Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin’s forces kill 7 in Kharkiv amid push for US missiles to be fired into Russia

Thirteen Ukrainian children returned on Thursday to their homeland from Russia and Moscow-occupied territories of Ukraine with the cooperation of Qatar, officials in Kyiv said.

“The children have already been met in their homeland,” Andriy Yermak, president’s chief of staff, said on Telegram.

Moscow handed over six children, aged between 6 and 17, Russia’s TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets added that seven children had been brought back from Russian-occupied territories.

Kyiv says about 20,000 children have been taken from Ukraine to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians. It calls this a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. Moscow says it has protected vulnerable children from the war zone.

The International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin and children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin rejects the allegations.

Russia said on Thursday that the main power line supplying the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine had gone down, but that there was no threat to safety and the plant was being supplied via a backup line.

The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, held by Russia and located close to the front line of the conflict in Ukraine, are not in operation but it relies on external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a catastrophic accident.

The Russian management said on their official channel on the Telegram app that the reasons for the outage, which had not caused any change in the radiation level, were being investigated.

The Ukrainian foreign minister has slammed Putin’s “heinous” attack on Kharkiv which left seven people dead and injured dozens more.

Writing on X, Dmytro Kuleba said: “Russia struck Kharkiv and Lyubotyn with multiple missiles, leading to casualties and destruction.

“This heinous attack must remind everyone around the world that Ukraine still urgently needs seven “Patriot” systems. We are very grateful to Germany for announcing one additional system.

“But getting six more as soon as possible remains critical not only for Ukraine’s survival but for peace in Europe.”

At least seven people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, according to Kyiv officials.

A further two people remain missing after the attack, which saw Russian forces strike Ukraine’s second-largest city at least 15 times, Oleg Sinegubov said.

Ukraine’s state railway company said several of its facilities had been damaged in the attack and a number of its employees had been injured.

Howard Michael Phillips, 64, was charged on Thursday with an offence contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act - assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The Met said the country to which the charge relates is Russia. Phillips, of Harlow, in Essex, has been remanded in police custody and is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday.

The Met said: “As part of the investigation, which is being led by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, officers also searched an address in the Hertfordshire area and an address in the Essex area. Both searches are now complete.

The deputy head of the Russian army’s general staff has been arrested after being accused of taking a large bribe, according to Russian media.

The arrest of Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin, confirmed to Russian news agencies by a military court, is the fourth detention of a high-ranking defence figure within a month.

There was no immediate word on how Shamarin pleaded. His home was reportedly searched in connection with the investigation and he has been placed in pre-trial detention for two months.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed a “brutal” Russian attack on Kharkiv and Lyubotyn as carried out by “terrorists”.

Mr Zelensky said: “An extremely brutal Russian attack on Kharkiv and Lyubotyn. Russian terrorists are taking advantage of Ukraine’s lack of sufficient air defense protection and reliable capability to destroy terrorist launchers at their exact locations, which are close to our borders.

“And this weakness is not ours, but the world’s, which has not dared to deal with terrorists in the way they deserve for three years.”

Moscow will strike British targets throughout Europe if UK weapons are used to strike Russian territory, the Kremlin warned.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said British sites within Ukraine’s territory and beyond would be hit in retaliation.

Moscow has already made the same warning earlier this month after David Cameron, the foreign secretary, said Ukraine had a right to use weapons provided by London to hit targets inside Russia.