It did not stop Mr Farage from doubling down on his comments, originally made in a BBC Panorama interview which aired on Friday night, in a column piece on Saturday afternoon for the Daily Telegraph, claiming that he should “not be blamed for telling the truth about Putin’s war”.

Two people were injured and scores of residential and other buildings were damaged in a Russian missile attack on the Kyiv region overnight, the head of the region’s state administration said on Sunday.

Of the three missiles launched by Russia, Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed two over the Kyiv region, Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Sunday.

In his statement on the Telegram messaging app, Oleshchuk did not say what happened to the third missile.

Falling debris injured two people who did not require hospitalisation, Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the Kyiv region’s administration, said on Telegram.

Debris also damaged six multi-storey residential buildings and more than 20 private houses, Kravchenko added. In addition, a gas station, a pharmacy, an administrative building and three cars in the region were also damaged.

Behind the smiles, the balloons and the red-carpet pageantry of President Vladimir Putin‘s visit to North Korea last week, a strong signal came through: In the spiraling confrontation with the U.S. and its allies over Ukraine, the Russian leader is willing to challenge Western interests like never before.

The pact that he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un envisions mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang if either is attacked. Putin also announced for the first time that Russia could provide weapons to the isolated country, a move that could destabilize the Korean Peninsula and reverberate far beyond.

Nigel Farage has been “infected by the virus of Putinism”,  Volodymyr Zelensky has said after the Reform leader suggested the West had provoked Russia into invading Ukraine.

“The virus of Putinism, unfortunately, infects people,” a source in the Ukraine president’s office told the BBC.

Mr Farage doubled down on the comments first made in an interview with the BBC, saying he was the only politician who has been “consistent” and “honest” about the war.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have led criticism of Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader claimed that the West “provoked” Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It did not stop Mr Farage from doubling down on his comments, originally made in a BBC Panorama interview which aired on Friday night, in a column piece on Saturday afternoon for the Daily Telegraph, claiming that he should “not be blamed for telling the truth about Putin’s war”.

Asked about the remarks during an election campaign visit in London on Saturday, prime minister Mr Sunak suggested Mr Farage was “emboldening Putin”.

Moscow may change the timing for use of its nuclear weapons if threats against Russia increase, the RIA state news agency cited Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house’s defence committee, as saying on Sunday.

The former general’s comments follow recent warnings by President Vladimir Putin that Moscow may change its nuclear doctrine, which lays out the conditions in which such weapons could be used.

“If we see that the challenges and threats increase, it means that we can correct something in (the doctrine) regarding the timing of the use of nuclear weapons and the decision to make this use,” the agency quoted Kartapolov as saying.

“But of course, it’s too early to talk about specifics now.”

Below are some of the latest photos coming from Chasiv Yar, a small city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

The city has become a flashpoint on the frontline in recent months as Russian forces look to gain the strategic area, located on high ground.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has called for more help to deal with the growing threat of Russian guided bombs after an attack on Kharkiv killed three civilians.

In a nightly video address, the president said Russian forces had used more than 2,400 guided bombs on Ukrainian targets in June alone, with about 700 aimed at Kharkiv.

He said after US Congress gave delayed approval of a big aid package in April, Ukraine’s replenished arms supplies had reduced the devastation and frequency of missile attacks and the same had to be done now to fend off these bombs.

“The significant reduction in Russian missile terror against Kharkiv and the region proves it is entirely possible to secure our cities and communities from Russian bombs,” he said.

Ukraine, he said, needed promised military aid packages “without delay so that the agreements we reached with (US) president Biden can be realised.”

Ukraine and the US signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement this month aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defense against Russia and getting Ukraine closer to Nato membership.

Russia has relied increasingly on relatively inexpensive guided bombs, dropped from a distance and involving fewer risks for its forces.

Ukraine has launched tens of drones overnight targeting several Russian regions but with no reported damage, Russian officials said.

At least 23 drones were destroyed over Russia’s western region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram.

Russia’s air defence systems also destroyed drones over the Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, governor of the region in Russia’s west, said on Telegram. It was not immediately clear how many drones were downed.