8:28

Pictured: Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv

8:27

One dead in Russian drone attack in Odessa region

One person was killed Wednesday morning in Russian drone attacks on a port district in the Odessa region of southwestern Ukraine, the regional governor said.

The night attacks lasted three hours and targeted Izmail district, Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.

The river port of Izmail, which borders NATO member Romania, became a main export route for Ukrainian goods after Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered grain deal in July.

“Unfortunately, one person has died,” Mr Kiper said, adding that it was a farm worker who was seriously injured and died in hospital.

“Destruction and fires were recorded in several settlements,” he added, saying port and agricultural infrastructure had been damaged, including administrative buildings.

8:21

Russia launches missile attack on Kyiv

Russia launched a missile attack on Kiev on Wednesday as the country’s air defense systems shot down all the missiles before they reached their targets, the capital’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app. .

Reuters witnesses heard several explosions that sounded like a deployment of air defense systems around 05:50 (0250 GMT) when air raid alerts were issued for the whole of Ukraine before being canceled about an hour later.

“Another missile attack by the enemy on a peaceful city with the aim of killing the civilian population and destroying the infrastructure,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. .

He added that according to preliminary information, there was no destruction or casualties in Kyiv.

The scale of the attack was not immediately known.

8:18

Russia ‘tactically’ withdrew from Robotyne in Ukraine, official says

A Russian-appointed official has acknowledged that Moscow forces abandoned the Ukrainian village of Robotyne, more than a week after kyiv announced its reconquest.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the top official installed by Moscow in the Zaporizhzhia region, said in a TV interview that the Russian military withdrew for what he called tactical reasons.

“The Russian military has – tactically – abandoned this settlement, because standing on a bare surface when there is no way to completely bury yourself there… usually doesn’t make sense. That’s why the Russian army moved to the hills,” he said, as quoted by the RBC newspaper.

Russia has yet to acknowledge the loss of Robotyne, which was announced to be taken over by Ukraine on August 28. In its daily update on Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces repelled two Ukrainian attacks near Robotyne.

8:18

See: The first British Challenger 2 tank destroyed in Ukraine

A British Challenger 2 tank was destroyed by enemy fire for the first time but saved the lives of its Ukrainian crew, military sources said on Tuesday.

Footage from the battlefield shows the smoldering wreckage of the tank at the side of a road near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia, where Kiev’s counter-offensive aimed at penetrating Moscow’s defenses has gathered pace.

Bright flames could be seen licking the sides of the tank as a thick plume of black smoke billowed from its turret, in the video believed to have been shot by a Ukrainian soldier fleeing an artillery barrage in a car.

8:15 a.m.

Good morning

Hello and welcome to today’s Ukrainian liveblog.

We’ll walk you through all the latest updates on Ukraine.