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Four occupied regions of Ukraine that were “annexed” by the Russian Federation in late 2022 are expected to participate in Russia’s presidential election next year, after the date was set for 17 March.

Russia’s Federation council confirmed the date this morning, with Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, saying a decision will be made by 12 December on whether occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson will take part. The four internationally recognised Ukrainian territories already participated in Russian regional elections in 2023.

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Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia tomorrow, the Kremlin said.

The Russian president will hold talks focusing on bilateral relations, the war between Israel and Hamas and other international issues, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Issues related to oil price caps will also be on the agenda, Peskov said. The Cop28 climate summit is taking place in Dubai in the UAE, but the Kremlin did not specify whether Putin would attend any related events.

On a snowy road next to Poland, Ukrainian lorry driver Vitaliy Zemyenko pondered the long journey ahead. It would take him nine hours to get through the Medyka border crossing. Over on the other side he would drop off a consignment of vodka. The problem was getting back.

“At the moment it’s taking a minimum of eight days to re-enter Ukraine,” he said. “That’s the best case scenario. Worst case is two weeks. This is a terrible situation”. The Poles, he added, wanted to stop Ukrainian drivers from operating in the European Union. “They don’t want us,” he said.

Polish prime minister says ‘we will strongly and unequivocally’ demand restoration of permits in de-escalation of border trade blockade

It is 2pm in Kyiv and here is a summary of today’s events so far:

Maj Gen Vladimir Zavadsky, the deputy commander of Russia’s 14th Army Corps, has been confirmed killed in Ukraine, said the governor of Russia’s Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev. He said Zavadsky had died “at a combat post in the special operation zone”, but further details have not been released.

The US is running out of time and money to help Ukraine fight its war with Russia, say the White House. Its budget director, Shalanda Young, issued the warning in a letter to the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, and other congressional leaders on Monday.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 18 Russian drones and one missile. It also added that a cultural centre and a shop were hit in Kherson.

Empty cargo trucks have crossed the border between Ukraine and Poland. In the first steps towards a de-escalation of a border blockade that has crippled Ukrainian trade. Estimates of the Ukrainian trade loss so far, exceed €400m ($440m). Processing of empty trucks began at the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv checkpoint by customs services at 1am (Kyiv time), in accordance with an agreement between Kyiv and Warsaw announced on Monday.

Ukraine’s forces attacked an oil depot in Russia-controlled Luhansk on Sunday night using combat drones. A fire that broke out after the attack was extinguished and there was no information about casualties.

Russia are opening new fronts in the battle for Avdiivka, say Ukrainian officials, who have accused Russian forces of assaulting the industrial town in the eastern Donetsk region from two new directions.

The Hungarian carrier Wizz Air has restarted inbound flights to Chisinau, Moldova, in eastern Europe, having suspended flights to the country in March due to tensions linked to Russia’s war with Ukraine.