Mass mortuaries, forensics and rare cooperation with Russia: The agonising task of identifying Ukraine’s war dead
Bryony Gooch speaks to a forensic specialist about the ongoing work to put names to bodies in Ukraine after Moscow agreed to return thousands of the fallen. Read here:
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 06:33
Russia’s attack shows Kremlin not interested in diplomatic peace, Trump’s envoy saysRussia appears to be escalating its war against Ukraine rather than seeking a negotiated peace, US special envoy Keith Kellogg said on Sunday, following Russia’s record-breaking drone and missile attack.
Over 800 Shahed-type drones struck Ukraine overnight, injuring over 40 people and hitting the cabinet of ministers building in central Kyiv, the largest drone strike of the full-scale war.
Kellogg said on social media: “The danger in any war is escalation.”
He added: “Russia appears to be escalating with the largest attack of the war hitting offices of the (Ukrainian) Cabinet in Kyiv. … History shows events can escalate out of control through actions as these. It is why President Trump is working to stop this war.”
Pointing to his recent visit to the targeted building, Kellogg said: “The attack was not a signal that Russia wants to diplomatically end this war.”
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 06:10
Russia recruits 280,000 soldiers in 2025
Since the start of 2025, Russia has called up around 280,000 military personnel under contract and is on track to meet its recruitment goal of 343,000 by the end of the year, according to Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).
Russia’s recruitment success is driven by large financial incentives (offering about $24,612 for a first contract) and aggressive propaganda campaigns, The Kyiv Independent reported.
It continues to enlist at least 35,000 soldiers per month.
Russia proposed a bill in July to allow year-round conscription, replacing the traditional bi-annual draft and enabling continuous recruitment.
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 05:50
Ukrainian children forced into weapons training and tortured by Russia
The report, based on 200 documented cases of recently returned children and young people, found that 41 per cent were forced to take part in weapons training or join paramilitary youth movements such as Yunarmiya.
Evidence compiled by War Child UK and Save Ukraine has found that Putin’s most likely long-term goal is to encourage or coerce Ukrainian children into their armed forces, and to participate in combat against their own country.
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 05:30
Georgiy Sudakov’s apartment damaged in Russia attack
Ukraine midfielder Georgiy Sudakov revealed that his apartment in Kyiv was severely damaged after a Russian drone struck it while his wife, child, and mother were at home.
Sudakov, 23, who is currently away on international duty with Ukraine, shared pictures and videos of the destruction on his Instagram, writing: “This is what my house looks like after tonight. Arrival of the shaheed [sic]. The wife, child and mother were at home at the time.”
The attack was part of a massive Russian assault involving 805 drones and 13 missiles, of which Ukraine’s air force intercepted 751.
Despite the interceptions, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed four people were killed and 44 injured.
Eyewitness accounts and verified footage show Sudakov’s apartment building, located in Kyiv’s Svyatoshyns’kyi district, suffering heavy damage, with blackened, smoking upper floors, destroyed windows, and debris scattered across the street and cars.
Sudakov, originally from the Donbas region currently occupied by Russian forces, expressed the emotional toll of the war last year.
File. Georgiy Sudakov of Ukraine (Getty Images)
He told the BBC: “It’s psychologically hard when your family is far away and the first thing you see in the morning after waking up is a text from your wife saying that she and your child are hiding in the bathroom.
“Currently, when the situation in the country is very difficult, all footballers are aware of this. When we play for the national team, we feel responsibility and pride, we want to please the people who support us.”
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 05:10
World leaders pledge support and sanctions after Russia strikes Ukraine’s government building in Kyiv
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an immediate and strong global response after Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv, particularly from the US and European Union.
French president Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have officially pledged to deploy forces “by land, sea, or air” to ensure security as soon as the fighting stops, though he did not provide additional details.
Smoke rises over the government headquarters in Kyiv, following Russian drone and missile strikes on September 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)
The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack as “cowardly”, stating it undermined Putin’s claims of seeking peace.US president Donald Trump signalled readiness for a second phase of sanctions, especially targeting Russian oil exports, after previously imposing secondary sanctions on India.
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 04:45
Zelensky condemns Russian attack on main government building in Kyiv
For the first time in the war, Russia struck Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv, damaging the roof and upper floors and causing a fire.
At least four civilians, including a baby and a young woman, were killed in strikes across Ukraine, while dozens of residential buildings were hit.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported a record Russian assault involving over 800 drones and missiles targeting 37 locations, damaging infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.
Kyiv’s mayor suggested a drone may have accidentally hit the government building after being intercepted.
(via REUTERS)
“Such killings now, at a time when real diplomacy could have started a long time ago, are a deliberate crime and an attempt to prolong the war,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
Maroosha Muzaffar8 September 2025 04:21
Ukrainian children forced into weapons training and tortured by Russia
The report, based on 200 documented cases of recently returned children and young people, found that 41 per cent were forced to take part in weapons training or join paramilitary youth movements such as Yunarmiya.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans8 September 2025 03:00
Mike Pence has ‘no doubt’ Russia will attack Nato country if successful in Ukraine
Mike Pence has ‘no doubt’ Russia will attack Nato country if successful in Ukraine
Mike Pence has said that he has “no doubt” that Russia will cross a Nato country’s border if it wins in Ukraine. Appearing on Newsnight on Friday (5 September), Donald Trump’s former vice president said that the US and its European allies would have to “confront him militarily” if the Russian president expanded his war efforts further into the continent. He said he envisages the US as a “backstop” to confronting aggression, though European allies would “be at the forefront”. Mr Pence went on to praise the “coalition of the willing” for “formulating the kind of security guarantees that would create the conditions for a just and lasting peace”, adding that it has “captured Putin’s attention”.
Holly Evans8 September 2025 02:00
Mass mortuaries, forensics and rare cooperation with Russia: The agonising task of identifying Ukraine’s war dead
Ukrainians in forensic suits unloading thousands of bodies of their fallen countrymen from refrigerated vehicles makes for a depressing spectacle.
But in the three-and-a-half-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine, the repatriation of the dead might be one of the rare, all-too-brief moments of cooperation between the two warring countries.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a caseload of 154,200 people missing from both sides of the front line as of August, whose fate or whereabouts remain unknown. It is expected that it will take decades for families to receive answers about their loved ones.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans8 September 2025 01:00