Ukraine Russia war live: Zelensky calls for Trump-proof support for Kyiv

Ukraine‘s offensive in Russia’s Kursk region has so far killed at least 31 civilians and wounded 256, the Russian foreign ministry has claimed.

In August, Ukraine launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two, bursting through the border into the western Kursk region supported by swarms of drones and heavy weaponry, including Western-made arms.

Russia said 131,000 civilians had left the most dangerous areas of the Kursk region.

UK foreign secretary David Lammy has announced ongoing negotiations with the White House regarding Ukraine’s request to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets.

He also urged allies to show “nerve and guts” as he said that the challenges of the war are now escalating into 2025.

“So this is a critical time for nerve and guts and patience and for fortitude on behalf of allies who stand with Ukraine,” he said.

“I am not going to as foreign secretary, of course, comment on operational details, because that can only aid Putin,” Mr Lammy said “but there is a very real-time discussion across allies about how we can support Ukraine as we head into winter,” according to The Guardian.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the US to permit Ukraine to conduct long-range strikes within Russia.

Russian aircraft were flying over the Baltic Sea without transponders or a flight plan, the Latvian Air Force reported on Saturday night.

Transponders are a device which helps air traffic in international airspace remain safe – and it is not uncommon for Russian jets to enter Baltic airspace with them turned off.

The jets were escorted by NATO Eurofighter jets as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, the Latvian Air Force said according to the Kyiv Independent.

In August, German pilots reported that Russian planes detected heading towards Latvian airspace were behaving “uncooperatively but not aggressively” when the Baltic Air Policing mission intercepted them.

In August, the German Air Force reported that Russian pilots who were detected heading toward Latvian airspace “behaved uncooperatively but not aggressively” when intercepted by NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.

Russian strikes hit high-rise apartment blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, leaving dozens wounded in a second consecutive nighttime attack this week.

The bombs fell Saturday night on the district of Shevchenkivsky, in Ukraine’s northeast, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Residential 16 and 9-storied buildings were destroyed, and seven more buildings were damaged, he added.

Twenty-one people were wounded, including an eight-year-old, two 17-year-olds and several older adults, according to Syniehubov and Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Ihor Volobuyev, a former chief spokesperson for Russian energy giant Gazprom has warned that Russians will repent for siding with Vladimir Putin.

The 53-year-old, who defected to Ukraine and is now fighting against Russia in the ongoing war, told Sky News: “The time will come, I really hope, when Russia will officially recognise him [Putin] as a criminal. And the Russians will repent for being with him, choosing him, listening to him, and for the time they spent in this war under his leadership. I hope they will be ashamed.”

He told the outlet: “I believe that until we kick Putin’s backside, we can’t think about anything else” adding that “I will serve in the armed forces of Ukraine for as long as I have the strength, opportunity and health – and I’m fine with that”.

Despite spending much of his life in Moscow, Mr Volobuyev, who was born in Ukraine, opposed Russia’s actions since the 2014 Crimea invasion and defected after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He has now relinquished his Russian citizenship and gained Ukrainian citizenship. “I haven’t shared Russia’s policy since 2014… I had been looking for the inner strength to leave Russia.”

Moscow has issued a warrant for his arrest, but he said he remained committed to Ukraine.

On 22 September, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania to thank workers for producing 155 mm artillery shells, vital for Ukraine’s defence against Russia.

Mr Zelensky expressed gratitude, emphasising the need for continued support from the US. “It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote on X.

“Thanks to people like these — in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries — who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”

The factory recently increased production from 24,000 to 36,000 shells per month, and the US has supplied Ukraine with over three million of these munitions, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting the US to present his “victory plan” to US president Joe Biden, aiming to secure further military support and diplomatic efforts against Russia.

Mr Zelensky will also address Congress and meet with vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

“This fall will determine the future of this war,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.

Following his Washington meetings, he will attend the UN General Assembly in New York as well aimed at rallying support for Kyiv.