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Putin told US he will occupy Donbas region by end of 2025, Zelensky claims
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Vladimir Putin has told the US he plans to occupy the Donbas region of Ukraine by the end of 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.
The Ukrainian president said, in an interview with ABC News aired on Tuesday: “That is, he ]Putin] says that in three to four months, and this is what he told the Americans, the White House, and President Trump's representative Witkoff, he said that he would take Donbas in two to three months, maximum four months.”
Zelensky warned that Russia’s plans could cost “years and a million people” if Moscow accelerates its offensive.
It comes as at least 23 civilians queueing for pensions were killed in a Russian airstrike on a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
"Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed," Zelensky wrote on X, describing the attack on the rural settlement of Yarova as “brutally savage”.
The Ukrainian president shared a graphic video on X showing several dead bodies lying near a destroyed white van.
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"A response is needed from the United States. A response is needed from Europe. A response is needed from the G20,” he added.
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3 hours ago
RECAP: Poland set to close border with Belarus due to military exercises
Poland will close its border with neighbouring Belarus on Thursday at midnight local time to allow Zapad military exercises to take place, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
It comes amis rising tensions between Minsk and Warsaw, with the “Zapad-2025” drills raising security alarms in neighbouring NATO member states Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
"On Friday, Russian-Belarusian maneuvers, very aggressive from a military doctrine perspective, begin in Belarus, very close to the Polish border," Tusk told a government meeting.
"Therefore, for national security reasons, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, in connection with the Zapad maneuvers on Thursday at midnight."
Already strained relations between Poland and Belarus have hit new lows since Minsk's ally Russia invaded Ukrainein 2022.
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 22:00
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3 hours ago
ICYMI: Russian strike in Donetsk region leaves at least 23 dead
At least 23 people have died following a Russian strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Among the dead are civilians who were queueing for pensions when they were struck.
"Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed," Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, describing the attack on the rural settlement of Yarova as “brutally savage”.
(X/@andrii_sybiha)
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 21:30
4 hours ago
RECAP: Why Russia launched the largest aerial strike of the war so far
Moscow’s attack on Donetsk on Tuesday comes just days after it launched its biggest aerial attack of the war so far.
On Sunday more than 800 drones and 13 missiles were fired at cities across Ukraine, killing four people including a mother and her three-month-old baby.
It was the latest in a streak of record-breaking strikes against Ukraine in recent months. Below, Bryony Gooch and Nicole Wootton-Cane analyse the data...
Why Russia launched the largest aerial strike of the war so far
The Russian army launched a fresh drone assault on Kyiv, hitting a government building for the first time
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 21:00
4 hours ago
Ukrainian drone attack kills one in Sochi, Russia says
A man died as a result of Ukrainian drone attack overnight on the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, a Russian regional governor said on Tuesday.
Debris from a destroyed drone hit a car the man was driving in the Adler district of Sochi, Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on the Telegram messaging app.
In addition, six residential houses were damaged, Kondratyev said.
The full-scale of the attack was not immediately known.
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 20:30
5 hours ago
Russia’s efforts to militarise children in occupied Ukraine becoming increasingly pervasive, ISW report says
Russia’s bid to militarise children in occupied Ukraine is becoming “increasingly pervasive,” according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
In their 9 September update, they cited an interview with Ukrainian Eastern Human Rights Group activist Pavlo Lysyansky, who estimated during an interview with Ukrainian outlet Suspilne that over 513,000 Ukrainian children living in occupied areas have undergone some sort of military training or exposure to Russian militarisation programs, presumably since 2022.
“Russian occupation officials continue to expose young children to Russian military and law enforcement personnel as a means of indoctrination,” they added.
It follows a new report that found nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia and subjected to military training, sexual violence and detention in camps, since 2022.
Holly Evans has more below...
Ukrainian children forced into weapons training and tortured by Russia
A new report has found 55% were subjected to pro-Russian indoctrination and 10% subjected to torture and cruel treatment
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 20:00
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Zelensky urges allies to step up air defence supplies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Kyiv's allies on Tuesday to quickly boost supplies of air-defence weapons to Ukraine.
In his nightly address following a Russian air strike on an eastern Ukrainian village that killed 24 people, he said that Moscow interpreted a lack of stronger international sanctions as permission to continue its war.
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 19:30
6 hours ago
RECAP: What could Trump’s ‘second phase’ of sanctions against Russia involve?
President Donald Trump has said he is ready to move to a second stage of sanctions against Russia if Putin continues to refuse to sit down with President Zelensky.
On Sunday, Mr Trump signalled he may finally escalate sanctions on Moscow or its oil buyers, which he has so far delayed to pursue peace talks.
But what this second wave of sanctions could look like is not yet clear. The Independent’s Steffie Banatvala takes a look at those already in place, and what Trump could do next.
What could Trump’s ‘second phase’ of sanctions against Russia involve?
Trump on Sunday signalled he may finally escalate sanctions on Moscow or its oil buyers
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 19:00
6 hours ago
In pictures: Devastation in front line village as 23 killed in Russian strike
Policemen and medics help people to move from an armored car to a ambulance from the village of Yarova(AP)
Dmytro Trush, who lost his mother, reacts, while he is being evacuated from the village of Yarova(AP)
Police officers and medics evacuate Olha Trush, 86 from the village of Yarova(AP)
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 18:31
7 hours ago
EU fulfils 80 per cent of its promised shells to Ukraine, Kallas says
The European Union has fulfilled 80 per cent of its promised two million artillery shells to Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
She added the bloc would aim to complete its obligation by October.
Kaja Kallas(AP)
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 18:00
7 hours ago
Leaders meet in London for defence talks
Top politicians from the UK, US, Ukraine, and Germany among others met in London on Tuesday for a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG).
The UDCG is made up of NATO members as well as other countries who have pledged military support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
In a post on X, Ukraine’s defence minister Denys Shmyhal said the support of the attending countries “means a lot”.
Nicole Wootton-Cane9 September 2025 17:30
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