Russia-Ukraine news – live: Nato nuclear drill begins as Putin drone attack kills four

Nato has begun annual and long-planned nuclear exercises, with unarmed training flights set to conduct drills over the UK, North Sea and Belgium, which is hosting the event until the end of October.

It came as Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with so-called kamikaze drones, with three people allegedly killed and 19 rescued from a residential building in the capital.

Ukraine’s air force claimed to have shot down roughly 85 per cent of the drones launched in the overnight bombardment by Russia.

Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelensky called upon Ukrainian civilians to capture any Russian soldiers they encounter in their neighbourhoods, to use as bargaining chips for the return of captured Ukrainians.

“This is extremely important – everyone who captures the Russian military provides us with the opportunity to release our heroes,” Mr Zelensky said.

There was also intense fighting overnight around two towns in the Donetsk region, a day after 11 Russian soldiers were shot dead by gunmen at a military training ground in Belgorod, prompting Moscow to call for a criminal investigation.

Key Points

• Four killed in Kyiv drone strike on residential building

• Routine Nato nuclear drill under way, with flights expected over UK

• Capture Putin’s soldiers, Zelensky tells locals for a quid pro quo with Russia

• Russia facing logistical issues after Crimea bridge blast, claims UK

• Russia taking men from streets for Ukraine war – report

Russian ‘kamikaze’ drone reportedly inscribed with ‘For Belgorod'

14:42 , Zoe Tidman

In Kyiv, Reuters reported seeing pieces of a drone used in Russia’s attacks this morning which bore the words: “For Belgorod.”

The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine, has accused Ukrainian forces of repeatedly shelling the region.

Four killed in Kyiv drone strike

14:39 , Zoe Tidman

The death toll for a drone strike on a residential building in Kyiv has been updated to four.

Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said the bodies of a pregnant woman and her husband, as well as an older woman and another man, have been recovered from the scene.

Russia and Ukraine in new prisoner swap

14:21 , Zoe Tidman

Russia and Ukraine will exchange a total of 220 prisoners on Monday, an official has said.

This is set to include 110 Ukrainians - mostly women - and 80 Russians, according to the head of the Donetsk region, which Russia proclaimed part of its own territory last month.

Denis Pushilin said the Russians included “civilian sailors” and 30 military personnel.

Moscow ‘completes’ call-ups ordered in Putin’s partial mobilisation

14:09 , Andy Gregory

Nearly a month after Vladimir Putin announced his “partial mobilisation” of Russian civilians, the mayor of Moscow has declared that the capital has “completed” its call-ups.

Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday that further summons would no longer be issued.

Russia claims to have thwarted attempt to breach Kherson defences

13:51 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s defence ministry claims its forces have thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to breach their defences in the southern Kherson region.

Kyiv has clawed back territory in Kherson region in recent weeks – a strategically vital region linking annexed Crimea to the rest of Ukraine.

Nineteen rescued from residential building after Russian attack, Zelensky aide says

13:30 , Andy Gregory

Nineteen people have been rescued from a residential building hit by a Russian drone attack, a presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Three people were killed in the attack in Kyiv and rescue work was ongoing, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy chief of Mr Zelenskiy’s office.

EU announces mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops

13:07 , Andy Gregory

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to set up a mission to train some 15,000 Ukrainian troops from next month and to provide an extra €500m of funding for arms deliveries to Kyiv.

“Today, we step up our support to Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s illegal aggression,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement, following a meeting in Luxembourg.

The mission, initially set up to last two years, will “train the Ukrainian armed forces so they can continue their courageous fight”, he added.

It brings the total amount earmarked by the EU for arms to Ukraine to over €3bn.

Russia claims ‘massive’ attack on Ukrainian military targets and infrastructure

12:44 , Andy Gregory

Russia claims to have carried out a large-scale attack on military targets and energy infrastructure across Ukraine using high-precision weapons.

In its daily briefing, Russia’s defence ministry said it had hit “all designated targets” in the latest bombardment of Ukrainian cities and also thwarted an attempt by Ukraine to breach its defences in the southern Kherson region.

With reports of at least three casualties, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person in the capital had been killed and another trapped under rubble as the explosions set off air raid sirens. Several residential buildings also came under attack, he alleged.

Putin claimed to have lost more troops in Ukraine than US did in whole of Vietnam war

12:05 , Andy Gregory

Russia has lost around 65,000 soldiers in its war against Ukraine, military officials in Ukraine have claimed – a death toll which would rank well above the fatalities suffered by the US in the Vietnam War.

As of today, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces has listed “about 65,320 (+320) persons eliminated” as among the “total combat losses of the enemy”.

While this is significantly higher than recent estimates given by UK officials and hugely above the 5,937 deaths conceded by the Kremlin a month ago, it would mean Moscow has lost close to 2,000 soldiers a week.

The Ukrainian estimate was up about 10,000 on the previous figure provided by the Ukrainian military on 21 September.

Putin has lost more troops in Ukraine than US did in whole of Vietnam war – report

Nato’s annual nuclear exercises begin

11:46 , Andy Gregory

Nato has started long-planned annual nuclear exercises over the UK and other parts of Europe, with 14 of the alliance’s 30 member states due to take part.

Training flights will take place over the UK, the North Sea and Belgium, the latter of which is hosting the manoeuvres, known as Steadfast Noon, which are set to run until the end of the month.

The bulk of the war games will be held at least 625 miles from Russia’s borders and were planned prior to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow typically holds its own annual exercises at roughly the same time, and Nato is expecting Russia to conduct manouevres involving its nuclear forces some time this month.

Fatal drone attacks are ‘true face of this war’, says Kyiv mayor

11:21 , Andy Gregory

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschsko has hit out at Russia for having killed civilians in a drone strike he described as a terror attack which is the “true face of this war”.

Multiple people killed in Russian drone attacks, says Ukrainian minister

11:01 , Andy Gregory

Several people have been killed in Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities, the country’s interior minister has said.

After the mayor of Kyiv said at least one person had been killed in the capital, Denys Monastyrskyi told reporters there had been “a few” deaths including in other cities, but gave no details.

Zelensky aide calls for Russia to be expelled from G20

10:46 , Andy Gregory

Russia should be expelled from the G20, a top aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said, in the wake of a series of Russian drone attacks.

Mikhail Podolyak said that those who “give orders to attack critical infrastructure to freeze civilians and organise total mobilisation to cover the frontline with corpses, cannot sit at the same table with leaders of G20”.

Use of Iranian kamikaze drones would mark ‘escalation’, Austrian minister says

10:24 , Andy Gregory

Any use of Iranian drones in Russia’s war against Ukraine would mark an escalation of the conflict, Austria’s foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg has warned.

“These kamikaze drones that we are seeing in Ukraine apparently now – this is an escalation,” he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Providing equipment to Russia would amount to an active support for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, Mr Schallenberg claimed.

Ukraine ‘shot down 85 per cent of Russian drones’, Kyiv says

10:01 , Andy Gregory

The 37 Russian drones said to have been shot down by Ukraine accounted for around 85 per cent of those launched by Moscow, according to Kyiv’s air force.

“That’s quite a good result for the work of our air defences and that number will rise in the future,” spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told reporters, adding that all the drones had flown into Ukraine from the south.

US embassy condemns ‘desperate’ attacks on Ukraine

09:42 , Andy Gregory

The US embassy in Ukraine has condemned Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

“More desperate and reprehensible Russian attacks this morning against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the embassy said. “We admire the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people. We will stand with you for as long as it takes.”

Mykolaiv hit by Russian kamikaze drone attack, mayor says

09:03 , Andy Gregory

Russian kamikaze drones are claimed to have struck tanks full of sunflower oil at a terminals in the city of Mykolaiv late last night.

Among Ukraine’s largest ports, the Black Sea city Mykolaiv – near the Kherson region – halted shipments at the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and has been under constant shelling in recent months, but Kyiv is pushing to open the port to expand shipments of food under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

“In Mykolaiv, three drones hit an object of industrial infrastructure, where tanks with sunflower oil were ignited,” said the city’s mayor Oleksandr Senkevich.

The regional emergencies service published photos of huge tanks with flames and smoke rising over them.

The attack took place hours before explosions in the capital Kyiv from suspected Iranian-made drones.

Ukraine ‘shoots down 37 Iranian-made drones'

08:39 , Andy Gregory

Since 9pm local time, Ukraine has shot down 37 Iranian Shahed-136 drones and three cruise missiles launched by Russia, according to Kyiv’s ministry of defence.

Residential buildings hit during attacks on Kyiv, mayor says

08:32 , Andy Gregory

Mayor Vitaliy Klichko has urged people in Kyiv’s central Shevchenko district to take shelter after attacks on the Ukrainian capital activated air raid sirens.

Following the drone attack, a fire broke out in a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, Mr Klitschko said, adding that several residential buildings have also come under attack.

Details of casualties from the attacks were not immediately clear.

My colleague Shweta Sharma has more in this report:

Russia attacks Kyiv with kamikaze drones, sending Ukrainians scrambling for shelter

Drones vital to Russia and Ukraine’s war efforts

08:26 , Andy Gregory

Earlier this month, our international correspondent Bel Trew reported on the so-called kamikaze drones used to strike Kyiv today:

For both sides of this war, one of the rising stars is the drone – be they makeshift or professional, armed or reconnaissance.

Ukrainian commanders claim over the last few months that Russia has been inflicting serious damage on their forces and civilian population due to the deployment of dozens of recently introduced Iranian kamikaze Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs. So they are trying to win the drone war.

Russia has wreaked havoc with kamikaze drones. Now Ukraine is fighting back

Kyiv residents reduce energy consumption to avoid blackouts, state-owned firm says

08:00 , Andy Gregory

The Ukrainian government is urging a national reduction of energy consumption and, in some regions, implementing rolling blackouts – as repairs are carried out on damaged power stations and other facilities.

Residents of the Kyiv region had reduced their daily average electricity consumption by 7 per cent, Ukrenergo said on Saturday, allowing the utility firm to avoid forced blackouts.

“This is a direct result of the fact that Ukrainians deliberately limited the use of electrical appliances in the evening hours,” the state-owned company said.

Danylo, 20, a student in Kyiv, told the Associated Press he had reduced his electricity use at home “because we understand that this is a way to protect ourselves from complete loss”.

Danylo, who declined to give his last name, added: “Now, it is a trend to work for a common victory,” he said.

Zaporizhzhia power plant disconnected from grid, Energoatom says

07:48 , Andy Gregory

The Zaporizhzhzia nuclear power station has been cut off from the Ukrainian grid once again after Russian shelling nearby, Ukraine’s state energy firm Energoatom has claimed.

Referring to Vladimir Putin’s troops, the firm said on Telegram that the “racist terrorists have changed their tactics and are now trying to blackmail Ukraine and the whole world with missile attacks on remote substations that feed the” Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

On Monday, Russian troops once again fired at substations – critical infrastructure in territory held by Ukraine – resulting in the communication line at Dniprovska being disconnected, the firm said.

In the transitional process, due to a short-term voltage drop, the reserve transformer of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s own needs was turned off and the diesel generators were started, Energoatom said.

Intense fighting reported in Kherson and Donbas

07:32 , Andy Gregory

Fighting has been particularly intense this weekend in the southern Kherson region, and in Donetsk and Luhansk, which make up the industrial Donbas region. These constitute three of the four regions Russia claimed to have annexed last month after holding what it called referendums, in votes which were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.

“The key hot spots in Donbas are Soledar and Bakhmut,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video message on Sunday, adding: “Very heavy fighting is going on there.”

Bakhmut has been a target of Russian forces since taking the twin industrial towns of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk in June and July, while Soledar is just north of Bakhmut.

Russia’s defence ministry said that its forces had repelled efforts by Ukrainian troops to advance in the Donetsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Moscow also said it was continuing air strikes on military and energy targets in Ukraine.

Russia taking men from streets for Ukraine war - Washington Post

06:44 , Arpan Rai

Russian police and military officers have conscripted hundreds of men in the past week, grabbing them from the street without any notice to be deployed in the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, according to a report by The Washington Post.

The Russian police officers did their search at a business centre in Moscow and seized almost every man in sight, the report added.

Last week, more than 200 men were taken away from the dormitories of the Mipstroy1 construction company and on 9 October, the officials grabbed dozens at a shelter for the homeless.

Men are also being taken away from the streets and from outside metro stations as Russian officers are lurking in apartment building lobbies to give men military summonses.

More blasts heard in Kyiv

06:23 , Arpan Rai

Another set of explosions has been heard in Kyiv, witnesses have said.

“More explosions just now in Kyiv, we’re in the city centre and second one was nearby — I was outside and heard the preceding engine noise,” said war reporter Nolan Peterson based in Ukraine.

EU set to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops, send more arms to Kyiv

06:19 , Arpan Rai

The European Union’s foreign ministers are likely to finalise a mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers from next month and aid Ukraine with an extra €500m (£433m) worth of funding for arms and ammunition as they meet today in Luxembourg.

The military training is expected to start in mid-November and would take place on EU territory at one hub in Poland and another in Germany, two senior EU officials said.

Several EU nations are already training Ukrainian troops on how to use specific weapons and this will continue.

Russia facing logistical issues after Crimea bridge blast, claims UK

06:05 , Arpan Rai

The logistical issues faced by Russian forces in southern Ukraine have likely grown after the Kerch bridge connecting Moscow with Crimea was damaged in a blast last week, the British defence ministry said today.

“Logistical issues faced by Russian forces in southern Ukraine have likely become more acute following damage to the Kerch Bridge on 08 October 2022. Repair efforts are ongoing, and it is open to some traffic,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

It added that a large queue of waiting cargo trucks remains backed up near the crossing.

“Russian forces operating in southern Ukraine are likely increasing logistical supply flow via Mariupol in an attempt to compensate for the reduced capacity of the Kerch Bridge,” the ministry said.

It added that with the Russian presence in Kherson strained, and the supply routes through Crimea degraded, “the ground line of communication through Zaporizhzhia Oblast is becoming more important to the sustainability of Russia’s occupation”.

“The city of Melitopol is a junction of supply routes and hosts a major Russian aviation presence,” the British MoD said.

Massive fire at energy facility in Ukraine - official

06:01 , Arpan Rai

A huge fire has broken out at a major energy infrastructure facility in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region following a Russian missile attack, the local governor said today.

Explosions in Kyiv, confirms Ukraine: ‘Russians think it will help them’

05:46 , Arpan Rai

A top Ukrainian official says Russia has attacked Kyiv with kamikaze drones, calling for more air defence systems.

“Explosions in Kyiv. The capital was attacked by kamikaze drones. Russians think it will help them, but such actions are like agony. We need more air defence systems and as soon as possible,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s staff, said on Telegram.

“We have no time for slow actions. More weapons to defend the sky and destroy the enemy. So be it,” he said today.

Kyiv hit by Kamikaze drones, multiple explosions reported

05:29 , Arpan Rai

Multiple blasts hit Kyiv’s central district this morning, mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

At least three blasts have been reported by local journalists in the morning rush hour for the second Monday in a row.

The Ukrainian capital was targeted with Iranian kamikaze – or self-destructing – drones, used by Russia in previous bombardments on several cities over the past week, said the head of Ukraine’s presidential office.

Capture Putin’s soldiers, Zelensky tells locals for a quid pro quo with Russia

05:18 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukrainians to capture Russian soldiers they encounter in their neighbourhoods – to exchange with Moscow for the return of captured Ukrainians.

“This is extremely important - everyone who captures the Russian military provides us with the opportunity to release our heroes,” Mr Zelensky said.

“We remember our people detained in Russia. We must liberate them, and we must liberate them all, leaving none to the enemy. But for this we need to capture the occupiers - as many as possible,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address.

He also thanked the 54th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion which has “during the offensive significantly increased our ability to return Ukrainians home.”

04:49 , Arpan Rai

Good morning, welcome to our coverage of the Ukraine war on Monday, 17 October.