The Kremlin has once again ruled out accepting NATO troops in Ukraine to end the war. On the frontline, Ukraine admits Russia has entered a key region but denies that its forces have taken two villages. Follow the latest below.
Wednesday 27 August 2025 13:55, UK
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Russia’s move towards withdrawing from a torture prevention is effectively “an admission of guilt” and an attempt to evade accountability, Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said.
According to a Russian government website, the government announced plans on Monday to quit the Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was signed by Moscow in 1996.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of war crimes and torturing civilians and prisoners of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia denies the allegations.
“This step is effectively an admission of guilt – of systematic torture and an attempt to evade responsibility for gross human rights violations,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Our security and defence analyst Michael Clarke has been back answering your questions on the war in Ukraine this week.
He was asked about reports that Russia’s military has crossed into the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and is trying to establish a foothold there.
Ukrainian battlefield analysts assessed yesterday that Russia now occupies two villages just inside the region, Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka, though Ukraine’s army denied this.
While two villages are “neither here, nor there” in territorial terms, Michael Clarke says it is vital Ukraine snuffs this threat out.
“There’s a military logic in that, because it will stretch the Ukrainians,” he says of Russia’s reported incursion there.
“Ukrainians can’t allow this to persist. So, they need to deploy forces to stop that getting any worse… they don’t want it to become a foothold, which can be a base, which can then be used for reinforcement.
“And politically, if the Russians do stay there and do build it up, then it will become a strategic advantage.”
Clarke says if he were leading Ukraine’s army, he would “sacrifice elsewhere to make sure this doesn’t happen”.
A powerful explosion near Russia’s western city of Ryazan has reportedly caused damage to an oil pipeline supplying Moscow.
Speaking to the Kyiv Independent, a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence said the pipeline supplies petrol to Moscow and helps supply fuel to Russia’s military.
As a result of the “powerful explosion… the transportation of petroleum products to Moscow (via the pipeline) has been suspended indefinitely,” the intelligence source claimed.
Local media reported a powerful fire near the village of Bozhatkovo on the outskirts of Ryazan last night, with emergency services and repair crews reportedly deployed to contain the blaze and repair damage.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted Russian energy infrastructure through sabotage operations and drone strikes throughout the war, aiming to undermine Moscow’s gas and oil revenues.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Russia “is and will remain” the greatest threat to Europe’s security for a long time.
His comments come after Germany’s cabinet today passed a draft bill that would introduce a voluntary military service, which could lead to conscription if recruitment goals are missed.
The bill still needs to gain parliamentary approval.
Germany wants to increase the number of soldiers in service from 180,000 to 260,000 by the early 2030s to meet new NATO force targets and strengthen its defences – part of a planned surge in military spending.
Michael Clarke, our military analyst, is back in a few minutes to answer your questions about the war in Ukraine.
This week, he’ll be tackling topics like:
You can watch it live at the top of this page from 12pm – tap below to follow text updates on the best answers.
In its daily news briefing, the Kremlin has said that US efforts to find peace in Ukraine are “very important” and can help resolve the long-standing conflict.
However, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added that Moscow took a negative view on European proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine.
He reiterated Russia’s long-standing position that no troops from NATO countries should be deployed to Ukraine.
On conducting high-level peace talks with Ukraine, Peskov said such meetings had to be well prepared for them to be effective.
Following reports that overnight Russian strikes in Ukraine targeted the country’s energy infrastructure, Peskov said that Moscow only strikes military and military-connected targets.
Putin’s ‘unprecedented’ China trip
Elsewhere, Peskov said active preparations are under way for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming trip to China, calling the visit “unprecedented.”
Putin and more than 20 other world leaders will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, to be held in the northern port city of Tianjin from 31 August 31 to 1 September.
Peskov confirmed Putin will then visit Vladivostok, a major Russian port city near the borders with China and North Korea, on 5 September.
Here’s a look at the latest battlefield maps of Ukraine.
Scroll through the maps to view different parts of the battlefield, including the situation in key regions such as Luhansk, Donetsk and Belgorod.
Vladimir Putin reportedly wants control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine – known as the Donbas – as a condition for ending the war.
Russia occupies around 19% of Ukraine, including Crimea and the parts of the Donbas region it seized before the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
More than 100,000 households were left without power in northeast Ukraine today following overnight Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelebskyy says.
Ukraine’s president said power remained out for some households in the Poltava, Sumy and Chernihiv regions, adding that emergency services are working to restore the electricity supply as soon as possible.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said last week that energy facilities had been attacked 2,900 times since March 2025 alone.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it’s time for a leaders’ discussion on the priorities and timelines of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Following a call with Finland President Alexander Stubb, Zelenskyy said teams were “actively preparing the architecture of strong and multilateral security guarantees”.
This, he said, included Europeans, Americans and other partners in the “coalition of the willing”.
But while those talks look to be accelerating, Zelenskyy accused Russia of “sending negative signals regarding meetings and the further development of events”.
“Strikes on our cities and villages continue. New victims every day,” he said.
“Pressure is needed. We count on it. Steps are needed specifically from Russia – steps toward real diplomacy.”
Ukrainians have turned drones into their most effective weapon against Russia, but Moscow too has been rapidly expanding and advancing the technology.
Here, Sky’s military analyst, Professor Michael Clarke, explains how military technology has developed and what the impact of it can be for both Russia and Ukraine.
If you’d like to find out even more about Ukraine’s drone manufacturing process, click here to read an exclusive piece by international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn inside a Ukrainian factory.
And remember, Michael Clarke will be holding his latest Ukraine Q&A session today at 12pm. There’s still time to submit a question to him at the top of this page.
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