There will be no live updates today, but every Monday we will publish a summary of the major events of the past seven days.
Here’s everything you need to know as the Ukraine war enters another week.
President Putin’s nuclear threat
President Vladimir Putin has issued a thinly veiled warning to Western countries, saying Russia could use nuclear weapons if attacked by any nation with conventional missiles.
The Russian president also said any attack supported by nuclear-armed states would be considered a coordinated attack on Moscow.
The Kremlin says changes to nuclear documents should be seen as a “signal” to “unfriendly” countries, while the United States has slammed Putin’s warning as “irresponsible” and “ill-timed.”
The Russian leader’s comments appear to have been deliberately timed to coincide with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s defiant speech to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
Experts said his threat was aimed at causing a “new wave of panic” in the West and dissuading Ukraine from giving permission to launch long-range missiles at Russia.
US steps up aid – with pitfalls
US President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday that he would provide additional long-range weapons to Ukraine, but stopped short of allowing missiles to be fired at Russia.
Ukrainian leaders, including Zelensky, have long called on their allies to give the green light to long-range attacks on Russian territory.
But the U.S. government has so far been reluctant to do so, seeking clearer clarification from Kiev about the military objectives of such an attack.
Biden made a series of announcements regarding U.S. assistance, including “determined to provide Ukraine with Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munitions” and “hundreds of additional Patriot missiles over the next year.” and AMRAAM missiles.
Russia expands to the east
Ukraine’s eastern front remains the heaviest fighting in the conflict, with Russian forces claiming to have captured a string of towns and villages in the Donetsk region in recent weeks.
Moscow claimed on Wednesday that it had captured the villages of Ostre and Hryholivka and was attacking the town of Vkhledar, a Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk.
Kiev’s governor denied that Russian troops had reached or occupied the town’s outskirts, but said Ukrainian reconnaissance units were operating there.
On Friday, Russia also claimed to have captured the village of Maliniivka in Donetsk, close to where its forces were advancing towards the main city of Pokrovsk. Ukraine did not respond.
Sky News joins Ukrainian army
Pokrovsk is strategically important as a supply base for the Ukrainian army, and Russian commanders are determined to capture it.
Our international correspondent Alex Rossi last week joined Ukrainian troops defending a besieged and “nearly deserted” city.
You can read his full sighting report here.
deadly attack on hospital
A Russian attack on a hospital in northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region early Saturday left 10 people dead and at least 22 injured, Ukrainian authorities said.
A UN spokesperson said “loitering weapons”, or suicide drones, struck St. Panteleimon Clinical Hospital in two attacks 45 minutes apart.
Hospitalized patients were evacuated to other facilities.
Another 16 people were wounded in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in overnight barrage fire into Sunday.
Zelensky meets with Trump
President Donald Trump spoke directly with Zelensky on Friday after the former president complained earlier in the week that the Ukrainian leader was “rejecting” a deal to end the war with Russia. .
Standing next to Ukraine’s president at Trump Tower in New York, the Republican presidential candidate said Friday that he would work with both countries to end the conflict.
Trump praised his “very good relationship” with the Ukrainian president, but added that he also has a “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
