Russia Ukraine war: Putin issues nuclear warning to West over strikes

Below you can see details of four Russian drones that crossed into Belarusian airspace en route to attacking Ukraine overnight.

This is at least the third time this has happened this year, according to the Belarusian Hajun project, an independent open-source group.

Previously, Belarus has had to scramble a fighter jet and air defences to protect against the wayward drones.

Russiam missile and drone attacks have killed at least one person and damaging critical infrastructure, authorities have said.

One woman was killed in a missile strike on southern Ukraine‘s Odesa and another eight people were wounded in a guided-bomb attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on social media.

Around a dozen drones were destroyed over the capital Kyiv, where 20 cars and a residential gas pipe were damaged, said Serhiy Popko, head of the local military administration.

Parts of the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk were left without power after a Russian strike on critical infrastructure there, said regional governor Svitlana Onyshchuk.

More than 30 countries have convened in the US to sign a joint declaration of support for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.

US president Joe Biden posted a picture of the 30 leaders meeting.

China is willing to maintain the stable development of bilateral ties with Ukraine, foreign minister Wang Yi told his newly-appointed Ukrainian counterpart in New York on Wednesday.

Wang, in a meeting with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said Beijing was ready to offer additional assistance based on Ukraine‘s needs, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

China is also willing to maintain communications with all parties including Ukraine in efforts to achieve peace, Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.

China has been accused by Kyiv’s Western allies of pushing for a peace deal favourable to Russia. Weeks before Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and Beijing declared a “no limits” friendship.

Ukrainian forces destroyed 66 attack drones and four cruise missiles launched by Russia during an overnight strike, Kyiv’s air force said on Thursday.

It added that Russian forces launched a total of 78 Iranian-made drones and six missiles over various regions across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged global leaders to stand with his country and not seek “an out” instead of a “real, just peace” more than two years into Russia’s war.

At a time when he faces growing pressure from Western allies and some of his fellow Ukrainians to negotiate a cease-fire, Mr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly there’s no alternative to the “peace formula” he presented two years ago.

Among other things, it seeks the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine and accountability for war crimes.

“Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve an out instead of an end to the war,” he said.

“Do not divide the world. Be united nations. And that will bring us peace.”

Below we have some of the latest photos coming from Kyiv after an overnight Russian drone attack.

Russia unleashed an overnight drone strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday, causing damage to civilian infrastructure, city officials said.

More than a dozen Iranian-made attack drones were spotted over the city, most of which were shot down, said Serhiy Popko, head of the local military administration.

Around 20 cars and a gas pipe in a residential area were damaged in the hours-long strike, he added. Debris was also found in a children’s playground.

Russia has regularly sent drones and missiles over Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front line of its 2 1/2-year-old invasion.