Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv and Moscow. That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war blog today.
Here’s where things stand:
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.
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.
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 has 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.
World leaders welcomed the news that an agreement was reached in Istanbul to prolong the Black Sea grain initiative for a further 120 days. The deal enables Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers to be exported through the Black Sea and to avert a global food crisis.
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.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images we have received from Kyiv, which has seen the first snowfall of the season.
‘Horrific’ scale of torture in liberated Kherson, says official
A Ukrainian ombudsperson has described the scale of torture that has been discovered in Kherson city as “horrific”.
Authorities have found “torture chambers” in the recently liberated southern Ukrainian city, where dozens of people have been reportedly been tortured, Dmytro Lubynets said.
He said Ukrainians were electrocuted and beaten with metal pipes before being killed, AFP reports.
Lubynets said he had spoken to a man who had been kept in such one of these “torture chambers” for 45 days, who witnessed dozens of others being tortured.
He said:
I have not seen a scale like this before. The scale is just horrific.
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 has learned.
Nikita Chibrin, 27, said that he spent more than four months in Ukraine as part of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, a unit accused of committing war crimes in the Kyiv region in March.
Chibrin landed in the Spanish capital on Tuesday and was being held at the airport’s immigration centre. In a phone interview from the airport on Wednesday evening, Chibrin denied involvement in the reported war crimes of his unit, saying he did not fire a gun “once” while in Ukraine.
He said he was eager to testify in an international court about his experiences in Ukraine. “I have nothing to hide,” he said.
This is a criminal war that Russia started. I want to do everything I can to make it stop.
Chibrin said he decided to flee Russia after deserting from his unit in Ukraine in June. According to Chibrin, he told his commanders of his opposition to the war on 24 February, the first day of the invasion. Chibrin says he was removed from his rank as an army mechanic after he spoke out and was then tasked with performing manual labour.
“They threatened to jail me. In the end, my commanders decided to use me as a cleaner and a loader. I was placed away from the battlefield,” he said of his time in Ukraine.
The Guardian has not been able to verify all the details of Chibrin’s story independently. Chibrin has supplied documents and photographs showing he was stationed with the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukrainian experts are already in Poland to investigate the site where a missile killed two people on Tuesday.
Ukraine and Poland “will cooperate constructively and openly” on the investigation, Kuleba said, adding that he expected the investigators to swiftly get access to the site in south-eastern Poland.
I spoke to @RauZbigniew. Ukraine and Poland will cooperate constructively and openly on the incident caused by Russian missile terror against Ukraine. Our experts are already in Poland. We expect them to swiftly get access to the site in cooperation with Polish law enforcement.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) November 17, 2022
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has welcomed an agreement to extend the Black Sea grain deal to facilitate Ukraine’s agricultural exports from its southern Black Sea ports.
Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative will contribute to reduced prices and ensure desperately-needed food from Ukraine can feed the world. We will continue to support helping grain from Ukraine to reach global markets, particularly countries in facing severe food insecurity.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) November 17, 2022
Updated
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said Russia shows no signs of being ready to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Borrell told Reuters:
I am afraid Russia is not ready to withdraw and as far as it doesn’t withdraw, peace will not be possible.
He added:
It is Russia who has to make peace possible, the aggressor has to withdraw if he wants a sustainable peace
Updated
Ukrainian investigators have arrived at the site in eastern Poland struck by a missile on Tuesday, a source has told CNN.
A joint Polish and US investigation had begun at the site, outside the village outside the rural eastern Polish village of Przewodow, about four miles from the Ukrainian border.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday said he had no doubt that the blast was not caused by a Ukrainian missile, adding that he believed Ukraine should already have been given access to the site.
Updated
Blinken: Russia ‘ultimately responsible’ for Poland missile incident
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken said an investigation into Tuesday’s missile incident in eastern Poland was ongoing but that the US had “seen nothing so far that contradicts” Poland’s preliminary assessment that Ukrainian air defences were to blame for the border blast.
However, Blinken reiterated:
Whatever its final conclusion, we already know the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident – Russia.
He added:
What we are seeing every single day now is Russia raining missiles down on Ukraine, seeking to destroy its critical infrastructure, targeting the ability that Ukraine has to keep the lights on, to keep the heat going, to allow the country simply to live and move forward.
Ukraine has the right to defend itself and we are committed to supporting Ukraine.
The US is “sharing the information that we have” with Ukraine, he told reporters at an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok. He added that all partners had “a commitment to follow the facts” regarding the deadly incident.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv and Moscow. Here’s where we stand:
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.
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.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said the barrage of missiles that struck Ukraine on Tuesday was likely the largest number of strikes that Russia had conducted in a single day since the first week of its invasion.
US president Joe Biden has 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.
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.
World leaders welcomed the news that an agreement was reached in Istanbul to prolong the Black Sea grain initiative for a further 120 days. The deal enables Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers to be exported through the Black Sea and to avert a global food crisis.
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.
Good afternoon from London, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still here with all the latest developments from Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has welcomed the ruling by a Dutch court that flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile when it was flying over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Important court decision in The Hague. First sentences for the perpetrators of #MH17 downing. Holding to account masterminds is crucial too, as the feeling of impunity leads to new crimes. We must dispel this illusion. Punishment for all RF's atrocities then & now is inevitable.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 17, 2022
Ukrainian investigators in the previously occupied region of Kherson have uncovered 63 bodies bearing signs of torture, said Ukraine’s interior minister, Denys Monastyrsky.
“The search has only just started, so many more dungeons and burial places will be uncovered,” the minister told Interfax news agency.
On Wednesday we visited a “torture room” in Kherson city where dozens of men were detained, electrocuted, beaten and some of them killed.
Updated
Kremlin says ‘difficult to imagine’ public negotiations with Ukraine
The Kremlin has accused Kyiv of changing its position regarding possible Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and said it could not imagine engaging in “public” negotiations with Kyiv.
In a call with reporters earlier today, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said:
First they negotiate, then they refuse to negotiate, then they pass a law that prohibits any kind of negotiations, then they say they want negotiations, but public ones.
He added:
Therefore it is difficult to imagine public negotiations, there is no such thing … One thing is for sure: the Ukrainians do not want any negotiations.
Peskov said the US was capable of taking Russia’s concerns into account and could encourage Kyiv to return to the negotiating table if it wanted to.
Asked about millions of people left without electricity after massive Russian strikes on Ukraine earlier this week amid falling temperatures, Peskov said:
The special military operation continues and its continuation does not depend on climatic, weather conditions.
Updated
Finland’s government has proposed spending €139m to build fences along parts of the country’s border with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters reports:
Finland, which is applying for membership in the western military alliance Nato, has a history of wars with Russia, but the forest-covered border is still only marked with signs and plastic lines for most of its 1,300km (810 mile) length.
The Nordic country said in June it would build barriers along parts of the Russian frontier in a move to strengthen preparedness against hybrid threats such as the potential mass influx of asylum seekers.
The bill on preparedness, while contested in terms of European Union asylum rules, was passed in July by a supermajority that allows parliament to fast-track laws.
Updated
There are some more lines on Reuters from the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine in 2014 that left 298 passengers and crew dead.
Dutch judges on Thursday convicted three men for murder, former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. The trio have each received a sentence of life imprisonment.
The convicted men were also ordered to pay at least 16 million euros in compensation to relatives of the victims.
The men remain fugitives. They are all believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them.
A fourth, Russian Oleg Pulatov was acquitted.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser has said the confirmation that the flight was shot down by Russian-made missile sets “an important precedent”.
Updated
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he believed neither Russia nor the US planned to use nuclear weapons, following a meeting of their respective spy chiefs in Turkey.
In a readout of his comments to reporters, Erdoğan said:
Let me say this, according to information I received from my intelligence chief, neither of the sides will use nuclear weapons as of now.
The 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 President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine in February.
Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, and Naryshkin discussed “sensitive” questions during their discussions, according to Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Erdoğan said he wanted to keep both sides in close dialogue. He said:
Of course we want them ... to come together often.
He added:
God forbid, (use of nuclear weapons) could lead to a new world war. Let’s not let that happen.
The latest wave of Russian rocket, drone and missile strikes across Ukraine earlier today, which Kyiv said was aimed at destroying the country’s energy system, came as temperatures dropped and winter sets in.
There are reports that the fresh strikes had come with snow falling for the first time this season, while officials warned of “difficult” days ahead with a cold spell approaching.
My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison is on the Ukraine-Poland border:
Winter has arrived on the Ukraine- Poland border.
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) November 17, 2022
Bitter cold, without heat or power — brutal pic.twitter.com/4y7kjsKp9o
The massive wave of Russian missiles on cities in Ukraine earlier this week cut power to 7m homes. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz confirmed strikes earlier today damaged or destroyed some of Ukraine’s gas production facilities.
Updated
Flight MH17 shot down by Russian-made missile, Dutch court confirms
A Dutch court is reading its verdict in the trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine in 2014 that left 298 passengers and crew dead.
The four suspects – Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko – were not in court to hear the verdict as they refused to attend the trial.
All 298 people on board were killed when the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014 was shot out of the sky over separatist-held eastern Ukraine.
An international investigation found that the plane was hit by a missile supplied by Moscow fired from a village that was held at the time by pro-Russian rebels. Moscow has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the incident.
Reading the verdict, head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court has determined that MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile from an agricultural field in eastern Ukraine.
Prosecutors have asked for life sentences and warrants for the arrest of the four men, who remain at large. None of the men appeared in court and only Pulatov chose to appoint lawyers, who pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
MH17 court case: the judges prepare to give their verdict pic.twitter.com/kPXyhm7mj3
— Adam Parsons (@adamparsons) November 17, 2022
At least 14 injured in Dnipro attack
At least 14 people, including a girl, have been injured in an attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to the head of the regional administration, Valentyn Reznichenko.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, posted a video on his social media page that showed a car driving through traffic before a large fireball erupts slightly further up the road.
Reznichenko, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, said a large fire broke out after strikes on Dnipro had hit an industrial target.
Updated
Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz has confirmed that Russian missile strikes earlier today damaged or destroyed some of Ukraine’s gas production facilities.
Naftogaz chief executive Oleksiy Chernyshov said Russia had carried out a “massive attack” on the infrastructure of gas producer UkrGasVydobuvannya in eastern Ukraine.
Cherynshov said:
Currently, we know of several objects that have been destroyed. Others have suffered damage of varying degrees.
Updated
World leaders welcome Black Sea grain deal extension
The UN chief, António Guterres, has welcomed the agreement to extend the Black Sea grain deal.
I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the safe navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) November 17, 2022
The initiative demonstrates the importance of discreet diplomacy in finding multilateral solutions.
The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected sea transit corridor aimed at easing global food shortages by facilitating Ukraine’s agricultural exports from its southern Black Sea ports. It has now been extended for another 120 days.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, commended Guterres for his work and said this was “good news for a world that badly needs access to grain and fertilisers”.
I welcome the extension of Black Sea Grain Initiative.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) November 17, 2022
With 10 million tonnes of grain already exported under this initiative from #Ukraine this is good news for a world that badly needs access to grain and fertilisers.
Commending continued efforts of @UN and @antonioguterres
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, also welcomed the news that the deal had been extended until March.
Welcome news that the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be renewed until March.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 17, 2022
Grain will continue to flow from Ukraine to help feed the world.
Over 11m tonnes of grain and other food have already been delivered since July. It is vital this continues.
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry has confirmed the extension of the Black Sea grain deal for 120 days starting from Friday, without any changes to the current one.
In a statement, the ministry added that Russia presumes its concerns related to easier conditions for its own grain and fertiliser exports will be fully taken into account in the coming period.
Euan MacDonald from New Voice of Ukraine has shared a clip of Ukraine’s air defence system at work as two Russian cruise missiles are shot down within seconds of each other over Kyiv region.
Spectacular footage: Two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles shot down within seconds over Kyiv Oblast on Nov. 15. First is audible explosion and glow on horizon, second a clear view of interception by German Iris-T air defense system. pic.twitter.com/bDp1twuzJB
— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) November 17, 2022
Summary
Here are all the key developments which have taken place over the past few hours:
Russia appears to be carrying out another mass strike on Ukraine this morning. Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro have been confirmed by the presidential administration and the respective regional heads.
The top US general said Ukraine’s chances of any near-term, outright military victory are not high, cautioning that Russia still has significant combat power inside Ukraine despite suffering battlefield setbacks.
An agreement was reached in Istanbul to prolong the Black Sea grain initiative for a further 120 days, enabling Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers to be exported through the Black Sea and to avert a global food crisis.
The UK Ministry of Defence said the barrage of missiles that struck Ukraine on Tuesday is likely the largest number of strikes that Russia has conducted in a single day since the first week of its invasion.
US president Joe Biden has 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 barrage of more than 90 missiles that rained down on Ukraine was “a deliberate tactic” and attempt by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to freeze Kyiv into submission, the US ambassador to the UN has said.
I’m handing over to my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong who’ll be keeping you updated for the rest of the day. Thanks for following.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has delivered a statement on Russia’s missile attacks on Ukraine, condemning the “brutality” of over 80 missile strikes targeted at civilians and public infrastructure.
He said:
The aim [is] to cast the population into darkness and cold. Once again Russia has shown its barbarity and given the lie to any claim they are interested in peace.
He added that Poland’s investigation into where the missiles which landed on its soil came from “has our full support”, and the UK will help conclude it.
Addressing the suggestion that the missiles may have come from Ukraine, he said:
No blame can be placed on a country trying to defend itself from such a barrage. The blame belongs solely to Russia.
He added that he spoke with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, alongside Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to express both countries’ full support.
He said:
We will continue to stand with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s criminal aggression.
He said that the G20, which met in Bali earlier this week, was “created to grip challenges like this”, adding that “today’s crisis is different because it is being driven by a G20 member”.
In response to Russia’s severe disruption of global food and energy markets, he said the G20 were delivering a “decisive response”, with almost all member countries calling out Russia’s actions and “declaring today’s era must not be one of war”.
He said there was a “shared determination” among world leaders at the G20 summit to “restore stability, deliver long-term growth and drive a better future, one where no single country has the power to hold us back”.
He said the G20 had agreed to use all tools at its disposal to support the global economy and promote financial stability, including by supporting developing countries, preventing debt traps, tackling causes of inflation through fiscal sustainability, supporting the Black Sea deal to prevent famine, improving energy security to accelerate the transition to clean energy, and committing to maintaining free markets and free trade.
He said:
We will act to protect our collective economic security.
We will continue to support Ukraine. We will continue to stand up for the rule of law and the fundamental principles of sovereignty and self-determination. We will build a global economy that is more secure, more stable, more resilient. This is what the gravity of the moment demands.
Updated
Here is Guardian correspondents Isobel Koshiw and Lorenzo Tondo’s full report of the wave of missile strikes across Ukraine in the morning:
Russian official says Ukraine controls 1% of Luhansk
Ukrainian forces control about 1% of territory in the eastern region of Luhansk, the RIA Novosti news agency cited the Russian-installed head of the area as saying.
The Moscow-backed administrator Leonid Pasechnik said Ukraine controlled the village of Belogorovka and two other settlements in the region.
Russia has declared the Luhansk region its own after holding what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine. Western governments and Kyiv said the votes breached international law and were coercive and non-representative.
Updated
Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov says a city hall employee was caught up in this morning’s attack while out helping infirm, elderly women as part of their job. He said the employee is being operated on and published a picture of a shrapnel fragment which has pierced their coat.
He said:
This is the coat. And this is a fragment. ... The coat belongs to an employee of the city hall. My employee. She is now being operated on. …
During today’s rocket (attack), she and her colleague were just doing their job. Helping infirm elderly women. ...
When you (say) your prayers to heaven, please do not forget words of thanks for ordinary people: social security workers, postmen, energy workers, doctors, rescuers, utility workers. All those who fight without weapons in their hands and save our lives.
Updated
Russia is not prepared to “chop up” the Black Sea grain deal, but wants a relaxation of sanctions on its agricultural and fertiliser exports to be a vital part of the deal, the Tass news agency quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister as saying.
Updated
Guardian correspondent Lorenzo Tondo, who is in Mykolaiv region in the south of Ukraine, is saying that the missile strikes appear to be continuing:
We just heard another long series of loud explosions in the regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv a few minutes ago. Russia appears to be carrying out another mass strike on Ukraine this morning.
Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro have been confirmed by the presidential administration and the respective regional heads.
Updated
Officials say two people were killed in Zaporhizhzhia
Reuters is reporting that local officials have said that two people were killed in a missile attack overnight on the southeastern region of Zaporhizhzhia, three were wounded in an attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv and three were hurt in Odesa.
Ukraine is likely to get access to the site in southeastern Poland where a missile killed two people, the Polish president’s top foreign policy advisor has said, after Kyiv demanded access to the scene of the blast.
Reuters reports that Polish President Andrzej Duda said that access to the site of the explosion would require the agreement of both countries leading the investigation, Poland and the United States.
Warsaw says the explosion was most likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray, something Kyiv denies.
Jakub Kumoch told private broadcaster TVN 24:
A Polish-American investigating team is on site. The Ukrainians asked for access to the site of the investigation. If both parties agree, and as far as I know there will be no objection from the American side, such access could be obtained soon.
There are indeed film materials, I would not like to talk about the content of the film materials that I saw in classified mode, but of course the prime minister gave such information, such materials exist.
“These are our normal photos from the border, where you can see certain things. You see shots over Ukraine, fighting over Ukraine, and at some point, in a very short time, you see a certain sequence of events.
The head of Poland’s National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, also told private broadcaster RMF FM that as far as he was aware Duda was not opposed to having Ukrainian observers at the scene.
Russia appears to be carrying out mass strike in Odesa and Dnipro
The Guardian’s Ukraine correspondent Isobel Koshiw and correspondent Lorenzo Tondo are in Mykolaiv region in the south of the country and have a report on this morning’s mass strike:
Russia appears to be carrying out another mass strike on Ukraine this morning. Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro have been confirmed by the presidential administration and the respective regional heads.
In Kyiv and Dnipro, air defence systems are working to shoot down incoming rockets, say officials. Unofficial channels are reporting the use of air defence systems in several other cities across Ukraine.
It appears to be yet another attack aimed at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram of this morning’s attack:
The enemy thinks that he will weaken our defence with energy strikes and be able to strike in the back. This is a naive tactic of cowardly losers that we are ready for.
Ukraine has already withstood extremely difficult blows of the enemy, which did not have the results that these Russian cowards were counting on. We continue to move forward. Do not ignore the air raid sirens, they will not succeed. We will crush them.
Since early October, Russia has been successfully targeting Ukraine’s energy facilities through a series of mass strikes. Earlier this month Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that about 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed.
On 15 November, Russia sent about 100 missiles into Ukraine, according to its authorities. Though almost three-quarters were stopped by Ukraines air defence systems, energy facilities in almost every region were targeted, according to Ukraines state energy company, Ukrenergo.
Ukrenergo have yet to make a full statement on the damage but described the situation as the worst so far. Emergency blackouts have been implemented across Ukraine’s northern and southern regions in an effort to stabilise the grid.
Two people were killed in a village on the Polish border as a result of the November 15 strike. Ukraines allies have said it was a Ukrainian air defense missile but Ukraine insists it was of Russian origin.
In his nightly address last night, Zelenskiy said:
Emergency and stabilisation shutdowns continue in 18 regions and in Kyiv. These [comprise of] millions of consumers. We are doing everything to restore electricity – both generation and supply. Another meeting of the Ramstein [talks] took place. The key issue [discussed] was the strengthening of our anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence. I held negotiations with the vice-president of the World Bank, who oversees our region.
We discussed projects for the restoration of our infrastructure and public facilities, the work of the reconstruction fund of our country. The total volume of projects which was discussed today is billions of dollars. These are things that needs to be rebuilt now in order to guarantee a normal life for people.If we survive this winter, and we will do it, Ukraine will definitely win this war.
Kyiv city council said two rockets and two Iranian-supplied Shahid drones were shot down over the capital, according to their Telegram. The head of Kyiv region Dmytro Kuleba is calling on residents to stay in their shelters. Rockets and drones are believed to be still in transit.
Head of Mykolaiv region Vitaliy Kim said that Iranian-supplied drones are currently flying in Mykolaiv.
Three people were injured, including a teenager, in the strike on Dnipro city, according to its mayor Borys Filatov. The Dnipro regional administration has reported that a total of five people were injured.
Updated
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov has said that the Black Sea grain initiative will be prolonged for 120 days.
Writing in a tweet, he said the deal was agreed between UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres and Ukraine’s president, Volodimir Zelenskiy.
He added that Ukraine had officially appealed to extend the initiative, which was agreed in July and enables Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers to be exported through the Black Sea, for one year and to include the Mykolaiv port.
His remarks could not immediately be confirmed independently.
The July deal has helped stave off a global food crisis by allowing exports through ports that had been blockaded by Russia.
#BlackSeaGrainInitiative will be prolonged for 120 days. 🇺🇦 @ZelenskyyUa together w/ @antonioguterres 🇺🇳@UN, 🇹🇷 @RTErdogan & Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar @tcsavunma made another important step in the global fight against the food crisis.
— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) November 17, 2022
The Guardian’s diplomatic correspondent Patrick Wintour has more on the background to the deal here:
Rachel Hall here taking over from Samantha Lock for the next few hours. If there’s anything we’ve missed, do drop me a line at rachel.hall@theguardian.com.
Updated
Ukraine's chance of quick victory not high, Pentagon chief says
The top US general has said Ukraine’s chances of any near-term, outright military victory are not high, cautioning that Russia still has significant combat power inside Ukraine despite suffering battlefield setbacks.
US army Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told a news conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday:
The probability of a Ukrainian military victory – defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine to include what they claim as Crimea – the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high, militarily.
“Politically, there may be a political solution where, politically, the Russians withdraw. That’s possible,” he said, noting that Russia was “right now is on its back”.
“The Ukrainians have achieved success after success after success. And the Russians have failed every single time. They’ve lost strategically, they’ve lost operationally, and I repeat, they lost tactically.” Milley added:
The strategic reframing of their objectives, of the illegal invasion, have all failed – every single one of them.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine knows that it would be a mistake to allow Russia to refit and rearm its troops. He said:
They have to continue to keep the pressure on the Russians going forward and I think [a] winter fight favours the Ukrainians.
Updated
Odesa struck by Russia missile, Ukraine's military says
Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa was struck by a Russian missile on Thursday morning, according to Ukraine’s military “south” command.
Ukrinform also reported explosions were heard in Dnipro, a city on the Dnipro River in central Ukraine.
Power outages have been reported across the city.
Updated
Russia’s media watchdog blocked access to the website of independent news site Novaya Gazeta on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Novaya Gazeta suspended publication on its website, social media and in print in March in response to strict new censorship laws introduced by Russia.
In July, the Roskomnadzor media regulator also blocked the website of a new Novaya Gazeta website that was launched in Europe by staff affiliated with the newspaper, and in September a court revoked Novaya Gazeta’s media licence.
Updated
Russia carries out 'largest number of strikes' since first week of war: UK MoD
The barrage of missiles that struck Ukraine on Tuesday is likely the largest number of strikes that Russia has conducted in a single day since the first week of its invasion, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The report, released on Thursday morning, read:
Munitions were launched from air, sea and land-based platforms. Although a large proportion of missiles were successfully intercepted, Ukraine is facing a significant decrease in the power available from its national grid. This will impact upon civilian access to communications, heating and water supplies.
Continued strikes at this scale are drawing deeply upon Russia’s reserves of conventional cruise missiles, as degrading Ukrainian’s national infrastructure has become a key element of Russia’s strategic approach to the campaign.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 17 November 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 17, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/2OxkATVv01
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ia3CMnGxxE
Updated
Biden disputes Zelenskiy’s claim missile in Poland not of Ukrainian origin
US president Joe Biden has disputed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comment that the missiles that landed in Poland on Tuesday were not of Ukrainian origin.
“That’s not the evidence,” Biden told reporters at the White House upon returning from a trip to Asia on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.
CIA head meets Polish president
Polish president, Andrzej Duda, met with US central intelligence agency director William Burns in Warsaw on Wednesday evening, the head of Poland’s national security bureau said.
Jacek Siewiera said the conversation “concerned the general security situation” and “the context of recent events came up”.
In the evening, president Andrzej Duda talked with the head of the CIA, William Burns, who is in Warsaw after his visits to Ankara and Kyiv. The conversation concerned the general security situation, the context of recent events appeared. Lots of work on the PL-US line today.”
Wieczorem Prezydent @AndrzejDuda rozmawiał z szefem CIA Williamem Burnsem, który po wizytach w Ankarze i Kijowie jest w Warszawie. Rozmowa dotyczyła ogólnej sytuacji bezpieczeństwa, pojawił się kontekst ostatnich wydarzeń. Na linii PL-US wiele dziś pracy. pic.twitter.com/QuBCWRtksD
— Jacek Siewiera (@JacekSiewiera) November 16, 2022
Updated
Putin trying to ‘freeze Ukraine into submission’, US envoy says
The barrage of more than 90 missiles that rained down on Ukraine was “a deliberate tactic” and attempt by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to freeze Kyiv into submission, the US ambassador to the UN has said.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council in remarks published on Thursday:
This tragedy would never have happened but for Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine and its recent missile assaults against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
He seems to have decided that if he can’t seize Ukraine by force, he will try to freeze the country into submission.
When I met with President @ZelenskyyUa, his message was simple: he seeks a just peace based on the UN Charter.
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) November 16, 2022
We cannot say the same for Russia.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.
UN undersecretary general for political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, reiterated that attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure were prohibited under international law, noting that “heavy battles” were continuing in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk.
She told council members:
There is no end in sight to the war … as long as it continues, the risks of potentially catastrophic spillover remain all too real.
"There is only one way to stop the death, destruction and division in Ukraine: the war must end."
— United Nations (@UN) November 17, 2022
-- @UNDPPA chief @DicarloRosemary in briefing to Security Council. https://t.co/NjTLgt5rLH pic.twitter.com/RhfIQtx03q
Poland’s UN ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski told the council “those innocent people would not have been killed if there had been no Russian war against Ukraine”. And Britain’s UN ambassador, Barbara Woodward, said: “We should be clear that this is a tragedy that indisputably stems from Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion. And it’s inhumane assault on civilians across Ukraine.”
“It is and remains a war of choice, a pure act of unprovoked aggression and the attempt to grab territory. This war must end not expand, and Russia started it, Russia must put an end to it.”
Updated
Explosions reported in Crimea
Explosions are being reported in the occupied town of Dzhankoi in Crimea.
According to Ukrainian media reports, a Russian airfield was hit.
Ukrinform said the explosions were heard late on Wednesday evening, citing local Telegram channels.
Explosions are being reported in occupied #Dzhankoi, #Crimea. Allegedly, a #Russian airfield was hit. pic.twitter.com/0QBZRxJplS
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 17, 2022
⚡️ Media: Explosions heard in Russian-occupied Dzhankoi.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) November 17, 2022
Explosions were heard in Russian-occupied Dzhankoi, Crimea, late in the evening on Nov. 16, Ukrinform reports citing local Telegram channels.
No official reports about the origins of explosions have been published yet.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
The barrage of more than 90 missiles that rained down on Ukraine was “a deliberate tactic” and attempt by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to freeze Kyiv into submission, the US ambassador to the UN has said.
Polish president, Andrzej Duda, met with US central intelligence agency director William Burns in Warsaw on Wednesday evening, to discuss the general security situation in the aftermath of an explosion at the Polish border.
For any updates or feedback you wish to share, please feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
A missile that crashed inside south-eastern Poland, killing two, was probably a stray fired by Ukraine’s air defences and not a Russian strike, Poland and Nato have said. Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said there is no evidence to suggest the missile was an intentional attack or was launched by Russia but was probably fired as part of Ukraine’s air defences and “unfortunately fell on Polish territory”.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, confirmed that initial analysis suggested the incident was “likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory” against Russian cruise missile attacks. “Let me be clear: this is not Ukraine’s fault,” he added. “Russia bears the ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine.” Meanwhile Nato allies met in Brussels to discuss their reactions to the incident.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he is convinced that the missile was not Ukrainian. Speaking to reporters, Zelenskiy said he had received reports from the command of Ukraine’s armed forces and air force and “cannot but trust them”.
US president Joe Biden disputed Zelenskiy’s comment that missiles that landed in Poland were not of Ukrainian origin. “That’s not the evidence,” Biden told reporters at the White House upon returning from a trip to Asia on Thursday.
Ukraine is requesting “immediate access” to the site of the explosion in eastern Poland, a senior Ukrainian defence official said. Oleksiy Danilov said Ukraine wanted a “joint study” of Tuesday’s incident with its partners. Duda said both Poland and the US would have to agree before Ukraine could take part in the investigation.
The Russian defence ministry said that on Tuesday, it had not targeted anywhere within 35km (22 miles) of the Ukraine-Poland border. The ministry said statements about “Russian missiles” falling in Przewodów were “a deliberate provocation with the aim of escalating the situation”.
Duda met US central intelligence agency director William Burns in Warsaw on Wednesday evening, the head of Poland’s national security bureau said. Jacek Siewiera said the conversation “concerned the general security situation” and “the context of recent events came up.”
The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “cruel and unrelenting” war for destabilising the world economy, while calling for Nato allies to wait for the results of “a full investigation into the circumstances behind missiles falling in Poland yesterday”. The British PM and his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, spoke with Zelenskiy and said in a readout afterwards that “whatever the outcome of that investigation [into the explosion in Poland], Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is squarely to blame for the ongoing violence”.
A vital deal allowing Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers to be exported through the Black Sea is expected to continue, according to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The deal was scheduled to expire on Saturday but Erdoğan said he was confident the deal was going to be renewed for a year, bringing relief to some of the poorest countries in the world.
A draft declaration from G20 leaders said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”, and demanded Russia’s “complete and unconditional withdrawal” from its neighbour’s territory. The reference to war is a rejection of Russia’s claim that it is involved in a “special military operation”. But it also said “there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”, reflecting the divisions among G20 states over Russia.
Ukrainian investigators have uncovered a claimed “torture room” in Kherson city where dozens of men were allegedly detained, electrocuted, beaten and some of them killed. Police said Russian soldiers took over the juvenile detention centre in around mid-March and turned it into a prison for men who refused to collaborate with them or who were accused of partisan activity.
