+++ News in the Ukraine War +++: Russia resumes attacks on Kyiv

Great Britain is supporting Ukraine with an additional air defense package worth 100 million pounds (around 117 million euros) next winter. The government in London says it will include, among other things, Patriot air defense missiles. This is intended to strengthen Ukraine's defense capacity against Russian attacks. (rtr)

At least two people have been killed in new Russian attacks on Ukraine in the capital Kyiv. Seven more people were injured in the first attacks on the city after a three-day break in attacks, Kyiv's military administration said on Tuesday in the Telegram online service. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskyj commented on the US news portal “Axios” about the prospects for negotiations with Russia after the visit of senior US envoys at the weekend.

The attacks caused damage to buildings across the capital, including a five-story apartment building in Solomyansky district, authorities said. Vehicles caught fire in the Podilskyj district. According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, people were buried in a residential building. Air alerts were also raised in several other regions across Ukraine.

According to the authorities, buildings were hit in both Kyiv and Boryspil, east of Kyiv, as well as in the town of Fastiv, around 70 kilometers to the southwest. Kyiv's military administration had previously announced that an air alarm had been triggered in Kyiv due to the threat of a drone attack by the "enemy". She urged residents to seek shelter. The Ukrainian army reported a rocket attack. They were the first Russian attacks since the end of a three-day ceasefire. Journalists from the AFP news agency heard several violent explosions in Kyiv early on Tuesday morning. The air alert in the capital was later lifted. (afp)

Telegram channels specializing in airstrike monitoring reported that Russia had begun transporting ballistic missiles and moving heavy bombers from the east of the country to airfields near Ukraine. The EU and NATO member Poland put its air force on alert. The Russian state news agency Tass had previously confirmed that the pause in attacks ordered by Russian head of state Vladimir Putin had expired. Putin had previously ordered a three-day halt to attacks on Kyiv due to the visit of US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

US President Donald Trump's two US special envoys traveled to Russia at the weekend and, for the first time, to Ukraine to present new proposals to both sides for ending the conflict. Kushner and Witkoff met with Russian President Putin in Moscow on Saturday and with Zelenskyj in Kyiv the next day. They also briefed the representatives of Germany, France and Great Britain present in Kyiv.

Witkoff described the talks in Moscow and Kyiv about ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine as successful on Monday. He also raised the possibility of new trilateral peace talks. Witkoff and Kushner told him that “the Russians are ready to negotiate,” Zelensky told the US news site “Axios” on Monday. He also said, according to the report, that the US was pushing for de-escalation before the upcoming winter.

“Russia really believes that this winter can help them break us,” the Ukrainian leader told Axios. However, the US government could put pressure on Putin to achieve de-escalation, he added. Putin “doesn’t want to upset” Trump. Since Trump returned to the White House, the USA has been trying to bring an end to the Ukraine war that has been going on for more than four and a half years. However, previous rounds of talks involving negotiators from the USA, Russia and Ukraine have failed to produce a breakthrough. (afp)

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Saratov on the Volga hits civilian infrastructure; several people are injured. The regional governor Roman Busargin announced this on the messenger service Telegram. The Saratov region is home to a large oil refinery owned by the state oil company Rosneft as well as other industrial and military facilities. (rtr)

According to Ukrainian information, US actress Angelina Jolie, known for her humanitarian work, made a surprise visit to the city of Kharkiv - and also visited a boxing studio. “The famous actress Angelina Jolie visited the ‘Spadkoyemets’ boxing club in Kharkiv,” the Ukrainian boxing association said on Monday on the online service Instagram. A snapshot published by the association shows Jolie together with her son Knox in a boxing studio. The film star's son completed Muay Thai training at the club with Ukrainian defenders, the association added. Neither the actress nor the Ukrainian government initially commented.

Club owner Pavlo Chyschko said he had "no idea" he would meet the Hollywood star when he took the booking for the studio on Sunday. In a video posted on Instagram, he said: "To everyone who asked: This isn't a joke, it's not AI. It was pure coincidence: to our great joy, Angelina Jolie stopped by our studio." Jolie distributed compliments and said, among other things, that she liked the studio. “She asked my son how long he had been playing sports,” said Chyschko, adding enthusiastically: “That shows real class.” The studio owner was also impressed by Jolie's son Knox: "And her son is the same way." He shook hands tirelessly. “It was really cool,” he said.

Kharkiv is located in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Ukraine's second largest city has been repeatedly attacked by Russia since the beginning of the war. It is the target of Russian drone and missile attacks almost every day. (afp)

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned following corruption allegations. "I don't want the office of Attorney General to be used as a tool in political disputes. My stance on the allegations remains unchanged," he said on the Telegram online service on Monday. Kravchenko had previously firmly rejected the corruption allegations made against him over the weekend.

The allegations in connection with fraudulent call centers are “unsubstantiated,” Kravchenko wrote on Telegram late Sunday evening. On Saturday, the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency Nabu and a special prosecutor's office announced that they had uncovered a money laundering network that was "run by someone responsible in the prosecutor general's office."

As part of the investigation, the offices of the Attorney General's Office were searched. Anti-corruption agency Nabu released an image of a safe filled with bundles of dollars and said it had identified five members of the network. However, she did not name any names. According to investigators, the network received money to protect fraudulent call centers. “Assets amounting to millions” were laundered. These bribes were used to pay for real estate, jewelry and other valuables.

“I reject the allegations that I was involved in receiving and laundering funds originating from illegal call centers,” said Prosecutor General Kravchenko before announcing his resignation. He assured that his expenses were “in compliance with applicable laws” and within the limits of his declared income.

According to estimates by the Swiss organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, illegal call centers in Ukraine employ almost 60,000 people and generate up to a billion dollars (860 million euros) a month. Numerous corruption scandals have rocked Ukraine in recent years, including in the immediate vicinity of President Volodymyr Zelensky. His former office chief Andrij Jermak resigned amid investigations into corruption in the energy sector. Corruption is one of the biggest obstacles to Ukraine's efforts to join the EU. (afp)

The urgently needed power supply for the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia near the front has been restored after almost three weeks. During a limited ceasefire, a damaged line was repaired, as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced in Vienna. This is a crucial step in preventing a nuclear accident, said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

The Russian-occupied nuclear power plant needs a stable power supply to cool radioactive material. The last remaining power line was damaged during fighting on August 20th. Since then, emergency generators had provided energy, but the diesel for these generators had run out in the past few days. The IAEA said that without repairing the power line, there could have been a blackout at the nuclear facility.

The largest nuclear power plant in Europe came under Russian control shortly after the outbreak of the Ukrainian war. The six reactors are currently shut down and are not producing electricity. Before the conflict, the power plant still had ten external power lines to supply, among other things, the cooling systems. (dpa)

To deter illegal migrants from Russia, Finland has built a 200-kilometer-long fence on their common border. This is part of border security and, in addition to monitoring, should also help “keep people away from Finnish territory if necessary,” said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen on Monday at an event near the Nuijamaa border crossing in the southeast of the country. The barbed wire fence is 4.5 meters high and equipped with cameras and sensors.

Finland completely closed its border with Russia in December 2023 after more than 1,300 migrants tried to enter the country without visas. Helsinki accused Moscow of deliberately leading people to the border as part of “hybrid warfare.” The Kremlin denied the accusation. A few months earlier, Finland had joined NATO as a result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Russia and Finland share a border more than 1,300 kilometers long. According to Interior Minister Rantanen, the situation is currently relatively calm and there have only been a few illegal border crossings. “But we don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” she said. The situation could change quickly and the country wants to be prepared for it. The border with Russia will remain closed “until further notice”.

The fence cost Finland more than 350 million euros, and according to project manager Erkki Matilainen, another two to three million are added for annual maintenance. Around a thousand landowners and hundreds of companies were involved in the infrastructure project. Similar fences have already been erected in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland along the borders with Belarus and on the border between Estonia and Russia - also to deter migrants. (afp)