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Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could ‘end badly for everyone’
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Donald Trump said “we’ve got to get Russia done” as he addressed the Israeli parliament following the release of hostages from Gaza.
Speaking at the Knesset on Monday, the US president told his roving peace envoy Steve Witkoff “it’s time to focus on Russia” after his ceasefire deal ended the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
His comments came hours after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could end badly for everyone, especially Trump.
Medvedev, an arch-hawk who has repeatedly goaded Trump on social media, said it is impossible to distinguish between Tomahawk missiles carrying nuclear warheads and conventional ones after they are launched.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine‘s power grid overnight, part of an ongoing campaign to cripple Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky described his latest call with Trump as “very productive” and said he was “waiting” for the president to approve the missile supply.
The “significant threat” posed by Chinese and Russian hackers has contributed to a record number of serious online attacks, the UK’s cyber security agency has warned.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of the GCHQ intelligence agency, recorded a 50% increase in “highly significant” incidents in the year to the end of August.
The attacks on household names including Marks and Spencer, Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover have shown the real world impact of cyberattacks, the NCSC said.
Russia attacked Kharkiv with guided bombs on Monday, shutting off power to nearly 30,000 customers across three districts, according to Reuters.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said four people were injured as three guided bombs damaged a hospital and struck a power transmission line.
He said: “Unfortunately, the hospital was quite badly damaged and there were patients inside. Four people were injured to various degrees and about 200 windows were smashed.
“Attacks are generally on energy targets – generation transmission, the power network. The aim is to have the power transmission network stop working.”
Russia’s defence ministry announced earlier on Monday that its forces have taken control of two villages in eastern Ukraine. According to a statement posted on the ministry’s Telegram channel, troops captured Borivska Andriyivka in the Kharkiv region.
The ministry also reported the seizure of Kulykivske in the neighbouring Donetsk region.
Ukraine and the US are reportedly closing in on a landmark drone deal in which Ukraine would share drone technology with the United States.
European diplomats see such a deal as an important tool for keeping the US president engaged and supportive of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky has urged European countries to act faster on making use of frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.
It comes days after Sir Keir Starmer said the UK is “ready to progress” to using the full value of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s war effort.
In a statement last week, the UK, France and Germany said the joint action would “increase pressure” on Vladimir Putin and “bring Russia to the negotiation table”.
More detail has emerged about Trump and Zelensky’s Friday meeting, with the Ukrainian leader telling reporters that the two plan to discuss Ukraine’s air defence and long-range strike capabilities.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Zelensky said that he had shared with Trump a “vision” of how many US Tomahawk missiles Ukraine needs for its war effort against Russia and that the two leaders would discuss further details on the matter at their working lunch at the end of the week.
Zelensky has been lobbying Washington to supply the US-produced Tomahawk missiles, which have the capacity to hit Moscow, but which Ukrainian has said would only be used against military targets. Moscow has said such a move would represent a serious escalation. Trump has suggested he would consider sending the missiles to Ukraine, but has also said he may talk to Vladimir Putin about it.
The European Union will provide €10m (£8.7m) to support the creation of a special tribunal aimed at prosecuting Russia for the crime of aggression, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian official Andrii Sybiha, Kallas said the funding marks the bloc’s first direct financial commitment to the tribunal effort.
She also pledged an additional €6m (£5.2m) to assist Ukrainian children who have been deported to Russia and survivors of sexual violence linked to the conflict.
“The first €10m in funding to establish a special tribunal to address Russia’s crimes” has now been allocated, Kallas said, underscoring the EU’s continued backing for Ukraine as the war enters its third year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin can be forced to make peace in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Nato Parliamentary Assembly, Zelensky said that the war in Ukraine remains the biggest source of global instability despite the end of the conflict in Gaza.
“Putin can be forced to make peace – like any other terrorist. Even Hamas is now preparing to release hostages. If this is possible, then Putin can also be forced to restore peace,” Zelensky said.
He went on: “Before winter, Putin hopes to use this terror to break our resistance regime. We cannot allow this.”
Prosecutors in Pland have charged two Russian citizens with spying for Russian intelligence and one of them for plotting to send a parcel of explosives.
European authorities have been on high alert for explosive packages since a series of explosions occurred in courier depots in Britain, Germany and near the Polish capital Warsaw in July 2024. Western officials blamed those incidents on Russia.
Moscow denies the accusations.
One of the Russians, referred to as Igor R under Polish privacy laws, was charged with participating in a plot to send a parcel bomb via courier, for which a Ukrainian citizen was also charged earlier this year.
“The parcel contained explosive devices and materials in the form of nitroglycerine, as well as hidden military-grade electric detonators and initiating devices … The entire package constituted a so-called shaped charge bomb,” prosecutors said.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky will meet on Friday this week for a “working lunch”, the White House has confirmed.
The two leaders spoke to one another on both Saturday and Sunday as Ukraine presses for access to more US-made weapons to counter Russian attacks.
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