Russia-Ukraine war update: NATO members call for long-range strikes against Russia as drones attack Kyiv

Russia is becoming increasingly desperate and the attacks are becoming more cowardly, the British ambassador said in a statement at the UN Security Council meeting.

James Kariuki, Britain's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, condemned Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine and his “ongoing barbarism” against the Ukrainian people.

“President Putin thought Kiev would fall within a few days. He was wrong. And Ukrainian courage proves him wrong every day,” he said.

He said that since the Russian invasion began, more than 35,000 civilians have been confirmed killed or injured in Ukraine.

“These latest attacks are further evidence that Russia is deliberately targeting civilian energy infrastructure and risking another humanitarian crisis next winter,” he added.

Several people were killed and at least 14 injured in the eastern Syrian town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, officials said.

Kupiansk, 35 kilometers from the border with Russia, was hit in the afternoon, damaging a hotel, residential buildings, cars, shops and other civilian infrastructure.

“There was an attack with a guided aerial bomb on Kupiansk – right in the city center, people were lying under the rubble. Unfortunately, there are fatalities,” said Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening speech.

He did not confirm the number of fatalities.

As a result of an air raid warning, several explosions were heard in Kyiv this morning and debris from a drone fell on a playground.

Ukrainian air defense was active in the capital and throughout Kyiv Oblast, officials said Independent Kiev resident.

Debris from the drones fell on a playground in the capital's Dniprovsky district, but no one was injured, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Some NATO member states reportedly called for significant restrictions on the use of long-range missiles against Russia.

The NATO-Ukraine Council met yesterday and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “Allies today reaffirmed their commitment to increasing military assistance to Ukraine.

“We must continue to supply Ukraine with the equipment and ammunition it needs to defend itself against the Russian invasion. This is critical to Ukraine's ability to stay in the fight,” he said.

Several NATO countries have called for Ukraine to be allowed to use weapons from Western allies, particularly long-range missiles, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stressed that Russia is using long-range weapons against Ukraine.

He called on allies to “let Ukraine fight with everything it has, with everything we have given it, and let us give it more.”

The United States is restricting the use of long-range ballistic missiles that it supplies to Ukraine. Ukraine wants to target these missiles at military targets inside Russia.

In his recent speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to lift restrictions on Ukraine's long-range air strikes.

“We continue to insist that immediate decisiveness and the lifting of restrictions on long-range strikes against Ukraine will help us end the war as quickly as possible in a way that is fair to Ukraine and the entire world,” he said.

Russia said its forces had defused unexploded US-made munitions fired from Ukraine. The bombs were fired just five kilometers from Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant. Moscow accuses Ukrainian forces of attempting to attack the plant.

The statement was made by the Russian National Guard and accompanied by a video showing the unexploded ordnance and sappers detonating it.

A day earlier, Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, inspected the power plant. He said it was vulnerable because it had no protective dome to protect it from missiles, drones or artillery.

There was initially no comment from Ukraine on the alleged Russian find and Reuters could not independently verify the location of the video.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has banned 92 US citizens, including journalists, lawyers and heads of major military-industrial companies, from entering Russia due to Washington's anti-Russian stance, it said.

The list published by the ministry on Telegram included 14 Wall Street Journal employees, five senior journalists at the New York Times and four at the Washington Post.

The Wall Street Journal, whose journalist Evan Gershkovich was released this month in a prisoner exchange after 16 months in Russian custody, called the bans “ridiculous” and part of an attack on the free press.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had targeted editorial staff and reporters of “leading liberal-globalist publications” who were involved in the production and dissemination of so-called “fakes” about the Russian armed forces.

It was said that the bans were a response to the Biden administration's “Russophobic course”, which includes comprehensive sanctions against Russian politicians, business representatives, scientists and journalists.

“We remind the current US authorities of the inevitability of punishment for hostile actions, be it the direct encouragement of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky and his henchmen to commit acts of aggression and terrorist attacks or attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.

In a statement, a Wall Street Journal spokesperson said: “The Putin regime has been absurdly consistent in its comprehensive attack on the free press and the truth. This ridiculous list of targets is no exception.”

Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Su-25 jet in the Kramatorsk sector of Donetsk region, the Khortytsia force group reported.

Anti-aircraft units of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade reportedly shot down the aircraft with a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) as it attempted to fire on Ukrainian troops.

The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed “Frogfoot” by NATO, is a heavily armored ground attack aircraft. It was used extensively by both sides in Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.

Sir Keir Starmer and Olaf Scholz said Britain and Germany’s support for Ukraine remains “unwavering”.

At a joint press conference in Berlin, the Prime Minister said that Ukraine was fighting not only to defend itself against Russian aggression, but also “for all people in Europe”.

Chancellor Scholz said both countries would continue to provide “financial, economic, political and military support” “as long as necessary.”

Moscow has announced that it will continue fighting in Ukraine and rejected Volodymyr Zelensky's suggestion that Kyiv would present Washington with a plan to end the war.

Mr Zelensky had previously stated that the Russian invasion would ultimately end in dialogue, but that Kyiv must be in a strong position and that he would present a plan to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.

“This is not the first time we have heard such statements from representatives of the Kiev regime,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“We are aware of the nature of this Kiev regime. We are continuing our special military operation and will achieve all our goals.”