Summary
The time in Kyiv is almost 9pm. Here is a round up of the day’s top stories:
The Swedish prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines has confirmed that the incident was sabotage, and said that traces of explosives have been found. In a statement, prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said: “During the crime scene investigations that were carried out on site in the Baltic Sea, extensive seizures were made, and the area has been carefully documented. Analysis that has now been carried out shows traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects that were found. Advanced analysis work continues in order to be able to draw firmer conclusions about the incident.”
A senior UN official welcomed the extension by four months of a deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports, but said there was still work to be done.
Russia’s ministry of defence has issued a strongly worded statement after the emergence of video footage it claims shows Ukrainian military personnel deliberately killing more than 10 captured Russian servicemen. The ministry said “The brutal murder of the Russian servicemen is neither the first, nor the single war crime. This is a common practice in the armed forces of Ukraine that is actively supported by the Kyiv regime and straightforwardly ignored by its western patrons”. Earlier this week a UN human rights monitoring agency in Ukraine said it had evidence of both the Russian Federation and Ukraine mistreating prisoners of war.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked on the phone with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy and congratulated each other for the extension of a UN-brokered grains deal, Erdoğan’s office said. Erdoğan told Zelenskiy that the grains deal and the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine were positive experiences, and that the “extension of this understanding to the negotiation table” would benefit all parties.
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, said that eight people were injured on Thursday dealing with the consequences of a Russian strike on what he described as “gas industry equipment” in Izium.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said there is no prospect or plans of a summit between Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the US president, Joe Biden. Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was not ruling out further high-level meetings with the US on “strategic stability”. “If the Americans show interest and readiness, we will not refuse,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying in Russian state media. Tass also quoted him saying: “There is simply nothing to talk about Ukraine with them [the US].”
The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency has reported that a school was struck by Ukrainian fire in the occupied region of Donetsk, one of the areas of Ukraine that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed. It quoted the Russian-imposed mayor of Donetsk Aleksey Kulemin saying that 10 shells were fired at the central districts of the city, two of which landed in close proximity to the school.
Poland will not grant a Russian delegation visas to attend an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Lodz on 1-2 December, a foreign ministry spokesman said. “We are not giving them visas,” Lukasz Jasina said.
Pope Francis reiterated on Friday the Vatican was ready to do anything possible to mediate and put an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the pontiff said in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa. Asked whether he believed reconciliation between Moscow and Kyiv was possible, the pontiff called on everyone not to give up.
The Dutch government will summon the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over Russia’s response to the verdict in the trial over the downing of passenger flight MH17, news agency ANP reported, citing foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra. Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court’s decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader over the 2014 downing of the Malaysian airliner “neglected impartiality”.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed this live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
The Kremlin has accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing more than 10 Russian prisoners of war following the circulation of a video on social media purporting to be from the frontline.
The footage appears to show a group of Russian soldiers emerging from an outbuilding in the grounds of a house with their hands above their heads before they are told to lie facedown.
One of the men wearing all black, however, seems to turn his gun on what appears to be a Ukrainian unit of soldiers wearing yellow armbands as he emerges from the half-destroyed outhouse.
The footage, seemingly taken by a Ukrainian soldier, suggests that all the Russians, including those in a prone position, were killed in the violence that followed. There are at least 12 bodies.
The incident was said to have taken place on the grounds of a house near the village of Makiivka in the eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine, which is part of a wider area known as the Donbas.
Neither the location nor the identity of those featuring the video could be immediately independently verified.
Updated
Poland will not grant a Russian delegation visas to attend an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Lodz on 1-2 December, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.
“We are not giving them visas,” Lukasz Jasina said.
Updated
Construction of a planned barbed-wired fence along Finland’s long border with Russia will start early next year, Finnish border guard officials said, amid concerns in the Nordic country over the changing security environment in Europe.
The initial three-kilometre (1.8-mile) stretch of the fence will be erected at a crossing point in the eastern town of Imatra by the summer of 2023, the Associated Press reported.
It will eventually extend to a maximum of 200 kilometres.
Finland’s 1,340-kilometre border with Russia is the longest of any European Union member.
Updated
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked on the phone with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy and congratulated each other for the extension of a UN-brokered grains deal, Erdoğan’s office said.
Erdoğan told Zelenskiy that the grains deal and the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine were positive experiences, and that the “extension of this understanding to the negotiation table” would benefit all parties.
Updated
The Ukrainian delegation leaves the site of an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine.
The Russian ministry of defence has vowed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will eventually stand trial for war crimes. In a statement about a video that has emerged which appears to show Russian soldiers being shot by Ukrainian forces, the ministry says:
New videographic evidence of massive execution inflicted by Ukrainian servicemen on the unarmed Russian prisoners of war confirms the atrocious nature of the current Kyiv regime led by Zelenskiy and those who protect and support him.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian servicemen, who surrendered this week, are held in accordance with all the requirements of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war.
The brutal murder of the Russian servicemen is neither the first, nor the single war crime. This is a common practice in the armed forces of Ukraine that is actively supported by the Kyiv regime and straightforwardly ignored by its western patrons.
But Zelenskiy and his henchmen will be forced to stand trial of the court of history, peoples of Russia and Ukraine, for everyone, and for each tortured and murdered prisoner.
Earlier this week UN human rights monitor OHCHR in Ukraine accused both sides of violating the rights of prisoners of wars, saying:
So far, OHCHR has interviewed 159 POWs (139 men and 20 women) held by the Russian Federation (including by affiliated armed groups), and 175 POWs (all men) held by Ukraine.
OHCHR has identified patterns of torture and ill-treatment of POWs held by the Russian Federation (including by affiliated armed groups), particularly during internment. OHCHR has also documented violations committed by Ukrainian state agents towards POWs, which revealed a pattern of ill-treatment at initial stages of capture and evacuation, and sporadic cases of torture and ill-treatment at later stages of internment.
Updated
Russia accuses Ukraine of war crimes over footage purported to show killings of Russian soldiers
Russia’s ministry of defence has issued a strongly worded statement after the emergence of video footage it claims shows Ukrainian military personnel deliberately killing more than 10 captured Russian servicemen. The state-owned Russian RIA Novosti news agency carries the following quotes from the statement:
The intentional and methodical killing of more than 10 immobilized Russian servicemen by the UAF degenerates with direct shots in the head cannot be presented as a “tragic exception” against the background of the alleged general observance of the rights of prisoners of war by the Kyiv regime.
The published new video evidence of the mass massacre of Ukrainian soldiers over unarmed Russian prisoners of war confirms the savage essence of the current Kyiv regime led by Zelenskiy and those who protect and support it.
The video, which the Guardian has seen, has not been verified. Ukrainian military and civil authorities are yet to respond to the accusation.
⚠️ Russian Defence Ministry:
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) November 18, 2022
The brutal murder of Russian servicemen is neither the first, nor the single war crime.
❌ This is a common practice in the Armed Forces of Ukraine supported by the Kiev regime and ignored by its western patrons.
👉 https://t.co/Extsh7o3o0 pic.twitter.com/VoUvpPsOme
Updated
Reuters reports the Bank of Canada on Friday said it will issue a five-year, $500m bond that will offer Canadians the opportunity to directly support Ukraine.
The bond, called the “Ukraine Sovereignty Bond,” will be denominated in Canadian dollars and issued in late November, the bank said is a statement.
The Dutch government will summon the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over Russia’s response to the verdict in the trial over the downing of passenger flight MH17, news agency ANP reported, citing foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra.
Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court’s decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader over the 2014 downing of the Malaysian airliner “neglected impartiality”.
Updated
A Ukrainian soldier fires an anti-tank missile at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, yesterday.
Ukrainian experts are already working at the site in the border area of south-eastern Poland where a missile killed two people, the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said.
He wrote on Twitter that Ukraine would continue “open and constructive” cooperation with Poland over Tuesday’s incident, in which two people were killed.
Ukrainian experts are already working at the site of the tragedy in Przewodów caused by Russian missile terror against Ukraine. I am grateful to the Polish side for granting them access. We will continue our cooperation in an open and constructive manner, as closest friends do.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) November 18, 2022
Warsaw and its western allies say evidence from the scene points to the explosion being caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian missile. Kyiv denies this, saying it has evidence of a “Russian trace” in the blast.
Updated
Putin discussed creating Turkish 'gas hub' with Erdoğan
The Russian president discussed the idea of creating a Turkish “gas hub” with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Kremlin said on Friday.
“Particular attention is paid to the prospects of implementing the initiative, launched by the Russian president in October and supported by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to create a major gas hub in Turkey,” the Kremlin said.
Updated
Before the war, the problems faced by the residents of Kherson were similar to those in many European cities: salaries, corruption, addiction, the need to improve public services. Now they centre on obtaining the means of survival: water, heat, food, electricity and connection to the outside world.
Many villages in the Kherson region have been without electricity, gas and running water for months. Kherson city’s electricity and water supply was cut off about two weeks ago as the Russians fled, and not everyone had a gas supply.
Almost a week after Ukrainian forces retook the city, residents were wandering around carrying 5-litre plastic water bottles on trolleys, full or empty. They could be overheard asking each other where to find bread and discussing how many days it had been since they had seen milk in the shops. In some residential courtyards, people were gathered around campfires, cooking food and boiling water.
In Kherson’s central square, where some were still taking pictures next to the Ukrainian flags, a large crowd had gathered. They were standing packed close together but often facing opposite directions and glued to their phones. They were there for the new 4G mast, one of several the returning Ukrainian authorities have set up in the city centre to compensate for the destruction of telecoms infrastructure by the fleeing Russian forces.
Updated
Ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group have said in a joint statement that some members condemned the war in Ukraine and also pledged to keep supply chains and markets open.
“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions,” the statement read, adding that Apec was not the forum to resolve security issues.
The statement issued at a summit of leaders of the bloc of 21 Asia-Pacific countries in Bangkok echoed one issued at the G20 a few days earlier in Bali, Indonesia, Reuters reported.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
The Swedish prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines has confirmed Friday that the incident was sabotage, and said that traces of explosives have been found.
A senior UN official on Friday welcomed the extension by four months of a deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports, but said there was still work to be done.
The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency has reported that a school was struck by Ukrainian fire in the occupied region of Donetsk, one of the areas of Ukraine that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed. It quoted the Russian-imposed mayor of Donetsk Aleksey Kulemin saying that 10 shells were fired at the central districts of the city, two of which landed in close proximity to the school.
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, said that eight people were injured on Thursday dealing with the consequences of a Russian strike on what he described as “gas industry equipment” in Izium.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said there is no prospect or plans of a summit between Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the US president, Joe Biden. Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was not ruling out further high-level meetings with the US on “strategic stability”. “If the Americans show interest and readiness, we will not refuse,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying in Russian state media. Tass also quoted him saying: “There is simply nothing to talk about Ukraine with them [the US].”
Pope Francis reiterated on Friday the Vatican was ready to do anything possible to mediate and put an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the pontiff said in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa. Asked whether he believed reconciliation between Moscow and Kyiv was possible, the pontiff called on everyone not to give up.
Winter’s first snow fell in Kyiv on Thursday while authorities said they were working to restore power nationwide after Russia earlier this week unleashed what Ukraine said was the heaviest bombardment of civilian infrastructure of the war.
About 10 million people were without power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday evening video address. Authorities in some places had ordered forced emergency blackouts, he said.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. Tom Ambrose will be with you shortly. I will be back later on.
A senior UN official on Friday welcomed the extension by four months of a deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports, but said there was still work to be done.
“We are really very pleased on the extension of the Black Sea grains initiative. It is very good news for the world, for the food insecurity crisis that we are going through,” Reuters reports Rebeca Grynspan told the media in Geneva.
“But we have said very clearly that we are still not where we want to be, there is still work to be done and especially on fertilisers,” she added.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said there is no prospect or plans of a summit between Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the US president, Joe Biden.
Earlier Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was not ruling out further high-level meetings with the US on “strategic stability”
“If the Americans show interest and readiness, we will not refuse,” Reuters report Ryabkov was quoted as saying in Russian state media.
Tass also quotes him saying: “There is simply nothing to talk about Ukraine with them.”
Updated
Today the FT has a profile of Ukraine’s general Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, whose unorthodox tactics, it says “have helped to tip the balance in the war”. Roman Olearchyk in Kyiv writes:
Zaluzhnyi’s skill at adapting to a fast-changing battlefield was demonstrated in Kharkiv, where his troops reported that the Russian frontline had become thinly guarded. In contrast to the slow attrition that succeeded in Kherson, Zaluzhnyi and his generals seized the moment. In September they led a lightning counterstrike that sent Russian soldiers fleeing in haste – leaving everything from tanks and boots behind.
“That’s exactly how Kharkiv and Kherson happened … Opportunistic warfare,” said Andriy Zagorodnyuk, former Ukraine defence minister and current government adviser on security.
Zagorodnyuk attributed Zaluzhnyi’s success to his ability to delegate, encourage initiative among lower ranks and obtain the feedback needed to react to opportunities.
“People on the ground know the situation much better than in Kyiv. They are there. They help to build this opportunistic warfare when they see the weak spots of the enemy,” he said.
The general’s command style “allows others to realise their capacities and talents”, whereas in Russia’s military, “only one to two people make decisions and the rest are told to shut up”, he said.
Updated
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has warned residents that they may hear “sounds similar to explosions” over the next half hour in the region. On Telegram he is attempting to reassure people that “the situation is under control” and that it will be the sound of controlled detonations to neutralise Russian munitions bought down by air defences earlier in the day.
Ukraine’s defence ministry has published an image which it claims to be a destroyed house of culture in the Zaporizhzhia region. It says it was struck by a Russian missile.
House of culture in the Zaporizhzhia region.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 18, 2022
Another russian missile strike.
Today, the "great russian culture" generates only death and destruction.
📷 by the Head of Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration. pic.twitter.com/rtEd7Wz7RU
Swedish prosecutor confirms remains of explosives found at site of Nord Stream sabotage
The Swedish prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines has confirmed that the incident was sabotage, and said that traces of explosives have been found.
In a statement, prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said:
During the crime scene investigations that were carried out on site in the Baltic Sea, extensive seizures were made, and the area has been carefully documented. Analysis that has now been carried out shows traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects that were found. Advanced analysis work continues in order to be able to draw firmer conclusions about the incident.
The statement goes on to say that “the preliminary investigation is very complex and comprehensive” and that the work continues. The statement does not name any suspects. It also praises the cooperation of authorities in Sweden with those in other countries. It ends by saying that the prosecutor cannot provide further information at this time, and will not be providing any further access to the media.
At the end of September large-scale ruptures in the pipelines caused a gas leak that was visible from the surface of the Baltic sea.
Underwater footage from the middle of October showed the extent of the damage. At the end of October the Russian defence ministry accused British navy personnel of blowing up the pipelines, while presenting no evidence to back the claim, which London denied.
The Associated Press have published excerpts of an interview with Alesha Babenko, who claims that for 10 days he was locked in a basement and regularly beaten by Russian soldiers. He told the AP he thought he was going to die.
In September, Babenko and his 14-year-old nephew, Vitaliy Mysharskiy, were arrested by Russian soldiers who occupied his village of Kyselivka in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson. They had been taking photos of destroyed tanks and sending them to the Ukrainian army.
Seated this week on a bench outside his home, the AP reports Babenko was visibly shaken as he recounted the trauma of being thrown into a car, driven to the city of Kherson and interrogated until he confessed.
After Babenko and his nephew returned home – at a time when his village was still under Russian occupation – he was too terrified to leave the house. He was haunted by what he had endured. While detained, Russian soldiers interrogated him repeatedly, kicking and punching his ribs, nose and stomach almost daily, he said.
His young nephew escaped such abuse but was told he would become a Russian citizen and be protected. The two were released after confessing to what they’d done on video, they said.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians or abusing prisoners of war since it began its latest invasion of Ukraine in February.
Updated
Death toll of Russian attacks on Thursday rises
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, has said that two more bodies have been recovered in Vilniansk in the Zaporizhzhia regions. On Telegram he says “thus nine people have already been found dead from the rockets of Russian terrorists who fired at residential buildings yesterday”. The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency has reported that a school was struck by Ukrainian fire in the occupied region of Donetsk, one of the areas of Ukraine that the Russian Federation claims to have annexed.
It quotes the Russian-imposed mayor of Donetsk Aleksey Kulemin saying that 10 shells were fired at the central districts of the city, two of which landed in close proximity to the school. The report states that:
According to local residents, there were about five hits. Due to the fact that the shelling took place during the curfew, there were no casualties. The windows were broken, the walls in the school building were cut with shrapnel.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has posted to Telegram to say that it is investigating the incident. The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has given an update on the situation in his region on Telegram. He has posted to say that eight people were injured yesterday dealing with the consequences of a strike on what he described as “gas industry equipment” in Izium.
He also said that a 60-year-old man was hospitalised after a mine exploded yesterday, and that Ukraine’s emergency services neutralised 219 mines in his region yesterday.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. My colleague Martin Belam will take you through the rest of the day’s news.
Pope Francis reiterated on Friday the Vatican was ready to do anything possible to mediate and put an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the pontiff said in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa.
Asked whether he believed reconciliation between Moscow and Kyiv was possible, the pontiff called on everyone not to give up.
“But everyone must commit to demilitarising hearts, starting with their own, and then defusing, disarming violence. We must all be pacifists. Wanting peace, not just a truce that may only serve to rearm. Real peace, which is the fruit of dialogue,” he told the paper.
Updated
Meanwhile the Donetsk-Oblast governor, Pavlov Krylenko, reports on Telegram that one civilian was killed and four injured in Russian strikes in Bakhmut, Donetsk region on Thursday.
The UK Ministry of Defence has posted its daily security briefing, in which it says that Russia appears to be preparing for further Ukrainian breakthroughs in Donetsk:
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 18 November 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 18, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/TPUEazgQjx
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/7aRaQ58jIO
In a tweet, the ministry wrote:
Following the withdrawal of its forces from west of the Dnipro River, Russian forces continue to prioritise refitting, reorganisation and the preparation of defences across most sectors in Ukraine. Units have constructed new trench systems near the border of Crimea, as well as near the Siversky-Donets River between Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. Some of these locations are up to 60km behind the current front line, suggesting that Russian planners are making preparations in case of further major Ukrainian breakthroughs. It is likely that Russia will attempt to eventually redeployed some of the forces recovered from Kherson to reinforce and expand its offensive operations near the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.
The mayor of Lviv, Andruy Sadovy, has posted an update from the city with some good news, writing on Telegram that as of 8am, “power supply has been restored to almost the entire city and that water supply and heating were restored. The water is hot and cold.”
Updated
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, has posted an update this morning on Telegram saying that while there were no strikes in Kryvyi Ri district overnight, the city of Nikopol was attacked:
“Two high-rise residential buildings, one private residential building, a solar substation, six garages, two passenger cars and a power line were damaged.”
There were no deaths, he said.
Missile strikes leave 10 million Ukrainians without power
Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Thursday, crippling the country’s energy infrastructure and plunging millions into darkness as winter sets in and temperatures drop.
Repeated barrages have disrupted electricity and water supplies across Ukraine, AFP reports, but the Kremlin blamed civilians’ suffering on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate, rather than on Russian attacks.
AFP journalists in several Ukrainian cities said the latest assault coincided with the season’s first snow, after officials in Kyiv warned of “difficult” days ahead.
“Currently, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, adding that the regions of Odessa, Vinnytsia, Sumy and Kyiv were most affected.
The strikes on Ukraine’s power grid follow a series of battlefield setbacks for Russia, including last week’s retreat from Kherson.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments as they happen.
As the winter’s first snow fell in Kyiv, authorities said they were working to restore power nationwide after Russia earlier this week unleashed what Ukraine said was the heaviest bombardment of civilian infrastructure of the war, which began in late February when Russia invaded its neighbour.
About 10 million people were without power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday evening video address. Authorities in some places ordered forced emergency blackouts, he said.
A UN agency said a serious humanitarian crisis loomed, with millions facing “constant power cuts” as Ukraine’s typically long, cold winter begins.
More on this shortly. In the meantime, here is the key recent news:
Russia unleashed another wave of rocket, drone and missile strikes across Ukraine on Thursday morning. The latest strikes mark the sixth mass attack since early October, which Ukrainian authorities say are aimed at destroying the country’s energy system.
Winter’s first snow fell in Kyiv while authorities said they were working to restore power nationwide after Russia earlier this week unleashed what Ukraine said was the heaviest bombardment of civilian infrastructure of the war.
The Donetsk region experienced the heaviest fighting of the war so far. Russian forces were reinforced by troops pulled from Kherson city in the south which Ukraine recaptured last week. Russian forces fired artillery on the towns of Bakhmut and nearby Soledar, among others, the Ukrainian military said.
About 10 million people were without power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday evening video address. Authorities in some places had ordered forced emergency blackouts, he said.
A deal brokered by the UN and Turkey in July aimed at easing global food shortages was extended for four months on Thursday, though Russia said its own demands were yet to be fully addressed.
Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro were confirmed by the presidential administration and the regional heads. Three people were reportedly injured in Odesa region, while another 14 people were injured in the strike on Dnipro city, according to its mayor, Borys Filatov.
Two people were killed in a missile attack overnight on the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia, according to local officials. Three were wounded in an attack on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, they added.
Investigators in recaptured territory in the area uncovered 63 bodies bearing signs of torture after Russian forces left, Ukraine’s interior minister was quoted as saying. Russia denies its troops target civilians or have committed atrocities. Mass burial sites have been found in other parts previously occupied by Russian troops, including some with civilian bodies showing signs of torture.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said the barrage of missiles that struck Ukraine on Tuesday was probably the largest number of strikes that Russia had conducted in a day since the first week of its invasion.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US had “seen nothing so far that contradicts” Poland’s preliminary assessment that Ukrainian air defences were to blame for Tuesday’s missile incident. US president Joe Biden disputed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comment that the missiles that landed in Poland on Tuesday were not of Ukrainian origin, saying this is not what evidence suggested.
The Kremlin said it could not imagine engaging in “public” negotiations with Ukraine. In a call with reporters, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of changing its position regarding possible Russia-Ukraine peace talks, adding that the war would continue regardless of dropping temperatures.
Ukrainian forces control about 1% of territory in the eastern region of Luhansk, according to the Russian-installed head of the area. The Moscow-backed administrator, Leonid Pasechnik, was cited as saying that Ukraine controlled the village of Belogorovka and two other settlements in the region.
A member of Russia’s armed forces who took part in the invasion of Ukraine has requested political asylum after landing in Madrid, the Guardian learned.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he believed neither Russia nor the US planned to use nuclear weapons. Erdoğan’s comments came after US central intelligence agency (CIA) director William Burns and Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, met this week in Ankara in what was the first known high-level, face-to-face US-Russian contact since the war began in February.
A Dutch court has found three men guilty of the murder of 298 people on board flight MH17, which was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile when it was flying over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
