Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says Nato can down Putin’s planes and backs Kyiv to win back ‘all of Ukraine’ – UK Times

Russia has systematically tortured Ukrainian civilians in over 100 detention centres in Russia and occupied Ukraine since the start of the war, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

Its report detailed cases of mock executions, electric shocks and the use of prolonged stress positions on Ukrainian citizens for non-criminal acts, such as criticising Russia’s invasion, which it said had proved fatal in some cases.

“It’s widespread and systematic torture. It was documented in every region of occupied territory, as well as dozens of regions inside the Russian Federation,” Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told a Geneva press briefing, presenting the 22-page report.

Ukraine says some 15,000 civilians have been detained by Russia since 2022 of whom at least 1,800 remain in detention. Bell said her office had confirmed at least 400 ongoing detentions, with the real scale probably much greater.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believes that US president Donald Trump could help change Chinese president Xi Jinping’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I think that President Trump can change the attitude of Xi Jinping to this war, because China, we don’t feel that China wants to finish this war,” Zelensky told Fox News after his meeting Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Acknowledging concern about Russian energy supplies to India and China, Zelensky said he believes Trump and European allies would work to ensure a closer, stronger relationship with India.

“I think we have to do everything not to withdraw Indians and they will change their attitude to Russian energy sector,” Zelensky said.

“With China, it’s more difficult because… for today, it’s not in their interests not to support Russia.”

The US has highlighted China and India as contributors to the Russia-Ukraine war due to their ongoing purchases of oil from Moscow.

Border crossings between Poland and Belarus will be reopened on midnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.

Poland closed its border with Belarus this month as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus.

Nato alliance and European Union member Poland’s concerns about the “Zapad” (West) war games were reinforced when some 21 Russian drones entered its airspace on the night of September 9-10.

“The conclusion of these exercises reduces – although I can’t say eliminates – various threats, and taking into account the economic interests of Polish carriers and railways, we concluded that this measure has served its purpose,” Tusk told the government.

“If tensions increase, we will not hesitate and we will make appropriate decisions.”

Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, has been speaking to reporters about Russia’s repeated incursions into Nato territory.

Either they were intentional, or they were an example of “blatant incompetence”, Mr Rutte said.

But he says Nato had not immediately assessed a threat when Nato jets escorted Russian jets out of Estonian airspace last week.

“We will always assess the danger, whether it is a direct threat to our overall defence, our posture and (…) we will always act accordingly, but in this case there was no immediate threat assessed,” he said during a news conference, referring to Estonia.

Lithuania has called for Ukraine’s wartime military experience of downing Russian drones to be integrated into Nato’s plans for a “drone wall”.

“We have big holes in our EU defence. We lack the right equipment that would allow us to detect drones, to follow them, to track them, and then to destroy them. We lack it,” Lithuanian foreign minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Budrys said Ukraine was fighting back drones every night and had the integrated systems to counter drones.

The EU is looking at how to create a “drone wall” along the EU’s eastern border – a project infused with urgency by a Russian drone incursion into Poland.

“We have to bring this technology to the front line and to build it there, build it there so that it will be effective together with Ukrainians,” Budrys said.

Speaking on Russian incursions into Nato airspace, Budrys said Moscow was using the alliance’s hesitations and debate on how to respond to expand the grey zone around the conflict.

“We have to also very clearly articulate and show to Russia that further escalation from their side will bring a harsher response,” he said.

Analysts and officials said the incursion exposed gaps in Europe’s and Nato’s ability to protect against drones, although Polish and Nato forces shot down several of them, albeit using expensive air defence systems and warplanes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he believes that Donald Trump could help change Chinese President Xi Jinping’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He added that he was surpised by Trump’s earlier comments in which the US president said that he believed Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK is “ready to act” after Donald Trump urged Nato countries to shoot down intruding Russian planes.

Ms Cooper criticised Moscow for its “provocative and reckless” violations of Nato air space in recent weeks during a speech to the United Nations.

It came as Mr Trump said Ukraine can win back all territory it has lost to Russia – a dramatic shift from his previous call on Kyiv to make concessions.

Ms Cooper told the United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday: “Ukraine’s security is our security, and all of us depend on upholding the UN Charter.

“Russia’s actions seek to undermine democracy, secure conflict and spread instability far beyond Europe’s borders.

“In recent weeks, we’ve seen provocative and reckless violations of Nato air space in Estonia, Poland and Romania, against which Nato stands firm, and we will be ready to act.”

Nato has said it will respond to Russian aerial incursions with “military and non-military tools”.