Russia-Ukraine war live: one killed in Russian strikes on Izmail port; Moscow reports drone attack over Bryansk

The situation along the eastern frontline remains difficult and the main task for Ukraine’s troops is to ensure reliable defence and prevent the loss of strongholds, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Wednesday.

“The enemy does not abandon his plans to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the ground forces cited Syrskyi as saying on the Telegram messaging app.

“Our main task is to ensure reliable defence, to prevent the loss of our strongholds and positions in the Kupiansk and Lymansk directions, as well as to successfully move forward and reach the designated lines in the Bakhmut direction.”

Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv early on Wednesday, with the country’s air defence systems shooting down all missiles before they reached their targets, the capital’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters’ witnesses heard several blasts which sounded like air defence systems being deployed at around 05.50am (02.50 GMT) when air raid alerts were issued for all of Ukraine before being called off about an hour later.

“Another missile attack by the enemy on a peaceful city with the aim of killing the civilian population and destroying the infrastructure,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

He added that according to preliminary information, there was no destruction in Kyiv and no casualties.

The scale of the attack, which Popko said involved missiles of different types, was not immediately known.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed a drone just before midnight on Tuesday over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region, said on the Telegram messaging app that there was no destruction or casualties.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

AFP: One person was killed in Russian drone attacks on a port district in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region early Wednesday, the regional governor said.

The night-time attacks lasted three hours and targeted the Izmail district, Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.

The Danube river port of Izmail, which borders NATO member Romania, has become a main export route for Ukrainian products following Russia’s withdrawal from a UN-brokered grain deal in July.

“Unfortunately, one person died,” said Kiper, adding that it was an agricultural worker who was seriously injured and died in hospital.

“Destruction and fires were recorded in several settlements,” he added, saying that port and agricultural infrastructure had been damaged, including administrative buildings.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan.

Our top story: One person was killed in Russian drone attacks on a port district in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region early Wednesday, the regional governor said.

The night-time attacks lasted three hours and targeted the Izmail district, Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.

Meanwhile the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed a Ukraine-launched drone just before midnight on Tuesday over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

Elsewhere:

• A battlefield video circulated on social media appeared to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.

• More than 900 people were killed or injured by cluster munitions in Ukraine last year amid broad Russian use of the widely banned weapons, propelling global casualty figures to record levels, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).

• The Kremlin refused to confirm a possible summit between Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which US officials have said they expect.

• The Democratic and Republican leaders of the US Senate expressed support for continued assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, as lawmakers returned to Washington facing a tight deadline for passing spending bills. President Joe Biden last month asked Congress to approve about $40bn in additional spending, including $24bn for Ukraine and other international needs, in a test of the country’s willingness to keep supporting Ukraine as it fights Russian invaders.

• Ukrainian lawmakers voted to restore a requirement that officials declare their assets, a measure sought by the International Monetary Fund, but included a loophole critics say dampens its effect.

• Russia’s pipeline natural gas exports to the EU may fall to 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, almost two-thirds lower than last year and a more than a six-fold drop from 2021, Russian state bank Veb said in a forecast.

• Cuba identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said. It was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there.”

• Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, spoke of the intense toll of the war on her family. “This may be a bit selfish, but I need my husband, not a historical figure, by my side … But we stay strong, we have strength both emotionally and physically. And I am sure we will handle it together,” she told the BBC.

• Russia shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones early on Tuesday that were targeting the country’s capital, the Russian defence ministry said. The ministry said that its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district of the Moscow region.

• Moscow’s two major airports, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, as well as the Zhukovksy airport, resumed normal operations from 7.30am (04.30 GMT) after a temporary traffic suspension early on Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said.

• Russian air defences also destroyed a Ukrainian aeroplane-style drone over Crimea on Tuesday morning, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

• The Kremlin said on Tuesday it did not think Ukraine’s decision to appoint a new defence minister would change the nature of the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was sacking defence minister Oleksii Reznikov and proposed Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and ex-lawmaker, to replace him.

• The governor of Russia’s western Bryansk region said border guards and security forces had “thwarted” an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage group that tried to cross into Russia. Russia has this year repeatedly reported Ukrainian sabotage attempts on its borders, and sent helicopters to put down a cross-border incursion in the Belgorod region in May.

• Gen Sergei Surovikin, who had not been publicly seen since Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny in June, has apparently resurfaced. Ostorozhno Media published a picture, reportedly taken on Monday in Moscow, of the former aerospace commander alongside his wife.