Ukraine updates: Russia launches drone attack on Kyiv

Russia launched several waves of drones targeting Kyiv early on Monday. 

According to preliminary information, no casualties or damage have been reported, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said.

The air force said it had shot down 67 of the 73 drones and one of the three missiles fired by Russia during the attack.

Here's a look at the latest developments regarding Russia's war in Ukraine on Monday, September 30:

09/30/2024September 30, 2024

US citizen pleads guilty in Russian court to fighting for Ukraine

US citizen Stephen James Hubbard pleaded guilty in a Moscow court to charges of mercenary activity, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.

"Yes, I agree with the indictment," RIA quoted him as saying.

RIA, citing a prosecutor in court, said 72-year-old Hubbard had signed a contract with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium at the start of the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The prosecution said he was promised $1,000 (€890) a month and provided with training, weapons and ammunition. The American was detained by Russian soldiers on April 2 of that year, according to the prosecutor.

Hubbard was placed in pre-trial detention last week for six months. He faces a sentence of seven to 15 years if convicted.

09/30/2024September 30, 2024

Putin says Russia will achieve 'all goals set' in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Moscow will achieve all the goals it has set for itself in Ukraine, in the third year of its full-scale invasion.

"The truth is on our side. All goals set will be achieved," Putin said in a video message released to mark the second anniversary of what Russia calls the "reunification day," when Moscow illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions.

In his speech, Putin repeated his justification for sending troops into neighboring Ukraine as protecting Russian speakers from a "neo-Nazi dictatorship" that aims to "cut them off forever from Russia, their historic homeland."

After invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia annexed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. However, it does not fully control all of the territory in these regions.

The annexation was widely condemned by the international community as illegal and illegitimate.

09/30/2024September 30, 2024

Kyiv repels massive Russian drone attack

Russia launched several waves of drones targeting Kyiv early on Monday.

All the drones that Russia launched at the Ukrainian capital were either destroyed by defense systems or neutralized by electronic warfare, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

According to preliminary information, no casualties or damage have been reported, he added.

Kyiv, its surrounding region and all of the eastern part of Ukraine were under an air raid alert for more than five hours early Monday, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The air force said it had shot down 67 of the 73 drones and one of the three missiles fired by Russia during the attack.

dh/nm (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)