German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arrived in Kyiv on a solidarity visit just before Ukraine's 35th Independence Day, pledging continued support and accusing Moscow of indiscriminate killing of civilians and the deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure. It is Wadephul's fourth trip to Ukraine since taking office 16 months ago.
The visit coincides with a surge in civilian casualties, with July and August described as the deadliest months for the Ukrainian population in more than four years. A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to allies for additional Patriot missile systems.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian intelligence says Russia has deployed 8,500 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, while Ukrainian forces launched a strike on the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in Russia's Samara region. Explosions were heard in Kyiv following an air alert.