Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia orders troops to leave key Ukrainian city of Kherson

Move will be widely seen as significant blow to Vladimir Putin weeks after he announced the ‘forever’ annexation of Kherson

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is in Cambodia today, meeting prime minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “We focused on bilateral cooperation and global food security. I also congratulated prime minister Sen on Happy Cambodian Independence Day.”

Eastern European countries are preparing to reopen reception centres and are restocking food supplies in anticipation of a possible fresh surge in Ukrainian refugees as winter looms and Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid and heating plants.

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Cop27: ending war in Ukraine necessary to tackle climate crisis, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian president says Russia’s invasion has forced dozens of countries to resume coal-fired power to alleviate energy costs

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told world leaders they will not be able to tackle the climate crisis unless Russia’s invasion of his country ends.

“There can be no effective climate policy without the peace,” he said in a video address at the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt on Tuesday. “The Russian war has brought about an energy crisis that has forced dozens of countries to resume coal-fired power generation in order to lower energy prices for their people, to lower prices that are shockingly rising due to deliberate Russian actions.”

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Chinese authorities ‘drop EU council chief’s speech criticising war in Ukraine’

European diplomats say Charles Michel video referring to Russia’s ‘illegal’ and ‘brutal’ invasion was withdrawn from trade fair

Chinese authorities dropped a trade fair speech by the European Council president, Charles Michel, that was critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine, diplomats have said.

The recorded message by Michel was meant to be one of several from world leaders and heads of international bodies played at the opening on Friday last week of China’s International Import Expo in Shanghai. Three European diplomats said Michel’s speech, which was to have been heavily critical of Russia’s “illegal” war in Ukraine, had been removed, according to Reuters, which first reported the incident.

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Russia-Ukraine war: no need to evacuate Kyiv, says Ukraine’s PM, as country rules out peace talks with Moscow – as it happened

Denys Shmyhal says no reason to evacuate any city not near frontlines; Kyiv refuses to negotiate until Russian troops have left its territory. This live blog is now closed

The state-owned Russian RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that the Russian-installed authorities in occupied Kherson claim to have arrested nine people they claim are Ukrainian special forces (SBU) who were planning sabotage operations.

Russia’s security forces, the FSB, are quoted as saying:

On the territory of the Kherson region, the activities of the sabotage and reconnaissance group of the SBU , whose tasks included the commission of terrorist acts against high-ranking members of the military-civilian administration of the Kherson region, were exposed and suppressed.

As part of operational measures, more than five kilograms of plastic [explosive], electric detonators, actuators, three grenades ready for use by the Ukrainian military, small arms and ammunition, as well as special reconnaissance equipment were seized from the detainees.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London

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‘We were completely exposed’: Russian conscripts say hundreds killed in attack

Survivor tells of being abandoned to attack near Makiivka, as anger grows in Russia over death toll from war

Hours after Aleksei Agafonov arrived in the Luhansk region on 1 November as part of a battalion of new conscripts, his unit were handed shovels and ordered to dig trenches throughout the night.

Their digging, which they took turns to do because of the lack of available shovels, was abruptly interrupted in the early hours of the next day as Ukrainian artillery lit up the sky and shells started raining down on Agafonov and his unit.

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Row brews in Iran over use of its drones in Ukraine war by Russia

Conservative cleric and a newspaper editor openly critical of government’s stance on weapons it supplied to Moscow

An internal rift over the supply of deadly drones to Russia for use in Ukraine has opened up in Iran, with a prominent conservative cleric and newspaper editor saying Russia is the clear aggressor in the war and the supply should stop.

A former Iranian ambassador to Moscow has also hinted the foreign ministry may have been kept in the dark both by the Kremlin and the Iranian military.

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Russia-Ukraine war live news: Zelenskiy warns of ‘mass attacks’ on power grid; Kyiv mayor raises prospect of evacuations

Ukraine president claims Russia will use Iranian missiles for attacks; Vitali Klitschko urges Kyiv residents to consider leaving city in event of total blackout

The Kyiv Independent is reporting that “farmers’ warehouses, a cultural site, and private houses” were damaged in Zaporizhzhia region by Russian strikes, and according to local governor Pavlo Kyrylenko Russian forces have killed one civilian in Bakhmut and wounded five civilians elsewhere in the Donetsk region.

The chiefly unrecognised authorities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the occupied east of Ukraine have issued their daily operational briefing. They claim that overnight one civilian has been killed and three injured after Ukrainian forces shelled eight settlements that the DPR occupies. In addition, they claim that 31 housing and five civil infrastructure facilities were damaged. The claims have not been independently verified. The DPR is one of the regions that Russia claims to have annexed.

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The Ukraine war is deepening Russia’s ties with North Korea as well as Iran

Moscow’s growing need for armaments from Pyongyang is likely to lead to greater alignment of diplomatic and military interests

Russian arms procurement from Iran and North Korea heralds an increasing convergence of military and diplomatic interests between Moscow and two countries regarded as international pariahs.

Amid renewed accusations from Washington that Russia is attempting to procure large amounts of artillery ammunition from Pyongyang, on top of the missiles and kamikaze and other drones it has already bought from Iran, Moscow’s arms procurement blitz has flagged up the mounting logistical problems in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

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Orthodox church of Ukraine allows worshippers to celebrate Christmas on 25 December

Move away from traditional date of 7 January directed against pro-Putin head of Russian Orthodox church

For centuries Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on 7 January, the date on which Jesus was born, according to the Julian calendar.

But following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox church of Ukraine is allowing its congregations for the first time to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, in a move away from Russia and towards the west.

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Occupied Kherson loses power, as Kyiv mayor urges residents to prepare for total blackouts

The southern occupied city and surrounding settlements lost power over the weekend, the first time the region has seen such an energy cut

The occupied city of Kherson has lost power for the first time since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, as Kyiv’s mayor told residents to consider leaving the capital in the event of a complete blackout.

In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-controlled Kherson administration said electricity and water supplies were down after a “terrorist attack” damaged three power lines on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway in an occupied part of the region.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv mayor tells residents to prepare for the worst – as it happened

Residents warned they must prepare for having no electricity, water or heating as temperatures drop below freezing

Russia appointed a new acting commander of the Central Military District on 3 November, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Major General Alexander Linkov replaces Colonel General Alexander Lapin who was purportedly removed from office at the end of October 2022.

If confirmed, this follows a series of dismissals of senior Russian military commanders since the onset of the invasion in February 2022. The Commanders of the Eastern, Southern, and Western Military Districts were replaced earlier this year.

Lapin has been widely criticised for poor performance on the battlefield in Ukraine by both Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 256 of the invasion

Russian troops looting Kherson city amid alleged searches in province for residents refusing to evacuate; pro-Russia judge in serious condition after assassination bid

Russian troops have been looting Kherson ahead of a potential withdrawal from the south-eastern Ukrainian city. Items taken range from art and cultural exhibits to ambulances and tractors.

There has been an assassination attempt on a judge who sentenced two Britons to death in Russian-controlled Ukraine. Alexander Nikulin, who said Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner should be shot by a firing squad, was shot in Vuhlehirsk, in Donetsk, on Friday night. The local supreme court justice is in a serious condition in hospital.

Russian troops are allegedly searching for residents in the Kherson region who are refusing to evacuate, before the forces’ potential withdrawal from the west bank of the Dnieper River.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has claimed its forces killed another 600 Russian soldiers in the past 24 hours.

Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said the country did supply Russia with drones but that it took place before President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Kyiv. The drones have been used in attacks on civilian infrastructure, notably targeting power stations and dams.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed talk of limited Iranian supplies to Russia, saying Kyiv had downed 11 drones on Friday alone. He said: “If Iran continues to lie about the obvious, it means the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia pays Iran for such cooperation.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said Iran “should realise that the consequences of complicity in the crimes of Russian aggression against Ukraine will be much larger than the benefits of Russia’s support”.

External power has been restored to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged high voltage lines, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he does not believe Russia will use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

The 300,000 troops Putin conscripted as part of the mobilisation drive are providing “little additional offensive combat capability” as the Russian military is struggling to train them, UK’s Ministry of Defence has reported.

Scheduled power cuts will take place on Sunday in seven Ukrainian provinces including major cities such as Kyiv. Other provinces affected are Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Poltava. About 500 power generators have been sent to Ukraine by 17 EU countries to help with the energy problems caused by Russian attacks.

At least 112,000 Russians have emigrated to Georgia this year, border crossing statistics show. Reuters reported that the first large wave of 43,000 arrived after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February and the second wave came after Putin announced a nationwide mobilisation drive in late September.

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Judge in Russia-occupied Ukraine in ‘serious’ condition after assassination attempt

Alexander Nikulin, who sentenced two captured Britons to death in June, had attempt made on his life in eastern Donetsk

A judge in a Ukrainian town controlled by Moscow is in a “serious” condition after surviving an assassination attempt, a separatist leader in Donetsk said.

Alexander Nikulin was on a judicial panel that in June sentenced to death two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoune, who were fighting on the Ukrainian side.

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Iran says it supplied drones to Russia before Ukraine war began

Minister says ‘small number’ of drones were sent to Russia months before invasion but denies supply continues

Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

The Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said a “small number” of drones were supplied to Russia a few months before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February. He denied Tehran that was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Kherson looted ahead of expected battle for city; Russian conscripts receiving ‘little or no training’ – as it happened

Russian troops taking vehicles, art and even religious artefacts from Kherson; UK says Russia struggling to train new recruits. This blog is now closed

About 500 power generators have been sent to Ukraine by 17 EU countries to help with the energy problems caused by Russian attacks.

Counties including Slovenia, Slovakia, Denmark, Germany and Spain sent the pieces of kit through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

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Russia’s Wagner Group opens defence tech centre in St Petersburg

Opening is latest step by private militia’s owner Yevgeny Prigozhin in taking a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy

Russia’s Wagner Group – the once-secretive private militia controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin – has opened a military technology centre in St Petersburg, in the latest move by the Putin ally who has criticised the Kremlin’s defence top brass over the Ukraine conflict.

The opening of the “Wagner Centre” on Friday is seen as another step by Prigozhin to publicise his military credentials and take a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy.

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Infosys still operating from Russia eight months after saying it was pulling out

Exclusive: Indian firm from which Rishi Sunak’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends retains staffed Moscow office

The Indian IT services company Infosys from which the prime minister’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends is still operating from Moscow eight months after the company said it was pulling out.

The company retains a staffed office and is paying subcontractors in the Russian capital to carry out IT services for a global client although a spokesperson said they were looking to end that arrangement.

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Vladimir Putin says civilians must be evacuated from Kherson war zone

Russia digs in against expected attempt by Ukraine to take key southern city, setting scene for possible ferocious battle

Vladimir Putin has warned that civilians still living in the Ukrainian province of Kherson, which Russia declared in September it had annexed, must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone.

“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” the Russian president said during a meeting with pro-Kremlin activists.

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Russia-Ukraine war: 24-hour curfew imposed in Kherson as Putin calls for people to leave city – as it happened

This live blog has now closed, you can find more of our Ukraine coverage here

Nine Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones were shot down last night, according to the Ukrainian military.

“Our air defence forces shot down 3 ‘Shahed-136’ UAVs,” the latest report from Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces reads.

We have invited the IAEA to check, we have given them full freedom of action at the relevant facilities, and we have clear and irrefutable evidence that no one in Ukraine has created or is creating any dirty bombs,” he said.

The only thing that is dirty in our region now is the heads of those in Moscow who, unfortunately, seized control of the Russian state and are terrorising Ukraine and the whole world.”

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