Egypt calls on Vladimir Putin to revive Black Sea grain deal

Abdel Fatah al-Sisi tells summit it is ‘essential’ to revive deal, as Kenya calls Moscow’s exit ‘a stab in the back’

Egypt’s leader, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has urged Vladimir Putin to return to the Black Sea grain deal during a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg marked by concerns about the global economic fallout from the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech during a plenary session of African delegations attended by the Russian president, al-Sisi said it was “essential to reach agreement” on reviving the deal, which had allowed 33m tons of Ukrainian grain to reach markets, many in developing countries in Africa.

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Ukraine moves Christmas date to 25 December in snub to Russia

Ukrainian church has traditionally observed the holiday on 7 January, in line with the Moscow patriarchy

Ukraine has moved its official Christmas holiday to 25 December in a break with the Russian Orthodox church, which celebrates it on 7 January.

The bill signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday highlights the deepening rift between churches in Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of its pro-western neighbour.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Russian attacks repelled near Kupiansk and Lyman, says Kyiv – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, has described the situation on the frontline there as “tense”.

Very little reliable detail is emerging from the active combat zones. Balitsky claims that Russian forces control the Vremivka direction, which is just over the regional border from Zaporizhzhia into Donetsk.

The night was quiet. There was little activity of enemy aircraft. There are not many nights like this. Many Ukrainians had the opportunity to sleep at least. We hope this day will be calm, but according to the general staff there is still a high probability of missile attacks. Therefore, we all need to be vigilant and respond to the messages we receive about air threats every time.

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North Korea showcases attack drones during show of unity with China and Russia

Drones at military parade were said to have similar look to US drones as Japan warns that Kim Jong-un’s regime posed a more serious threat than ever

North Korea has carried out demonstration flights of new military drones, state media reported, as leader Kim Jong-un shared centre stage with senior delegates from Russia and China in a show of unity at a parade in the capital.

State media said on Friday that Kim rolled out his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles during the “Victory Day” parade in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that stopped fighting in the Korean War.

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Ukraine calls for disqualified fencer to be reinstated after anti-Russia protest

Olha Kharlan, competing at the world championships in Milan, refused to shake Russian rival’s hand after beating her

Ukraine’s government has called on the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to reverse its decision to disqualify a Ukrainian fencer for refusing to shake hands with her defeated Russian opponent.

The country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, called for Olha Kharlan to be reinstated in the fencing world championships in Milan, after she was excluded as a result of the aftermath of her victory over Anna Smirnova, a Russian competing as a neutral.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian forces say they have recaptured frontline village after Putin says attacks have intensified – as it happened

Zelenskiy posts video showing soldiers in village of Staromaiorske; Russian president says attacks have increased primarily on frontline in Zaporizhzhia

Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, has given civilian casualtiy figures in the Ukraine-controlled portion of the region. On Telegram he stated that in the last 24 hours one person was killed and nine injured.

The claims have not been independently verified.

The losses from Ukraine’s much vaunted counteroffensive were heavy and early. Pushing into the country’s sprawling southern fields earlier this summer, Kyiv lost almost a fifth of Nato kit provided for the operation, according to Ukrainian and western officials.

Kyiv’s military response across much of the frontline is now becoming clear: to change tactics. The shift in fighting doctrine applied in recent weeks, according to Ukrainian commanders, appears to be achieving some hard-fought but tangible results on the battlefield, at a more tolerable cost.

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Putin promises free grain to six African nations after collapse of Black Sea deal

President says Russia will replace blocked Ukrainian exports after it abandoned pact on passage of ships

Vladimir Putin has promised free grain supplies to six African nations as Moscow seeks to capitalise on the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.

Speaking on the first day of a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, the Russian president claimed his country would be able to replace Ukrainian grain exports blocked by Moscow’s decision to abandon the UN-brokered arrangement which had allowed the export of grain and other products from Ukraine through the Black Sea to markets, many of them in Africa.

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Zelenskiy adviser calls for big increase in air defence systems for Ukraine

It makes moral and economic sense for west to help more as Kyiv cannot protect all main cities, aide says

Ukraine cannot protect all of its main cities from Russian missile threats without a significant increase in the provision of air defence systems, according to a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Mykhailo Podolyak said the strikes on Odesa over the past week had shown clearly that the Russian strategy was to bombard Ukrainian cities, with the aim of overwhelming air defence systems.

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US begins sharing Russian war-crimes evidence with Hague court

Quiet decision ends dispute within Biden administration over ICC cooperation after Pentagon had been accused of obstruction

The Biden administration has said it has begun sharing evidence with the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague on war crimes committed in Ukraine.

The announcement ends a months-long dispute within the administration over the issue, in which the national security council (NSC) and the state department backed cooperation with the ICC, with the Pentagon resisting on the grounds it would imply endorsement of an international court that could one day seek to prosecute US soldiers.

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Russia ‘using disinformation’ to imply Sweden supported Qur’an burnings

Swedish government says ‘Russia-backed actors’ attempting to damage country’s bid to join Nato

Sweden has been the target of a disinformation campaign by “Russia-backed actors” attempting to damage the image of the Nato candidate country by implying it supported recent burnings of the Qur’an, its government has said.

“Sweden is right now the target of influence campaigns, supported by states and state-like actors, whose purpose is to harm Sweden and Swedish interests,” the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian security service claims responsibility for Crimea bridge blast in October – as it happened

Domestic intelligence agency claims responsibility for first time for sabotage operation that damaged Kerch Bridge in October 2022

The south of Ukraine is under an air alert again. Suspilne reports it is “due to the activity of Russian aviation in the Black Sea.”

The all clear has sounded across southern Ukraine.

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UK inaction let Wagner group flourish and grow, say MPs

Foreign affairs select committee condemns government’s ‘dismal lack of understanding’ about group’s hold in Africa

A decade-long failure by the British government has allowed the Wagner network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa and exploit vulnerable countries, according to a highly critical report from the UK’s foreign affairs select committee.

It called on the government to proscribe the Wagner group in the UK and to make a far more concerted effort to stop it using the City of London as a financial centre.

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Russian fighter jet fires flares at US drone in Syria

Latest aggressive intercept by Russia in region sees drone damaged, a week after jet flew dangerously close to US aircraft

A Russian fighter jet flew within a few meters of a US drone over Syria and fired flares at it, striking the American aircraft and damaging it, the latest in a string of aggressive intercepts by Russia in the region.

A senior air force commander said the Russians attempted on Sunday to knock the MQ-9 Reaper drone out of the sky. It came just a week after a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US surveillance aircraft carrying a crew in the region, jeopardizing the lives of the four Americans on board.

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Russia-Ukraine war: ex-US Marine freed in prisoner swap injured fighting in Ukraine; UN rejects Moscow claim on prison massacre – as it happened

Trevor Reed has been taken to Germany for treatment; UN human rights chief rejects claims a US-supplied HIMARS missile from Ukraine was responsible

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The UK Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on how it sees the war progressing, and today the focus is on Odesa. The ministry writes that since 18 July 2023, Russia has conducted greater numbers of long-range strikes against Odesa, and puts this down to the end of the Black Sea grain deal.

It says:

Between August 2022 and June 2023, when the Black Sea Grain Initiative was still in force, Russia generally refrained from striking civil infrastructure in the southern ports.

Since Russia failed to renew the deal, the Kremlin likely feels less politically constrained, and is attempting to strike targets in Odesa because it believes Ukraine is storing military assets in these areas.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.

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Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

Legislation outlaws medical interventions ‘aimed at changing the sex of a person’ and altering gender details in public records

Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

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Russia-Ukraine war: UN chief calls on Russia to return to Black Sea grain deal; US journalist wounded in drone attack – as it happened

António Guterres calls on Moscow to return to deal allowing safe export of Ukrainian grain; US citizen working for AFP hurt in Bakhmut attack

Russia’s overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees, Reuters reports Ukraine’s southern military command as saying.

Based on preliminary information, three drones were destroyed in the attacks, the command said on social media.

These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.

It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking, I think, at several months.

And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way.

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Two drones downed over Moscow, says Russian defence ministry

Defence ministry blames Ukraine for drones that hit non-residential buildings in the Russian capital and says there were no casualties

Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.

Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: one killed and cathedral in Odesa hit as Moscow launches fresh strikes

Another 19 wounded in overnight attack on the southern Ukrainian port city, governor says

Ukraine’s most famous rock star Andriy Khlyvnyuk has said the transition to becoming a soldier, receiving orders, was “surprisingly easy”.

I thought it would be [difficult]. I was afraid of the brutality, noise and dirt of war. But it wasn’t – it was surprisingly easy.” Why? “Look, if I was sent somewhere to fight, I’d be useless, terrified; I don’t want to kill or be killed. But that’s not what happened. They came for our streets and our children’s playgrounds.

Music is a universal language. But music also comes from where you come from; it reflects the feeling of home, and what home means – and on the obligation to protect your family, your neighbour. Anyone who grew up learning their language, and their poets and music by heart knows to say to the empire, any empire: ‘You will not do this to us.’

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Russian missile strikes on Odesa kill one person and damage cathedral

Ukrainian authorities say children among 22 injured in new wave of attacks on Black Sea port city

A new wave of Russian strikes on Odesa have killed one person and damaged a historic cathedral, as missiles again rained down on the southern Ukrainian city.

Authorities said 22 people were injured in the attacks in the early hours of Sunday, including a number of children. One strike hit the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was built in the late 18th century, destroyed under Joseph Stalin and then rebuilt in the early 2000s.

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