Postal service follows up April’s limited edition stamp celebrating attack on Russian flagship Moskva
Ukraine’s state postal service has issued a commemorative wartime stamp dedicated to the strike on the Crimean Bridge last month, which sparked celebrations across the country.
Its release has been timed to coincide with Russia’s Unity Day on 4 November.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says findings are ‘clear and irrefutable’ after IAEA finds no evidence of undeclared nuclear activities and materials
The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity after inspecting three sites at Ukraine’s request in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of planning to use such a bomb – a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive material – and said institutes linked to the nuclear industry were involved in preparations, without presenting evidence. Ukraine’s government denies the accusation.
Continue reading...Andrei Kelin says Britain ‘too deep in this conflict’ as speculation grows over Russian withdrawal from Kherson region
The Russian ambassador to the UK has claimed UK special forces were involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.
Andrei Kelin told Sky News: “We perfectly know about [the] participation of British specialists in [the] training, preparation and execution of violence against the Russian infrastructure and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. We know that it has been done.”
Continue reading...Russian ambassador to UK accuses Britain of being over-involved in war
Reuters reports that the British ambassador arrived at the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday morning, according to local reports. Deborah Bronnert was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea.
Electricity supply has been restored to everybody in the Kyiv region after Monday’s Russian bombardment of energy facilities, according to the region’s governor, Oleksiy Kuleba.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me on martin.belam@theguardian.com
Continue reading...Russian leader has backed down in face of defiance, and move also shows Turkey’s growing influence
In the end, Vladimir Putin backed down. Faced with blocking ships carrying grain from Ukraine or tacitly admitting that his threats to do so had been a bluff, the Kremlin leader opted not to rekindle a global food crisis.
Russia’s exit from the deal that allowed exports of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea was weeks in the making. Russia had threatened to do so after an explosion rocked the Crimea Bridge in October, and again after the drone attack on its Black Sea fleet last week.
Continue reading...Moscow’s climbdown comes two days after large convoy of ships moved record tonnage despite warnings
The Kremlin has said it will rejoin the UN-administered grain export corridor from Ukraine, after pulling out over the weekend following a drone attack on Russian warships in the port of Sevastopol.
Moscow’s humiliating climbdown came two days after a large convoy of ships moved a record amount of grain in defiance of Russia’s warnings that it would be unsafe without its participation, and after high-level diplomatic contacts between Turkey – one of the guarantors of the scheme with the UN – and Russia.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, has given an update on the situation in his western region of Ukraine. He said that aside from one air alert, the night was quiet. In the last 24 hours, he said that 100 people arrived in the region on evacuation trains from the east of the country, and that 544 people departed for Poland.
The pro-Russian authorities in the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), one of the areas of occupied Ukraine that Russia has claimed to annex, have reported that two civilians were killed and two others injured overnight by shelling from Ukrainian forces. The claims have not been independently verified. The DPR is recognised as a legitimate authority by only three UN member states: Russia, Syria and North Korea.
Continue reading...Wagner Group fighters linked to attack that killed at least 13 following major military operation
Russian mercenaries in Mali have been accused of a new massacre of civilians following a major military operation in the centre of the unstable country.
At least 13 civilians were killed on Sunday in the region of Mopti by Malian troops supported by “white soldiers”, local elected officials and an official of a community association told the Agence France-Presse.
Continue reading...Discovery of Iranian kamikaze drones last month stirred huge outcry over Iran’s involvement in the conflict
Every day, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) issues an operational briefing. Today, it claims that one person was killed and six people were injured on the Ukrainian territory that it occupies. It also claims that “three civilian infrastructure facilities” were damaged in shelling that affected eight areas it occupies. The claims have not been independently verified. The so-called DPR is one of the areas that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed. Russia, Syria and North Korea were the only UN member states to recognise the DPR as any sort of legitimate authority.
This is Martin Belam taking over the blog in London. I will be with you for the next few hours.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Energy boss says ‘virtually all’ non-nuclear power stations hit by Russian attacks
Ukraine faces a winter humanitarian crisis unless it can prevent a collapse in its electricity supply caused by the relentless campaign of Russian bombing, the chief executive of the country’s national grid said.
Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the chief executive of Ukrenergo, said “virtually all” large non-nuclear power stations in the country had been hit, as well as more than 30% of the network’s routing substations.
Continue reading...Oleg Tinkov, who has previously spoken out against the conflict, says he ‘won’t be associated with a fascist country’
The billionaire banker and entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov has renounced his Russian citizenship because of the conflict in Ukraine, which he has previously criticised.
“I have taken the decision to exit my Russian citizenship. I can’t and won’t be associated with a fascist country that started a war with their peaceful neighbour and killing innocent people daily,” Tinkov said.
Continue reading...The country’s judiciary says those marching against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini will be tried
Iran’s judiciary has announced that it will hold public trials for as many as 1,000 people detained during recent protests in Tehran alone – and more than a thousand others outside the capital – as international concern grew over Iran’s response to the protests that began with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said he was shocked by the number of innocent protesters who were being illegally and violently arrested. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has already announced that she is to ask the European Union to sanction the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
Continue reading...His bombs may not break Ukrainian resolve, but Vladimir Putin knows their damage will drive up the west’s costs
• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates
Russia’s cynical decision to target Ukraine’s network of hydroelectric power stations on Monday represents a further, dispiriting, escalation in its efforts to destroy the country’s power supply.
The electricity network is reeling from three weeks of attacks focused on coal- and gas-fired power stations and, above all, the electricity substations that link up different parts of the grid. Power cuts are the new normal as winter looms.
Continue reading...UK’s James Cleverly says Russian president taking things out ‘on the poorest people in the world by threatening their food supplies’
US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on a call on Sunday and discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability.
Blinken also discussed with his Chinese counterpart on the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage US-China relations, the US department of state said in a statement.
As a result of strikes on critical infrastructure facilities, part of the capital was cut off. There is no water supply in some areas. All services are working. More details – later.”
Continue reading...As winter looms, Moscow escalates missile attacks on vital utilities such as hydro plants, substations and dams
A wave of Russian missiles slammed into hydroelectric plants and other critical energy and water infrastructure across Ukraine on Monday, with explosions reported near the capital, Kyiv, and in at least 10 other regions.
Hydro plants, substations and heat generation facilities were all hit, Ukraine said, while the ministry of defence in Moscow said it had targeted “energy systems” in a devastating morning raid carried out using long-range cruise missiles.
Continue reading...Kremlin pulls out of grain deal after drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea flagship vessel in Crimea; UN and US call on Moscow to reverse its decision
Continue reading...Russia blames Ukraine for attack on Saturday; calls grow for Moscow to rejoin grain deal as US accuses Kremlin of weaponising food
More on the reported Russia-Ukraine exchange of prisoners of war on Saturday: officials in Moscow and Kyiv said both sides had returned about 50 people each.
Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate reported the return of 52 detainees, among them soldiers, sailors, border guards, national guard members and doctors.
We remember all those who are held captive in Russia and on occupied territory and will do everything to ensure that each and every one is returned.
Continue reading...Risk of soaring food prices and global food crisis after Moscow’s decision to end export corridor following drone attack on its fleet
The United Nations, Nato, European Union and US have all urged Russia to reverse its decision to pull out of a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, amid fears of a global food crisis.
Moscow announced it was suspending the UN-brokered arrangement in response to a dramatic attack in the early hours of Saturday by Ukrainian airborne and underwater drones on its naval base of Sevastopol in Crimea.
Continue reading...Admiral Makarov possibly disabled by Ukraine as investigators say frigate one of three Russian ships to be hit in Sevastopol
Russia’s Black Sea flagship vessel, the Admiral Makarov, was damaged and possibly disabled during an audacious Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, according to an examination of video footage.
Open-source investigators said the frigate was one of three Russian ships to have been hit on Saturday. A swarm of drones – some flying in the air, others skimming rapidly along the water – struck Russia’s navy at 4.20 am. Video from one of the sea drones shows the unmanned vehicle weaving between enemy boats.
Continue reading...International condemnation after Russia suspends grain deal; Russia claims it has identified the drones used to attack its Black Sea fleet
There has been international condemnation of Russia’s decision to suspend the UN brokered Black Sea Grain initiative, a move described by US president Joe Biden as “purely outrageous” and which would increase starvation.
US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Russia was weaponising food.
The European Union called on Russia to reverse its decision. “Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risk the main export route of much needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Twitter.
UN secretary-general António Guterres is “deeply concerned” about the Black Sea grain deal and has delayed his travel to Algiers for the Arab League summit by a day to focus on the issue. a spokesperson said.
Nato called on Moscow to urgently renew the deal. Nato spokesperson, Oana Lungescu, said: “President Putin must stop weaponising food and end his illegal war on Ukraine.”
Turkey’s defence minister is in talks with counterparts in Moscow and Kyiv to try to revive the UN- brokered deal for exports of Ukrainian grain, the ministry said on Sunday.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had recovered and analysed the wreckage of drones used to attack ships from Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea on Saturday. It claims that the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation.
The ministry has said Ukraine attacked the Black Sea fleet near Sevastopol with 16 drones early on Saturday, and that British navy “specialists” had helped coordinate what it called a terrorist attack, a claim Britain has denied.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia itself may have been responsible for the explosions, which it has used as a pretext to pull out of the grain deal.
Poland said that together with its European Union partners it is ready to provide Ukraine with further help in the transportation of essential goods after Russia pulled out of the grain deal.
The Russian army repelled attacks by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Luhansk regions, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying on Sunday.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airways will resume using Russian airspace on some flights, the airline said on Sunday, restarting flights it had stopped after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Cathay Pacific will begin flying from New York to Hong Kong using the popular “polar route” from Tuesday.
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