Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin faces sweeping Trump sanctions as Kyiv hit with missile attack

Russian president Vladimir Putin has stressed the importance of voting in territories seized from Ukraine as Russia holds its first parliamentary election to include residents of the regions Moscow claims to have annexed during the war.

In a speech on Wednesday, Putin said residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would vote for the State Duma “for the first time since their reunification with Russia”.

“Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland and that nobody can divide or intimidate us, undermine our statehood and political system,” Putin said.

Voting across Russia began on Friday and runs until Sunday, but balloting in the four occupied Ukrainian regions and some areas of Russia near the border began in late August, with officials citing security concerns.

Moscow says the four regions have more than 3.5 million voters. Russia declared them annexed in September 2022, despite not having full control over any of the territories. The annexations are not recognised internationally.

Kyiv has condemned the vote as illegal, while a human rights activist described residents in Russian-held areas as being coerced into participating.

Voting is also taking place in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Putin has also said Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine will take part in the election.

The IAEA said it had been informed that a reactor unit’s cooling tower at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia was hit by a drone early on Thursday.

The reactor unit was operating at the time of the incident, but its operating mode did not change and there was no fire, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said all attacks on nuclear facilities were unacceptable because they could threaten nuclear safety and security, regardless of where they occur.

Grossi also reiterated his call for “maximum military restraint” to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident.

Russia summoned the UK’s chargé d’affaires in Moscow, Danae Dholakia, on Thursday and lodged a strong protest over Britain’s continued supply of drones and other weapons systems to Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Moscow accused London of pursuing a “deeply confrontational policy” aimed at prolonging and escalating the war, and said Britain’s supply of long-range weapons made it “complicit” in what Russia described as Ukrainian “terrorism and war crimes”.

Russia said it had presented the British diplomat with a list of international obligations it alleged the UK was violating through its support for Ukraine.

The ministry also warned that Russia reserved the right to take measures in response and reiterated its position that British military facilities in Ukraine used to launch strikes against Russian territory would be considered “legitimate targets”.

Moscow said London would bear “full responsibility” for any further deterioration of the situation and urged Britain to abandon what it called its policy of escalation.

Germany, Lithuania, Poland, France, the Netherlands and Finland have all issued warnings over the growing risk of Russian drones and missiles as Moscow steps up its hybrid campaign across the continent.

Germany is preparing hospitals for a possible conflict, Lithuania has updated evacuation plans and Nato troops are conducting exercises in the Baltic region. Belarusian forces have also staged large military manoeuvres near Lithuania.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk warned on Thursday that Moscow could send drones or missiles into the territory of Nato countries supporting Ukraine “in the next few months”.

The warning comes amid a growing number of airspace violations and alleged sabotage attempts across Europe. Nato allies have repeatedly said they believe such incidents are part of Kremlin pressure aimed at weakening support for Ukraine, while European governments have sought to avoid responses that could risk further escalation.

French president Emmanuel Macron summoned party leaders and 2027 presidential candidates to an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss Ukraine, Iran and the worsening energy crisis.

Macron described Tusk’s warning as “sound and well-documented” and announced a new plan to protect critical infrastructure, saying: “In recent weeks … the Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and France has intensified.”

Guillaume Lacroix, leader of France’s Radical Party of the Left, left the meeting saying: “At the age of 50, I have rarely felt such vertigo.”

Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten said on Friday: “It is no coincidence that the Polish prime minister is speaking out so strongly. We need to take that warning very seriously … we must consistently demonstrate that we do not accept this and that we will take action if necessary.”

Finnish president Alexander Stubb said on Thursday that his country should be “mentally preparing for something to happen”, including sabotage and Russian drone attacks.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday accused Ukraine of deliberately hindering talks aimed at ending the war and interfering in Russia’s parliamentary election.

Speaking to Russia’s Military-Industrial Commission, Putin also reiterated Moscow’s focus on maintaining its “nuclear triad” and said Russia needed to strengthen its anti-missile defences.

Putin further accused Ukraine of having “long degenerated into a dictatorship”, pointing to the fact that Kyiv has not held a new presidential election following the expiry of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s mandate.

His comments came as Russians began voting in a three-day election to choose a new State Duma, against a backdrop of intensifying fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

The vote began on Friday, with results expected after polls close on Sunday.

It is the first Duma election since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The election is widely expected to extend Putin’s United Russia party’s grip on parliament amid tight controls over the vote.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Donald Trump for signing legislation imposing further sanctions on Russia, saying the move would help increase pressure on Moscow to end the war.

In a statement, Zelensky recalled US senator Lindsey Graham’s calls during visits to Ukraine for maintaining pressure on Russia, including through sanctions and targeting countries that continue to buy Russian oil or provide financial and business services to Russian companies linked to the war.

“Peace comes through strength. Calm comes through security. And the best guarantee of security is resolve,” Zelensky said.

He thanked Trump and members of Congress who supported the legislation, saying the best way to honour Graham’s memory was to implement the law “fully and swiftly”.

The House passed the measure 262-159 earlier this week, with 58 Democrats voting in favour and seven Republicans against it. The Senate had approved the legislation 86-11 in August after more than a year of negotiations.

The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 gives the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas.

It also sanctions Russian president Vladimir Putin, government officials, oligarchs and Russian banks and financial institutions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky launched on Friday a new regional grouping of eight countries from the Carpathian region of central and eastern Europe, at a summit in Ukraine designed ⁠to promote trade and security cooperation.

At the meeting in western Ukraine, Zelensky thanked regional allies for keeping trade and transport links open following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

In a comment summing up the outcome ⁠of the meeting, Zelensky said on ​Telegram ⁠that 50 agreements had been signed for a total value of more than €1bn ($1.15bn). He gave few ⁠details, but said more than half the accords dealt with energy, ​particularly ⁠solar and wind power.

“The ‌Carpathians could become an energy supplier for the European Union, not just a transit region,” Zelensky wrote. “And this directly ‌supports Europe’s goal of energy independence from Russia.”

The ‌new grouping brings together Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and the European Union.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic ⁠and Romania’s President Nicusor Dan attended the inaugural event, which is expected to last until Sunday.

“This marks the start of a movement that should bring our countries even closer together and create another strong framework for cooperation at the EU level,” Zelensky said on Telegram atthe start of the meeting, citing ‌the expansion of energy and logistics cooperation, cross-border trade and security.

“Naturally, ​security issues are a priority right now ‌and for the years ahead,” Zelensky ⁠said in a speech.

Close to 550 business representatives ⁠had been expected to attend the forum.

“It’s a good start: energy, logistics, infrastructure ‌and cross-sector agreements,” he ​said in a speech transmitted ‌on Ukrainian TV.

President Donald Trump on Friday claimed to have “banned” three of the country’s most prominent news outlets from the White House, taking a page from authoritarian leaders by attempting to limit coverage of his administration by legitimate journalists as his and his party’s popularity continue to crumble as the midterm elections approach.

Writing on Truth Social, the president said he would “effective immediately” be “banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW … and Politico … from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” he added.

A Russian glide bomb hit an apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Friday, killing two people and injuring seven, Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials said.

Three of those injured were ⁠in serious condition.

Zelensky, writing on the Telegram messaging app, denounced the “absolutely inhuman strike”. He said emergency crews had rescued four people after the attack and said others could still be trapped under rubble.

“There ⁠was a direct hit by ​an ⁠aerial bomb between the third and fourth floors. Four people have already been rescued from under the rubble, including a child,” ⁠he wrote. “There may still be people under the rubble.”

Zelensky posted pictures ​on ⁠Telegram showing the shattered facade of ‌the building and rescue workers making their way through debris.

The head of Sumy city council said the two dead were city employees.