Ukraine updates: Germany pledges €100 million in winter aid

A Ukrainian drone attack targeting several western Russian regions has taken place, local governors said.

Seven drones were destroyed over the Smolensk region and 14 drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region, both regions' governors said on Telegram.

According to Kyiv, the strikes targeted Russia's military, energy and transport infrastructure key to the Kremlin's war efforts.

No casualties were reported. 

Western countries approved an aid package of €385 million (roughly $427.85 million) for Moldova on Tuesday during a conference attended by several top diplomats.

The funds consist of €80 million in grants and €305 million in concessional loans to strengthen its economy, according to a statement by the Moldovan government published on its official website.

"Joining the European Union is Moldova's Marshall Plan," President Maia Sandu said at the conference.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reaffirmed the need to continue supporting Moldova in the face of pressure from Russia.

International support for Moldova comes amid tensions with Russia, which Chisinau accuses of destabilizing the country, and as a referendum on Moldova's integration into the European Union approaches on October 20.

Russia's top security official, former defense minister Sergei Shoigu, held talks with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran, Russian and Iranian media said. The meeting came days after Shoigu met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

The Nour news agency, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Shoigu met his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Ahmadian.

Russia has deepened ties with Iran and North Korea, both of which are hostile to the United States, since the start of the war in Ukraine. Washington says both countries are supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in the conflict, which Moscow denies.

North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday to discuss strengthening bilateral relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said the two top diplomats discussed developing ties "in accordance with the current level of comprehensive strategic partnership" between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Choe is currently visiting Russia. She is not scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Political and military contacts between high-ranking officials from both countries have increased since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian prosecutors said they were investigating a suspected Russian execution of a Ukrainian serviceman.

"Footage of an alleged execution, with a sword, of an unarmed Ukrainian serviceman with taped hands is spreading on the web. Preliminarily, the crime was committed in Novohrodivka, Donetsk region," Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The frontline in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the war.

Kostin's post showed a blurred image of a bloodied body in military fatigues with a sword stuck in it.

The image could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian authorities say they have documented nearly 130,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces since the start of its invasion in late February 2022. The Kremlin has denied Russia commits war crimes in Ukraine.

In June, Ukraine opened investigations into the suspected beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Moldova that the Eastern European country could also be the victim of a Russian invasion if Kyiv fell to Moscow.

"Everything that we do to support Ukraine also means fostering stabilization with regards to Moldova," Baerbock said in Chisinau. "It is clear what the greatest concern of the people here is: that if Ukraine falls, Moldova is the next country in line."

Baerbock's comments came on the sidelines of the Moldova Partnership Platform, which she attended with her counterparts from France, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands and Lithuania.

Moldova and Ukraine are both in the preliminary phases of ascension talks with the European Union.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has announced that it will stop operating in Russia after it was removed from a list of approved foreign NGOs by the Russian government.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have to close our activities in Russia," MSF said in a statement late on Monday, adding that they had been working in the country since 1992.

MSF follows organizations like Greenpeace and Transparency International, which were also removed from the list last year.

The removal officially targeted the MSF Netherlands branch specifically, but as that was the only branch operating in Russia, it is effectively a ruling on the entire NGO's work. The group said they would continue to maintain an office for non-operational tasks.

The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin's plan to transform Russia's army into the second largest in the world is needed to address growing threats on Russia's western borders, as well as instability to the east.

Putin on Monday ordered the Russian army's regular size to be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active servicemen. 

Such a move would make it the second-largest army in the world after China's.

"This is due to the number of threats that exist to our country along the perimeter of our borders," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

"It is caused by the extremely hostile environment on our western borders and instability on our eastern borders. This demands appropriate measures to be taken."

Local authorities reported that Russian forces had attacked the energy infrastructure in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. Power was cut to several districts, with the affected areas now relying on backup grids.

Power was also cut to Sumy water supply facilities, which also had to switch to emergency power supply.

Sumy's acting mayor, Artem Kobzar, said there were no reports of casualties and that work was being done to bring the grid back online.

The attacks on critical infrastructure affected the Sumy, Konotop, and Okhtyrka districts.

Russia's barrage of drone attacks continued overnight into Tuesday morning. The Ukrainian military said it was able to shoot down 34 of 51 drones.

According to officials, the Russian strikes targeted five different regions of the country.

At the same time, the Kremlin said it had shot down some 16 drones near the border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have captured several Russian towns and settlements in the last two months.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has promised Kyiv an extra €100 million ($111 million) in aid to help Ukraine see through the winter.

"Clearly, autumn is coming, winter is knocking at the door," Baerbock said on a trip to Moldova, adding that Russia is planning a renewed "winter war, to make the lives of people in Ukraine as miserable as possible."

In the past, Russia has stepped up attacks against energy infrastructure in Ukraine ahead of plunging temperatures.

es/sms (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)