Ukraine war latest: Biden allows Zelensky to use long-range missiles against Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is defending itself against “absolute evil”, as he shares footage of the devastation following what Kyiv says is Russia’s largest missile attack in months.

“Russian terrorists are once again trying to intimidate us with cold and blackouts, repeating their actions and trying to get results from them,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.

“The entire world sees and knows that we are defending ourselves against absolute evil, which understands no language but force. We need unity, the world needs unity. Only together can we stop this evil.”

Russia used nearly 140 missiles of different types, 900 guided aerial bombs and over 600 strike drones, Mr Zelensky added.

“Efforts to address the consequences of the combined attack on our infrastructure in the Rivne, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn, and Odesa regions are ongoing.”

A late-night attack devastated a residential block and left the city without power, officials confirm.

A Russian missile strike on a residential building in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy has killed 10 people, including two children, and injured 55 others, local authorities reported. Among the injured were eight children, according to a statement by the Sumy city council shared on Telegram.

The attack, which struck a nine-storey apartment block late on Sunday, left the city’s administrative centre without power after a separate missile hit critical infrastructure. Photographs shared by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed widespread devastation, with cars engulfed in flames, rescuers assisting survivors, and a building with shattered windows and a heavily damaged facade.

“Sunday evening for the city of Sumy became hell, a tragedy that Russia brought to our land,” said Volodymyr Artyukh, head of the Sumy military administration, in a statement. Emergency responders continued rescue efforts at the scene, with over 400 people evacuated from the affected area. Psychologists were also on-site to provide support to survivors.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine described the scene as a massive operation, with photographs showing firefighters battling flames and rescuers navigating the wreckage to carry survivors to safety.

There has been no response from Moscow regarding the strike. Reports from local prosecutors and emergency services have corroborated the details, with Reuters verifying the location through imagery analysis.

He argued the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.

My colleague Barney Davis looks closer at the weapons that could mark a turning point in the war:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky struck a measured tone in response to the United States’ recent decision to permit the use of long-range missiles.

In his nightly video address, he downplayed public declarations about the development, saying, “Today, much is being said in the media about us receiving permission for the relevant actions. But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”

The remarks come amid intensified Russian attacks on Ukraine. Earlier, Mr Zelensky revealed that Russia had unleashed 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale assault across the country. The operation included Iranian-made Shahed drones alongside various types of cruise, ballistic, and aircraft-launched missiles.

Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting 144 of the 210 air targets, but significant damage was still inflicted. Mr Zelensky confirmed strikes on energy infrastructure and civilian casualties. “In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” he said.

A Russian strike on a nine-story building in the city of Sumy in northern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded dozens, an official said on Sunday, as Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack described by officials as the largest in recent months.

Among the eight killed in Sumy, 40km from the border with Russia, were two children, said Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko.

More than 400 people were evacuated from the building.

The rescuers were checking every apartment looking for people who might be still in the damaged building.“Every life destroyed by Russia is a big tragedy,” said Mr Klymenko.

The drone and missile attack, which targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the winter.

Mr Trump’s comprehensive victory in the US election, which came off the back of his promises to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, has brought into sharp relief the difficult situation on the frontline for Kyiv.

Russian forces have continued to make gains in the eastern region of Donetsk, advancing along several fronts towards the city of Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the wider area’s defence.

US president Joe Biden urged his Chinese counterpart to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The leaders, with top aides surrounding them, met at a Lima hotel on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Mr Biden wants Mr Xi to step up Chinese engagement to prevent an already dangerous moment with North Korea from further escalating, officials said.

White House officials have expressed frustration with Beijing, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade, for not doing more to rein in Pyongyang.

The North Koreans also have provided Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to US and South Korean intelligence officials.

The colonel, who has requested not to be named, says both Ukraine and Russia have to take seriously Trump’s campaign promises to quickly end the war, although the president in waiting has not explained how he plans to bring about a ceasefire.

“What is clear,” says the colonel, “is that the Russians want to take as much Ukrainian territory as possible and clear Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk [Russian border] region we occupied in August before any negotiations begin.”

Askold Krushelnycky reports

Eight people were killed and at least 20 were injured in a Russian missile strike on Sumy on Sunday evening.

A 9-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl were killed in the strikes which led to 20 local residents sought medical help, including three children.

The rocket attack on a densely populated residential neighborhood in the city of Sumy saw at least ten high-rise buildings damaged, as well as vehicles.

Prosecutors in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies are documenting the consequences of the shelling.