Russian officials acknowledge presence of Ukrainian troops, reported to be engaged in heavy fighting

Ukrainian troops have established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, officials from Russia and Ukraine have acknowledged, in an operation that Kyiv says will open new avenues of attack toward Crimea.

Estimates of the number of Ukrainian troops involved range from dozens to several hundred and they are reported to be engaged in heavy fighting with Russian forces on the far side of the river.

President says Ukraine must keep fighting, and aide says general’s comments ‘make aggressor’s job easier’

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied a suggestion from the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief that the war with Russia has reached a stalemate, and a senior spokesperson for his administration has rebuked the general in question and accused him of making “the aggressor’s job easier”.

Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi had offered his blunt assessment of the situation in an interview published last week. “Just like in the first world war, we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” he told the Economist, adding: “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”

US to provide $425m of additional military aid to Ukraine; Russia-appointed governor says nine dead in Ukraine missile attack in Kherson

The US will provide $425m worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration announced on Friday. The package uses the last of the funds in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a more than $18bn fund that allowed the Biden administration to buy weapons from industry, rather than pull from US weapons stocks.

A Ukrainian missile attack on Friday on an employment centre in a Russian-occupied town in the southern region of Kherson killed nine people and injured nine, the region’s Russia-appointed governor was quoted as saying.

A handful of Ukrainian troops who have reached the occupied side of the Dnipro River are clinging to a foothold in Russian-controlled territory in the south of the country despite a fierce bombardment. The marines have secured a beachhead that could allow Ukraine to reclaim more of the Kherson region that lies between Ukrainian territory and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is considering the “pros and cons” of holding presidential elections next spring, his foreign minister said. “We are not closing this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing the different pros and cons,” Dmytro Kuleba told a briefing, adding that holding elections during the war with Russia would entail “unprecedented” challenges.

Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.

Russia intends to stick to a nuclear test ban moratorium despite withdrawing its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty, the foreign ministry said.

A Russian court sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, an activist linked to the Pussy Riot group, to eight and a half years in prison for breaching Russia’s strict censorship laws. The 36-year-old was sentenced “in absentia” as he has not lived in Russia since 2020, reported MediaZona, an opposition news site that he founded.

The Kremlin has dismissed a new package of US sanctions, saying Russia had learned to “overcome” such economic hurdles since the Ukraine conflict began. Washington yesterday sanctioned several Russian energy and finance companies it said were supporting Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.

The chief of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has said the timing of a sale or spin-off of its extensive operations in Russia is largely out of his control. Russia made up 45% of RBI’s profit in the first nine months of the year, though it reported a 30% decline in the volume of its loans in Russia in the third quarter from a year earlier.

The Russian Orthodox church called for an apology from Alla Pugacheva, the country’s most renowned pop singer who returned home this week, over her criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine is preparing for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of winter; Russia claims to have conducted a simulated nuclear strike

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is preparing for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of the second winter of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the country – and that the country is ready to counterattack if targeted. “We are preparing for terrorist attacks on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said. “This year we will not only defend ourselves, but also respond.”

Russia claims it has tested its ability to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike in an exercise involving the launch of missiles by land, sea and air. News of the exercise was delivered on Russian state TV by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.

The exercise followed Russia’s parliament completing the passing of a law that withdraws Moscow’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, approved the law by 156 votes to zero earlier today after the lower house, the Duma, had also passed it unanimously. Russia says it is revoking its withdrawal of the treaty only to bring itself in line with the US, which signed but never ratified the same document.

Russia’s military claimed on Wednesday that its air defence forces had shot down two long-range US-made ATACM missiles fired by Ukraine at Russian targets in what state media said was the first downing of its kind. Russia’s defence ministry reported the interception in one of its regular updates on the war in Ukraine, something Moscow still calls “a special military operation.” It did not provide further details. The Reuters news agency was unable to independently verify Moscow’s claim and there was no immediate comment from Kyiv or Washington.

A drone attack by Russia near Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant temporarily cut power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. “This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine,” said the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi.

In his nightly address, Zelenskiy accused Russia of targeting the power plant. “It is most likely that the target for these drones was the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station. The shockwave from the explosion shattered windows, including on the nuclear power station’s premises,” he said.

The attack involved 11 Shahed drones and injured 16 people according to local authorities. Power lines were also damaged, with two towns close to the nuclear power plant, Netishyn and Slavuta, facing power cuts. Ukraine’s air force said it stopped all the drones that were launched.

Russian forces are disregarding heavy losses and pressing on with a drive to capture the eastern city of Avdiivka, Ukrainian officials have claimed. “The enemy is trying to move forward and then we beat them back,” Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern groups of forces, said on national TV. Russia has focused on the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since failing in its initial drive on the capital Kyiv after mounting its invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine said it was aiming to increase domestic manufacture of its own drones, producing tens of thousands every month by the end of the year. Kyiv has relied heavily on foreign-made drones in the war so far, but is looking to ramp up its output despite the challenge posed by Russia’s invasion.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says it is a ‘question of time’ before Ukraine regains control over Crimea; Russian forces continue pounding eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka

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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, vowed to maintain military pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea. “We have not yet gained full fire control over Crimea and surrounding waters, but we will,” Zelenskiy told a meeting of the Crimea Platform, a diplomatic initiative he launched in 2021. “This is a question of time.”

Russian forces continued to pound the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials are quoted as saying. Heavy losses forced Russia to switch to air attacks instead of ground advances, they claimed.

Two civilians have been killed in an artillery strike on a village near Kupiansk, Kharkiv’s regional governor, Oleh Synehub, has said. Russian forces have reportedly been attacking further north in the area of Kupiansk – a town initially seized by Russia after the invasion but recaptured by Ukraine last year.

Russian has claimed successful artillery and air strikes near Bakhmut - a town to the north-east captured by Russian forces in May after months of battles. Reuters says it could not independently verify accounts of battlefield activity on either side.

Australia says it’s sending a 3D metal printer and anti-drone systems to Ukraine as part of a A$20m ($12.8m )military assistance package. Prime minister Anthony Albanese is quoted as saying “Australia remains steadfast in supporting Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion”. It takes the country’s total aid to about A$910m ($582m) since Russia invaded. It is understood the Australian Prime Minister will discuss the Ukraine confclit with Joe Biden during his state visit to the US.

Moldova blocked access to more than 20 Russian media websites on Tuesday, saying they had been used as part of an information war against the country. A decree published online by Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service listed 22 Russian news resources to be blocked, including prominent ones such as Russia Today, NTV, Ren TV, state media holding VGTRK and others. The Russian foreign ministry is quoted as saying the move is a “hostile step” aimed at denying Moldovans access to alternative news sources. Moldova restricted TV broadcasts of Russia-produced news, analytical and military-related content in June 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Joe Biden’s request for Ukraine aid remains in limbo, as US House Republicans continue to struggle to elect a speaker.

Ukraine has set up a joint defence venture with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG to service and repair western weapons sent to help Kyiv against Russia’s full-scale invasion, officials said.

Ukraine expects Germany to provide it with an additional €1.4bn to enhance its air defences and help it get through a second winter at war with Russia, Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said.

The EU is on track towards its goal of ending its reliance on Russian fossil fuels within this decade, the European Commission said.

Two people died and others were injured in Russian shelling of Kherson, the local governor claimed.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran earlier. Russia and Iran were firming up bilateral relations in a “trusting” atmosphere, Russia’s foreign ministry said early on Tuesday.

Six dead in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv postal distribution centre, says governor; Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds talks with Turkish counterpart ahead of peace summit next week

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At least six people have died in a Russian missile strike on a postal centre in Kharkiv region, the local governor has said. Fourteen more were injured, of which seven were “fighting for their lives”, said governor Oleh Synehubov. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shared a video on Saturday night showing what appeared to be a heavily damaged warehouse surrounded by rubble and a container with the logo of Ukrainian postal operator Nova Poshta. He said it was a civilian facility and urged Ukraine’s allies to unite in the “fight against terror”.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, talked to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Saturday, Zelenskiy said, in a call in which the two leaders discussed Ukraine’s peace formula, food security, and the situation in the Middle East. Turkey will take part in peace talks next week to discuss ways to end the Ukraine conflict, Zelenskiy said. Turkey has offered itself as a mediator between the two warring parties, helping to broker a deal in July last year that allowed safe grain exports via the Black Sea.

Moscow’s drive to capture the town of Avdiivka encountered fierce resistance on Saturday, Ukraine’s military said, with defences bolstered by fortifications erected nearly a decade ago. “The enemy is becoming more active, but is incurring heavy losses,” General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine’s troops in the south, said on Telegram. Russia’s Defence Ministry, in its evening report, made no mention of Avdiivka, but reported strikes on areas outside Bakhmut, a town seized by Moscow’s forces in May after months of battles. Both towns are in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia struck areas of eastern and southern Ukraine with artillery and missiles on Friday and Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring others, officials said. The fatal attacks were in Nikopol, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson region.

Three more children have been rescued from Russia and brought back to Ukraine, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

More than a third of the territory of Ukraine is contaminated with mines and explosive objects due to the war with Russia, the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine posted on Telegram.

Germany will reportedly provide an additional €200m (£175m) to Ukraine to support the country’s restoration of its education and healthcare systems, its drinking water supplies, and the reconstruction of its cities.