub. The operation will begin in December and will replace a unit from the Netherlands, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced. Around 100 people from an air defense unit from Halmstad will be sent to Poland for this purpose, the government announced. Last week the country also announced the relocation of Gripen fighter jets. The task of both missions is to protect the NATO logistics hub at a Polish airport, explains Kristersson. The government does not provide any information about the exact number of Patriot systems. Ukraine is supplied with weapons via the NATO logistics center.

After a drone attack in the Black Sea off the coast of NATO member Bulgaria, a freighter sank and the crew is missing. In the incident on Tuesday, two ships were hit around 112 kilometers off the eastern coastal town of Byala, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said in a televised speech. According to him, the crew of one grain freighter was rescued, but the other ship, flying the Togo flag, sank. It initially remained unclear who was responsible for the bombardment with aerial and sea drones. A Russian statement was initially not available.

Initial assessments from maritime security circles indicated a Russian attack. Radev did not directly comment on who was behind the attack, but pointed to Russia's war against Ukraine. “If this war is not stopped, it will expand geographically and increase the risk of global conflict,” he said.

Moscow has rejected warnings from BND chief Martin Jäger of an impending violent conflict with Russia. The presidential office in Moscow said the statements were baseless and served as a pretext to justify higher defense spending. The head of the Federal Intelligence Service said on Monday that Germany was in danger of entering into a violent conflict with Russia. The attempted attack at Leipzig Airport is just one example of this. Russia accused Jäger of waging an increasingly aggressive “shadow war” against European democracies.

After bridges in Kiev, according to Ukrainian authorities, Russia also attacked a bridge over the Dnipro River in the city of Zaporizhia. Five people were injured, the region's governor, Mykhailo Semikin, said on Telegram.

He did not comment on the nature of the attack, but spoke generally about shelling. He also published a photo that is supposed to show a crater on the bridge's roadway. Traffic was temporarily stopped.

According to authorities, Ukraine attacked the region of the Russian capital Moscow with around 650 drones during the night. Most of them were rendered harmless by air defense from a great distance, wrote Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on the Telegram platform. 105 drones were destroyed on their approach to the capital. There was initially no information about damage or injuries. The information from Moscow could not initially be independently verified.

If the Russian information about the number of drones shot down is correct, it would indicate a major attack by Ukraine. The Kyjiv Independent portal, citing eyewitnesses, reported that the attack targeted an oil production facility around 40 kilometers from Moscow. Ukraine is targeting Russian oil industry facilities in order to target energy exports that are important to Moscow's war chest.

Russia has accused Ukraine of a deadly drone attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops. In the attack on Monday night, a driver who was delivering food for employees was killed, said the head of the Russian nuclear company Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev. The targets were a laboratory building and a facility for processing radioactive waste. However, there is no threat to nuclear safety. A Ukrainian statement was initially not available.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of enabling the Ukrainian attacks through a lack of condemnation. The factory management appointed by Russia had already stated on Saturday that Ukrainian shelling had damaged the external power supply. The power plant is currently powered by emergency diesel generators. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe was occupied by Russia in the first weeks of the war. Since then, Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of endangering nuclear safety. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stationed observers on site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that talks on ending the war will resume soon, despite increased Russian attacks on his country. “I assume that the American side will be able to organize a three-way meeting in October,” he said in his evening video address. The Ukrainian negotiating team is ready. “This willingness must now also come from Russia.”

Diplomacy must now also become a priority in Russia. “So far they have focused exclusively on attacks on Ukraine and on destabilizing activities in Europe,” Zelensky said. An important task for the USA and all of Ukraine's strong partners is to persuade Russia to engage in diplomacy, “to take concrete steps instead of killings”.

In Latvia, a German-Russian was sentenced to seven years in prison and one year on probation for allegedly collecting and passing on money and goods to Russian military personnel. These were said to have included night vision devices and telescopes, reported the Latvian news agency Leta, citing the responsible court in Riga.

The verdict against the man with German and Russian citizenship is not yet final. It was based on correspondence, photos and videos seized from the cell phone. The convicted man denied knowingly supplying sanctioned military goods. According to his own statements, he transported supplies such as wheelchairs, crutches and diapers in his vehicle for humanitarian reasons. According to a report by Latvian Radio, he said in court that he had given the night vision devices to hunters.

One person was killed in a Russian attack on the community of Slovyansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. This was announced by Vadym Lyakh, head of the city's military administration. He urged residents to leave the area and not wait for a mandatory evacuation order.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the sale of UniCredit's Russian business. A corresponding decree on the restructuring of the subsidiary of the major Italian bank and the subsequent sale of the newly created entity was published on the Russian government website on Monday.

The transaction required the approval of the president: Russia has imposed strict conditions on transactions with assets of investors from countries that the government in Moscow considers “unfriendly”. In May, UniCredit signed a non-binding agreement for the partial sale with an established private investor from the United Arab Emirates. The institute plans to split its Russian business into two parts.

It wants to retain full control of the payments sector to process international payments for unsanctioned corporate customers, while the unnamed Emirati buyer will take over the rest. According to previous information, the Milan-based financial institution expects the deal to have a negative impact on earnings of 3.0 to 3.3 billion euros.

At least two people are said to have been killed in a Russian drone attack on a cargo ship in the Black Sea. The Romanian authorities announced this. Eleven more people were rescued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wrote on Platform X on Monday that two drones had attacked the ship owned by Turkey in neutral waters.

The ship that was transporting corn caught fire and later sank. The captain's death is confirmed. The fate of another person is still being clarified, Zelenskyj wrote, contrary to the Romanian information. Zelensky also spoke of eleven people being rescued, including one injured person. Citizens of Azerbaijan and India were on board.

Russia says it has fired on a cargo ship in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Pivdennyi. The Russian Defense Ministry said the ship was used to supply the Ukrainian military.

Three people have been killed in a Russian airstrike with guided bombs on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to local authorities. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the short message service Telegram that 25 other people were injured and residential buildings and warehouses were damaged.

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