Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s troops kill 49, including child, in Kharkiv attack, says Kyiv

Residents in the Kharkiv village where 49 have been killed in a Russian attack had been gathered for a memorial service at the cafe that was hit by shelling, Ukraine’s interior minister has said.

Ihor Klymenko said that residents of the small village of about 330 people had been holding a memorial service in the cafe that was hit.

“From every family, from every household, there were people present at this commemoration. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a summit of the European Political Community in Granada, Spain, was warmly greeted by the French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, at a summit of the European Political Community in Granada, Spain, has asked for more western support, saying: “Russian terror must be stopped.”

“Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for only one thing: to make its genocidal aggression the new norm for the whole world,” he told the gathering, including Rishi Sunak.

“Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defence, strengthening our soldiers, giving our country protection from terror. And we will respond to the terrorists.

“The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defence, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners.”

Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy system and other vital infrastructure in a steady barrage of missile and drone attacks, triggering continuous power outages across the country.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned an attack on a village in northeastern Ukraine that reportedly killed dozens of people, a UN spokesperson said.

“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law and they must stop immediately,” Stephane Dujarric said.

Ukraine has lost more than 90,000 troops since the start of its counteroffensive in early June, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed.

Mr Putin also said Kyiv had lost 557 tanks and around 1,900 armoured vehicles.

Kyiv does not disclose official figures, but in August, US officials estimated up to 70,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed.

Vladimir Putin has said no one in the world in their right mind would use nuclear weapons against Russia, and that no one would survive if his country was attacked.

In response to a question, the Russian president said potential enemies knew about Russia’s nuclear arsenal, and he was not ready to declare whether Russia needed to resume nuclear weapons testing, saying that “theoretically we could revoke ratification” of the international nuclear test ban treaty.

In a keynote annual speech at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, he said Russia had almost completed work on its nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system and successfully tested the nuclear-powered nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile.

Rescuers removing debris after a Russian missile hit a crowded shop and cafe in the village of Hroza:

The death toll now stands at 51, Ukrainian officials say.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said the cafe and shop were reduced to rubble early in Hroza village in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian authorities say the death toll in the Kharkiv attack has risen to 50.

Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said a six-year-old boy was among the dead, and seven other people were wounded.

Emergency crews were searching the rubble of damaged buildings.

About 60 people were in the cafe attending a wake after a funeral, said internal affairs minister Ihor Klymenko.

Russia used an Iskander missile in an attack that killed dozens of people in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said.

“According to preliminary findings, the venue was hit by an Iskander,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Iskander is a mobile ballistic missile system designed for tactical strikes on small, high-value land targets.