Rescue was carried out under Zelenskyy’s ‘Bring Kids Back UA’ programme; Trump ‘stepping up pressure’ to end war. What we know on day 1,325

Twenty-three Ukrainian children and adolescents have been brought out of Russian-occupied areas of the country to territory under Kyiv’s control, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said on Thursday. Andriy Yermak, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the rescue was carried out under the president’s “Bring Kids Back UA” programme aimed at bringing to safe areas children deported to Russia or confined to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington and Nato allies were “stepping up the pressure” to end the war in Ukraine , after his outreach to Russia’s Vladimir Putin failed to achieve a ceasefire. “Yeah, we are stepping up the pressure,” Trump said in an Oval Office during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “We’re stepping it up together. We’re all stepping it up. Nato has been great,” he added. Trump said his administration might impose more sanctions on Russia.

Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of rupturing a now defunct pipeline used to transport Russian ammonia into Ukraine for export, releasing toxic gas into the air. The incident took place near the frontline village of Rusin Yar in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia said.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday the process had started to restore external power to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, cut off from the electricity grid for more than two weeks. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the process had begun after consultation with authorities in Ukraine and Russia, who blame each other for the downing of the external lines.

Strikes on Russian oil facilities by Ukraine’s newly developed long-range missiles and drones are causing significant gas shortages in Russia, while on the battlefield a recent Ukrainian counteroffensive has derailed Russia’s plans to capture parts of the eastern Donetsk region, Zelenskyy said.Ukraine’s new Palianytsia missile has hit dozens of Russian military depots, he said. The Ruta missile drone, meanwhile, recently struck a Russian offshore oil platform more than 150 miles (250km) away in what Zelenskyy called “a major success” for the new weapon.

Zelenskyy floated the idea of nominating the US president, Donald Trump, for the Nobel peace prize in a briefing to reporters, ahead of the announcement of this year’s winner, who would have been selected earlier in the autumn.Zelenskyy said in comments released on Thursday: “If Trump gives the world – above all, the Ukrainian people – the chance for such a ceasefire, then yes, he should be nominated for the Nobel peace prize. We will nominate him on behalf of Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy accused Russia of wanting to sow “chaos” in Ukraine by launching strikes on his country’s energy grid and railway infrastructure, in comments published on Thursday.Moscow has in recent weeks escalated aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and rail systems.

The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that it had struck the Korobkovsky gas processing plant and oil transport infrastructure in Russia’s Volgograd region overnight. The Russian defence ministry said on Thursday that its forces had struck port facilities and energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region that were used by the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine’s prime minister, the head of presidential office, and a senior sanctions adviser will go to the US early next week for talks with US officials, Zelenskyy said on Thursday.Zelenskyy wrote in a post on social media: Topics include air defence, energy, and sanctions steps, as well as the negotiation track. The issue of frozen assets will also be discussed with the US.