Beachhead established on occupied side of river could allow Kyiv forces to reclaim more of Kherson region

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

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, a fillip for a counter-offensive showing few gains elsewhere, but only if they can find a way to bring armoured vehicles and heavy weapons across the wide river separating the two militaries.

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In response to the evacuations of Ukrainian civilians from Kupiansk were announced, Igor Bodnia, the Internation Rescue Committee’s field manager in Kharkiv, said:

“The situation in Kupiansk is dire, and the impact on children is particularly devastating. Many of them have seen violence and displacement more than once, and they are in urgent need of protection and support. The IRC is working in a reception hub and dormitories in Kharkiv, focusing on providing primary health care to evacuated families, as well as psychological first aid to children to help them cope with the trauma they have experienced.”

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Gen Valery Zaluzhny, has said that the war in Ukraine in “at a stalemate”, warning that there is likely to be “no deep and beautiful breakthrough” soon in the counteroffensive against Russia.

Ukraine’s army should have been able to push back at a pace of 18 miles a day as it breached Russian defensive lines, the general said.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) has issued its latest defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine as of today, that Russian air defence has suffered significant loses.

Russia is preparing to attack Ukraine’s critical infrastructure once the temperatures drop, according to Ukraine’s national security and defence council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov.

War moving into new attritional stage that will benefit Russia, says Ukraine commander-in-chief; Russia shells highest number of cities and settlements this year

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Lloyd Austin ‘guarantees Putin will be successful’ if US support for Kyiv ends during Senate hearing on Joe Biden’s request for funding

• What we know on day 615 of the invasion

Russian president Vladimir Putin and top government and security officials on Monday discussed strengthening measures to counter external interference after a weekend riot in Dagestan that targeted airline passengers from Israel, the Kremlin said.

In a statement at the start of Monday’s meeting of members of his Security Council, the government and the heads of law enforcement agencies, Putin accused the west and Ukraine of stirring up unrest inside Russia after rioters in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region stormed an airport to “catch” Jewish passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv.

Russia makes first known arrests of its own soldiers after 2022 invasion on suspicion of killing Ukrainian civilians

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Two Russian soldiers have been arrested on suspicion of killing a family of nine, including two young children, in their home in the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha.

Russian media reported that the killings took place last Friday night and the suspects had used machine guns with silencers to kill the family at night in their sleep.

Dutch PM says F-16 jets for Ukraine to arrive in two weeks; Moldova accuses Russia of information war against country. This blog is closed

• What we know on day 614

In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said a Russian state-backed private military company (PMC) is specifically attempting to recruit women into combat roles in Ukraine for the first time.

Posting to X, formerly Twitter, the MoD wrote:

Recent social media adverts have appealed for female recruits to join Borz Battalion, a part of Russian PMC Redut, to work as snipers and uncrewed aerial vehicle operators. Redut is likely directly sponsored by the Russian main directorate of intelligence.

In March 2023, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said that 1,100 women were deployed in Ukraine, which would equate to only around 0.3 per cent of its force. As Redut’s advert points out, they currently serve in mostly medical support and food service roles.

Russian losses in Avdiivka may be its worst of 2023, says UK; Ukraine and Netherlands start bilateral agreement talks

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Russia would confiscate assets belonging to EU states it deems unfriendly if the bloc “steals” frozen Russian funds in a drive to fund Ukraine, a top ally of president Vladimir Putin said. It comes after Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said that the EU executive was working on a proposal to pool some of the profits derived from frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a stalemate on the frontlines of their war and the two sides need to sit down and negotiate an end to the conflict, the Belarus leader said. Alexander Lukashenko, a key Putin ally, described the current state of the conflict as “head-to-head, to the death, entrenched … Seriously stalemate.”

Russian forces are believed to have suffered some of the country’s biggest casualty rates so far this year as a result of continued “heavy but inconclusive” fighting around the Donetsk oblast town of Avdiivka.

Four Ukrainian police officers were wounded when a shell fired by Russian troops exploded by their police car in the city of Siversk, located in the partly occupied Donetsk province.

A third round of Ukrainian-backed peace talks opened in Malta, but without Moscow. In a statement, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said 66 countries had taken part, proof that his plan “has gradually become global”.

The head of the office of the president of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, has praised Qatar’s role in facilitating the return of four Ukrainian children from Russian captivity earlier this month.

Ukraine and the Netherlands began talks on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees in Malta, Yermak also announced. It is the sixth country to start bilateral negotiations with Ukraine on security guarantees.

MoD intelligence update says up to eight brigades have been committed to ‘heavy but inconclusive’ fighting

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Russian forces are believed to have suffered some of the country’s biggest casualty rates so far this year as a result of continued “heavy but inconclusive” fighting around the Donetsk oblast town of Avdiivka.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence’s intelligence update on Saturday morning, Russia has probably committed elements of up to eight brigades to the sector where it initiated a “major offensive effort” in mid-October.