Russia-Ukraine war: 'Putin's henchmen' threatening UK, Britons warned; Moscow's troops reach key Ukrainian city (2024)

We won't have live coverage of the conflict in Ukraine today, but here are the key lines from the past 24 hours:

• Outmanned Ukrainian forces have been fending off assaults by Russian troops inside the strategic city of Toretsk, Kyiv's military said late on Wednesday, as Russia continued its grinding offensive in Ukraine's east. Ukrainian military spokesperson Anastasia Bobovnikova said Russian troops were pushing forward in Toretsk, a frontline city since 2014, and "completely erasing" buildings and structures.
• The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it struck an ammunition depot at the Khanskaya airfield in Russia's Adygeya region overnight, saying a fire was observed at the military facility after the attack.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been at 10 Downing St in London for talks with the leaders of Britain and NATO on his "victory plan" for the war against Russia. US leader Joe Biden dropped out of the summit due to the arrival of Hurricane Milton in Florida.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were many media reports about ceasefire plans, but that Moscow had not received concrete signals from Kyiv.
• Russian overnight and early morning attacks on Ukraine hit civilian and critical infrastructure facilities, injuring at least seven people across the country, authorities said on Thursday. Officials said at least six people were hurt and 29 buildings damaged in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, while a drone attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih injured two people and damaged a five-storey residential building.
• A cruise missile attack late on Wednesday damaged a storage area at an infrastructure facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, causing a blaze that was later extinguished, governor Vitaliy Kim said.
• A ballistic missile attack had hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region late on Wednesday, killing six people and damaging a Panama-flagged container ship.

We're pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for now, but if you missed anything, here are the key events from today:

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it's impossible for Ukraine to win against Russia on the battlefield;
• His finance minister also announced that Budapest would hold up a massive G7 loan for Ukraine;
• The head of MI5 warned the UK is at risk from an increased threat from "Putin's henchmen" who want to see "mayhem" on British streets;
• The UK sanctioned troops in a Russian unit and their commander for the use of "barbaric chemical weapons" on the battlefield in Ukraine;
• Russian troops are continuing their advance in eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow, capturing one village and reaching the outskirts of a major city

Before we go, here's a look at the battlefield situation:

A guided bomb attack in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv has killed two people, according to officials.

Russian forces struck a "densely populated district", regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.

At least three people were injured, he added.

Over in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is hosting Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, at the Kremlin.

The meeting takes place on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, with discussions set to be dominated by the normalisation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, in which Russia takes a particular interest.

Armenia's ties with its longtime sponsor and ally Russia have grown increasingly strained after a lightning Azerbaijani military campaign last September, in which it captured the long-disputed Karabakh region from Armenia.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that it is impossible for Ukraine to win against Russia on the battlefield, as he stressed the need for a ceasefire.

Hungary is among the most supportive European nations of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, consistently opposing sanctions and frustrating the European Union, NATO and as (recently as today) the G7 (see 1.46pm post).

Speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, Mr Orban added that both direct and indirect communication is needed between Kyiv and Moscow - and suggested a third party mediates between them.

Sir Keir Starmer will head to Berlin on Saturday for talks with leaders from the US, France and Germany.

Number 10 said the prime minister, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz will discuss the war in Ukraine and worsening conflict in the Middle East.

The meeting will send a strong signal of continued military support for Ukraine, a German government source told the Reuters news agency.

The summit promises todrive home the message that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot hope to play for time and wait for Western support to cease, the source added.

The Middle East is also on the agenda.

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

An American pensioner has been sentenced to nearly seven years in a Russian prison after being convicted of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Stephen Hubbard, 72, was accused of signing a $1,000-per-month contract with a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in the city of Izyum in February 2022.

He was captured by Russian forces in April that year, shortly after the war began.

It is unclear when or how he arrived in Moscow.

After a trial was held behind closed doors in Moscow's highest city court, journalists were allowed to witness the verdict - which was delivered yesterday.

Read more of Bennett's report here:

Hungary will hold up a $50bn (£38bn) G7 loan for Ukraine until after the US presidential election next month, its finance minister has said.

Budapest is able to indirectly hold up the deal by delaying its own decision on the timing of the renewal of EU sanctions against Russia.

That's because Washington needs the EU to revise its timeframe for the renewal of sanctions to every three years for it to contribute some $20bn (£15bn) to the G7 loan, matching the European Union's contribution, EU officials have said.

"We believe that this issue, the prolongation of the Russian sanctions, should be decided after the US elections. We have to see in which direction the future US administration is going with this issue," finance minister Mihaly Varga said.

Hungary is among the most supportive European nations of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, consistently opposing sanctions and frustrating the European Union and NATO over aid for Ukraine and accession of Kyiv and other neighbours to the alliance.

Viktor Orban, the country's leader, is also a close ally of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has signalled a massive drawback of American financial and military assistance to Ukraine if he wins the race for the White House next month.

By Jason Farrell, home editor

The UK is at risk from an increased threat from "Putin's henchmen" who want to see "mayhem" on British streets, the head of MI5 has warned.

Ken McCallum, its director-general, said his team had "a hell of a job on its hands" and painted a picture of a multifaceted threat facing the UK, with resurgent terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and IS, in addition to state terrorism from countries such as Iran andRussia.

More than 750 Russian diplomats, many of them spies, have been expelled from Europe since Vladimir PutininvadedUkraine.

While this has dented Russian intelligence services, Mr McCallum said they are on a "sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets" with "arson, sabotage and more".

He had a message to criminals considering taking on work for hostile states, saying: "If you take money from Iran, Russia or any other state to carry out illegal acts in the UK, you will bring the full weight of the national security apparatus down on you. It's a choice you'll regret."

Vladimir Putin turned 72 yesterday.

In Donetsk, one of the regions the Russian president and his regime have illegally annexed in Ukraine, some pro-Russian locals came out to celebrate.

Some waved Russian flags, while others posed with posters with slogans that read: "Why would we want such a world if Russia is not there?"