News on the war between Russia and Ukraine: Ex-British soldier killed in rocket attack on hotel honoring Zelensky

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have received a new type of offensive weapon called Palianytsia, described as a hybrid of a missile and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Details about the Palianytsia rocket are largely secret.

The drone missile can reach more than 20 Russian military airfields and was developed in one and a half years.

It is launched from a ground-based platform and is equipped with a turbojet engine.

Former US President Donald Trump signaled his support for Ukraine in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he wanted to end the war with Russia, the Ukrainian president told reporters in an interview published on his social media.

Republican presidential candidate Trump is in a neck-and-neck race with Vice President Kamala Harris in the US election on November 5. He has threatened to withdraw the US from NATO and said he will not defend allies who do not increase their defense budgets.

Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were injured in an attack on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency reported on Sunday.

Evans, who worked as a security adviser for the agency, was killed when a missile hit the Sapphire Hotel on Saturday, where he was staying as part of a six-person team, a statement seen by Reuters said.

Two journalists from the agency are being treated in hospital, one of them is seriously injured, it was said.

“We are urgently seeking further information about the attack, including through cooperation with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families,” Reuters said.

Evans, a former British soldier, had worked for Reuters since 2022, advising the agency's journalists on security issues around the world, including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics. He was 38 years old.

“We extend our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan's family and loved ones. Ryan helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world. We will miss him terribly,” Reuters said.

The three other members of the Reuters team who were at the hotel at the time of the attack are safe and sound, the agency said.

President Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims of a Russian missile attack on a hotel where a Reuters film crew was staying.

In a post on X, he called the attack “deliberate,” adding: “Today in Kramatorsk the whole day was spent clearing the rubble after a Russian missile attack. Among the injured were journalists – a Reuters film crew, citizens of Ukraine, America and Britain. An ordinary city hotel was destroyed by a Russian 'Iskander' missile.”

“Intentional. Calculated. Seven people were injured, one person lost their life. My deepest condolences go out to the families and relatives.”

According to court documents, Russia seized more than $100 million (£76 million) from Google to fund propaganda supporting Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

US court documents, seen by The Telegraphshow that in 2022, bailiffs seized funds from the tech giant's Russian bank accounts, forcing its unit in the country into bankruptcy.

According to the documents, the bankruptcy trustees handed over the funds to Russian television channels, including the state-owned RT and Tsargrad channels.

Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022, saying the Kremlin had seized funds.

The US ambassador to Ukraine has condemned the Russian attack on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

Ambassador Bridget A. Brink wrote on X: “Last night saw another horrific attack by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine, this time hitting a hotel in Kramatorsk and injuring a team of journalists. We condemn these attacks, for which Russia must be held accountable.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a conversation with Indian journalists that negotiations are currently underway with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Switzerland on a second peace summit.

Zelensky also said he had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would support India hosting the second peace summit, but added that Ukraine could not organize the summit in a country that did not sign the communiqué of the previous summit.

“But I want to be honest, and this applies not only to India, but to any state that is positive about hosting a second summit. We will not be able to hold a peace summit in a country that has not yet joined the peace summit communiqué,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president added that he discussed all the points of the communiqué and the previous peace summit during his meeting with Modi on Friday.

An FCDO spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of a British national missing in Ukraine and are appealing to local authorities for further information.”

In Kramatorsk, Reuters journalists were rescued from under the rubble of a hotel destroyed by a rocket attack.

The Kramatorsk City Council reported, citing Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the Kramatorsk city military administration, that Russian troops had attacked a hotel in Kramatorsk where Reuters journalists were staying, probably with an Iskander-M missile.

Among the injured journalists were citizens of Ukraine, the USA, Latvia and Germany.

According to the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, other foreign media journalists aged 38, 40, 41 and 46 suffered injuries from mines and explosions, brain injuries, a broken leg, concussions, cuts and bruises.

Two women, aged 32 and 34, who were in their homes at the time of the attack, were also injured.