and better motivated than the russians. but they are heavily dependent on western weapons. president putin wants to scare the west into stopping that supply line. the sort of action we ve seen today with these missiles which are much more for psychological than practical effect, is a way of putin trying to reassert the initiative and encourage his supporters and indeed those people who are against him, that they can still win this war. and this is not going to happen. ukraine on the current path will eventually win this war. but for now, there is still a lot more damage russia can inflict on ukraine s population, hitting homes and energy supplies to make them suffer for resisting its invasion. frank gardner, bbc news. live to our russia editor steve rosenburg in moscow. we heard in that report how president putin is under pressure
today at one. a wave of russian attacks hits cities across ukraine. russia is said to have launched more than 80 missiles, targeting the capital kyiv for the first time in months. our correspondent in kyiv was reporting live this morning when one of the missiles struck close by. so. explosion. ukraine s president zelensky says russia is trying to wipe his country off the face of the earth.
from the front lines, that there is no safe place in this country. now, president putin is saying that this is a response for what he calls terrorist acts by ukraine. i think he is referring to what happened in crimea over the weekend. but did today, there was the fear that russia would go ahead with a strong response and i think this is what we are seeing today. are seeing today. hugo bachega in k iv, are seeing today. hugo bachega in kyiv. thank are seeing today. hugo bachega in kyiv. thank yom in recent weeks moscow has suffered humiliating setbacks on the battlefield, losing swathes of territory to ukraianian counterattacks. president putin has been under pressure from hardliners in moscow to change tactics and escalate the war against ukraine. our security correspondent frank gardner has this report. russia s military has a lot of missiles and they are using them, notjust on the battlefield, but to hit cities all over ukraine. this morning, strikes in kyiv have brought the wa
of further escalation and i want to redo something that the former russian president dmitry medvedev wrote on social media short while ago. he said, ukraine would be a constant direct and clear threat to russia. the aim of our future actions must be the full dismantling of the political regime in ukraine. now, if that is the view of the kremlin today and president putin, that suggests russia is going to push on until it makes sure the whole of ukraine is back in russia s orbit. one last thing, when russia talks about the ukrainian threat, we must not forget that president putin began this by invading ukraine. steve, thank you very much indeed, from moscow. other news now and the chancellor kwasi kwarteng has bowed to pressure and will set out his plan for balancing the government s finances on 31 october, nearly a month earlier than originally planned. the fiscal statement is expected to give details about how the chancellor intends to pay for £15 billion worth of tax cuts,
but russia s president putin says the missile strike is retaliation for what he called a terrorist attack by ukraine on a key bridge in crimea. we ll have the latest from kyiv and moscow and asking whether russia is now escalating the war. also this lunchtime. the chancellor kwasi kwarteng bows to pressure and brings forward his plan for balancing the government s finances. striking barristers deliver their verdict on a government pay offer they will accept it and go back to work. a nurse pleads not guilty to murdering seven babies and attempting to murder ten others, as her trial begins in manchester. and the scourge of plastic fishing nets that trap wildlife in our seas could a new recycling plan offer a solution? and coming up on the bbc news channel, sprinter cj ujah is banned for nearly two years after testing positive for two banned substances at last year s tokyo olympic games.