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A Russian missile struck a school in the town of Nikopol in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk on Wednesday, killing at least four people, Ukrainian officials said. “As a result of the Russian strike, four people died: a 72-year-old man and three women aged 69, 67 and 60,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app. Two people who were injured were receiving medical assistance, he added. Klymenko said earlier that the victims were employees at the school. Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor, said 50 private homes and two infrastructure facilities had been damaged. It comes as Vladimir Putin is set to visit Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, the presidential office of the Central Asian country said, in what would be the Russian leader's first known trip abroad since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. Meanwhile, Russia has failed in its bid to return to the United Nations’ top human rights body on Tuesday, in a sign Moscow will continue to be isolated on the international stage. Read More Ukraine President Zelenskyy at NATO defense ministers meeting seeking more support to fight Russia Russia loses vote to rejoin UN’s top human rights body despite Putin’s charm offensive with stolen grain Ukraine’s forces repel Russian attacks near Avdiivka as Putin’s troops launch new offensive

Russia’s desperate bid to rejoin the UN’s top human rights body with a charm offensive involving stolen Ukrainian grain and arms was defeated by a significant majority in a General Assembly vote on Tuesday. Russia received 83 votes from the 193-member UN, significantly more than the 24 countries who supported Moscow when it was booted out of the Human Rights Council in another vote more than one year ago. Russia was competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats on the Geneva-based UNHRC, representing the East European regional group. Bulgaria secured 160 votes, Albania received 123, while the Vladimir Putin-led nation managed only 83. In the run up to the voting, Russia made efforts to lure African allies and other friendly nations with stolen Ukrainian grain and arms in exchange for their votes – a charm offensive that experts said could work on some nations in need of the bartered goods. Moscow had claimed it had support from a silent majority at the UN, something which Tuesday’s vote shows was not the case. But experts said even its ability to win over 83 countries shows it maintains a surprisingly high level of support on the international arena. “I think the Russians will be pleased that they persuaded a sizable minority of UN members to back them (which) suggests that Moscow is not a total pariah in the UN system, despite repeated Western criticism,” Richard Gowan, UN director of the International Crisis Group, said. That said, the US and Ukraine’s allies were still able to ensure that Albania and Bulgaria swept the contest for the two seats, he said. “So, Kyiv’s friends still have a solid majority in the assembly,” Mr Gowan said.Yousuf Syed Khan, senior lawyer at Global Rights Compliance, said that declining to accept Russia’s bid for HRC membership “means that vulnerable member states were not assuaged by Russia’s bid to provide arms and grain in exchange for votes”. “Today, Ukrainians and the world community alike can welcome this glaring diplomatic success,” he told The Independent. The US and its allies had discouraged many of the UN General Assembly’s members and asked them to vote against Russia, the diplomats aware of Moscow’s attempts to woo nations with grains said. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that Russia’s re-election “while it openly continues to commit war crimes and other atrocities would be an ugly stain that would undermine the credibility of the institution and the United Nations”. Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the US of preventing Russia’s return to the council with its campaign. “The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council,” he told a Security Council meeting called by Ukraine on last week’s strike by a Russian missile on a Ukrainian soldier’s wake in a small village that killed 52 people. Experts have called it a near-unprecedented event where the UN body has acted consistently for 18 months to suspend a member nation. “It is close to unprecedented that the UN Human Rights Council acted as it did 18 months ago, it being only the second time in the Council’s history that a member has been suspended for committing ‘gross and systematic violations of human rights’,” said Catriona Murdoch, partner at international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance. She added that the impact of this war on civilians and “the apocalyptic devastation it is leaving meant the stakes were higher with this vote”. The other closely watched race was in the Asia group where four countries – China, Japan, Kuwait and Indonesia – were candidates for four seats. While all were expected to reach the majority of votes needed and therefore gain a seat each, some rights groups campaigned hard against Beijing and the size of the vote was closely watched. Indonesia topped the ballot with 186 votes followed by Kuwait with 183 votes and Japan with 175. China was last with 154 votes. Additional reporting by agencies Read More UN set to decide on Russia’s Human Rights Council membership as Putin ‘uses Ukrainian grain to buy votes’ Putin’s shameless UN charm offensive - with stolen grain from Ukraine Russia tries to rejoin UN Human Rights Council Ukraine-Russia war – live: Moscow fails in bid to return to UN’s top human rights body

Russia has claimed it can play a role in resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine as Vladimir Putin blamed US foreign policy for the escalation in the region. The comments from Moscow come despite Russia currently being the primary aggressor in the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, and also make no mention of Russia’s own role in the Middle East peace process since 2002 as part of the “Quartet” of powers with the UN, US and EU. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was speaking to both sides in the conflict and that it would seek to be involved in its settlement. He told a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow’s top priority was the safety of its own citizens in the region. Russia’s own history in the region is complex – and seemingly riddled with contradictions – as the former Soviet Union had supported the immediate recognition of the state of Israel along with the US after the Second World War. Mr Peskov said the conflict risked “spilling over” into other regions and stated Moscow has engaged in diplomatic efforts, despite limited progress. “But nevertheless we intend to keep making efforts and play our role in terms of providing assistance to seek ways to a settlement,” he said. In comments reported by Russian news agencies, Mr Peskov said the turmoil was “more than worrying. It has the potential to be dangerous by growing and spilling over from the current zone of the Arab-Israeli conflict”. “It is very important now that both sides show restraint,” he said in comments earlier on Russia’s Channel One on Tuesday. And while Mr Peskov on Tuesday said Russia has “a lot in common” with Israel, with many Israelis being former Russian citizens, Mr Putin blamed the US for ignoring the interests of Palestinians and their calls for an independent Palestinian state. The Russian president did not refer directly to Hamas in his own comments – the militant group that launched terror attacks across southern Israel on Saturday and which is heavily backed by Iran, a Russian ally. Moscow is accused of using Iranian Shahed drones in its war in Ukraine and has longstanding ties with Hamas, which sent a delegation to Moscow in March. Mr Putin hosted Iraq’s prime mininster Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Tuesday and took the opportunity during talks with his Iraqi counterpart – whose own country was invaded by the US after 9/11 – to attack American foreign policy in the region. “I think that many people will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of United States policy in the Middle East,” Mr Putin said. He said Washington had sought to “monopolise” efforts at forging peace, and accused it of failing to seek workable compromises. The situation has meanwhile continued to escalate in Israel as the country said it sealed the Gaza strip, governed by Hamas, from getting supplies of food, fuel and medicine in a decision sharply criticised by the UN and several non-profits. Israel also vowed to intensify its response to the attack by Hamas with aerial bombardments on Gaza, seen by many as a prelude to a ground offensive. US president Joe Biden has pledged America’s full support for Israel and issued a warning to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the situation. Russia has issued a range of diplomatic statements with a far less full-throated support for Israel. A Kremlin statement said Mr Putin and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan deplored the “catastrophic rise in the deaths among civilians”. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called for a rapid ceasefire in a conversation with his Iranian colleague Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Since the latest crisis erupted, the Kremlin has sought to appear even-handed, underscoring its relations with both sides. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Israel-Hamas war – live: Troops mass at Gaza border as strip ‘only has 10 hours of fuel’ left Watch live view of Gaza skyline as Israel bombards territory Inside Israel’s Supernova Festival: My terror as Hamas bombs fell on us during desert rave The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled attacks along the war frontline at Avdiivka on Tuesday as a new offensive from Russian soldiers erupted near the eastern Ukraine town, officials said. “I can add that our defenders on the Avdiivka front repelled all the attacks of the enemy, no losses of lines and positions were sustained,” colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesperson of the joint press centre of defence forces, said. He confirmed an escalation of Russian military offensive actions on the same front. He said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in Keramika, Ocheretyne, Berdychiv, Stepove, Lastochkyne, Tonenke, Avdiivka, and Pervomaiske in Donetsk oblast. Around three Russian battalions launched a ground assault on Monday on the eastern town which remained one of the most heavily fortified areas of Donetsk oblast, officials in Ukraine confirmed. "The invaders also launched air strikes near Berdychiv and Avdiivka. From the morning till now, the civilian infrastructure of Avdiivka and the settlements in the Pokrovske district around it are periodically shelled. Avdiivka was bombarded from tubed artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems,” he said in a national telecast. Ukrainian officials have confirmed that they view Russian attacks along the Andiivka and Donetsk city as active enemy efforts to prevent them from moving forces to Zaporizhzhia. In fresh signs of escalation, Russian tanks and armoured personnel were also seen moving towards Ukrainian lines which were backed by air strikes around 5am on Tuesday morning, reported Kyiv Post citing multiple sources. According to the Ukraine’s general staff of the Armed Forces, Russia targeted more than 130 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblast with artillery fire. It added that Ukrainian defence forces saw success in the areas east of Klishchiivka and Andriivka. The defence by Kyiv’s troops continued in the south of Bakhmut in Donetsk oblast. In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Air Force carried out 11 air strikes on Russian positions of concentration of troops, weapons and military equipment and nine air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile system used by Russia. A Russian Su-25 fighter jet and seven drones were also shot down, along with successful attacks on Russian ammunition depot, command post, artillery systems among other critical Russian infrastructure, the general staff said in the latest war update on Wednesday. According to the Russian military bloggers, Moscow’s actions in the Avdiivka area operations were aimed at capturing the city Ukraine took back just last month, the Institute for the Study of War said. They claimed Russian forces wanted to encircle Ukrainian troops. “A successful encirclement of Avdiivka – one of the most heavily fortified areas of the Donetsk Oblast front line – would very likely require more forces than Russia has currently dedicated to the Avdiivka-Donetsk City effort,” it said in its latest assessment. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Moscow fails in bid to return to UN’s top human rights body Russia will only resume nuclear tests if the US does it first, a top Russian diplomat says Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits neighboring Romania to discuss security and boost ties Russia faces a tough fight to regain its seat in the UN's top human rights body

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Vladimir Putin has given Russian lawmakers 10 days to find how best to revoke Moscow’s ratification of a critical nuclear treaty which bans Russia from testing atomic weapons shortly after he suggested the possibility of resuming such testing. The chair of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin and other parliament heads laid out a deadline for Russian lawmakers to study the de-ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) option until 18 October, a statement from the Duma read. Mr Volodin said revoking the ratification on testing nuclear weapons will be in Russia’s national interest as he discussed the matter with parliamentary leaders on Monday. If revoked, Russia will signal a warning to the US that Moscow can fundamentally change the assumptions of post-Cold War nuclear planning. This comes just four days after Mr Putin said that Russia’s nuclear doctrine – which determines the conditions in which he would press the nuclear button – did not need updating. But he added that Russia could look at revoking ratification of the significant nuclear treaty to bring it into line with the United States, which has signed but not ratified the pact. The US has previously said Russia’s pulling out from the treaty will endanger "the global norm" against nuclear test blasts. In a U-turn from Mr Putin’s remarks on Friday, his envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Moscow would revoke its ratification of the pact. Western security analysts have said such a step from Moscow will be a reminder that it still possesses the world’s largest nuclear arsenal at a time when it is locked in a standoff with the West over Ukraine. If Russia goes ahead with a nuclear test, it could encourage others such as the US or China to retaliate in a similar test and renew a fresh wave of nuclear arms race between the global superpowers. These nations have not carried out nuclear tests after the Soviet Union collapse in 1991. Russia’s actions have sparked concern, said Robert Floyd, head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization. He added that he is in touch with senior Russian officials to make the case for continued ratification, something he said was in the interest of humanity as a whole. Mr Floyd had requested a meeting with "key leaders" in Moscow as soon as possible, he said. "The CTBTO operates a global monitoring system which can detect a nuclear test explosion anytime, anywhere," he said in a statement. "Banning nuclear testing remains essential to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and to safeguarding current and future generations from the harmful effects of explosive nuclear testing." The de-ratification move can take “Russia and the world backward to a dangerous era of tit-for-tat nuclear threats”, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: It is in Russia’s interests to inflame war in the Middle East, says Zelensky Russia reports coolant leak in backup line at space station and says crew not in danger Ukraine advances in east and south with more ‘partial success’ even as rain muddies battlefield Ukraine repels Russian attacks on five fronts as Putin resorts to old weaponry and reserves Satellite images show spike in border activity as North Korea ‘supplies weapons to Russia’ for Ukraine war

Ukrainian soldiers fighting off Russian attacks in the eastern battlefield achieved “partial success” in the past 24 hours while troops in southern Ukraine inflicted over a hundred Russian casualties, officials said as the war was close to clocking 600 days. The troops secured partial success near Andriivka, a small Ukrainian village captured last month along with the nearby locality of Klishhiivka, said Ilia Yevlash, a spokesperson for Ukraine‘s eastern group of forces. "We are repelling constant attacks near Klishchiivka and Andriivka,” the spokesperson told national television. "Every day we are making headway in the Bakhmut sector. We are talking about hundreds of metres at a time that we are liberating from our enemies and strengthening our positions. It is, however, too early to talk about achieving concrete goals,” he said. The “partial” headway in territorial advance was also reported in southern Ukraine by general Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of forces in the south. “We have partial success west of Verbove. During the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out eight airstrikes, 18 combat encounters, and also launched 455 artillery barrages,” the top military official said on his Telegram channel. Verbove is one of the cluster of villages that Ukraine is targeting, with the larger town of Tokmak as the next large target. The Ukrainian units of rocket troops and artillery from the Tavria Air Defence Forces launched 795 fire missions during the day, he said. “The total losses of the enemy amounted to 147 people,” he said but did not give details about the injuries, deaths, and capture of Russian soldiers as prisoners of war. Three Russian ammunition depots were also bombed, along with two tanks and an artillery system, he said. This comes amid first signs of deterioration in battlefield conditions due to weather as Russian military bloggers said rainfall has worsened visibility in southern Ukraine. Experts monitoring the war said changing weather conditions will hinder the reconnaissance drone operations on both sides. “One Russian milblogger claimed that the ground has become muddy and obstructs tracked vehicle movement, though another milblogger claimed that the ground has not yet become muddy enough to inhibit vehicle movement,” said the Institute for the Study of War in its latest assessment on Monday. It added that exact conditions likely vary along the frontline, though weather conditions are generally worsening.It cited Yevlash’s report stating that the Russian forces are relying less heavily on aviation and drone activity in the Kupiansk-Lyman direction due to heavy rainfall. The Russian accounts of fighting claimed its forces thwarted Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut and inflicted heavy casualties in strikes on Ukrainian positions outside the city. Now on the edge of entering its fifth month, Ukraine’s counteroffensive aims to secure control of areas around Bakhmut in order to recapture the town, which was seized by Russian forces in May after months of heavy battles. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: It is in Russia’s interests to inflame war in the Middle East, says Zelensky Zelensky says Russia trying to incite war in the Middle East Satellite images show spike in border activity as North Korea ‘supplies weapons to Russia’ for Ukraine war Ukraine repels Russian attacks on five fronts as Putin resorts to old weaponry and reserves Russia reports coolant leak in backup line at space station and says crew not in danger

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that it was in Russia’s interests to stoke war in the Middle East to weaken global unity. “Based on available information -- very clear information -- it is in Russia’s interests to inflame war in the Middle East to create a new source of pain and suffering that would weaken global unity, create divisions and help Russia in undermining freedom in Europe,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. It comes as Ukrainian forces have made small gains over the weekend along multiple points of the frontline as “heavy rain” threatens to slow down Kyiv’s counteroffensive. Geolocated images showed Ukrainian infantry roughly 300 metres north of Novoprokopivka, south of Robotyne, which is the deepest they have been seen inside Russian-occupied territory as part of that attack. This line has emerged as Ukraine’s main axis of the counteroffensive in the past month, though progress slowed after the liberation of Robotyne at the end of August. The Ukrainian General Staff also claimed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had achieved “partial success” near Bakhmut, though that remains unconfirmed. Read More Russia claims `neo-Nazis' were at wake for Ukrainian soldier in village struck by missile killing 52 Zelensky says Russia trying to incite war in the Middle East Ukraine repels Russian attacks on five fronts as Putin resorts to old weaponry and reserves Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy