Ukraine’s parliament has voted to ratify the Rome Statute, allowing the country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) – a key part of its drive to join the European Union.

The move would allow authorities “to more effectively punish” suspected Russian war criminals, according to Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Honcharenko.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for several Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu for their roles in alleged crimes against Ukrainian civilians – Russia has denied targeting civilians.

“Ukraine has already worked effectively with the ICC to ensure comprehensive accountability for all Russian atrocities committed in the course of Russian aggression,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.

“This work will now be even more effective.”

Ukraine’s drone attack on Moscow and surrounding areas is “something to be remarked on”, our defence and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke says.

Kyiv is “launching drones in lots of places” and there is a fire at a refinery fire in Rostov targeted by Ukraine “which is still going on after four days”, he says.

“The Ukrainians are trying to worry the Russians as much as they can across the whole border to make the most of what they’re doing in Kursk,” says Prof Clarke.

“From the Ukrainian point of view they had the effect in Moscow of closing the airports for a while. And that brings home to the Russian people that this is war and you can’t insulate yourself from this.

“And that’s the message that the Ukrainians are trying to send out. They know most of these drones won’t get through but if one or two get through they score the point and they inconvenience ordinary Russians in Moscow who pretend this isn’t really happening.”

Asked how Russia is responding to Ukraine’s invasion of its territory, Prof Clarke said Moscow’s forces “are still at sixes and sevens over what is happening in the Kursk region in this incursion”.

He explains: “They don’t seem to have been able to sort out exactly who is in charge.”

Prof Clarke says there are “three different forces” on the ground in Kursk, and adds this is “one of the reasons why they’re not doing very well”.

He says: “So it’s apparent that 16 days after this incursion began the Russians are still struggling to create a coherent response…  it’s partly because Putin operates a sort of medieval court in the Kremlin and when it’s struck with a crisis like this people just vie with each other to be closer to the king.”

Russia’s state telecommunications monitoring service is reporting mass disruption to the Telegram and WhatsApp messaging apps.

The service did not say what could have caused the disruptions.

Monitoring service DownDetector has reported a spike in reports of issues with Telegram this afternoon.

Moscow’s forces have taken control of the Ukrainian settlement of Zhelanne, in the Pokrovsk district of the country’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s defence ministry has claimed.

Russian forces have been pushing towards the key strategic hub of Pokrovsk city for months.

Capturing the city would compromise Kyiv’s defensive abilities and supply routes, bringing Russia closer to its stated aim of controlling the entire Donetsk region.

Moscow’s troops have been driving forward slowly in eastern Ukraine, where they control around 18% of the territory.

It is pushing for total control of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk, which together form the Donbas industrial region.

These pictures show service dogs training to search for landmines in the Kyiv region.

Members of the APOPO non-government organisation can be seen with Belgian shepherd dogs during the training session.

One person has been killed and two wounded after a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on their car in Russia’s Kursk region, acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov has said on Telegram.

At least 31 people have died since Ukraine’s invasion into Russian territory began on 6 August, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing an unnamed source in the medical service.

It said around 143 people had suffered injuries, of whom nearly 100 were hospitalised – including four children.

Moscow’s reported use of aerospace forces to defend against Ukraine’s invasion into its western territory “likely demonstrates continuing personnel shortages”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said a report by Russian investigative outlet Vazhnyye Istorii found one of the units deployed by Moscow is a specialised motor rifle regiment “formed unusually” of aerospace forces personnel.

It said personnel in the regiment include “those previously in specialist roles such as early-warning radar operators and at long range aviation heavy bomber regiments”.

“Diverting personnel from these previously high priority areas likely demonstrates continuing personnel shortages,” the MoD said.

“By employing them in an infantry role, they are also being misused, which could reduce Russian capacity to re-take territory in Kursk oblast.”

It said Russia is continuing to develop new units and recruit more personnel “to sustain its mass attritional warfare approach against Ukraine”.

“The high casualty rates that result mean that Russia needs to continuously replenish front line infantry personnel, which will almost certainly continue to limit Russia’s ability to generate higher capability units.”

Ukraine’s incursion inside Russia means there will be no talks between Moscow and Kyiv until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council has said.

“The casual chit-chat of self-proclaimed intermediaries on the virtuous subject of peace has ceased,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

“Even if they cannot say it out loud, everyone recognises the reality of the situation.”

In a post on his official Telegram account, he added: “They understand that there will be NO NEGOTIATIONS UNTIL THE ENEMY IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DESTROYED!”

Mr Medvedev said the “premature and unnecessary peace” talks previously suggested “had vague prospects and no tangible outcomes”.

Moscow’s airports have returned to normal operations after temporary restrictions were put in place following a drone attack, the aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia has said.

Ukraine launched one of its largest-ever drone attacks on the Russian capital earlier today (see 9.51am post), with Russian air defence units destroying 11 drones flying towards the capital.

Temporary restrictions were in place at the Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports overnight, Rosaviatsia said on Telegram. There were no restrictions at the major Sheremetevo airport.

Kyiv’s forces have reportedly destroyed or damaged all three of the bridges over the Seym River in western Russia.

It comes as Ukraine’s invasion into Russia’s western Kursk region entered its third week yesterday.

The move could potentially trap Russian forces between the river, the Ukrainian advance and the Ukrainian border.

Over the weekend Ukraine’s Air Force commander posted two videos of bridges over the Seym being hit.

Satellite photos by Planet Labs analysed by the Associated Press confirmed a bridge in the town of Glushkovo had been destroyed.

A Russian military investigator said Ukraine had “totally destroyed” one bridge and damaged two others in the area.

Russian military bloggers and several high-profile pro-war Telegram channels in Russia claimed the third bridge had been targeted and damaged, according to the Associated Press.

Ukraine’s advance into Russia has bolstered morale in Ukraine.

However, it comes as Russia’s push in eastern Ukraine threatens to claim the city of Pokrovsk, another key target in the war.

Russian state news agency TASS reported that 17 people have died and 140 injured in Ukraine’s invasion, citing an unnamed source in the Russian medical services.

Ukraine’s military says it has struck a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system based in Russia’s southern Rostov region overnight.

Kyiv’s general staff said the attack took place near the settlement of Novoshakhtinsk.

It said S-300s had been used to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

“Explosions were observed at specified targeting points,” the general staff said in a statement.

“The accuracy of the strike is being assessed.”

Rostov governor Vasily Golubev said air defence forces had destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over his region.

Moscow has come under one of the largest attacks yet by Ukrainian drones, Russia has said, adding that it destroyed all of them.

Some 45 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said.

It said 11 were destroyed over the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, six over Belgorod, three over Kaluga and two over Kursk.

“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.

He said all the drones were destroyed because strong defences had been created around the capital.

The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said there was a “mass” attack on his region but 23 drones were destroyed.

Meanwhile, Kyiv says its forces destroyed 50 out of 69 Russian attack drones launched during an overnight strike.

The air force said another 16 drones were likely downed by electronic warfare during the attack, which also included two ballistic missiles and one cruise missile – saying it shot down only the latter.

One drone entered Ukraine from Belarus and another had returned to Russia, the military added.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Ukraine war.

Moscow has come under the largest attack yet by Ukrainian drones since the war began in 2022, according to Russian authorities.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it destroyed 45 Ukrainian drones over its territory overnight.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are continuing to push into Russia’s western Kursk region as part of an offensive that began three weeks ago.

Russian sources told the Associated Press that Kyiv’s forces had either destroyed or damaged all three bridges over the Seym River in western Russia.

The move could potentially trap Russian forces between the river, the Ukrainian advance and the Ukrainian border.

But in Ukraine’s east, Russian forces are advancing, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying yesterday the situation there was “difficult”.

His statement came after Moscow claimed to have taken the strategically important town of Niu-York in Donetsk.

That’s all our live coverage on the war in Ukraine for now.

We will be back if there are any major developments this evening.

If not, we’ll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here’s a reminder of today’s key events:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the situation in the east is ‘difficult’ as Ukraine warns Russia has redirected troops into the region to continue their advance there;
• Moscow claims to have taken the strategically important town of Niu-York as it attempts to continue across the region;
• While Ukraine is ceding ground to Russia in the east, it has an opportunity in Kursk to seize more territory, Sky News’ military analyst Professor Michael Clarke has said;
• A fire continues to rage for a third day at a Russian oil depot hit by a Ukrainian drone attack;
• Meanwhile, firefighters in the Ukrainian city of Ternopil are also battling a fire after a fuel reservoir was hit;
• The US are insisting their policy on the use of American weapons in Russia has “not changed” – even in light of recent pressure from Mr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine is said to be making “marginal advances” in the Kursk region as fighting continues, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said.

We’ve brought you news on Ukraine’s struggles in the east of Ukraine (see 14.35 post) but further north, Kyiv’s incursion into Russia continues.

On 6 August, Ukraine threw a surprise counterpunch that saw their troops surge across the border into Russia.

Ukraine has previously claimed to have captured 1,250sq/km (480 square miles) and 92 settlements in Kursk, forcing tens of thousands to flee (see 12.53 post).

Today, Ukraine’s army chief said that its forces had advanced 28-35km (17-21 miles) into Kursk.

But the US-based thinktank said that, while still making progress, Ukraine was no longer eating up Russian territory as fast as it once was.

Using geolocated footage from 19 August, Ukrainian forces were confirmed to be in Vishnevka, the ISW said, around 14km (8.5 miles) from the border.

The Russian defence ministry said that they had struck forces operating in that area – potentially tacitly acknowledging the progress Kyiv had made.

It is known that Ukraine has targeted bridges in the region, perhaps as an effort to stifle Russian attempts to counter their incursion.

But Kyiv’s army chief said that Russia was moving troops from other directions to Kursk, to strengthen its positions there.

Even facing losses further east, Sky News’ military analyst Professor Michael Clarke said there were still opportunities from Kyiv in Kursk nonetheless (see 12.39 post).

These pictures show Kyiv’s forces on the frontline in the Donetsk region.

Russian forces have been advancing in recent days and threaten to seize key settlements, including Pokrovsk.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the situation in the east as “difficult”.

Vladimir Putin’s recent trip to Azerbaijan was an “effort to shift focus away” from Ukraine’s Kursk attack, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said.

The Russian president recently spent two days in the country where he tried to present himself as an “effective diplomat”, the research group said.

The content and presentation of the visit did not stray beyond the usual, but…

“The timing of this visit is noteworthy given the ongoing situation in Kursk Oblast and the Kremlin’s continued efforts to downplay the Ukrainian incursion’s magnitude and impact,” ISW said.

They added: “Russian state media focused on Putin’s trip to Azerbaijan, amplifying minute details, likely in part to divert attention from the uncomfortable situation in Russia by saturating the information space with a showcase of the Kremlin’s global diplomatic engagement and alleged successes.”

Away from the battlefield, Ukraine has passed a law paving the way to ban the Russia-linked minority Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the country.

Kyiv has cast the UOC as complicit in the Kremlin’s invasion.

They have accused it of aiding Moscow’s 30-month assault by spreading pro-Russian propaganda and housing spies.

A new bill passed in parliament bans the Russian Orthodox Church and the government will assemble a list of “affiliated” groups who will face similar treatment.

Russian security services (FSB) have detained a scientist over suspected treason, according to reports.

A scientist in Moscow allegedly carried out suspected cyberattacks on behalf of Ukraine, Interfax news agency has said.

The distributed denial-of-service attacks were said to have been carried out on critical infrastructure on behalf of Ukrainian security services, it quoted the FSB as saying.

It was added that the scientist sent money to the Ukrainian military, as well as gathering information on Russian armed forces.

The suspect, the FSB claimed, had confessed, although it was not immediately clear when the arrest was made.

Russian media outlets published what they claimed was footage of the scientist’s detention.

Footage also shows a man arrested in a snow-covered city, suggesting they had been detained some time ago.