Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv sends new proposals to Trump’s negotiators for plan to end conflict, says Zelensky

Russian troops have taken control of two settlements in Ukraine, Moscow’s Defence Ministry is claiming.

Shcherbakivka in the Kharkiv region, and Nove Pole in the Zaporizhzhia region were seized by Russian forces, it said on Tuesday – although we have not been able to independently verify the claims.

Russian attacks killed six people and wounded ⁠20 in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Tuesday and also struck Kyiv, triggering ⁠fires in the capital, ​officials ⁠said, taking the death toll to 12 across Ukraine in the last 24 hours.

Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian troops launched ⁠missiles and aerial bombs ​at ⁠the city.

Air raid alerts were sounded ‌in both Zaporizhzhia ‌and in Kyiv, where the capital’s military administration said warehouses in a central ⁠district were ablaze. One person was reported injured.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said medical personnel had been dispatched to a central district.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, local ​authorities reported another ‌six people were killed ⁠and 16 wounded overnight ⁠in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk.

Donald Trump says in a post that former US marine Robert Gilman will be returning home as a result of a deal with Russia.

Robert Gilman, 32, an English teacher who briefly served in the US Marines was arrested in early 2022, allegedly for kicking a police officer while drunk, according to Russian state media.

“After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” Trump said.

“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place.”

He went on: “I just spoke to him, and he had one request — A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands. I will take care of that!”

Trump thanks his “incredible team”, including special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler, senior director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says that Kyiv has turned over proposals to American negotiators on a plan to end the war with Russia.

We’ve just heard from the parent company of Ukrainian steel giant Zaporizhstal, which says it has completely halted its operations following a Russian strike on its facilities.

“The enemy attack damaged energy facilities and infrastructure at Metinvest’s enterprises in Zaporizhzhia, as well as the main and auxiliary facilities used in coke and blast furnace production,” Metinvest said in a statement.

Demand for the US Patriot air defence system has increased this year as Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has depleted supplies of interceptor missiles.

Ukraine is seeking further Patriot interceptors to defend itself against Russian ballistic missile attacks, while the Iran war has drained stores in the US and the Gulf.

Meanwhile, some European countries are hanging onto missiles that they may require for their own defence.

Here, The Independent takes a look at what Patriot missiles are, and why they are important to Ukraine.

More than 95 per cent of Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by the UN reported experiencing torture or ill-treatment, while more than half reported sexual violence.

The UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, Claudia Fuentes Julio, said her office had documented widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment of both Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees by the Russian authorities, including sexual violence.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN human rights office has documented the execution of 129 Ukrainian prisoners of war at the beginning of their captivity and the deaths of 48 in custody, linked to torture, denial of medical care and other inhumane detention conditions.

The UN also documented severe beatings, electric shocks, dog attacks and mock executions.

Fuentes Julio said the UN had documented torture and ill-treatment of Russian and third-country prisoners of war held by Ukraine, but on a “fundamentally different scale”, with about half of those interviewed reporting abuse during the initial stages of captivity.

Volodymyr Zelensky has mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying that: “For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea.”

He said Russia was preparing to deploy an additional North Korean contingent on its territory and has also received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea.

“Everyone around the world must understand what this means. This is not only about the lives of people in Ukraine, and not only about the threats we face,” he said in his nightly address.

“North Korea’s ballistic missiles and other weapons are being improved through its collaboration with Russia.”

He also issued a warning to countries in Asia, saying North Korea will present a “greater danger” to Japan, South Korea and Philippines as it gains military experience, correcting any shortcomings in the process.

Ukraine is claiming that Russia is preparing a large-scale strike campaign against Kyiv’s energy infrastructure “over the coming weeks”, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Moscow is preparing the major strike campaign ahead of Kyiv’s Independence Day on 24 August, Ukraine’s Strategic Communications Centre said, citing US intelligence.

Russia’s strategic reserve of ballistic missiles could be drawn on during the campaign, they reported.

Kyiv fears that Russia is planning to start its autumn and winter strikes on energy infrastructure earlier than they did in the 2025-2026 period.