Ukraine-Russia war latest: Harris sets terms for Putin peace talks

Ukraine’s military claimed it struck a major oil terminal Monday in Crimea that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war has entered a key phase.

Both sides are facing the issue of how to sustain their costly war of attrition — a conflict that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and that shows no signs of a resolution.

Russia has exported more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the temporarily occupied Mariupol port in the past year.

This is according to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who said the occupied territories in Ukraine are being robbed to finance Russia’s invasion with the stolen money.

“At the same time, Russia continues to use food as an element of aggression. This year, the enemy has smuggled more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the port of Mariupol alone,” Shmyhal said.

“Undoubtedly, Russian economic terror will be one of the areas of work of the special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine,” he added.

Russia’s forces have launched hypersonic missiles at Ukraine on as Kyiv’s military said it had struck a major oil terminal in occupied Crimea that provides fuel for Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

Ukraine’s general staff said on social media that the oil terminal in Feodosia, on the south coast of the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula, has been supplying the Russian army with fuel and that the strike was part of an ongoing effort to “undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian Federation”.

The Independent’s Alexander Butler reports:

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with leaders of the US, France and Germany in Berlin on Saturday, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

They will discuss the war in Ukraine and the latest Middle East developments.

“The Prime Minister will travel to a meeting of the Quad in Berlin on Saturday. Leaders will discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as the concerning developments in the Middle East,” the spokesperson told reporters.

The spokesperson referred to the “Quad” grouping of Britain, the United States, Germany and France.

The UK’s domestic spy chief said on Tuesday that Russian military intelligence is seeking to cause “mayhem” in Britain, adding that “MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands”.

Security Service (MI5) Director General Ken McCallum also said Iran is behind “plot after plot” on British soil.

He said the growing threat from al Qaeda and Islamic State is still his greatest terrorism concern.

State threat investigations were up 48 per cent in the last year as criminals, drug traffickers and proxies were tasked by Russia and Iran to do their “dirty work”.

“The GRU in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness,” he said, without adding detail.

Since January 2022, MI5 and the police have responded to 20 Iranian-backed plots. “We’ve seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale,” Mr McCallum said.

US President Joe Biden will meet with other leaders of the Ramstein group, which supplies arms to Ukraine.

A German government source told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s summit that the meeting will send a strong signal of commitment to military support for Ukraine.

It will become clear to Putin that he cannot play for time and wait for Western support to cease, the source told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will join President Biden – who visits Germany from October 10-13 – for talks in Berlin before visiting a US air base in the western German town of Ramstein.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting a summit for members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on Tuesday.

CIS is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia formed after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. It includes Amernia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The meeting comes as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine, with Kyiv’s military saying it had struck a major oil terminal in occupied Crimea that provides fuel for Putin’s war effort. During the summit, the leaders will discuss tasks of the Commonwealth, as well as topical regional and international problems, and outline main areas of work in the future.

The UK has sanctioned Russian troops involved in using chemical weapons against Ukraine.

Foreign secretary David Lammy has described the use of chemical weapons as “cruel and inhumane”, adding that the UK will do everything it can to “combat the Kremlin’s malign activity”.

The Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Federation and its leader Igor Kirillov are amogn those sanctioned on Tuesday, a government statement read.

Mr Lammy added in a statement: “The UK will not sit idly by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

The Russian embassy has not immediately responded to a request for comment by The Independent.

Last week, the government sanctioned 16 members of Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, which it claimed was attempting to conduct operations against NATO members.

In a potential sticking point for growing Russian-Iranian relations, they are believed to favour different US presidential candidates.

Russia wants Republican Donald Trump to win, while Iran prefers Democrat Kamala Harris, according to US intelligence officials

Officials add that China, Russia and Iran continue to be behind most attempts to influence US voters, according to the Voice of America who referenced a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Russia is carrying out influence campaigns with the aim of boosting Trump’s chances at regaining the presidency.

Meanwhile, Iran’s efforts are focussed on harming Trump, including a hacking and leaking operation carried out by operatives working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

China is yet to interfere in the presidential campaign, but is interfering locally.

It is attempting to negatively influence the campaigns of candidates who express support for Taiwan and are otherwise seen as harmful to Beijing’s interests.

A Russian attack on Kharkiv on Tuesday morning has injured 16 people, including a child.

The updated total comes after we earlier reported that 11 had been injured.

Ihor Terekhov, Kharkivʼs mayor, said earlier today: “There was not just one strike but several; the type of weapon used to strike the civilian business is being established. There is a large-scale fire at the scene.”

Three of the wounded are in a critical condition, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region’s military administration.

One of those injured was a 16-year-old child, Syniehubov added according to Ukrainska Pravda.