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In a windswept graveyard, Viktoria mourns her husband.

She stands sobbing amid row after row of freshly dug graves.

Each one is marked with a photograph and a regimental flag.

“You are my life. You’re my heart, my air, I love you,” she cries.

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Ruslan was killed a few days ago when he was hit by a tank round in eastern Ukraine.

His three-year-old twins still don’t understand their daddy is never coming home.

Viktoria says: “We just told them their father became a star in the sky, and their father is looking after them from the sky.”

“They’re asking me for a phone to call, and your heart starts bleeding, because you don’t know what to say, you don’t know how to explain to a child.

“I just tell them their dad is busy and can’t answer their call,” she adds, her voice trembling.

Viktoria still hasn't told her children their father won't be coming home
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Viktoria still hasn’t told her children their father won’t be coming home

Ruslan, a tank commander, died in action last week
Image:
Ruslan, a tank commander, died in action last week

Ukraine does not disclose figures for its dead, but it is a number that’s rising fast.

And so too is the rate of casualties.

At a rehabilitation centre in Dnipro, soldiers try to overcome their injuries.

Oleh was lacerated by shrapnel and doctors have warned him he may still lose his limb.

Injured soldier Oleh Bonkin being treated at a rehabilitation centre
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Injured soldier Oleh Bonkin being treated at a rehabilitation centre

As his physiotherapist tries to manipulate more movement into the joint, he tells me that Russian aggression has only made this nation stronger.

“For a long time, Russia was trying to hide our history. That’s why we’ve become closer to each other, and we value life more than before.

“We value our families and loved ones. After the war ends, Ukraine will blossom once more. Definitely.”

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What Vladimir Putin thought would be a lightning-quick conquest has morphed into an exhausting duel of artillery – with no end in sight.

And the fighting in the Donbas over the past year has been absolutely relentless.

It also appears to be getting worse in the face of a new Russian offensive.

Alex Rossi reports from near Bakhmut in the Donbass
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Alex Rossi reports from near Bakhmut in the Donbas

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Sky News looks back at some of the most powerful moments from the war in Ukraine

In places like Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, most people have left. It’s easy to understand why.

Every day now, the artillery is getting closer.

In the shattered and broken communities of this region people are weary – and mostly reliant on aid parcels to survive – as the fighting rages around them.

After a long year, the cost of this punishing war is increasingly only measured in pain and suffering.

Oleksandr, a pensioner, says he does not know sometimes how he keeps going.

“I’m not sleeping during the night, and not sleeping during the day, so I’m exhausted.

“It’s not life, it’s just hell – just suffering.

“I’m very sensitive and I’ve got health problems. I want to leave, but my wife doesn’t.”

Back at the graveyard, new plots are being excavated for soldiers that have not yet been killed in combat.

A military cemetery in eastern Ukraine
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A military cemetery in eastern Ukraine

Viktoria is far from the only Ukrainian mourning the loss of a loved one.

It is a bleak picture.

And, of course, it is just one military cemetery – in a country which is bleeding for its survival.

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Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson left me ‘half alive’, sole survivor says

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Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson left me 'half alive', sole survivor says

The sole surviving guest of a lunch where three others died after being served food laced with toxic mushrooms has told an Australian court that the actions of murderer Erin Patterson have left him feeling “half alive”.

Ian Wilkinson, who received a liver transplant and spent months in hospital after the poisoning in July 2023, described how he had been left traumatised as he delivered his victim impact statement at Patterson’s pre-sentencing hearing in Melbourne.

Patterson, 50, was found guilty last month of luring her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home in Leongatha and poisoning them with individual portions of Beef Wellington that contained toxic death cap mushrooms.

A jury also found her guilty of the attempted murder of Mr Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.

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Australian mother found guilty of killing three relatives by serving toxic lunch

Speaking at the start of the two-day hearing, Mr Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor, said the death of his wife had left him bereft.

“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in tears.

“It’s one of the distressing shortcomings of our society that so much attention is showered on those who do evil and so little on those who do good.”

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Ian and Heather Wilkinson. Pic: The Salvation Army Australia - Museum
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Ian and Heather Wilkinson. Pic: The Salvation Army Australia – Museum

‘I bear her no ill will’

He described Gail and Don Patterson, the parents of Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, as the closest people to him after his wife and family.

“My life is greatly impoverished without them,” Mr Wilkinson said.

“I’m distressed that Erin has acted with callous and calculated disregard for my life and the lives of those I love. What foolishness possesses a person to think that murder could be the solution to their problems, especially the murder of people who have only good intentions towards her?”

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

He called on Patterson, who said the poisonings were accidental and continues to maintain her innocence, to confess to her crimes.

“I encourage Erin to receive my offer of forgiveness for those harms done to me with full confession and repentance. I bear her no ill will,” he said.

“I am no longer Erin Patterson’s victim and she has become the victim of my kindness.”

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The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly.

Don and Gail Patterson. Picture: Facebook
Image:
Don and Gail Patterson. Picture: Facebook


‘An irreparably broken home’

Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson – who was invited to the lunch but declined – spoke of the devastating impact on the couple’s two children.

“The grim reality is they live in an irreparably broken home with only a solo parent, when almost everyone else knows their mother murdered their grandparents,” he said in a statement that was read out on his behalf.

Patterson attended the court in person on Monday rather than watch via a video link from prison which she did during a hearing earlier this month.

The hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

Patterson faces a potential life sentence for each of the murders and 25 years for attempted murder.

She has 28 days from the day of her sentencing to appeal, but has not yet indicated whether she will do so.

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Israel pounds outskirts of Gaza City overnight as military offensive plans continue

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Israel pounds outskirts of Gaza City overnight as military offensive plans continue

Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.

Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.

“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.

“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”

Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
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Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters

Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.

“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.

“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.

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Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
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Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters

Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.

Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.

On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”

This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.

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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.

On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.

Mourners transport the body of  Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
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Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters

Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.

Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.

Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.

281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.

The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.

Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.

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Two married couples found dead in British car after crash in Germany

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Two married couples found dead in British car after crash in Germany

Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.

The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.

The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.

Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.

At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.

Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
Image:
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen

One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.

Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.

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When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.

It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.

Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
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Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen

The accident happened on Highway L3229
Image:
The accident happened on Highway L3229

The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.

“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.

“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.

“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”

An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.

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