A military court in Moscow has placed Pavel Popov, a former deputy defence minister, in detention on suspicion of fraud in the latest of a string of corruption probes of officials tied to ex-defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

The case against Popov, who has served in his role since
2013, is the third investigation into a senior defence official relating to construction work at Patriot Park – a military theme park near Moscow.

The war-themed tourist attraction near Moscow displays a vast collection of Russian and Soviet weaponry and offers visitors the chance to clamber on tanks and take part in combat simulations.

Investigators said Popov, beginning in 2021, had diverted various building materials from the park to his own country house for installation work.

Popov has been detained until 29 October.

He denies guilt, his lawyer told the RIA state news agency.

Popov joins at least a dozen officials who, since April, have been caught up in the biggest wave of corruption scandals to hit the Russian military and defence establishment in years.

In May, soon after the first arrests, Vladimir Putin unexpectedly removed Mr Shoigu as defence minister and replaced him with Andrei Belousov in what was widely seen as a move to ensure tighter management of Russia’s vast defence budget.

Russian political commentators said the investigation into Popov was clearly linked to a broader anti-graft crackdown undertaken by Belousov against those with ties to Mr Shoigu.

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a crash on Monday, a US defence official has told Reuters.

According to the official, it is still to be determined what caused the incident – pilot error or mechanical failure.

It comes after Russia staged a missile and drone attack on Ukraine on Monday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that F-16 jets were used to repel the attack on Monday and showed good results.

He had announced earlier this month that Ukraine had started flying F-16s for operations within the country, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets which Ukraine has been pushing for since the start of the war.

Four nuclear power units at two different power plants in Ukraine were disconnected from the grid during the Russian attack on Monday, Ukraine’s presidential office head, Andriy Yermak, reports.

In a statement on Telegram, Mr Yermak said power units at Rivne NPP, in northwest Ukraine, and South Ukrainian NPP in the south, had been disconnected.

What happened on Monday?

Russian forces unleashed 236 drones and missiles in a massive attack on Ukraine.

Seven people were killed and 15 regions were struck, with explosions heard in the capital, Kyiv.

Ukraine said hypersonic missiles were used in the assault.

Fighting in Pokrovsk is “exceptionally tough”, Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi has said.

Mr Syrskyi, who has spent several days on the eastern front, also said that Russia was throwing everything it could into its assaults, trying to break through Ukrainian defences.

“Fighting is exceptionally tough,” he said, adding that Ukraine had to constantly use unorthodox methods to strengthen its positions.

For context: Russia’s army is closing in on Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub for the Ukrainian defence in the area.

The region, which had a pre-war population of about 60,000, is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds.

Its capture would compromise Ukraine’s defensive abilities and supply routes and would bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the entire Donetsk region.

Ukraine says it’s keeping a close eye on its border with Belarus after a build-up of troops there in recent days.

Kyiv’s foreign ministry accused Minsk last week of concentrating a “significant number of personnel” in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s northern border “under the guise of exercises”.

It swiftly warned Belarusian officials not to make “tragic mistakes under Moscow’s pressure” and withdraw its forces.

The Institute for the Study of War said Belarus’s troop deployment was likely intended to divert Ukrainian soldiers from other fronts.

It also assessed that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was “extremely unlikely to risk combat with Ukraine that could weaken his regime”.

Speaking on television today, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s border guard service said it had detected no immediate threats on the border, but that Ukrainian troops were keeping it constantly monitored.

“This is tens of kilometres from our border, at different points – different distances,” said Andriy Demchenko.

“What is happening on the territory of Belarus is actively monitored by intelligence units, the ministry of defence and the state border service in order to understand how the situation is changing, how threatening it can be for Ukraine.

“So that all components of our defence forces, which strengthen this direction, have the opportunity to react in time to any actions.”

Ukraine is calling on the civilian population in its eastern city of Pokrovsk to evacuate as Russian troops draw closer to its outskirts.

Readers have been sending in their questions to our senior correspondents and military experts for their take on what could happen next.

Today, Malcolm asks:

How serious is the situation in Pokrovsk? If the city falls to Russian forces, what are the strategic consequences for Ukraine?

Military analyst Sean Bell says…

It is very difficult to provide clarity over the tactical progress of the war given the relative paucity of detailed information about progress, challenges and opportunities.

However, it appears likely that Vladimir Putin’s near-term objective of his “special military operation” is to secure Crimea, the Donbas and the land bridge between the two areas.

This summer, Russia’s main effort appears to have been securing the final component of the Donbas, and despite the much-publicised casualty rate being suffered by Moscow’s forces – more than 1,000 casualties a day – Russia continues to make slow but steady progress.

Pokrovsk is a strategically important logistics and transport hub for Ukrainian forces in the region, and Russian forces are now reported to be only six miles away from the town, leading the Ukrainians to evacuate the civilian population.

The Russian president knows that it is very difficult to maintain momentum during the winter months, so he has perhaps 10 to 12 weeks available to achieve his objectives before the winter weather settles in.

If Russian forces can seize Pokrovsk before the winter, it is possible that Mr Putin will indicate he is ready to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Depending on the outcome of the forthcoming US presidential elections, that raises the prospect of Mr Putin being rewarded for his brutal invasion of Ukraine, which would have profound implications for global security.

Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region will soon enter its fourth week, with around 500 square miles of territory captured so far, according to the head of Kyiv’s military.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday that around 100 settlements, including the town of Sudzha, were now under Ukraine’s control.

In one of his evening addresses this week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said troops were still expanding their territory in the region.

Here, we look at some key images from the start of the invasion into Kursk.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not forgive Russia “for a single destroyed Ukrainian life” as the country marks the Day of Remembrance of Defenders of Ukraine.

The holiday marks the 10th anniversary of the battle of Ilovaisk, where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed by Russian troops as they began to withdraw from the encircled town.

“This was a planned, cynical Russian crime that Ukraine will never forget and will not leave unpunished,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel.

“Today, Ukraine honours the memory of all its defenders. All those who fought for our state, for Ukrainian independence and sacrificed the most precious thing – their lives.

“And we will not forgive Russia for a single destroyed Ukrainian life.”

Ukraine was forced to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid on Monday after Russia’s widespread drone and missile attacks on the country.

Kyiv’s mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency has said the attack was intended to paralyse the operation of the power generation facilities of Ukraine.

It added that the attacks posed a significant risk to the stable operation of nuclear facilities.

As a result of the attack, three out of four power units of the Rivne nuclear power plant were disconnected from the grid, it said.

Another nuclear power plant, the South Ukrainian, was also forced to decrease its output “due to fluctuations in the national power grid”.

A fighter jet from Belarus attempted to shoot down a Russian drone that flew into the country’s airspace this morning, a monitoring group has said.

The Belarusian Hajun group said this is “probably the first recorded case of a Belarusian Air Force fighter attempting to destroy a military target in the sky”.

The group claims a Russian drone entered Belarus’ airspace at around 3.30am local time (1.30am UK time), with two explosions heard in the country’s Yelsk district around 30 minutes later.

The drone was said to be a Shahed, also known as a “kamikaze drone”.

Sky News has not independently verified these claims.

For context: Belarus and Russia share a land border and the two are considered close allies.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Belarus allowed Moscow to stage part of the invasion from its territory.

In the wake of Ukraine’s advances into the Russian region of Kursk this month, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko he had stationed nearly a third of the country’s armed forces along its Ukrainian border.

Ukraine’s allies must give Kyiv permission to use weapons to hit military targets in Russia “sooner rather than later”, says one of the country’s MPs.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked Western leaders to let Ukraine use long-range weapons on Russian territory.

During his nightly address yesterday, the president said such restrictions being lifted would “help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole”.

This week, Sir Keir Starmer said there had been “no new decisions” on the matter, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying the same yesterday in Berlin.

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik said the situation across the country remains difficult and urged Kyiv’s allies to speed up their decision-making process.

She said: “It seems for us that the only way to defend our people and defend our territories is to be able to hit Russian missiles and Russian planes at the start of their launches, not when they are approaching our energy infrastructure or our homes.

“And this is why we need the ability to use long-range weapons to destroy Russia’s ability to attack us.

“It’s a pure act of defence. And we hope that, sooner rather than later, our allies will understand that.”

Russia is continuing its advances in the Donbas region as it seeks to capture the key city of Pokrovsk.

Civilians are being evacuated from the city, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the situation is “difficult”.

The map below shows Russia’s gains on Ukrainian territory.

On the eastern front, Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region is ongoing.

There have been Russian reports this week that Ukraine has attempted to break into the neighbouring Belgorod region, with Moscow’s defence ministry saying the situation “remains difficult but under control”.

The map below shows Ukraine’s gains on Russian territory since its invasion of the border region began on 6 August.

 A lioness with shell shock rescued from Ukraine has taken her first steps outside at a sanctuary in Kent.

Yuna has psychological issues and coordination problems after debris landed near her enclosure in January, according to the Big Cat Sanctuary.

The three-year-old arrived at the sanctuary on 17 August but stayed inside her enclosure for a week before finally venturing outside.

She’s now beginning to get used to her new life in the UK, feeling grass underneath her paws for the first time after spending much of her life confined to a small space on a concrete floor.

The sanctuary said before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she had been kept at a private home and was found malnourished and with severe concussion.

Read more here…

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is taking the country “closer and closer” to a total blackout, says one of its MPs.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has caused £13.5bn of damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the Kyiv School of Economics Institute estimates.

Speaking on Sky News, Kira Rudik, who lives in Kyiv, says the city’s homes do not have electricity for the “majority of the day”.

“Even right now, I’m speaking to you all being on a diesel generator,” she said.

“It’s terrifying that still, by this point, we are unable to protect us from those vicious attacks in full. And Russia keeps bringing us closer and closer to that total blackout.

“How we are going to survive the winter is unclear right now, because the weather outside is still good. But once it gets colder and people start to consume more energy, we will not be able to handle it.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in June that Russia had destroyed 80% of Ukraine’s thermal energy generation and a third of its hydro generation.

But this week, he declined to elaborate on what further damage Monday’s strikes had caused.

“I don’t really like energy PR,” he said. “It’s not very helpful when the enemy knows what damage they have done.

“Let the information about the condition of our energy facilities and what we are currently doing there be kept quiet.”

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, says Warsaw’s allies have recommended it shows restraint over shooting down unidentified targets in its airspace.

Poland said a drone had likely entered its airspace early on Monday morning during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine, with the object said to have flown 15 miles (25km) into Polish territory, after which it disappeared from radar.

Mr Tusk was asked yesterday about the incident but said it was difficult to identify objects in real time.

“The problem with shooting down is often of a different nature,” he explained.

“It is often a fraction of a second, which makes it impossible to check whether it is not a civilian object, whether it is not a stray plane.”

He added that Poland’s allies had recommended some restraint over the matter and said he appreciated his country’s military for their “reasonable, balanced position”.

“They are not interested in opening fire every time something moves in the sky,” he said.

War crimes prosecutors have inspected the sites of yesterday’s Russian strikes on the eastern town of Kupyansk.

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian glide bomb had hit the town and resulted in deaths.

“There was a strike – right in the city centre, people were under the rubble. Unfortunately, there are fatalities.”

The regional prosecutor’s office said the strike had injured 14 people and damaged the city hall.

A hotel, residential buildings, outbuildings, cars, shops, administrative buildings, and other civilian infrastructure were damaged, it added.

Kupyansk is part of the Kharkiv region of Ukraine and sits 22 miles (35km) from the Russian border.

Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Belgorod region has killed one person and injured others, according to officials.

Posting on his Telegram channel, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the attacks had taken place in the town of Shebekino.

There, he said, one man died and two other people had to be taken to hospital with shrapnel wounds.

He also reported two buildings were damaged and a car caught fire.

For context: The Belgorod region borders Ukraine and the Kursk region of Russia, which Ukraine invaded on 6 August.

There have been Russian reports this week that Ukraine has attempted to break into Belgorod, with Moscow’s defence ministry saying the situation “remains difficult but under control”.

Russia’s huge air attacks across Ukraine this week have cost Moscow more than £1bn, the UK representative to the UN has said.

Moscow launched one of its biggest air attacks of the war so far on Monday, with drones and missiles fired into more than half of Ukrainian regions.

At least seven people were killed and power facilities were damaged, Kyiv has said.

Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting, James Kariuki said the attacks represent “continued evidence” that Russia is intentionally targeting civilian energy infrastructure.

He also said the “cowardly” attacks cost the Kremlin almost £1.14bn, citing figures come from a report by Forbes Ukraine and Ekonmichna Pravda.

“The consequence of Putin’s miscalculation for the Russian people is increasingly evident,” added Mr Kariuki.

Authorities in Kyiv say debris from intercepted Russian drones injured three people and caused damage to buildings overnight.

It was the third attack on the Ukrainian capital in four days.

Kyiv’s air defences downed more than 10 Russian drones, according to the city’s military chief, Serhiy Popko.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reported that apartments in the Holosiivskyi district were damaged by falling debris.

One person was hurt when a downed drone fell on a road and destroyed a car, he added.

Welcome back to our coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, a Russian missile struck Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town of Kryvyi Rih as Ukraine was observing an official day of mourning for an attack that killed four people the day before.

Meanwhile, the authorities in the Kursk region said additional security measures would be introduced at the nuclear plant there.

Earlier, Russian troops had claimed they’d defused an unexploded US-supplied missile that was shot down and found near the Kursk nuclear facility.

Here are the other key lines from the past 24 hours:

• Russia banned entry to 92 US citizens, including journalists, lawyers and the heads of what it claims are key military and industrial firms upholding “Washington’s Russophobic stance”;
• The deputy director of the CIA, David Cohen, said it would be difficult for Russia to regain the territory it had lost to Ukraine in the Kursk region;
• Moscow dismissed Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s suggestion that Kyiv would submit a plan to Washington on how to end the war;
• Russia reopened two airports serving the cities of Kazan and Nizhnekamsk after briefly suspending flights for safety reasons.