Zelensky confirms major oil facility hit by Ukraine
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Ukraine has seen “important results” from deep strikes, and said Kyiv has struck a major oil facility.
Deep strikes by Ukraine on two ships linked to Russia in Black Sea (Volodymyr Zelensky/X)
“I thank all our defenders who are working to send Russia’s sick war back to where it came from,” he also wrote on X, alongside video clips of strikes on two ships linked to Russia in Black Sea.
“This means thousands upon thousands of people in our defense industry working to ensure that Ukraine has the means to respond to every Russian strike. And thousands of warriors who find and hit Russian targets supporting the war every day.”
He added: “A target in the Black Sea was hit, as was a site in the Oryol region used to launch and store attack drones. Sanctions were also applied to an oil facility in the Samara region and a supply depot for the occupiers in the Bryansk region. These are exactly the kind of just responses we need right now. We will continue to deprive Russia of the ability to keep this war going.”
Sian Elvin1 October 2026 12:56
‘I will not stop and I will not hide’: Kasparov says he was warned of threat to life
Russian opposition figure and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov said security services in the US and Lithuania had warned him that his life was in danger following a suspected plot against Kremlin opponents living outside Russia.
US authorities said last month they had charged five people over alleged plots involving Russian intelligence to assassinate two opposition figures, one in the US and the other in Lithuania, after paying recruits to carry out surveillance on both of them.
Russian former world chess champion Garry Kasparov speaks to the audience at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain 3 March 2025 (Reuters)
Unconfirmed media reports have named the possible targets as Kasparov, who lives in New York; Ilya Ponomaryov, a dissident who is based in Ukraine but travels regularly to the US; and Ivan Tyutrin, an opposition activist based in Lithuania.
Kasparov, 63, wrote in a Substack post that he and Tyutrin were not told they were explicit targets.
“We were, however, warned by security services in Lithuania and the US that our lives were in danger and that we should take precautions,” he wrote.
“But I will not stop and I will not hide… I will continue to do everything I can to rally the free world against Putin’s murderous dictatorship,” added Kasparov, whom Russia has placed on its lists of “foreign agents” and “terrorists and extremists”.
Rituparna Chatterjee1 October 2026 12:30
Kanye West’s Russia concerts cancelled, organisers confirm
Two concerts by US rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in St Petersburg, Russia, have been cancelled, organisers said on 30 September.
Ye was due to perform on 10 and 11 October.
The shows were expected to be his first major concerts in Russia and would have made him the biggest Western artist to perform there since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian event agency Say Agency said in a statement: “Ye’s concerts in St Petersburg will not be able to take place on the scheduled dates.”
It said more details would be provided in a later statement and that ticket holders would receive refunds.
Maroosha Muzaffar1 October 2026 12:00
Putin sees boost to ties from APEC meet with China’s Xi, reports say
Russian president Vladimir Putin believes his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at an APEC summit in China next month will yield results and benefit ties, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying in a letter to Xi.
China did not confirm nor deny the meeting would take place.
Its foreign ministry said “the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy is the most important political guarantee for the steady and long-term development of China-Russia relations”.
Rituparna Chatterjee1 October 2026 11:30
Kyiv claims Russia used new drone warhead designed to destroy power pylons in latest attack on energy grid
Russia has for the first time used a jet-powered drone fitted with a warhead designed to destroy high-voltage power pylons and steel bridges, Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said.
He said the shaped-charge warhead contains a 40kg main charge and four additional destructive modules, and warned Russia could use it to target major power transmission lines, according to The Kyiv Independent.
“Bad news. Today, the enemy for the first time used a special shaped-charge cutting warhead on a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),” Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian police officers collect debris of a Russian drone that crashed near a children’s playground among residential buildings and did not detonate, in Kyiv on 30 September 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine (AFP/Getty)
The development came during Russia’s latest large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy system. Nearly 190 attack drones and ballistic missiles were launched, with Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast among the main targets.
Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 254 of 285 drones, including 146 of 174 jet-powered drones, during the daytime attack.
The strikes caused emergency power cuts in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr oblasts.
Maroosha Muzaffar1 October 2026 11:00
UK announces 31 new sanctions against Russian propagandists and torturers
Britain has announced 31 new sanctions targeting Russian people and businesses involved in Kremlin disinformation, human rights abuses and raising money for Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said the measures target “LNG shadow fleet vessels, Kremlin disinformation networks and perpetrators of civilian torture and child indoctrination”.
Adam Withnall1 October 2026 10:49
Russian drone tears through school in Ukraine’s capital
A Russian drone tore through a school in Ukraine’s capital, authorities said on Thursday, the latest in a spate of worsening air attacks on Kyiv.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said children had been in the shelter at the moment of the strike, which sparked a fire.
A police officer carries the engine of a Shahed drone out of a school damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, 1 Oct 2026 (AP)
He reported no injuries. The State Emergency Service released images of rescue workers picking through debris and dousing the charred building, whose windows were shattered.
The morning attack came amid intensifying, around-the-clock strikes on Kyiv and other cities with jet-powered drones which Ukraine’s military has struggled to shoot down.
A police officer and a rescue worker carry an unexploded warhead from a Shahed drone out of a school damaged by a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, 1 Oct 2026 (AP)
City administration chief Serhiy Lysak said infrastructure had been damaged but gave no further details. Odesa and the surrounding region have been a frequent target of attacks aimed partly at choking Kyiv’s export revenues.
Russia, which says it strikes only military targets, reported that it had attacked a data centre in Odesa and a cargo vessel in the nearby port of Chornomorsk.
Rituparna Chatterjee1 October 2026 10:30
Ukraine’s military struck oil facility in Russia’s Samara, Zelensky says
Ukraine’s military struck an oil facility in Russia’s Samara region overnight, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
Earlier, Russia said it struck a data centre in Odesa and a cargo vessel in the nearby port of Chornomorsk in southwestern Ukraine.
Rituparna Chatterjee1 October 2026 10:20
Ukraine faces $27bn defence funding gap as Russia steps up attacks
Ukraine faces a $27bn defence funding gap this year as Russia intensifies attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
Russia launched more than 190 missiles and drones overnight, causing blackouts in Kyiv.
Prime minister Sergii Koretskyi said: “Since the summer, there has been virtually not a single day when the enemy has not attacked energy infrastructure. But an attack of this scale and intensity has not occurred since the end of the last heating season.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more air defence, saying: “Every interceptor missile truly saves lives.” He added: “And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need.”
Koretskyi said Kyiv urgently needs funds for weapons and ammunition, particularly long-range drones. Ukraine is also considering tax rises and spending cuts.
Kyiv says it will need $52.6bn in aid in 2027, with about $32.6bn still unfunded, putting further pressure on European allies to provide financing.
Maroosha Muzaffar1 October 2026 10:00