War between Russia and Ukraine live: Reuters' British security adviser Ryan Evans killed in rocket attack on hotel as Zelenskyj pays tribute

Ukraine called on Belarus to withdraw its troops and equipment from the shared border and warned the country against making “tragic mistakes” while under Russian influence.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that Belarusian special forces and former Wagner mercenaries had tanks, artillery and air defense systems near the border.

The ministry's statement said that Ukraine “has never taken and will not take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people.” Ukraine stressed that it has no hostile intentions towards Belarus.

Meanwhile, Belarus said on Monday it had sent planes, air defense forces and tanks to the border with Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Ukraine had deployed over 120,000 troops along the border.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed his condolences on the death of a former British soldier who was killed in a suspected Russian missile attack on a hotel in Ukraine.

Ryan Evans, a security adviser to Reuters, was at the Sapphire Hotel in the eastern Zimbabwean city of Kramatorsk when it was hit on Saturday evening.

In a statement, the agency said it was “devastated” to learn of his death, adding that two of its journalists were injured, one seriously.

Mr Evans was part of a six-person team staying at the hotel while covering the war in Ukraine. Mr Zelensky said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile in a “deliberate” attack.

In his evening address on Sunday, he said: “A normal city hotel was destroyed by a Russian Iskander missile. Deliberately. Calculated. Seven people were injured, one person lost their life. My deepest condolences go out to the families and relatives.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had sent more artillery to the Kursk region, where Russian forces are battling thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who broke through the Russian border on August 6.

“Additional missile and artillery weapons were delivered to the group,” the ministry said in a statement about the deliveries to troops in the Russian border regions.

Pope Francis criticized Ukraine's move to potentially ban the activities of Russian-linked religious organizations in the wake of the all-out war between Russia and Ukraine, saying that “the churches must not be touched by this.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on August 24, after it was passed by parliament a few days earlier.

“I am concerned about the freedom of those who pray, because true prayer is always for everyone. You do not pray anything bad when you pray. If someone harms his people, he is guilty, but he cannot have done harm because he prayed,” said Pope Francis after his Sunday Angelus blessing.

“Whoever wishes to pray in the church which he considers his own should be allowed to do so.”

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.”