Ukraine-Russia war latest: Four killed after Moscow hits Kyiv in massive drone and missile attack

Moldovans have begun voting in a key parliamentary election on Sunday that will determine whether the country is brought closer to Russia or Europe.

The pro-western president Maia Sandu and her ruling Action and Solidarity party (PAS) are facing challenge from the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, an alliance of pro-Russian parties.

The Patriotic Electoral Bloc is led in part by a former president Igor Dodon.

If neither side wins a majority in the 101-seat chamber, political horse trading is likely to follow, further unsettling one of Europe’s poorest countries, buffeted by war in neighbouring Ukraine and by suspected Russian meddling in politics and religion.

To a government aspiring to join the EU, control of parliament is vital for the long-term legislative efforts required.

Russia and Belarus have regained full membership rights in the International Paralympic Committee after member organisations voted to lift their partial suspensions at the IPC General Assembly in Seoul.

The two countries were fully banned from Paralympic competitions after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but the IPC voted the following year to allow them to compete as neutrals at the Paris Paralympic Games last year without flags or anthems being played.

“IPC member organisations voted not to maintain the partial suspensions of the National Paralympic Committees of Belarus and Russia,” the IPC said in a statement on Saturday. “The IPC will work with the two members involved to put practical arrangements in place for this as soon as reasonably possible.”

However, the International Olympic Committee has maintained its stance on Russian and Belarusian athletes.

In September the IOC said Russians will compete as neutral independent athletes without a national flag or anthem at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, maintaining the same sanctions as the Paris Summer Games last year.

Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi slammed the decision, saying: “We call on our European partners, who will host the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games, not to allow the flag of the aggressor state to be raised over the free and democratic space while the war of agression continues”.

President Donald Trump reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he was open to lifting certain restrictions on the use of certain US-made weapons, signaling a potentially huge change in policy.

The president signaled that he would be willing to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles inside Russia for the first time during a meeting between the two men at this week’s United Nations General Assembly.

Russian minister denied incursions into European and Nato airspace, saying President Vladimir Putin had “debunked” the claims.

“Russia is being accused of almost planning to attack the North Atlantic Alliance and European Union countries. President Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations, Russia does not have and does not have any such intentions,”

However, he added: “Any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. Let there be no doubt about this in Nato and the EU.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia launched around 500 drones and 40 missiles in a massive overnight attack.

“Moscow wants to continue fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure from the world,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.

At least four people were killed in the attack and ten others injured.

Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that a Ukrainian delegation will travel to the US this autumn to finalise two major defence agreements: a $90bn weapons purchase and a deal to export Ukrainian-made drones to the US.

The announcement follows Zelensky’s recent talks with President Donald Trump during the UN General Assembly.

“We have discussed the main things, agreed with the president, now we are moving on to practical implementation,” Zelensky said.

Kyiv is seeking long-range systems, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, and has also launched a controlled export programme for surplus domestically produced weapons.

Donald Trump has performed what might be his biggest – and most startling – shift in foreign policy to date.

On Tuesday, after meeting with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he agreed with the notion that Nato countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.

Later, on his Truth Social platform, Trump suddenly declared that Ukraine could not only defeat Russia but “WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form” – and even, he concluded, “go further than that!”.