Police in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have launched a criminal proceedings against the director of the mall in Kryvyi Rih, which was struck by a Russian attack that killed at least 16 people.

Officials said that the director was being investigated for negligence after the business allegedly remained open during an air raid alert and during the Russian strike.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said he was ready for peace talks with Ukraine, but only “based on realities on the ground”.

He claimed that the proposal sent by Ukraine was unacceptable.

“At the same time, the proposals being brought to us are sometimes, I would say, rather exotic and unacceptable. We are always ready for dialogue, but only based on the realities on the ground,” Putin said.

Even after a night of heavy bombardment, Olga wakes up at dawn and gets ready to feed Odesa’s cats.

“This city is my whole life,” the 74-year-old tells The Independent. Each day, she tends to the 50 cats that roam the debris and burnt-out buildings in her neighbourhood, a consistent target of Vladimir Putin’s bombs.

Olga’s husband and son have both been dead for some time now, yet she doesn’t feel lonely – and she says she has long stopped panicking when air raid sirens go off.

French president Emmanuel Macron has announced that Paris will send new interceptor missiles to Ukraine as Russia escalates its air attack on Kyiv.

Macron, in a post on X, expressed his “horror” at the attack on Kryvyi Rig, which killed at least 16 people.

“By systematically targeting civilians, and by choosing intimidation and escalation, Russia is probably seeking to project strength but is above all signalling an admission of weakness,” Macron said.

“In this context, it is crucial to provide Ukraine with all necessary means to defend its airspace and repel this aggression.”

Macron said he had informed Zelensky that France would deploy interceptor missiles to Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones killed at least 10 people in attacks against targets across Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including a warehouse ⁠owned by online retailer Ozon and an industrial facility, Russian officials said on Saturday.

Russia and Ukraine are both ramping up drone campaigns aiming to cripple each other’s economic infrastructure, often striking targets far beyond the war’s front lines, as fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-and-a-half-year mark.

On Friday, at least 16 people were killed and more than 130 wounded ⁠when several Russian drones struck a shopping centre in central ​Ukraine. Russian ⁠President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Ukraine’s strikes, which Kyiv says seek to choke off financing for Moscow’s war effort, had opened a “Pandora’s box” of Russian retaliation.

French President Emmanuel Macron, ⁠meanwhile, promised to accelerate the delivery of new French equipment to Ukraine, after discussing Kyiv’s shortage of air ​defences ⁠in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate have been reported to Britain’s counter-terror policing unit and the Home Office over an alleged “Russian propaganda” video.

The clip, which was posted on the Tates’ social media channels in June, shows the siblings dressed in camouflage and body armour in Russia. They ride a Soviet-era T-80BV battle tank, arm themselves with weapons including a flamethrower and throw grenades from a trench.

A man guiding them through the course tells them that they could win a “special medal” from the “minister of defence of Russia”.

“Putin has his latest propaganda puppets: the Tate Brothers. Andrew and Tristan Tate filmed themselves sprouting pro-Kremlin propaganda whilst using Russian weapons,” Alicia Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Stamford who made the complaint, said on X.

It isn’t the first time the Kremlin has warned of consequences for the UK over its support for Ukraine. From arson to sabotage, Russia has been testing Britain’s defences for years. But desperation could lead to a real attack, and it is something we are in no way prepared for, writes Owen Matthews.

Russian citizens are withdrawing billions of roubles from the country’s banks over fears that the Kremlin could seize deposits to fund the war in Ukraine.

Analysts say fears that the Kremlin could confiscate private savings to bankroll the conflict have triggered widespread panic, with more than 286.4bn roubles (£2.5bn) pulled from Russian banks during the first two weeks of August alone.

A staggering £5.3bn was reported to have been withdrawn in July on top of a further £3.32bn in June, according to Central Bank data.

Taras Skvortsov, an executive at state-owned Sberbank, has warned that total capital flight this year could be double what was seen during the initial months of Russia’s 2022 invasion.

You can read the full report below:

Putin’s posturing is a poor attempt to scare off broader Western support for Kyiv, say experts. Suha Kidwai reports.