Ukraine war briefing: Russian strike hits Kharkiv apartment block; Ukrainian troops quit Vuhledar

Zelenskyy urges western backing akin to that for Israel after Kharkiv strike; Ukraine’s 72nd mechanised brigade leaves eastern town of Vuhledar after more than two years. What we know on day 953

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A Russian guided bomb struck a five-storey apartment block in Kharkiv late on Wednesday, starting fires and injuring at least 10 people, local officials said. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the strike underscored the need for more help from Ukraine’s western backers. He pointed to Iran’s strike on Israel as an example of allies working together to shoot down incoming rockets and missiles. “Ukraine must receive the necessary, and most importantly, sufficient help from the world, from our partners … Every time in the Middle East, during criminal Iranian strikes, we see how the international coalition acts together.”

Ukraine’s army said it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vuhledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial advances in weeks. Luke Harding writes that Ukraine’s 72nd mechanised brigade had defended Vuhledar for more than two years. The military command in Kyiv said its troops left late on Tuesday to preserve personnel and combat equipment.

According to the ISW, the loss of Vuhledar will not fundamentally alter offensive operations because it is “not a particularly crucial logistics node”. Russian forces would now have to manoeuvre across open terrain in order to link up with units farther north. But, Harding writes, the overall picture for Kyiv is grim, with Russian forces advancing in eastern Ukraine at their quickest rate for two years. Russian bloggers said Moscow’s forces could now try to push from Vuhledar towards Velyka Novosilka, just over 30km (20 miles) to the west in Zaporizhzhia province. Russian forces currently control 98.5% of the Luhansk region and 60% of the Donetsk region.

In Kyiv, the head of the capital’s military administration said fragments from a downed Russian drone damaged an apartment building in one of the capital’s eastern districts. There was no indication of any casualties.

Crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in their tens of thousands celebrated the Jewish new year in the Ukrainian city of Uman on Wednesday despite the difficulties for many of travelling from one theatre of conflict to another. Followers of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov gather every year in his honour in Uman where he was buried in 1810. This year’s Rosh Hashanah coincided with a sweeping ballistic missile attack on Israel by Iran, a potentially dangerous new phase in the war triggered by the Hamas-led assault on Israel in October 2023.

Like thousands of other pilgrims, Rony Eli-Ya travelled from his home in Israel to Uman this week for Rosh Hashanah. With Iran having fired ballistic missiles at Israel, Eli-Ya said he was not sure how he would return to his home near Tel Aviv. “We feel war here, and there,” said Eli-Ya, who said he goes to Uman every year. A current Israeli soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP he was visiting on leave. “The commander gave me 72 hours to go to Ukraine for the celebration and to go back to fight,” he said. “This is a holy day for us.”

Vladimir Putin has signed into law measures that allow defendants who are already on criminal trial to avoid prosecution if they join the military. The legislation also allows for sentences or proceedings to be entirely cancelled if the enlistee is discharged for age or health reasons. Putin in September called for the military to increase its troop strength by 180,000 and the government’s draft budget this week earmarked a record 32.5% of its spending for the military.

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