TOP HEADLINES

· The Kremlin said that the "special military operation" in Ukraine must continue until Russia takes full control of east Ukraine's Donetsk region. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the military campaign in Ukraine would continue "at a minimum" until the "liberation" of the "Donetsk People's Republic," referring to the region's Russian-backed administration.

· Kyiv called on the West to "significantly" increase its military aid to Ukraine after pro-Kremlin authorities in four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine declared victory in referendum votes. "Ukraine calls on the EU, NATO and the Group of Seven to immediately and significantly increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing new tough sanctions, and significantly increase their military aid to Ukraine," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement. READ MORE BELOW

· "Russia's recognition of the pseudo-referendums as 'normal'....means that there is nothing to talk about with (the) current Russian president," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council in a video message.

· The Russian-installed administrators of Ukraine's Luhansk and Kherson regions have formally asked President Vladimir Putin to incorporate them into Russia following the referendums. READ MORE BELOW

· The UN reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine's "territorial integrity." "The United Nations remains fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders," Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told a meeting of the UN Security Council.  

· China told the United Nations Security Council "territorial integrity" should be respected. "Our position and proposition on how to view and handle the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear: That is, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected," said ambassador Zhang Jun.

· Russia fired a salvo of missiles at Ukraine's second city Kharkiv overnight, officials said, hitting a railway yard and knocking out power to more than 18,000 households. Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov said Russian forces had fired S-300 missiles, designed as an anti-aircraft weapon but now often re-purposed to hit civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities. READ MORE BELOW

· Türkiye's booming wartime trade with Moscow took a giant step back with confirmation that the last three banks still processing Russian payments were pulling out under pressure from Washington. The decision follows weeks of intensifying pressure from the United States for NATO member Türkiye to limit its economic relations with Russia.

· Norway, now the biggest supplier of gas to Europe, will beef up security around its oil installations following allegations of sabotage on Nord Stream's Baltic Sea pipelines. 

· The EU considers leaks from two Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines this week "are not a coincidence," with indications they were "a deliberate act", the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. "Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response," he warned in a statement.

· Ukraine can count on the support of Italy's new government, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni said in a message to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "You know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people. Stay strong and keep your faith steadfast!" Meloni tweeted.

· Hackings, network sabotage and other cyber warfare campaigns are being intensely deployed by both Russia and Ukraine. As of mid-September, the Cyber Peace Institute, an NGO based in Switzerland, counted nearly 450 attacks – roughly 12 a week – carried out by 57 different entities on either side since the conflict started in February.

IN DETAIL

Kyiv calls for 'significant' increase in military aid

Kyiv called on the West to "significantly" increase its military aid to Ukraine after pro-Kremlin authorities in four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine declared victory in annexation votes.  

"Ukraine calls on the EU, NATO and the Group of Seven to immediately and significantly increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing new tough sanctions, and significantly increase their military aid to Ukraine," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry specified it needed "tanks, combat aircraft, armored vehicles, long-range artillery, anti-aircraft and missile defense equipment." 

Kyiv also called on "all states and international organizations to immediately condemn the illegal actions of the Kremlin in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and to increase the isolation of Russia." 

Late on Tuesday, officials in four Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine claimed victory in the referendums, slammed as sham ballots by Kyiv and its Western allies.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine will "defend" its citizens in these regions, denouncing the votes as a "farce".

The Russian-installed administrators of Ukraine's Luhansk and Kherson regions have formally asked President Vladimir Putin to incorporate them into Russia after reporting huge majorities in favor of joining Russia.

Vote tallies from complete results on Tuesday in the four provinces ranged from 87 percent to 99.2 percent in favour of joining Russia, according to officials.

In a letter published on his Telegram account, Vladimir Saldo – the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Kherson region – said residents had made "a historic choice" in favor of Russia.

If Russia declares the four Ukrainian regions part of its territory, Putin could portray any Ukrainian attempt to recapture them as an attack on Russia itself, justifying a potentially harsher military response.

Russia says it intervened in Ukraine in part to protect Russian-speakers living in the eastern Donbas region, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, from persecution.

Kyiv and the West reject this as a baseless pretext for a wider war of aggression.

Russian missile strikes leave Kharkiv households without power

Russia fired a salvo of missiles at Ukraine's second city Kharkiv overnight, officials said, hitting a railway yard and knocking out power to more than 18,000 households.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said Russian forces had fired S-300 missiles, designed as an anti-aircraft weapon but now often re-purposed to hit civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities.

The Kharkiv regional emergency service said the blasts, which were audible in the city center at around 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, destroyed an electrical transformer and hit a workshop.

No casualties were reported, but the regional energy company said 18,500 customers in the Shevchenkivsky, Kholodnogirsky and Novobavarsky districts of the city had lost electricity.

Kharkiv residents in these districts woke to find their power cut and commuter trams marooned without current in the streets.

At the railway yard, AFP news agency reporters found fire crews extinguishing a fire left by at least two strikes that demolished an office, ripped up some tracks and destroyed two parked wagons.

The strike came exactly a week after a similar one that hit a nearby rail freight yard as well as residential blocks and raised fears that Moscow, frustrated in its bid to occupy Kharkiv, is targeting civilian sites.