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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Vivian Ho (now); Martin Belam and Samantha Lock (earlier)

Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow says UK ‘too deep’ in war and claims special forces involved in drone attack

United Nations Ukraine United Kingdom Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelenksyy Moscow Turkey
Ukrainian troops fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions on a frontline in the Mykolaiv region.
Ukrainian troops fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions on a frontline in the Mykolaiv region. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Summary

It is 9pm in Ukraine.

  • Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, warned that that the UK was in “too deep” in the war in Ukraine, claiming that he had proof that UK special forces had been involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea. But when pressed to see this proof, Kelin said he handed it over to the British ambassador and that “it will become public pretty soon”, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

  • The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity at three sites in Ukraine that it inspected at Kyiv’s request, in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.

  • Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs ”strongly condemns” the forced relocation of Ukrainian citizens in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, calling them “deportations” and “war crimes”. Russian authorities in Kherson have been relocating civilians in the region, claiming it is for their safety as Ukrainian forces move closer. One week after Russian authorities relocated 70,000 civilians from the right bank of the Dnieper river to the left bank, Russian authorities said they were moving 70,000 civilians from the left bank to be “temporarily resettled deep into the Kherson region, as well as to other regions of the Russian Federation”. The reason, they said, was “possible damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station”.

  • Ukraine and Russia held another prisoner of war swap today, exchanging 107 service personnel.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that he will not attend the G20 summit taking place in two weeks in Bali if Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation will be participating in the conference.

  • Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defence, has said he believes that Ukrainian forces are able to retake Kherson, calling their work “methodical” and “effective”.

  • US embassy officials in Russia today visited the US basketball star Brittney Griner, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian prison. Last week, when a Russian court rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence, the Biden administration had strong words for Moscow, with Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, calling the rejected appeal “another sham judicial proceeding”. When pressed today, the White House said officials were continuing to work toward a prisoner swap offer with Russia for the release of Griner – but elaborated no further on what that meant, or how soon that could take place.

Last week, when a Russian court rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence, the Biden administration had strong words for Moscow, with Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, calling the rejected appeal “another sham judicial proceeding”.

“President Biden has been clear that Brittney should be released immediately,” he said.

When pressed today, the White House said officials were continuing to work toward a prisoner swap offer with Russia for the release of Griner – but elaborated no further on what that meant, or how soon that could take place.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, has been in Russian custody since she was arrested on 17 February at a Moscow airport. Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges in her possession that contained cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia. She was sentenced on 4 August to nine years in a penal colony.

Her family has decried her detention as politically motivated, with many of her supporters raising concerns for her safety, in regards to her race and sexuality. Griner is married to a woman. The US has characterised Griner’s arrest and subsequent sentencing as a “wrongful detention”.

Ukraine 'strongly condemns' the 'deportation' of civilians in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs has issued a strong statement against the forced relocation of Ukrainian citizens in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, calling them “deportations” and “war crimes”:

Russian authorities in Kherson have been relocating civilians in the region, claiming it is for their safety as Ukrainian forces move closer. One week after Russian authorities relocated 70,000 civilians from the right bank of the Dnieper river to the left bank, Russian authorities said they were moving 70,000 civilians from the left bank to be “temporarily resettled deep into the Kherson region, as well as to other regions of the Russian Federation”. The reason, they said, was “possible damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station”.

Now they are saying the relocation is over.

Reminder: the act of an occupying force relocating civilians from a territory that the force has occupied is a violation of the Geneva conventions, whatever the purported reason behind it. There have also been reports of Russian forces relocating Ukrainian and Ukrainian children to Russian territories, with no discussion of eventual return. For this reason, media organisations such as the Kyiv Independent have been outspoken about not calling these relocations “evacuations”, as the Russian proxy government is calling them.

Updated

Russian ambassador: UK is "too deep" in Ukraine war

In an interview with Sky News, Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, warned that that the UK was in “too deep” in the war in Ukraine, claiming that he had proof that UK special forces had been involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

When pressed to see this proof, Kelin said he handed it over to the British ambassador and that “it will become public pretty soon”, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

“It is dangerous because it escalates the situation,” Kelin said. “It can bring us up to the line of I would say no return, return is always possible. But anyway, we should avoid escalation.”

Kelin continued: “And this is a warning actually that Britain is too deep in this conflict. It means the situation is becoming more and more dangerous.”

However, despite Russia’s accusations that the west was “encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction”, Kelin said that Moscow would not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“The nuclear war cannot be won and it should never be fought,” he said. “And we stick strongly to this statement.”

Updated

Zelenskiy will not attend G20 if Putin is participating in conference

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that he will not attend the G20 summit taking place in two weeks in Bali if Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation will be participating in the conference.

Today, Zelenskiy said he had a call with Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, where they discussed preparations for the G20 summit, among other things.

Russian forces launched three missile and 16 air strikes, and carried out more than 40 multiple launch rocket system attacks on more than 25 settlements today, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said.

In particular, Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast and Avdiivka and Vuhledar in Donetsk oblast were hit hard.

US defence secretary: Ukraine can retake Kherson

Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defence, has said he believes that Ukrainian forces are able to retake Kherson.

Austin called their work “methodical” and “effective”: “I certainly believe that they have the capability to do that. And most importantly, the Ukrainians believe that they have the capability to do that.”

Updated

US embassy officials in Russia today visited the US basketball star Brittney Griner, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian prison.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, has been in custody since she was arrested in February after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges with less than a gram of hashish oil in them in her luggage. She and her family characterised her arrest and subsequent trial and sentencing as politically motivated.

The US has determined that Griner has been “wrongfully detained”.

Updated

Here’s footage of the prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia that took place today, in which 107 prisoners of war were exchanged between the two countries:

More suspicious movement being reported out of the Kherson oblast:

The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, today met representatives from the UN and USAid to discuss getting Ukraine through what is predicted to be a long and difficult winter.

Already this week, much of the country has suffered from power outages after Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure in missile strikes. Officials expect matters to only get worse.

Updated

Ukraine and Russia held another prisoner of war swap today, exchanging 107 service personnel:

Updated

Denis Pushilin, the self-styled leader of the chiefly unrecognised pro-Russia Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has given more details of the prisoner exchange that has taken place today, according to a report from Tass. It quotes him as saying:

Today we are returning 107 of our fighters from Ukrainian dungeons. We are returning to Ukraine the same number of prisoners, mostly military personnel again. Of the total number of released 65 people, they are from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (LPR).

The DPR and LPR were recognised as legitimate authorities by only three UN member states: Russia, Syria and North Korea. The Russian Federation has claimed to have annexed both regions of occupied Ukraine.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has given more details of those returning to Ukraine. He was quoted by the Kyiv Independent as saying:

We’ve managed to exchange those who were seriously wounded in Mariupol … boys with shrapnel wounds in their arms and legs. There are people with amputated limbs and burns, who don’t feel part of their face.

He added that 74 soldiers were defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

Updated

Ukraine foreign minister: Russia 'confirmed its status as world's top liar' over 'dirty bomb' claims

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has reacted strongly to the results of the nuclear inspection (see 2.29pm GMT), tweeting that Russia “has confirmed its status of the world’s top liar”. He wrote:

The IAEA has checked three Ukrainian facilities in focus of Russian disinfo and found no evidence of any ‘dirty bombs’. I thank Rafael Mariano Grossi for IAEA’s excellent and prompt cooperation which helped counter Russian falsehoods. Russia has confirmed its status of the world’s top liar.

Updated

IAEA: no sign of 'undeclared nuclear activities' at three Ukrainian sites inspected after 'dirty bomb' accusation

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity at three sites in Ukraine that it inspected at Kyiv’s request, in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.

“Our technical and scientific evaluation of the results we have so far did not show any sign of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at these three locations,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said, adding that environmental samples taken would be analysed, Reuters reports.

Last week Vladimir Putin said Russia knew “about an incident with a so-called ‘dirty bomb’ being prepared”, and that Russia knew “where, generally, it was being prepared”.

He gave no evidence of the alleged plot, which he said included the possibility of a device being loaded on to a Tochka-U or other tactical missile, detonated and then “blamed on Russia”. Kyiv has strongly denied the accusations.

Updated

The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that 107 Russian soldiers have been returned from captivity in Ukraine. It quotes the Russian defence ministry as saying:

On 3 November, as a result of the negotiation process, 107 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime, who were in mortal danger in captivity.

RIA reports that the ministry said the soldiers would be taken to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation, and provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance.

Updated

Russia’s foreign ministry has issued a statement in which it has detailed the demarche given to the British ambassador in Moscow this morning. Deborah Bronnert was greeted by a small anti-British protest when she was summoned to Russia’s foreign ministry this morning. The statement in part says:

A strong protest in connection with the British military specialists’ active participation in training and providing supplies to the units of the Ukrainian special operations forces, including with the goal of conducting acts of sabotage at sea, were expressed to the ambassador. Concrete facts of that kind of activities by London were provided.

The demarche emphasised that such confrontational actions by the British pose the threat of an escalation and can lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences.

It was pointed out that such hostile provocations were unacceptable and a demand was put forward to stop them immediately. Should these acts of aggression that are fraught with direct implication in the conflict continue, the responsibility for their harmful consequences and the mounting tensions in relations between our countries will lie entirely with the British side.

The statement goes on to criticise agreements between London and Kyiv to train navy personnel, lists specific joint training exercises that Russia claims took place in waters off the Ukrainian coast, and alleges: “We have information that the British navy has also transferred a certain number of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] to Ukraine.”

The British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, leaving the Russian foreign affairs ministry in Moscow
The British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, leaving the Russian foreign affairs ministry in Moscow this morning. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Updated

Today so far

  • There has been suspicious movement in Kherson that may have some eager to celebrate what appears to be signs of a Russian retreat, but has others urging caution. The Russian flag has been removed from the Kherson regional administration building, located in the west bank area of the city where Ukrainian forces made significant advances a few weeks ago. Russian authorities who have been consistently forcibly relocating civilians in the region, claiming that it is for their safety as Ukrainian forces move closer, are now purportedly halting the relocations. But Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Command, is urging caution, saying Russia’s unusual manoeuvres in Kherson may be a trap to lure in Ukrainian forces.

  • Russian attacks in the Donetsk oblast and Kharkiv oblast have killed at least five civilians in the past day, officials said.

  • The armed forces of Ukraine are estimating that about 730 Russian soldiers were killed yesterday alone, bringing the total to 68,900 personnel lost so far in the invasion of Ukraine.

  • Switzerland has committed to providing $106m for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure recovery.

  • The White House has accused North Korea of covertly shipping a “significant number” of artillery shells to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine amid mounting evidence of shortages for key weapons systems.

  • Olena Zelenska, the wife of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said she hoped that Elon Musk’s tweet about a peace deal to end the war with Russia was a “chance mistake”. “He supported Ukraine from the very first day and that’s why Ukrainians really admired him,” Zelenska told the Guardian in an interview at the Web Summit in Lisbon. “So it was extremely sensitive for us to read the tweet. Let’s be honest, even the smartest person can’t say the smartest things 24 hours a day. There are mistakes. And we hope it was a chance mistake.”

Updated

Here are some of the latest images we have been sent over the newswires from the war in Ukraine and beyond.

A damaged building in the Kievsky district of Donetsk
A damaged building in the Kievsky district of Donetsk. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A destroyed kindergarten in Stepnohirsk, close to the frontline, in the Zaporizhzhia region
A destroyed kindergarten in Stepnohirsk, close to the frontline, in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photograph: Future Publishing/Ukrinform/Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers repair a captured Russian armoured personnel carrier on the outskirts of Kharkiv
Ukrainian soldiers repair a captured Russian armoured personnel carrier on the outskirts of Kharkiv. Photograph: Andrii Marienko/AP
Municipal workers repair damage from shelling in the Kievsky district of Donetsk
Municipal workers repair damage from shelling in the Kievsky district of Donetsk. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

US accuses North Korea of covertly supplying artillery shells to Russia

The White House has accused North Korea of covertly shipping a “significant number” of artillery shells to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine amid mounting evidence of shortages for key weapons systems.

US National security council spokesperson John Kirby said the US believed North Korea “is covertly supplying” the ammunition to Russia and “trying to make it appear as though they are being sent to countries in the Middle East or north Africa”.

Kirby declined to provide a specific estimate on the quantity of ammunition being sent to bolster the Russian effort.

He said North Korea “is covertly supplying” the ammunition to Russia, adding, “We’re still monitoring this to determine whether the shipments are actually received.”

Kirby said the North Korean shipments are “not going to change the course of the war,” citing western efforts to resupply the Ukrainian military.

Olena Zelenska, the wife of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said she hoped that Elon Musk’s tweet about a peace deal to end the war with Russia was a “chance mistake”.

Last month, Musk drew the ire of Ukrainians when he suggested in a tweet that a Ukraine-Russia peace deal should include formally annexing Crimea to Russia and holding UN-supervised elections in four Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine.

Musk later denied a report that he had spoken to Vladimir Putin before floating the plan that he had presented as a Twitter poll.

“He supported Ukraine from the very first day and that’s why Ukrainians really admired him,” Zelenska told the Guardian in an interview at the Web Summit in Lisbon. “So it was extremely sensitive for us to read the tweet. Let’s be honest, even the smartest person can’t say the smartest things 24 hours a day. There are mistakes. And we hope it was a chance mistake.”

Read more here:

Updated

The goings-on in Kherson – the removal of Russian flags, the forced relocation of civilians, then the purported halted relocation of civilians – have been raising eyebrows among Ukrainian forces.

While some may be eager to celebrate what appears to be signs of a Russian retreat, others are urging caution.

Updated

Russian authorities in Kherson have been relocating civilians in the region, claiming that it’s for their safety as Ukrainian forces move closer. One week after Russian authorities relocated 70,000 civilians from the right bank of the Dnieper River to the left bank, Russian authorities said they were moving 70,000 civilians from the left bank to be “temporarily resettled deep into the Kherson region, as well as to other regions of the Russian Federation”. The reason, they said, was “possible damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station”.

Now they’re saying the relocation is over.

Reminder: the act of an occupying force relocating civilians from a territory that the force has occupied is a violation of the Geneva conventions, whatever the purported reason behind it. There have also been reports of Russian forces relocating Ukrainian and Ukrainian children to Russian territories, with no discussion of eventual return. For this reason, media organisations such as the Kyiv Independent have been outspoken about not calling these relocations “evacuations”, as the Russian proxy government is calling them.

Updated

The armed forces of Ukraine are estimating that about 730 Russian soldiers were killed yesterday alone, bringing the total to 68,900 personnel lost so far in the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces kill four in Donetsk oblast, one in Kharkiv oblast

Russian attacks in the Donetsk oblast and Kharkiv oblast have killed at least five civilians in the past day, officials said.

In Donetsk, Russian forces killed three civilians in Bakhmut and one in Avdiivka, two strategically placed towns in Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk oblast. Bakhmut in particular has been hit hard in the past few weeks.

At least five people in the region were injured, Kyrylenko said. Russian shelling also damaged power grids in Kurakhovo and two private houses in Zoryanye. There was intense shelling during the night on the outskirts of the Toretsk and Svitlodar communities and in the Soledar community, and six private houses were damaged in Rozdolivka.

In the Kharkiv oblast, Russian shelling on the city of Kupiansk killed an 82-year-old woman, said Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv oblast. In addition to Kupiansk, Russian forces shelled Vovchansk, the village of Dvorichna and other settlements of Kupiansk, as well as Kharkiv city and Chuguyiv district, damaging residential buildings and public buildings.

Three Russian missiles struck Kharkiv city, damaging an economic building and a trolley bus. There were no casualties from the missile strikes, Syniehubov said.

Updated

Switzerland has committed to providing $106m for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure recovery.

The Russian flag has been removed from the Kherson regional administration building, located in the west bank area of the city where Ukrainian forces made significant advances a few weeks ago. Russian forces moved their regional headquarters across the Dnieper River to the left bank are of Kherson city, according to Ukraine’s Centre of National Resistance under Ukraine’s ministry of defence.

Russians are still holding their positions along their second line of defence, according to both sides. Russia has been moving residents out of occupied Kherson, claiming that Ukraine is planning to intentionally flood the region by hitting a dam in the Dnieper. Ukraine says Russia is planning to stage a false flag attack and flood the region itself.

Updated

Summary of the day so far …

  • The Russian delegation resumed work at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) that runs the Black Sea grain deal operations in Istanbul and joined vessel inspections on Thursday, the UN secretariat at the centre said. It said the queue for inspections has been significantly reduced, with more than 120 ships waiting to move, mainly those planning an inbound voyage.

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had said on Wednesday that Moscow would rejoin the grain export deal brokered by the UN and Turkey with Ukraine, but that it reserved the right to withdraw if necessary. “We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like this would happen again, that the humanitarian corridors would not be used militarily,” Putin said during a video meeting with his coordination council on Wednesday.

  • Russia on Thursday urged the UN, which sponsored the deal, to help fulfil the parts of the deal intended to ease Russia’s food and fertiliser exports. “We still do not see any results regarding a second aspect: the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain,” the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told a news conference in Amman, Jordan. Russian agricultural exports do not fall explicitly under sanctions imposed since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, but Moscow says they are badly hindered by the restrictions imposed on its financial, logistics and insurance sectors.

  • A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said that, contrary to Russian claims, Ukraine had made no new commitments beyond the terms originally signed in July.

  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed Moscow’s humiliating U-turn and hailed “a significant diplomatic result for our country and the whole world”. He said in his Wednesday evening address: “Implementation of the grain export initiative continues. The Kremlin is demanding security guarantees from Ukraine. This shows both the failure of the Russian aggression and how strong we are when we remain united.”

  • Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo said Russian missile attacks hit energy infrastructure in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk late on Wednesday, further complicating the work of the energy system.

  • Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, described “a tense night of massive attacks” but said on Thursday morning there were no known casualties.

  • Ukraine’s Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, according to the Ukrainian nuclear firm Energoatom.

  • There are unverified images circulating on social media that appear to show that the Russian flag has been taken down from the city council building in the occupied city of Kherson. One of the Russian-imposed leaders of the occupying authorities, Kirill Stremousov, posted to Telegram encouraging further civilian “evacuations” from the city – a move that has been described by Kyiv as forced deportations.

  • A small anti-British protest in Moscow greeted the British ambassador Deborah Bronnert after she was summoned by Russia’s foreign ministry. Bronnert was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea, claims that have been dismissed out of hand by the British government.

  • Hungary’s parliament will decide on when to schedule a debate on the ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join Nato, its foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, told a press conference this morning.

That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. Vivian Ho will be with you shortly.

Updated

Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo has confirmed that Russian missile attacks hit energy infrastructure in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk late on Wednesday, further complicating the work of repairing the energy system, Reuters reports. Zaporizhzhia is one of the regions that Russia has claimed to annex, despite not fully occupying the territory there.

Updated

The Russian delegation resumed work at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) that runs the Black Sea grain deal operations in Istanbul and joined vessel inspections on Thursday, the UN secretariat at the centre said.

Reuters report it said the queue for inspections has been significantly reduced, with currently over 120 ships waiting to move, mainly those planning an inbound voyage.

Zante, a cargo vessel carrying Ukrainian grain, transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul yesterday.
Zante, a cargo vessel carrying Ukrainian grain, transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul yesterday. Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters

There are unverified images circulating on social media which appear to show that the Russian flag has been taken down from the city council building in the occupied city of Kherson.

One of the Russian-imposed leaders of the occupying authorities, Kirill Stremousov, posted to Telegram a short while ago encouraging further civilian “evacuations” from the city – a move that has been described by Kyiv as forced deportations. He wrote:

The remaining residents of Kherson put themselves in danger. The Nazis, with the help of American weapons, do not stop shelling the peaceful infrastructure of the city.

Residents of Kherson may continue to evacuate from the right-bank part of the Kherson region. The movement of civilian vehicles from the right to the left bank of the Dnipro will continue and will be carried out in the same way as before – through Rechport. You can go to the left bank of the Dnipro from there by water transport, as well as cross by private car by barge.

The temporary cessation of transport communication will not affect the provision of the right bank of the Kherson region with food and essential goods. The supply of Kherson and settlements of the region will be carried out as before.

Patrick Revell, a reporter for US news network ABC, says that in a video posted by Stremousov, he appeared to suggest that Russian forces may be staging a pullback across the river away from the city.

Updated

Russia has urged the United Nations, which sponsored a deal to free Ukraine’s grain shipments from a Russian blockade of its Black Sea ports, to help fulfil the parts of the deal intended to ease Russia’s food and fertiliser exports.

The arrangement is due to expire on 19 November, and Reuters reports Moscow has made clear it does not believe enough has been done to ensure it can export its own huge food and fertiliser output despite the barrage of western sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

“We still do not see any results regarding a second aspect: the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain,” the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told a news conference in Amman, Jordan.

“We have once again called on the United Nations secretary general to ensure that he fulfils the obligations he agreed to through his own initiative,” Lavrov added. He said the situation needed to be resolved “in the very near future”.

“If we’re talking about the volumes of fertilisers and grain in question, then these volumes from the Russian side are incomparably higher than from the Ukrainian side.”

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov (L), waves after a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Amman
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov (L), waves after a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Amman. Photograph: Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images

Russian agricultural exports do not fall explicitly under sanctions imposed since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, but Moscow says they are badly hindered by the restrictions imposed on its financial, logistics and insurance sectors.

Updated

Here are some of the latest images we have been sent over the newswires from the war in Ukraine and beyond.

The British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, arrives at the Russian foreign affairs ministry in Moscow, with an anti-British protest in the backdrop.
The British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, arrives at the Russian foreign affairs ministry in Moscow, with an anti-British protest in the backdrop. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
A man crosses the railway tracks near a damaged bridge in Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region
A man crosses the railway tracks near a damaged bridge in Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region. Photograph: Future Publishing/Ukrinform/Getty Images
A member of a mine clearance team from Kharkiv examines a mine during a search operation in Izium
A member of a mine clearance team from Kharkiv examines a mine during a search operation in Izium. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
An elderly woman reacts while waiting to get a free sim card in the town of Izium
An elderly woman reacts while waiting to get a free sim card in the town of Izium. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Hungary’s parliament will decide on when to schedule a debate on the ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join Nato, its foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, told a press conference this morning, Reuters reports.

Szijjarto said the government had done its job by submitting the relevant bill to parliament. Hungary and Turkey are the only members not to have ratified the applications.

Updated

A small anti-British protest in Moscow appears to have greeted the British ambassador Deborah Bronnert after she was summoned by Russia’s foreign ministry.

Protesters hold anti-British placards as the UK ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, is summoned in Moscow
Protesters hold anti-British placards as the UK ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, is summoned in Moscow. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA

Reuters reports that the ambassador was in the ministry for about 30 minutes. There was no immediate statement from either Russia or Britain on the details of what was discussed.

Updated

Ukraine has made no new commitments that go beyond the terms of a deal signed in July to free up grain exports from its Black Sea ports after Russia’s invasion, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Reuters reports that Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that Ukraine had never used the Black Sea grain corridor for military purposes, and had never intended to do so.

Russia had attempted yesterday to present its return to the deal as a result of receiving guarantees from Ukraine after a weekend attack on the Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol.

Updated

Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, said the evening passed quietly in his region with no air alarms. Similarly, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy, said it was a quiet night. But the same was not true of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, where the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, described “a tense night of massive attacks”.

In a message on Telegram, he told residents:

Our guys sent another flock of enemy drones to rest. The Russians struck the energy and water infrastructure facilities in Kryvyi Rih. There is serious destruction. All services are working. In Pavlohrad, the enemy targeted an industrial enterprise. Restoration work is ongoing. In the Nikopol region … shells damaged housing, a college, a furniture factory, and an industrial enterprise. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries everywhere.

Updated

The Russian-imposed leader in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, has reported that Ukrainian forces have destroyed the administration building in Hola Prystan, which is on the south bank of the Dnieper River.

The Russian news agency Interfax quotes Stremousov from a video posted to Telegram in which he said: “No one was injured during the shelling, as the shelling took place at night. But the administration building was completely destroyed.”

He again told residents in occupied Kherson – one of the regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed to annex – that they should move from the right bank to the left bank of the Dnieper. Russian-imposed authorities have been describing this as an evacuation, while authorities in Kyiv have described it as a forced deportation of the civilian population in Kherson.

Updated

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has issued its daily operational briefing. In it, the DPR claims that 11 settlements it occupies in Ukraine were fired on by Ukrainian forces in the last 24 hours. It claims three civilians were killed and two injured, and that 14 “housing constructions” and two “civil infrastructures” were damaged.

The claims have not been independently verified. The DPR is only recognised as a legitimate authority by three UN member states – Russia, Syria and North Korea – and is one of the occupied regions of Ukraine which Russia has claimed to annex.

Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, has posted to Telegram to say the region is experiencing scheduled power blackouts. “Damaged by enemy attacks, the system cannot cope with the load,” he says.

Updated

Seven ships carrying agricultural products left Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Thursday, a day after the resumption of a grain deal aimed at delivering Ukrainian food to foreign markets, the infrastructure ministry said.

Reuters reports that the ministry said the vessels were loaded with 290,000 tonnes of food products and were headed towards European and Asian countries, without elaborating further.

Updated

Reuters reports that the British ambassador arrived at the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday morning, according to local reports. Deborah Bronnert was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

Updated

Electricity supply has been restored to everybody in the Kyiv region after Monday’s Russian bombardment of energy facilities, according to the region’s governor, Oleksiy Kuleba.

Despite that, the governor also said planned stabilisation outages started from 5am, saying: “This is necessary to reduce the load on networks and avoid emergency situations.”

Updated

An airstrike on Russian positions in Ukraine’s south has destroyed four ammunition depots and tanks, Ukraine’s southern command of the armed forces said in its latest operational report.

Russia’s grain deal U-turn offers a lesson in calling Vladimir Putin’s bluff, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth reports.

In the end, Vladimir Putin backed down. Faced with blocking ships carrying grain from Ukraine or tacitly admitting that his threats to do so had been a bluff, the Kremlin leader opted not to rekindle a global food crisis.

Russia’s exit from the deal that allowed exports of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea was weeks in the making. Russia had threatened to do so after an explosion rocked the Crimea Bridge in October, and again after the drone attack on its Black Sea fleet last week.

But once Russia finally suspended the deal, it quickly became clear that Moscow had no plan.

Read the full story below:

Zelenskiy labels Putin U-turn on Ukraine grain deal a ‘failure of Russian aggression’

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has hailed Russia’s turnaround in rejoining the UN-backed grain export deal, just days after the Kremlin threatened to pull out, as a “significant diplomatic outcome” for Ukraine and the “whole world”.

“Implementation of the grain export initiative will continue,” Zelenskiy said in his Wednesday evening address.

Russia initially said it would abandon the brokered deal that allowed exports of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea, following a dramatic drone attack on its warships in the port of Sevastopol. Russia’s defence ministry said it was satisfied it had received “sufficient” guarantees from Kyiv that it would not use the maritime corridor to carry out attacks.

“We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like this would happen again, that the humanitarian corridors would not be used militarily,” Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said during a video meeting with his coordination council on Wednesday.

However, Zelenskiy said the Kremlin’s call for guarantees showed “the failure of the Russian aggression”, noting: “Russian blackmail has led nowhere”.

After eight months of war “the Kremlin is saying that they demanded security guarantees from Ukraine”, he said. “Two hundred and fifty two days ago Russia demanded security guarantees from the United States of America.

“These are really striking changes. This shows both the failure of Russian aggression and how strong you and I are when we remain united.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has shared his gratitude to Turkey’s leadership for facilitating Russia’s return to the UN-backed Ukraine grain export deal.

We are grateful for the active role of the UN and our Turkish allies in facilitating Russia’s return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. We urge all parties to renew the Initiative. Failure to do so would hurt the world’s most vulnerable.”

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant being transferred to Russian jurisdiction, official claims

Russian officials have reportedly announced that Moscow-installed authorities have begun integrating the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into the jurisdiction of Russian nuclear power plant operator Rosenergoatom.

Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of Rosenergoatom, said the transition would occur after the plant uses up all available fuel reserves.

The integration of the plant and its personnel into the jurisdiction of Rosenergoatom has begun, the Russian-installed head of the the adjacent city of Energodar, Alexander Volga, told Ukraina.ru.

After the arrival of the operating organisation from the Russian Federation, work began on integrating the plant and the personnel themselves into the jurisdiction of the Rosenergoatom concern.

The people who remained decided on the choice of the country in which they would live. Residents chose Russia as their place of residence, place of work. ZNPP is already an integral part of Russia.”

Russian deputy foreign minister, Andrey Rudenko, claimed that ZNPP personnel who are “critical for the work of the ZNPP” signed contracts with Rosenergoatom and that Russian authorities are exploring the creation of a security zone around the ZNPP, according to a recent report released by the institute for the study of war.

Ukraine’s Energoatom stated on 28 October that only 100 of the 6,700 Ukrainian personnel remaining at the ZNPP plant have signed new contracts with the Russian energy agency Rosatom (out of 11,000 personnel before 24 February).

The Ukrainian State Inspectorate of Nuclear Regulation stated that Russian forces built an unknown structure at one of seven spent nuclear fuel storage sites at the ZNPP in violation of nuclear safety standards.

Zaporizhzia nuclear plant disconnected from power grid

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, according to the Ukrainian nuclear firm Energoatom.

Energodar’s mayor, Dmytro Orlov. wrote in a Telegram update early this morning:

Yesterday, November 2, 2022, as a result of racist shelling, the last two high-voltage communication lines of the Zaporizhia NPP with the Ukrainian power system were damaged. At 11.04pm, the station went into full blackout mode. All 20 diesel generators were switched on.

Currently, the power supply scheme for ZNPP’s own needs is optimised, 9 diesel generators are left in operation. Power units 5 and 6 are transferred to a cold state.

Fuel for the operation of diesel generators in the mode of complete blackout of the ZNPP remains for 15 days. The countdown has begun.”

The power plant has 15 days’ worth of fuel to run the generators, Energoatom said. The plant’s blocks 5 and 6 are being switched into cold state, it added.

Orlov said that due to the occupation of the plant, the possibility of maintaining the ZNPP in a safe mode were “significantly limited”.

Updated

Russia will rejoin UN grain corridor

The Kremlin has said it will rejoin the UN-administered grain export corridor from Ukraine, after pulling out over the weekend following a drone attack on Russian warships in the port of Sevastopol.

Moscow’s humiliating climbdown came two days after a large convoy of ships moved a record amount of grain in defiance of Russia’s warnings that it would be unsafe without its participation, and after high-level diplomatic contacts between Turkey – one of the guarantors of the scheme with the UN – and Russia.

Russia’s withdrawal had reignited fears over global hunger and high food prices that had been alleviated by the inauguration of the scheme earlier this year, which allowed cargo ships to move Ukrainian gain without fear of being targeted.

The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.

“The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the ministry statement said.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, confirmed the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had told his Turkish counterpart that the 22 July grain deal brokered by Turkey and the UN would continue to operate as of midday on Wednesday.

Erdoğan will be seen as having successfully called the Russian bluff to blockade Ukrainian ports or even sink civilian cargo ships carrying grain abroad. The Turkish leader had said exports of grain from Ukraine would continue with or without Russian approval and appears to have brokered the Russian climbdown.

“The grain transports will continue as agreed before as of 12pm today,” said Erdoğan, who has emerged as a key intermediary between Kyiv and Moscow.

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.

Ukraine’s grain export deal is set to resume just days after Russia suspended its involvement and threatened to withdraw. The UN coordinator for the deal said he expects loaded ships to depart Ukrainian ports on Thursday.

If you have an update or any feedback 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:

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Moscow would rejoin the grain export deal brokered by the UN and Turkey with Ukraine, but that it reserved the right to withdraw if necessary. “We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like this would happen again, that the humanitarian corridors would not be used militarily,” Putin said during a video meeting with his coordination council on Wednesday.

  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed Moscow’s humiliating U-turn and hailed “a significant diplomatic result for our country and the whole world”. “Implementation of the grain export initiative continues,” he said in his Wednesday evening address. “The Kremlin is demanding security guarantees from Ukraine. This shows both the failure of the Russian aggression and how strong we are when we remain united”.

  • The United States also welcomed the restoration of the deal and urged Russia to renew it later this month. State department spokesperson Ned Price praised UN and Turkish mediators but said it was important that the deal is “not only set back in motion, but it’s renewed later this month.” Secretary of state Antony Blinken thanked Turkey for its efforts and emphasised reminded Moscow of the “importance of continued adherence to UN-brokered agreements and its commitments to support global food security,” a statement said.

  • A large convoy of ships moved a record amount of grain in defiance of Russia’s warnings that it would be unsafe without its participation. The Russian defence ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.

  • The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said exports of grain from Ukraine would continue with or without Russian approval and appears to have brokered the Russian climbdown. Zelenskiy thanked Erdoğan for his role in restoring the deal.

  • A Russian jet fired two cruise missiles that flew over the Black Sea corridor being used to export Ukrainian grain on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said in a video address. “Every one of these Russian launches – and they occur almost daily – directly threatens food exports,” he said.

  • Russia said it was fully committed to preventing nuclear war, and that avoiding a clash among countries that have nuclear weapons was its highest priority. The Russian foreign ministry said it feared the five declared nuclear powers were teetering “on the brink of a direct armed conflict” and that the west must stop “encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction, which can lead to catastrophic consequences”.

  • The White House has accused North Korea of covertly shipping a “significant number” of artillery shells to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine amid mounting evidence of shortages for key weapons systems. US National security council spokesperson John Kirby said the US believed North Korea “is covertly supplying” the ammunition to Russia and “trying to make it appear as though they are being sent to countries in the Middle East or north Africa”.

  • Putin called for weapons used by Russia’s military to be modernised during a meeting of his coordination council on Wednesday. “Weapons must constantly, continuously improve and remain effective. To achieve this, I repeat, it is important to ensure that there is active competition between manufacturers and developers,” he said.

  • Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region have proceeded with a drive to persuade residents to evacuate. Residents who had collaborated with occupying forces were leaving and some departing medical staff had taken equipment from hospitals, the statement said, a statement released by the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday night. Residents of the town of Nova Zburivka in Kherson region had been given three days to leave and told that evacuation would be obligatory from 5 November.

  • Moscow said it would summon the UK ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, over its accusation, that is unsubstantiated, that “British specialists” were involved in the Sevastopol attack.

  • The UN security council has overwhelmingly rejected Russia’s attempt to establish a commission to investigate its unfounded claims that Ukraine and the United States are carrying out “military biological” activities that violate the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons.

  • Details have been published of the damage caused to the Nord Stream gas pipeline by explosions at the end of September. Nord Stream AG said that about 250 metres (820ft) of the pipeline in the Baltic Sea was “destroyed”.

  • Two Russian oligarchs and business partners of Roman Abramovich have been added to the UK government’s sanctions list. Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov, whom the UK government said were “known to be business associates” of the former Chelsea FC owner, were on Wednesday among four new Russian steel and petrochemical tycoons added to the sanctions list.


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