Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said that new attacks in neighbouring Ukraine happened "very, very close" to its border, with Russia repeatedly launching drone strikes on Danube infrastructure in southern Ukraine.
"We had attacks just today, the minister of defence told me, which were verified at 800 metres from our border. So very, very close," Mr Iohannis told a joint press conference with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
His comments come as city officials have said more than 60% of Kyiv's infrastructure was ready for winter and that large-scale repair works are ongoing.
"Summer is over and we are preparing for the heating season... it will be a tough one," mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as he inspected renovations to the heating system in central Kyiv's Podil district.
"Last year was one of the most difficult seasons, with more than 60% of our city's infrastructure damaged," he said.
Like cities across Ukraine, Kyiv's energy infrastructure was hit by waves of Russian strikes in the depths of winter.
Between October and March, Russia attacked key facilities in Ukraine with missiles and drones, disrupting water, heating and electricity for millions of people.
The strikes on power facilities have mostly stopped since then but the war has taken a heavy toll on Ukraine's energy workers.
"We have limited funding and workers are being sent to the army to defend our homeland," said Oleksandr Pylypyshyn, in charge of the heating network at local utility firm Kyiv TeploEnergo.
"And there are periods of air raid alerts, missiles. This all disturbs our work of course," he said.
Workers at a construction site on the bank of the Dnipro river in Kyiv prepare the heating system for the upcoming winter while it is still warm.
Kyiv rejects call for softer stance on deal
A senior Ukrainian official has rebuffed a suggestion by Turkey that Kyiv should soften its stance to revive the Black Sea grain deal, saying Ukraine would not support sanctions relief for Moscow or a policy of "appeasement".
"Let's be realistic after all and stop discussing non-existent options, much less encouraging Russia to commit further crimes," presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.
He made the remarks when asked about comments made by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan yesterday after talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Mr Podolyak said that Russia was "extremely interested" in the destruction of Ukrainian seaports and grain transhipment infrastructure.
He said Russia did not need a grain deal and that Moscow was interested in cutting Ukraine off from the global grain market, in pushing up grain prices and in having a monopoly of control over the Black Sea.
"Where is the field for Ukrainian "softening" here?" Mr Podolyak said. "And let us be clear, we will definitely not play the 'policy of appeasement of the aggressor'... and indulgence in the programme of lifting sanctions".
Read more: What is the Black Sea Grain Initiative?
Mr Erdogan said after talks with Mr Putin that it would soon be possible to revive the grain deal that the United Nations says helped ease a food crisis by getting Ukrainian grain to market.
Russia quit the deal in July, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles.
Challenger 2 tank destroyed
A senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters earlier today that Kyiv did not expect its grain export situation to change following yesterday's talks between Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan.
Russian forces fighting in southern Ukraine have destroyed a British-supplied Challenger 2 tank for the first time, a Russian-backed official has said.
Ukraine in March thanked Britain for what it said were the "fantastic machines" after London sent Kyiv 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region which is under Moscow's control, said on Telegram that a Challenger 2 had been set alight in fighting near the southeastern village of Robotyne.
He also released what he said was a video of its smouldering wreckage.
He said the tank belonged to the Ukrainian army's 82nd brigade and was meant to have reached Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, but had instead been destroyed on what he said was the first line of Russian defence.
A video Mr Rogov posted on Telegram showed what look like a tank on fire by a roadside with thick grey smoke rising from it.
Reuters could not immediately confirm Mr Rogov's assertion.
Russia has previously announced that its forces have destroyed German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks and US fighting vehicles along with other hardware supplied to Ukraine by countries such as France and Denmark.
