Vladimir Putin has addressed the Brics summit in South Africa via video-link - he didn't travel due to risk of arrest
He again blamed the West for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, saying they stoked a "coup d'etat" in Ukraine in 2014
His address came hours after three people were killed by drone strikes in Belgorod near the Ukrainian border
Moscow was also attacked by drones overnight, with one skyscraper damaged
Meanwhile Gen Sergei Surovikin - previously in charge of Moscow's forces in Ukraine - has been sacked from his latest role, Russian state media reports
Surovikin - nicknamed "General Armageddon" - hasn't been seen in public since the Wagner rebellion in June
Putin starts his speech by thanking the other presidents and prime ministers.
“Our group of five countries has proven to be a credible entity on the global arena with ever-growing influence in global affairs," he says.
Vladimir Putin is speaking now via video-link.
Watch live on our stream by clicking Play at the top of the page.
Image source, EPABetween them, the leaders in this room represent around 3.5 billion people - more than 40% of the world's population.
It's striking to see these powerful figures all in the same room.
Present today are Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Narendra Modi (India), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Xi Jinping (China) and Sergei Lavrov, who is there to represent Russia's Vladimir Putin – who cannot attend himself as an international warrant is out for his arrest.
You shudder to think what the security measures in place today will be like.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to address the attendees of this year's Brics summit via video link.
Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is speaking now, following an introduction from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Click on the Play button at the top of this page to watch speeches from the summit live.
Image source, ReutersThe leaders meeting at the 2009 Bric summit
The Brics acronym stands for the countries that are members of the bloc:
The acronym Bric was originally coined by American investment bank Goldman Sachs in 2001 as a way to describe the economic powers it projected would outstrip the West by 2050.
In 2009, the term was adopted by those powers as they joined to create the economic bloc, and the first summit took place that year in Russia.
South Africa was not in the original Bric bloc, later joining in 2010.
Mariko Oi
Reporting from Singapore
The bloc accounts for about 40% of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy.
More than 40 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, are also keen to join the group as it is seen by some as an alternative to established Western institutions.
Lupin Rahman, who manages the emerging markets portfolio at investment firm Pimco, has told the BBC that instead of competing against the likes of the G7, these emerging economies – often known as the Global South– want to find their own international voice.
She says three things investors will be watching are: whether there will be an expansion in the membership, whether there is discussion of further lending by a new development bank and whether there is any scope for a common currency.
Relying less on the US dollar is a hot topic because if bilateral trade can be settled in their local currencies, it would reduce transaction costs and volatility in their currencies.
Over the last few years, aggressive rate hikes by the US central bank to tackle its own cost of living crisis have significantly affected the value of emerging economies’ currencies.
Nick Marsh
Asia business correspondent
Image source, ReutersIn his speech at the Brics summit, China’s President Xi was supposed to be defending China's struggling economy. Instead, his Commerce Minister Wang Wentao stepped in to dismiss doubters.
“The giant ship of the Chinese economy will continue to cleave waves and sail ahead,” he said.
But outside China, the picture appears markedly different. The post-Covid boom many expected hasn't materialised.
Other countries aren't buying as many Chinese goods as before and people at home are saving rather than spending.
Youth unemployment also hit a record high last month. Officials said they'd stop publishing the figures for the foreseeable future.
And in China's property sector - worth a quarter of the country's economic activity - giant companies lurch between multi-billion dollar defaults.
China's leadership says the situation is under control, but it's a lot to deal with as the world's second-largest economy looks to position itself as the Brics' de facto leader at this summit.
Image source, ReutersGeneral Sergei Surovikin has been sacked as head of Russia’s air and space forces, the Ria Novosti state-run news agency reports.
Reportedly nicknamed "General Armageddon" for his ruthless methods, Surovikin hasn't been seen in public since the short-lived mutiny by Wagner paramilitaries in June.
Reports suggest he was being held under house arrest, being investigated for complicity in the Wagner march on Moscow.
He has been replaced with an acting commander, General Viktor Afzalov.
Surovikin was, for a period, the head of Russia's forces in Ukraine, before being demoted in January to a deputy.
Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter
Thanks for being with us for our live coverage so far this morning.
If you are just joining us, we've been covering the latest drone strikes in Moscow and Belgorod - which as my colleague James Waterhouse explains below, Kyiv has been blamed for but hasn't admitted.
We are now turning our attention to South Africa, where it's day two of the annual Brics summit which Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to address in the next half hour or so.
Remember - he isn't there in person, as setting foot in South Africa would have put him at risk of arrest under the International Criminal Court warrant.
You'll be able to watch his remarks by hitting Play at the top of this page, and we'll bring you updates from the summit throughout the day - as well as the latest from both Ukraine and Russia.
James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent
While still far from tit-for-tat, there is an emerging pattern to the drone attacks happening in both Ukraine and Russia.
Nine Russian-launched, Iranian-made Shahed drones were aimed at Ukrainian ports on the Danube River overnight.
The pummelling of coastal infrastructure is a tactic Moscow is sustaining since pulling out of a deal which allowed Kyiv to export grain through the Black Sea last month.
Almost 1,400 km away, Moscow has seen a sixth straight night of aerial attacks. Three drones were launched, with one damaging a building in the city’s glossy financial district. Ukraine has been squarely blamed - but never admits responsibility.
At the heart of this deadly exchange is the grinding 1,000 km-long front line, caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The United States does not encourage or enable attacks inside Russia,” said a US State Department spokesman, yet he added: “It is up to Ukraine to decide how it chooses defends itself."
It seems Kyiv has been making a new kind of choice for weeks now.
Drone strikes in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory have become increasingly common in recent months.
The United States, which has supplied Ukraine with massive assistance in the form of weapons and other military equipment to combat Moscow’s invasion, has consistently said it does not support attacks inside Russia.
According to the Reuters news agency, a US State Department spokesperson said it is up to Ukraine to decide how it chooses to defend itself against Russia, adding that Moscow could end the war at any time by withdrawing from Ukraine.
The moment a drone hit a skyscraper in Moscow was captured on video
Footage from the aftermath shows emergency services responding to the attack.
The moment a drone hits an unfinished building in Russia's capital
Before Tuesday night’s drone attack on Moscow, another suspected attack on 18 August caused damage to an exhibition hall at Moscow's Expo Centre, next to the city's main skyscraper district.
And on 30 and 31 July, two separate drones crashed into a skyscraper in the Moskva-Citi district - broadly equivalent to London's Canary Wharf area.
However, aerial drone attacks have been concentrated in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions in Russia, near the border with Ukraine, as well as Russian-annexed Crimea.
According to Russian media reports monitored by BBC Verify, there have been over 150 suspected aerial drone attacks this year in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Drone strikes in Ukraine and in Russia have intensified in recent months.
Some locations have come under attack multiple times, and the AFP news agency is reporting that Tuesday night’s attacks on Moscow were the sixth consecutive night of aerial strikes on the region.
Russian officials blamed Kyiv for these latest attacks, but it isn’t clear who is responsible.
Since the start of the year, BBC Verify has tracked drone attacks in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine based on local media reports.
Image source, .In Ukraine, ports in the Danube, southern Odesa, have been the target of drone attacks.
Kyiv says Russia was the culprit and one grain storage facility was set alight, according local authorities.
The fire was“ quickly contained”, the Ukrainian military says, adding that firefighters are continuing to work at the scene.
Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper says the attack lasted three hours and Ukrainian air forces say they managed to destroy 11 out of 20 drones launched by Russia overnight.
The Danube ports of Izmail and Reni have become hubs for Ukraine’s grain exports since July when Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed shipments to international markets via the Black Sea.
Image source, ReutersThe under-construction skyscraper damaged in Moscow overnight
The Russian Defence Ministry says it foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow overnight.
It said two drones had been brought down by air defences; but the city's mayor said a third struck a building which was under construction.
Flights at Moscow's three main airports - Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo - were briefly halted, for the second night running. Kyiv has not commented on the latest claims.
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Wednesday three civilians had been killed in a drone strike in a village close to the Ukrainian border.
Posting on Telegram Vyacheslav Gladkov said: "Ukrainian armed forces launched an explosive device via a drone when people were on the street."
Lavy is approximately 21.51 km (13.37 mi) north of Ukraine’s border with Russia.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the latest claims.
Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter
Good morning.
Russia says three people have been killed by a Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod region - which is close to the border between the two countries.
Kyiv has not commented but the alleged attack comes after regular drone attacks in Russia over the last few weeks.
Another of those attacks came overnight, with Moscow’s mayor saying that a building in central Moscow was hit by a drone, and that Russian air defences shot down two more in the Mozhaisk and Khimki districts.
All this comes as President Vladimir Putin is due to address the Brics summit in South Africa via video-link today.
Members of the five-country bloc are meeting for day two of the three-day summit - Putin cannot travel to Johannesburg as he is subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant after being accused of war crimes.
We’ll keep you updated on the drone attacks and the Brics summit throughout the day, so stay with us.