Ukraine war: Russia death toll tops 70k as Putin’s forces ‘anticipated’ Kursk attack

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to discuss Europe’s support, winter preparedness for defence and progress on the G7 loans.

She wrote on X: “My 8th visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure.”

The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky plans to present his fully completed victory plan first to US president Joe Biden.

In an interview with The Kyiv Independent, she said that while she has some idea of its framework, she looks forward to reviewing the plan’s details to work together on its implementation.

When asked about her expectations from it, she said: “President Zelensky has been very clear that he is going to show this plan first to President Biden. He and his team have been true to that. We have some sense of the contours of this plan, and of course, we’re working hand in glove with the government to support your victory in many different ways. It’ll be very positive for us to receive the details of the victory plan and be able to work together to follow up on this.”

She was also asked if the US remained committed to supporting Ukraine’s complete victory, which would include reclaiming all territories, including Crimea, and fully defeating Russia militarily. Ms Brink said: “Our position has been very clear as articulated by the president, as articulated by Secretary Blinken when he was just here last week in Kyiv. We support Ukraine and its victory in its win against Russia’s aggression.

“Now our support is in support of a vision of Ukraine – sovereign, independent, democratic, prosperous, integrated into Europe and into Nato. So that vision is a vision from Ukrainians, and it’s a vision of the future that we support. That’s our position. We’re leaving the details of the war, the details of when and how to negotiate up to your democratically elected president.”

As the conflict reaches its grim milestone, The Independent’s frontline reporter Askold Krushelnycky explains why Russian forces are taking the brunt of the damage:

Five Ukrainians have been killed in the past day by Russian attacks and at least 33 have been injured, regional authorities have reported.

Some of those deaths include one in the Sumy Oblast where 17 people were injured, the regional military administration reported.

In Donetsk Oblast, three people were killed and eight injured over the past day, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

Russian attacks against Kharkiv Oblast killed an 85-year-old man in the town of Vilcha near Vovchansk, injured a 65-year-old man in Kupiansk, and wounded two people in the village of Shestakove, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Five people were injured during Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast over the past day, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A critical infrastructure facility, five multi-story buildings, and 14 houses were damaged.

A senior Russian lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, warned that if Ukraine were to strike deep into Russian territory using Western missiles, it could trigger a global conflict involving nuclear weapons.

He stated that Russia would respond forcefully with more powerful weapons. “Russia will give a tough response using more powerful weapons,” the speaker of Russia’s Duma, the lower house of parliament said.

His remarks followed a European Parliament vote supporting Ukraine’s ability to target Russian sites with Western weapons.

Mr Volodin emphasised the historical sacrifices of the Soviet Union in World War II, urging Europeans to recognise the speed at which Russia could retaliate with its RS-28 Sarmat missile, which could reach Strasbourg in just over three minutes.

Ukraine’s forces destroyed 61 out of 70 Russian attack drones and one out of four missiles launched overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said on Friday.

“The air defence system operated in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson regions,” it said on the Telegram messenger.

More than 70,000 Russian military personnel have died in Ukraine, with volunteers making up the largest group of casualties since the 2022 invasion for the first time, accounting for about 20 per cent of deaths.

Among the casualties, 13,781 were volunteers — making up the largest chunk of casualties for the first time since the war began, according to data from BBC Russian and the independent website Mediazona.

For much of the first year of the conflict former prisoners made up the highest proportion of Russian casualties, but they now account for 19 per cent of all confirmed deaths. Citizens conscripted into joining the army – mobilised soldiers – account for 13 per cent.

Volunteers typically came from poorer parts of Russia and joined for better pay and benefits, often without realising their contracts were indefinite. The BBC noted that most of the volunteers seem to have signed up of their own free will, though there are reports from some in Chechnya who have described coercion and intimidation to join.

The Russian military is deploying these volunteers to the most challenging frontlines, contributing to high casualty rates, the outlet reported.

Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region and had been planning to prevent it for months, according to documents reportedly seized by the Ukrainian army from abandoned Russian positions, The Guardian reported.

These documents, the outlet reported, revealed concerns about troop morale, particularly after a soldier’s suicide who had been in a “prolonged state of depression due to his service in the Russian army”. Instructions were given to ensure soldiers consume state media to maintain morale.

The documents also reportedly outlined various warnings about potential Ukrainian attacks and the need for increased training and defensive preparations.

The documents came from units of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment, specifically the second company of its 17th Battalion.

The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of five groups and one person for facilitating payments between Russia and North Korea, aimed at supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea’s weapons programmes, the US Treasury department said.

“Today’s action holds accountable parties that have assisted the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea) and Russian sanctions evasion,” the Treasury said in a statement.

It added that the move also indicated the US’s commitment to disrupting networks “that facilitate the funding of the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programmes and support Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine”.

“The growing financial cooperation between Russia and (North Korea) directly threatens international security and the global financial system,” US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“Russia has become increasingly dependent on the DPRK as it faces mounting battlefield losses and increasing international isolation.”