Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin official killed in Kherson car bomb as Kyiv gains ground near Bakhmut

An official of Vladimir Putin’s party has been killed in a car explosion in the Ukaine’s Kherson on Saturday, the regional governor has said. Vladimir Malov, executive secretary of of Russia‘s governing United Russia party in Nova Kakhovka, died in hospital, Vladimir Saldo said in a post on his Telegram channel. He said it had been a “terrorist attack”, meaning one orchestrated by Ukraine. “The law enforcement officers will do everything necessary to punish the perpetrators of the crime,” Mr Saldo posted on Telegram. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have gained ground near Bakhmut as Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia’s strike on a funeral service “inhuman” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism”. According to the latest report from The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian military sources reported a successful offensive south of Bakhmut near Andriivka and advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 6 October. It comes after a village where a Russian missile killed at least 52 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in the war had no military targets, according to Ukraine’s defence minister. Read More Russian missile strike kills more than 50 Ukrainians gathered for wake – in deadliest such attack in months Ukraine village reels after deadly missile strike: ‘Everything was burning’ Russia plans to reverse global nuclear test ban, announces envoy