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Ukrainian drones have hit at least six regions deep inside Russia – including destroying war planes at an airfield – in one of the largest such strikes since the start of Moscow's invasion. Russian officials described attacks on targets in the Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan and Moscow regions, with the assault on the military airfield in Pskov the most significant. Situated more than 400 miles (600 kilometres) from Ukraine, it was where a number of elite paratroopers are stationed. The state-run Tass news agency reported at least four giant Il-76 transport planes were damaged, two of which had "burst into flames". the governor of Pskov posted video on the messaging app Telegram showing a huge fire with the sounds of sirens and an explosion at the air base. Other videos posted online showed anti-aircraft systems in action around the city, which is about 20 miles east of Russia's border with Nato-member Estonia. Kyiv confirmed the Russian planes had been destroyed in Pskov, without commenting on the nature of the incident. It generally does not claim strikes on Russian territory, but does say it has the right to hit military targets. "Yes, four IL-76 transport planes were destroyed in Pskov at an airfield, they are beyond repair. Also, several other of those [aircraft] are damaged, but the information is being checked," Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency. The number of drone strikes hitting Russia has increased in recent weeks, supporting a ground counteroffensive against Russian forces in Ukraine by destroying equipment and seeking to disrupt supply lines. Moscow typically describes all Ukrainian drone strikes as unsuccessful, regardless of the damage on the ground, but claimed that its own forces had attacked four Ukrainian attack boats in the Black Sea. In a sign of how disruptive the latest Ukrainian strikes were, Russia's Defence Ministry said they "would not go unpunished". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Russia was working out where the drones were launched from to try and prevent further strikes. President Vladimir Putin had been informed immediately, as would be the case in any such "massive attacks", Mr Peskov said. The increase in strikes inside Russia, including repeated drone strikes on central Moscow, have brought the war home to many Russians for the first time, even as Ukrainians have spent the past 18 months under threat of air strikes from long-range missiles and drones. The latest strikes inside Russia coincided with Moscow's largest barrage against Kyiv in months. Ukraine said its air defences had shot down 28 Russian missiles and 15 out of 16 drones fired overnight. "Kyiv has not experienced such a powerful attack since spring. The enemy launched a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles," Serhiy Popko, the head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram. Back in Moscow, the Kremlin said that it will not conduct an investigation into plane crash that killed the Wagner mercenary group founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, under international rules. "In this case there can be no talk of any international aspect," the Kremlin spokesman, Mr Peskov said, but he did suggest that "deliberate wrongdoing" is among the possible causes. The private Embraer jet on which Mr Prigozhin was travelling to St Petersburg from Moscow crashed north of Moscow killing all 10 people on board on 23 August, including two other top Wagner figures, Mr Prigozhin's four bodyguards and a crew of three. That was two months to the day since Mr Prigozhin began a mutiny against Russian President Vladimir, with his forces marching towards Moscow. The uprising ended 24 hours later after a deal was struck between the Wagner founder and the Kremlin – but a number of Western leaders have suggested that Mr Putin would not let that embarrassment stand. The Kremlin has claimed any suggestion the Russian leader was involving in the killing is an "absolute lie". Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Former official under Belarus President Lukashenko to face Swiss trial over enforced disappearances Putin and Kim Jong-un are deepening their relationship, White House says White House says Putin and Kim Jong Un traded letters as Russia looks for munitions from North Korea

The death toll from Legionnaires’ disease in Poland has risen to 16 with another 140 people infected in the southeastern region close to the border with Ukraine, health authorities said Wednesday. The region of Rzeszow, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the border, is a key transit hub for international military support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. Some 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the area. Fatalities from the disease were among elderly people who also suffered from other health issues like cancer, authorities said. Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of Legionnaires' disease germs in the city’s water pipeline system. Authorities are still looking for the source of the infections, the numbers of which were unprecedented in the region. The Internal Security Agency was also checking for any signs of malicious action. Experts say it could come from rarely used plumbing, where the germs could have spread in high temperatures during the recent heat wave. Chlorine was applied to Rzeszow’s water system over the weekend for disinfection. Legionnaires’ disease is a lung infection that comes from inhaling infected water spray. It's not spread through drinking water. It is usually caught in places like hotels, hospitals or offices where the bacteria have got into the water supply, for example in air conditioning systems or taps and showers that are not in frequent use. The germs multiply in temperatures of between 20 and 50 degrees Celsius (68-122 degrees Fahrenheit). The disease is treated with antibiotics. Read More Legionnaires' disease kills 7 people in a strategic Polish city on the Ukrainian border Government’s ‘small boats week’ ends in humiliation as barge evacuated over legionnaires’ disease fears

Some 15,000 people, including many tourists, pasted each other with tomatoes on Wednesday as Spain’s annual “Tomatina” street battle took place in the eastern town of Buñol. Workers on trucks tipped 120 tonnes of overripe tomatoes into the main street of the town for participants to throw. The street fight leaves both the street, its houses and participants drenched in red pulp. Tickets for the festival start at 12 euros ($13). The town hoses down the area and the revelers shower off within minutes of the hourlong noon battle finishing. The festival, held on the last Wednesday of August, was inspired by a food fight between local children in 1945 in the town, located in a tomato-producing region. Media attention in the 1980s turned it into a national and international event, drawing participants from every corner of the world. Participants use swimming goggles to protect their eyes and usually dress in T-shirts and shorts. The party is ranked by Spain as an international tourism attraction. Read More Revelers hurl tomatoes at each other and streets awash in red pulp in Spanish town's Tomatina party Rubiales crisis hangs over European soccer ahead of gala award ceremony in Monaco Alumni grieve for Jesuit-run university seized by Nicaraguan government that transformed their lives

Two Russian soldiers have been jailed for refusing to return to the frontline in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. In an intelligence update posted on Twitter, the ministry said two Russian soldiers were sentenced to serve at least two years in a penal colony by a military court for refusing to obey orders to return to the front in Ukraine. It comes after Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported that Russia was convicting close to 100 soldiers a week for refusing to fight. The defence ministry predicted “there will be approximately 5,200 convictions a year for refusing to fight” if the trend continues. The high rate of convictions demonstrates the “poor state of morale” and “reluctance” to fight in the Russian Army, the MoD said. The update continued: “Refusal to fight likely reflects the lack of training, motivation and high stress situations Russian forces face along the entire Ukrainian frontline.” However, the defence ministry said it is likely Russia mitigates losses in soldiers by “committing a mass of poorly trained soldiers to the frontline.” “Since Russia’s September 2022 partial mobilisation, Russia has adapted its approach to warfare by utilising sheer mass for offensive and defensive operations,” the update explained. In September 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation of 300,000 military reservists for the war in Ukraine. The call-up prompted hundreds of thousands of men to flee the country. Outbound flights were full and neighbouring countries received large influxes. Soon afterwards, Mr Putin toughened up penalties for desertion and refusal to fight, making the offences punishable by up to 10 years in prison, or 15 years for voluntary surrender to enemy forces. But first-time offenders may be exempted from criminal liability “if he took measures for his release, returned to his unit or place of service and did not commit other crimes while in captivity”, according to the new law. Within weeks of the boost to Russian numbers, UK defence chiefs concluded many of the newly mobilised soldiers were poorly equipped, possibly with weapons in a “barely usable” condition. Earlier this year, the MoD suggested Russian troops were using shovels for hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine because of an ammunition shortage. In the latest development in Putins’s war in Ukraine, at least four of Russia’s military transport planes were damaged after Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on Russian soil since the beginning of the invasion. The Il-76 transport aircraft were damaged after drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region, located 660km north of the Ukrainian frontier and near the borders of Estonia and Latvia. Read More Ukraine: Largest drone attack on Russian territory since invasion began as cargo planes destroyed Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv’s huge drone attack as Putin floods frontline with ‘poorly trained troops’ Russian hard-line nationalist ordered to stay in prison after accusing Putin of weakness The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

By Shashwat Chauhan European shares struggled for direction on Wednesday as losses in utilities, led by Denmark's Orsted,

At least four military transport planes were destroyed in a drone attack at the Pskov airport in western Russia, the regional governor has said. Moscow on Wednesday accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions in what appeared to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since the beginning of the invasion. The strike, which was first reported minutes before midnight, hit the airport and damaged four Il-76 transport aircraft, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported. All flight operations to and from the airport have been suspended to assess the damage. The strike comes a day after Ukraine said its armed forces have gained a foothold in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, where they are believed to be advancing towards Russia’s second line of defence. Kyiv’s General Staff said its forces had “achieved success ... within the re-captured frontiers” and were attacking detected enemy targets with artillery as well as carrying out counter-battery measures. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin had no plans to attend the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, as the Wagner chief’s press service said a closed-door “farewell” service was held for him on Tuesday, with mourners welcome at a cemetery in his native St Petersburg. Read More 6 regions targeted in biggest drone attack on Russia since it sent troops to Ukraine, officials say Secretive funeral for Wagner chief as Putin stays away White House says Kremlin has ‘long history’ of killing its opponents following Prigozhin death

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to travel to China demonstrates a confidence that his authority is stronger than

Irish police say the single-vehicle collision happened near Cashel, County Tipperary.

A behind-closed-doors "farewell ceremony" has been held for the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin – a funeral avoided by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Secrecy had surrounded the funeral arrangements for Prigozhin, killed in a plane crash on 23 August, two months to the day since staging a 24-hour mutiny that was the biggest challenge to Putin's authority since he rose to power in 1999. The low-key ceremony stands in stark contrast to aggressive self-promotion, with videos from Ukraine having become a regular fixture of Prigozhin's months-long feud with Moscow's military command over the invasion Putin started. That ended with his forces marching on Moscow, only stopping 125 miles from the capital when a deal was struck with the Kremlin. "The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery," his press service said in a short post on Telegram, accompanied by a photo of Prigozhin. But the seemingly private ceremony suits the Kremlin and Putin, with Prigozhin having gone from years-long ally of the Russian president to being branded a "traitor" over his armed uprising. It meant that the event could not be turned into a large-scale show of support for the Wagner chief, who as well as collecting enemies had gained admiration among some of Moscow's elite for throwing his troops into some of the bloodiest battles of Putin's war. That included around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, control of which has gained symbolic significance for both Kyiv and Moscow. Wagner forces were at the vanguard of that fight and helped Russian forces take it – although fierce battles continue around the suburbs of the ruined city. Hence why Putin and the Kremlin have to walk a fine line in not denigrating Prigozhin, despite few observers believing the Russian president would let the embarrassment of the Wagner mutiny stand without retribution. Comments from Putin have reflected that stance. Putin's comments on Prigozhin's death reflected that careful stand. He noted last week that Wagner leaders "made a significant contribution" to the fighting in Ukraine and described Prigozhin as a "talented businessman" and "a man of difficult fate" who had "made serious mistakes in life." Pictures published on social media showed Prigozhin's dark granite tombstone surrounded by a sea of flowers, mostly red roses, in the cemetery on the northeast edge of his hometown. Other makeshift memorials have appeared in recent days in both Moscow and St Petersburg. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, noted that Prigozhin has become a legendary figure for his supporters who are increasingly critical of the authorities. "Prigozhin's funeral raises an issue of communication between the bureaucratic Russian government system that doesn't have much political potential and politically active patriotic segment of the Russian public," Markov said. Russia's top criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, officially confirmed Prigozhin's death on Sunday, but i has not given a cause for the crash. A number of leaders in the West, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, have suggested that nothing of this magnitude could occur in Russia without Putin's knowledge. The Kremlin has claimed that such accusations are an "absolute lie". The Kremlin had confirmed earlier on Tuesday that Putin would not attend Prigozhin's funeral. Also on Tuesday, prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin failed in an appeal against his pre-trial detention on charges of inciting extremism, a Moscow court said. Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has fiercely criticised the way that Russia has conducted the war in Ukraine and his arrest was seen as an extension of a crackdown on dissent by Putin. The Embraer Legacy 600 private jet on which Prigozhin was travelling to St Petersburg from Moscow crashed north of Moscow with the loss of all 10 people on board, including top Wagner bosses Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov, and a crew of three. Earlier on Tuesday, Chekalov, the head of Wagner logistics, was buried at another St Petersburg cemetery. His family was joined by dozens of people, including Wagner mercenaries and employees from Prigozhin's business empire. On the battlefield in Ukraine, a military spokesperson said Kyiv's forces were advancing against Russian forces in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia after recapturing Robotyne, the latest of a cluster of villages it says it has taken back in recent weeks. Kyiv also said its troops had had some "success" in the direction of the village of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region, but gave no details. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said fighting was heavy in the country but that Ukrainian forces were making progress around Bakhmut, while Russian shelling killed a 45-year-old man and wounded at least one other person in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. Russia also said it had downed two drones over the Black Sea it said were launched by Ukraine. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Russian hard-line nationalist ordered to stay in prison after accusing Putin of weakness Key questions around James Cleverly’s visit to China Putin ‘too busy’ to face world leaders at G20

By Iain Withers LONDON A majority of large European banks reported a fall in deposits over the year

A wildfire near the northeastern Greek region of Evros which has been raging for 11 days is unlikely to be brought under control, officials have said. Deputy governor Dimitris Petrovich told national broadcaster ERT wind could cause the flames to spread even further. “Unfortunately, we see that the Dadia front cannot be contained and brought under control,” he said, describing the conditions for firefighters as “difficult”. The European Commission said the blaze, which is raging near the city of Alexandroupolis, is the largest single fire in the history of the EU. Over 400 firefighters, six planes and four helicopters were working to put out the blaze in Evros, the fire department said. Evacuation orders have been issued for a village in Evros and another village in neighbouring Rodopi. The wildfire has been blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which has scorched more than 80,000 hectares (197,000 acres) of land, including in Dadia national park, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Major wildfires have also been seen on the outskirts of the capital Athens and on the Aegean island of Andros. Some 260 firefighters, one plane and three helicopters tackled the blaze on the outskirts of Athens, which burned into the Mount Parnitha national park. Meanwhile, a third fire broke out on Saturday on the island of Andros in the Cyclades archipelago, which is suspected to have been caused by a lightning strike. Greece suffers major wildfires every year and imposes wildfire prevention regulations, typically from the start of May to the end of October, limiting activities such as the burning of dried vegetation and the use of outdoor barbecues. By Friday, fire department officials had arrested 163 people on fire-related charges since the start of the fire prevention season, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said, including 118 for negligence and 24 for deliberate arson. The police had made a further 18 arrests, he said. Last month, thousands of people were evacuated from towns and villages across Greece after wildfires ravaged the country. Fires spread through Corfu, Rhodes, Evia, Crete and the northern Peloponnese region in Greece. The most serious fire in the country was on the island of Rhodes, where some 19,000 people had been evacuated from several locations. Local police said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels. The region’s deputy mayor said the fires in Corfu were caused by arson. Read More Greece reinforces firefighting forces to tackle massive blaze in the country's northeast Massive wildfire in northeastern Greece persists for 11th day despite European firefighting efforts Greek fire officials arrest 2 for arson as multiple wildfires continue to burn across the country Ore Oduba and wife Portia ‘stranded’ in Greece without nappies for children Court axes lawsuit from Wyoming students trying to bar trans woman from sorority Official says the UN remains committed to helping reach a deal healing Cyprus' ethnic split

It is the first time that ex-US Marine Paul Whelan is seen on video since his conviction in Russia.