Ukraine has used a new class of domestically-produced drone to attack Russia for the first time, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday.

The Ukrainian president described the Palianytsia drone-missile as a “completely new class of weapon” that will pound targets inside Russia until Vladimir Putin withdraws his troops from Ukraine.

Palianytsia, which means a loaf of bread in Ukrainian and is hard for Russians to pronounce properly, is described as a highly manoeuvrable, fast drone that has been fitted with a jet engine and a powerful warhead.

The word Palianytsia has been used as a password at Ukrainian checkpoints, given Russian soldiers’ struggles to enunciate the term.

Kyiv, which has been investing heavily in domestic drone production, hopes the weapon will now similarly befuddle Russian defences.

“This is our new method of retaliation against the aggressor,” Mr Zelensky said, as he thanked the developers behind the project in a speech to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day. “The enemy will be defeated.”

Overnight, witnesses of a Ukrainian drone strike on an ammunition depot in the Voronezh border region of Russia recorded hearing the rumble of a jet engine rather than the usual whirr of a propeller.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries, confirmed that this was the Palianytsia drone missile making its debut.

“We eagerly awaited the moment when we could demonstrate its effectiveness to the enemy. Finally, this moment has arrived,” he said.

While little is yet known about the exact specifications of the drone, Ukrainian engineers have been developing the Palianytsia all year as the next-generation weapon of their drone programme.

Ukrainian drones have been credited with helping to turn the momentum of the war by pounding Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in occupied Crimea, sending back battlefield images of the Donbas front line and striking targets across Russia from the Arctic to Siberia.

In his speech on Saturday, Mr Zelensky once again said Ukraine would only agree to peace with Russia if it regained all its lost territory.

Reports had speculated that Kyiv might agree to cede some of the four regions currently occupied by Moscow in exchange for peace.

But Mr Zelensky was defiant, as his army continued to hold a large swathe of Russian land in the Kursk region.

“Let’s say, our partners lose heart and do not stand firmly and steadfastly against Putin’s aggression and against him as a thief, we will do everything we can to ensure that our armed forces are ready to rightfully push Putin out of our country,” he said.

Mr Zelensky also hailed a prisoner swap deal with Russia on Saturday, the first since his forces’ invasion of Kursk Russian and Ukrainian officials swapped 115 prisoners each in a deal negotiated by the United Arab Emirates.

“We are searching and doing our best to get everyone back,” he said.

On Saturday, social media videos showed Ukrainian soldiers raising their flag in another village in the Kursk region, backing up Ukrainian estimates that they have now captured around 500 square miles of Russian territory and 93 settlements since Aug 6, when it launched the first invasion of Russia since the Second World War.

But while Ukrainian forces are taking ground in the Kursk region, reports from the front line in the eastern Donbas region showed Russian forces on the offensive.

Russian military bloggers said that Putin’s armies were closing in on the town of Pokrovsk which is considered a key logistics hub for the Ukrainian army as it lies on railway and road intersections.

The Two Majors, a well-connected Russian military blogging Telegram channel, said that they were close to capturing a village close to Pokrovsk.

“The Ukrainian armed forces are losing positions in Karlovka. The Russian army is moving towards Mirnograd and Pokrovsk,” it said.

There have also been reports for the first time in a few months that frontline Ukrainian forces are running low on ammunition and have reintroduced rationing.

Mr Zelensky used his nightly Telegram message to Ukrainians on Friday to admonish allies for being slow to deliver military aid because his armies need shells and ammunition now, not “tomorrow or soon”.

Ukrainian officials also said that a Russian missile attack on the town of Kostiantynivka, near Bakmut, killed five civilians on Saturday.

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04:59 PM BST

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Thank you for following today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

We’ll be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict.

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04:47 PM BST

Ukraine and Russia exchange first prisoners since Kursk invasion

Russia and Ukraine announced Saturday they had exchanged 115 prisoners of war each, just over two weeks after Kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said “another 115 of our defenders have returned home today”, while Moscow’s defence ministry said: “As a result of a negotiation process, 115 Russian servicemen taken prisoner in the Kursk region have been returned from territories controlled by the Kyiv regime.”

Mr Zelensky previously said the Russian soldiers captured in the Kursk region are considered an “exchange fund”, and that he hopes they can be swapped for some of the roughly 6,5000 Ukrainian soldiers that Moscow says it holds.

The majority of those taken are also understood to be young Russian conscripts. Conscription is a politically sensitive issue in Russia – particularly as Vladimir Putin previously promised conscripts would not take part in active combat – and it appears that Ukraine is now leveraging the thorny issue to its advantage.

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04:43 PM BST

Hungary’s foreign minister accuses EU of disrupting oil supplies from Russia

Hungary’s foreign minister has said that the European Commission’s decision not to mediate in a dispute over blocked oil supplies from Russia via Ukraine suggested that Brussels was behind the stoppage.

Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia have been protesting since Ukraine put Russian oil producer Lukoil on a sanctions list in June, stopping that company’s oil from passing through Ukrainian territory to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.

The assertion from Hungary’s Peter Szijjarto, which he made without providing evidence, came a day after the European Commission declined a request from Hungary and Slovakia for it to mediate between them and Ukraine over the sanctions.

“The fact that the European Commission declared that it was unwilling to help to secure the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia suggests that the order was sent from Brussels to Kyiv to cause challenges and problems in the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia,” Mr Szijjarto said.

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04:34 PM BST

Scholz reaffirms Germany’s ‘unwavering solidarity’ to Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reaffirmed Berlin’s “continued and unwavering solidarity” with Ukraine in spite of a budget reduction for military aid to Kyiv next year, his office said.

In a telephone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Scholz “reaffirmed the continued and unwavering solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression”, according to a readout of the phone call released by his office.

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04:21 PM BST

War can only end with restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia’s invasion can only end with the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the prevention of future Russian aggression.

Speaking on the country’s thirty-third Independence Day, Mr Zelensky said: “The war can only end with the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the prevention of further aggression from Putin and Russia.”

He continued: “We will do everything in our power to compel Putin to end this war diplomatically in order to minimise our losses, first and foremost in terms of people and time. But if we are unable to do so… we will do everything we can to ensure that our Armed Forces are ready to rightfully push Putin out of our country.”

His statement comes after some recent reports had suggested that the Ukrainian president was beginning to consider negotiations with Moscow.

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04:13 PM BST

Pictured: Ukraine’s Independence Day

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03:48 PM BST

Zelensky briefs Germany’s Scholz on battlefield situation

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he briefed Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday on the battlefield situation after Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region and that they discussed the need for air defence and armored vehicles.

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03:11 PM BST

Polish president says Ukraine will soon win war against Russia

In his speech on Ukraine’s Independence Day in Kyiv, Polish president Andrzej Duda expressed confidence that Ukraine would be able to defend its freedom and that “the war will soon end in (Ukraine’s) victory.”

“I have never had, and do not have, the slightest doubt that, through their united efforts and struggle, the courageous Ukrainian people will uphold their independence. Although Ukraine is currently battling the Russian aggressor, fiercely fighting for its independence, I am confident that the war will soon conclude with the triumph of freedom over tyranny. Out of the darkness of war and the devastation of scorched territories, a new world will emerge,” Mr Duda said.

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02:45 PM BST

Watch: Ukraine and Russia exchange first prisoners since Kursk invasion

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02:32 PM BST

50 soldiers captured from Azovstal steelworks among freed Ukrainian POWs

Ukraine said the 115 servicemen who were freed were conscripts, many of whom were taken prisoner in the first months of Russia’s invasion.

Among them are nearly 50 soldiers captured by Russian forces from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

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02:17 PM BST

Zelensky says Kyiv seeks to force Putin to end the war through diplomacy

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine would do everything to force Russian president Vladimir Putin to end the war through diplomacy.

Asked how he sees the end of the war with Russia which is nearing its 30th month, Mr Zelensky reiterated his position that Ukraine’s territorial integrity should be restored.

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01:41 PM BST

Kyiv says struck ammunition depot in Russia’s Voronezh region

Ukraine said Saturday it had carried out an attack on a Russian ammunition depot in the southern Russian region of Voronezh.

“On August 24, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) servicemen successfully struck a field ammunition depot located near Ostrogozk, Voronezh region of Russia,” Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.

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01:36 PM BST

Kursk operation was to prevent Russian attacks on Sumy, Zelensky says

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine’s operation in the Kursk region was a preventive strike to stop Russian attacks in the north and towards the regional city of Sumy.

Mr Zelensky told a news conference the operation in Kursk was difficult but he viewed its progress positively.

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01:36 PM BST

Watch: Russians pay respect to mercenary leader Prigozhin one year after his death in aircrash

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01:23 PM BST

Ukraine will soon be able to attack ‘any part’ of Russia, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine will soon be able to attack “any point” of the Russian federation that is a “source of danger” to his country and people.

Speaking in a 13-minute Ukrainian Independence Day video address – that was said to be recorded in the border area from where Kyiv launched its surprise incursion into Russia – Mr Zelensky said that Russia wanted to “destroy” Ukraine but war has “returned to its home”.

“Our enemy will know what the Ukrainian way of retaliation is…. They will know that, sooner or later, a Ukrainian response will reach any point in the Russian federation that is a source of danger to the life of our state or our people,” he said.

Mr Zelensky continued: “And the one who wanted to turn our land into a buffer zone should think about preventing his country from becoming a buffer federation.”

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12:40 PM BST

Pictured: Zelensky on Independence Day

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12:34 PM BST

More on prisoner exchange

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said “another 115 of our defenders have returned home today”, while Moscow’s defence ministry said: “As a result of a negotiation process, 115 Russian servicemen taken prisoner in the Kursk region have been returned from territories controlled by the Kyiv regime.”

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12:01 PM BST

Russia and Ukraine exchange 115 prisoners each

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 115 prisoners of war from each side after the United Arab Emirates acted as an intermediary, the Russian state-run news agency has reported.

The exchanged Russian servicemen, captured by Ukraine during its incursion into the Kursk region, are now on the territory of Belarus, the Russian Defence ministry said.

It is the seventh such exchange the UAE has mediated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Abu Dhabi, a close security partner of the United States, has maintained warm relations with Moscow throughout the war, frustrating some Western officials. It has also strengthened ties with Kyiv.

Posting on social media, the UAE foreign ministry said: “230 captives released following the seventh UAE mediation effort between Russia and Ukraine.”

Ukraine has not yet commented.

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11:48 AM BST

Russian attack kills five people in eastern Ukraine town, governor says

A Russian attack killed at least five civilians and wounded five others on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka, a regional governor said.

Vadym Filashkin, governor of the Donetsk region, said rescuers and police were working at the scene of the attack, which took place early on Saturday.

“I urge you all again: take care of yourselves, evacuate,” Mr Filashkin wrote on the Telegram messaging app, without giving further details about the attack.

Kostiantynivka is located close to the active combat zone in Donetsk, where Russian forces have been inching forward for months.

The Russian advance quickened in recent weeks as Moscow’s troops are mounting relentless attacks in the direction of the strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

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11:41 AM BST

Ukraine uses new domestic-made drone missile for first time

The Ukrainian army has attacked the Russian army with a new weapon, the Palianytsia drone missile, for the first time.

Speaking about the weapon on Ukrainian Independence Day, Volodymyr Zelensky said: “This is our new method of retaliation against the aggressor. The enemy has been defeated. I thank everyone who made it possible. All developers, manufacturers and our soldiers. I am proud of you.”

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11:23 AM BST

Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen train with FPV drones

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11:10 AM BST

Russia destroys museum of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary

Russia has destroyed the memorial museum of Nestor Makhno, a Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War of Independence, according to the country’s Ministry of Interior.

The building caught fire and burned to the ground as a result of a missile strike, in Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

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10:52 AM BST

Russia and Ukraine set to swap 115 prisoners

Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 115 prisoners today following mediation from the United Arab Emirates, an Emirati official told Reuters.

It would be the first such prisoner swap between the countries since the Ukrainian military launched its offensive inside Russia on August 6.

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10:39 AM BST

Pictured: Fire at ammunition depot in Russian city

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10:28 AM BST

Pentagon reveals details of new US military aid package to Ukraine

The US Department of Defense has announced details of a new $125 million package of US aid for Ukraine, which includes air defence equipment, ammunition for missile systems and artillery, and anti-tank weapons.

This announcement is the Biden Administration’s sixty-fourth tranche of equipment to be provided from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

“As Ukraine prepares to celebrate its Independence Day on August 24 – more than two and a half years since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion – the United States and the international coalition of some 50 Allies and partners remain committed to supporting Ukraine’s brave defenders that continue to fight against Russian aggression,” the Pentagon statement said.

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10:15 AM BST

Ukrainian forces continue to advance near Sudzha

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has confirmed the advance of Ukrainian troops near the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

“Ukrainian forces continued to marginally advance near Sudzha amid continued Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast on 23 August,” the ISW said in a statement.

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10:00 AM BST

Watch: Zelensky’s Independence Day address

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09:48 AM BST

Zelensky signs law on Ukraine ratifying Rome Statute

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a law on Ukraine ratifying the Rome Statute, allowing the country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The law published on the parliament’s website was also a key to Ukraine’s efforts to move closer to the European Union.

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09:41 AM BST

Zelensky signs law banning Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday signed a law banning the Moscow-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine with the decision published on Ukraine’s parliament website.

The bill approved by parliament earlier this month created the legal tools for the government to ban activities of a Russia-linked branch of the Orthodox church and paved the way for a historic rupture with an institution that Kyiv has accused of complicity in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky approved the bill, slammed by Russia, on Kyiv’s independence day from the Soviet Union and two and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader said the move will strengthen his country’s independence and in an address on Saturday declared: “Ukrainian Orthodox (church) today is taking a step towards liberation from Moscow’s devils.”

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09:33 AM BST

Keir Starmer tells Ukrainians the UK will back them ‘today and always’

Sir Keir Starmer has told Ukrainians the UK will back them “today and always”, as Kyiv marks 33 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union.

“My message to all Ukrainians, whether on the front line or here in your second home in the UK, is crystal clear: we are with you today and always,” Sir Keir said.

“That is what I told President Zelensky when he sat at our Cabinet table and where, on behalf of the British people, I outlined that it is not just the British government that’s behind Ukraine – it’s all of us.

“We are with you for as long as it takes.”

“Slava Ukraini,” he said, a national salute in the country, which translates to glory to Ukraine.

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09:12 AM BST

EU review does not recommend sending military trainers to Ukraine for now

The EU’s diplomatic service has called on member states to better adapt a military training mission for Ukraine to Kyiv’s needs but stopped short of recommending the bloc send military instructors to the war-torn country, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday.

The EUMAM mission, launched in November 2022, has trained some 60,000 Ukrainian troops mainly in Poland and Germany and is set to be extended by another two years once the current mandate runs out in mid-November.

“It is imperative to train AFU (Ukraine) soldiers on the same equipment that they will use later in combat,” the report cited a review of the mission by the EU’s diplomatic service as saying.

Kyiv asked the EU in May to conduct some training on Ukrainian soil but member states are divided with sceptics warning that the bloc could be drawn into the war and raising doubts about Kyiv’s ability to protect training sites against Russian attacks.

The EU review said Kyiv’s request could be met by opening the possibility to deploy some EUMAM instructors to Ukrainian training facilities, “in a discrete form”, far from the battlefield and possibly in the western part of the country, although it did not recommend that they be sent.

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09:09 AM BST

Russia declares emergency in part of Voronezh region after drone attack

Russia has declared a state of emergency in part of the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine after an overnight drone attack, local governor Alexander Gusev said in his Telegram channel.

According to Mr Gusev, Russian forces intercepted five drones. Falling debris ignited a fire, leading to the detonation of explosive materials.

The incident damaged no civilian buildings, but prompted authorities to impose emergency measures in three settlements in the Ostrogozhsky district and evacuate 200 people, he said.