Summary
The time in Kyiv is coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s main news stories:
Ukraine shot down more than 60 of over 70 missiles launched by Russia in a massed missile strike on Monday, Ukraine’s air force command said. The strikes targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the air force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian missiles have crashed into buildings in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, destroying several houses and killing at least two people, a senior Ukrainian official has said. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, gave no further details of the attacks, Reuters reported.
Air defences shot down most of the Russian missiles fired at Ukraine on Monday and energy workers have already begun work on restoring power supplies, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Russia carried out the latest in a wave of airstrikes on Ukraine, destroying homes in the south and knocking out power in the north and killing at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
Mysterious explosions took place at two Russian airbases far from the frontlines on Monday, raising the possibility that Kyiv has found a way to target Russian long-range bombers used in attacks against Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Spanish police have intercepted three more envelopes containing animal eyes addressed to Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid and its consulates in Barcelona and Málaga, police sources close to the investigation said. Last week, Ukraine said a series of “bloody packages” were sent to its missions across Europe, soon after a letter bomb detonated at Ukraine’s embassy in Spain and police defused others sent to, among others, prime minister Pedro Sánchez.
Canadian-made parts have been found in the “kamikaze” Iranian drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine, according to a report. An investigative project from the NGO Statewatch found components from 30 European and American companies, concluding antenna parts from Tallysman Wireless, a Canadian manufacturer. Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones have been used by Russia in attacks against Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure. According to Statewatch’s project Trap Aggressor, the Russian military renamed the drone Geran-2 to mask its origins.
The White House has said that the latest Russian strikes against Ukraine are a reminder of the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s brutality. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, also told reporters that an oil price cap would not have any long-term impact on global oil prices, Reuters reported.
Russia said that three of its military personnel were killed in what it said were Ukrainian drone attacks on two Russian airbases. Two aircraft were lightly damaged, the defence ministry said in a statement. Four other people had been wounded, it said.
Moldovan police on Monday found fragments of a missile that came down in a region of northern Moldova near the border with Ukraine, state information portal Prima Sursa quoted the police as saying. Moldovan authorities did not immediately comment publicly on the incident, which was reported after Russia carried out a new wave of missile strikes on Ukraine.
Russia’s recent mobilisation has increased its military threat in Ukraine, with better-trained soldiers now arriving at the frontline, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said. But he said Russia was now using a lot of old equipment because it had no other way of replenishing supplies, and that Russian forces had made only slow progress around Bakhmut, one of the main battle zones in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Vladimir Putin has driven across the Kerch Bridge, linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, after it was damaged by a truck bomb in October. The Russian president drove across the bridge today and spoke to workers and a senior government official, reports Reuters.
India gave a list of Indian products to Moscow for access to Russian markets, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, as his country seeks to narrow a growing trade deficit with Russia at a time when Moscow faces acute shortages of some crucial materials following western sanctions. Reuters reported last week that Moscow had sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery, including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, as sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeeze its ability to keep vital industries running.
The Kremlin has warned the new western price cap on Russian oil will destabilise global energy markets, but claimed it would not impact its invasion of Ukraine. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing its response to the move by the G7 and allies.
Olaf Scholz has warned the west to avoid creating a new cold war by dividing the world into blocs. Writing in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine, published today, the German chancellor called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships. He singled out China and Russia as two countries that pose a threat to a multipolar world.
Nine people have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk, Russian-backed military officials have said. It came after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk, Reuters reports, citing state-run TASS news agency.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said it will continue energy cooperation with Russia after the G7, EU and Australia imposed a price cap on Russian oil exports. China, which said it would continue on the basis if respect and mutual benefit, has increased its purchases of Russia’s Urals oil blends this year.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Goodnight for now.
Ukrainian officials have recently been hinting at developments in the country’s grinding war with Russia. A long-range rocket, perhaps? Or a homemade modified drone? The apparent evidence of a new and unexpected weapon was visible on Monday morning, when mysterious explosions hit two Russian airbases.
Both took place a long way from the frontlines. Video from Russian social media showed a blast at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia’s Saratov region. Another happened at the Dyagilevo military airbase near Ryazan, a city just 150 miles from Moscow and Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. According to Russian state media, three people at the base were killed and five injured when a fuel truck went up in flames. At least two planes were reportedly damaged.
The exact cause of the explosion was uncertain. But it appears Ukraine has found a way to target Russia’s long range Tu-95 and Tu-22M aircraft, which are stationed at the airstrips. Since October the Kremlin had used these strategic bombers to wreck Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, bit by bit, leaving millions without heat and electricity as winter arrives.
There is speculation Kyiv has developed a strike drone with an astonishing 1,000km range. Late last month a Ukrainian serviceman said the weapon had already been used against the Russian military. If accurate, this means much of European Russia is now in reach. And that the asymmetric advantage Moscow has enjoyed this year – the ability to launch cruise missiles safely from deep inside Russia itself – is under threat.
Details of the two Russian airbases rocked by explosions that may have been pre-emptive strikes by Kyiv in a bid to protect the Ukrainian electrical grid.
Spanish police have intercepted three more envelopes containing animal eyes addressed to Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid and its consulates in Barcelona and Málaga, police sources close to the investigation said.
Last week, Ukraine said a series of “bloody packages” were sent to its missions across Europe, soon after a letter bomb detonated at Ukraine’s embassy in Spain and police defused others sent to, among others, prime minister Pedro Sánchez.
The postal service’s security staff detected the new envelopes during screening on Monday morning and alerted police, the sources said. Officers found no explosive or flammable substances inside, the sources added.
The Ukrainian embassy in Madrid received a package with animal eyes on Friday that the interior ministry said carried a foreign stamp, Reuters reported.
Evidence from that package shared with the postal service helped its staff detect the latest one, police sources added.
On Saturday, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters the six letter bombs appeared to have been posted from the northern city of Valladolid.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko confirmed the latest interceptions on Monday and said there were now 21 known cases in which such threats had been sent to diplomatic missions in 12 countries.
Updated
The White House has said that the latest Russian strikes against Ukraine are a reminder of the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s brutality.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, also told reporters that an oil price cap would not have any long-term impact on global oil prices, Reuters reported.
Updated
Russia says three servicemen killed in explosions at Russian airbases
Russia said that three of its military personnel were killed in what it said were Ukrainian drone attacks on two Russian airbases.
Two aircraft were lightly damaged, the defence ministry said in a statement. Four other people had been wounded, it said.
The defence ministry highlighted that it had launched a strike on Ukraine’s military and energy infrastructure on Monday, “despite the attempts of the Kyiv regime to disrupt the combat work of Russian long-range aviation with a terrorist act”.
Updated
Meeting with human rights defenders in underground shelter in Kyiv as missiles strike & air raid sirens sound again. Unbelievable that this is happening almost daily in #Ukraine. This must not become a new normal. pic.twitter.com/My22JGkOWO
— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) December 5, 2022
Canadian-made parts have been found in the “kamikaze” Iranian drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine, according to a report.
An investigative project from the NGO Statewatch found components from 30 European and American companies, concluding antenna parts from Tallysman Wireless, a Canadian manufacturer.
Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones have been used by Russia in attacks against Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure. According to Statewatch’s project Trap Aggressor, the Russian military renamed the drone Geran-2 to mask its origins.
Tallysman’s president told the Globe and Mail he was “painfully aware” that his company’s product has been used to target civilians in Ukraine.
“It is sometimes assumed that we are somehow complicit in this usage. We absolutely are not,” Gyles Panther told the newspaper. “Tallysman is 100% committed to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.”
Because of sanctions against Iran, Panther suspects he inadvertently sold parts to “fake company fronts” and said his company was working with Canadian customs officials, but admitted it could be difficult to prevent largely innocuous parts such as wireless antennas, which aren’t covered by exports controls, from ending up in the wrong hands.
Updated
Moldovan police on Monday found fragments of a missile that came down in a region of northern Moldova near the border with Ukraine, state information portal Prima Sursa quoted the police as saying.
Moldovan authorities did not immediately comment publicly on the incident, which was reported after Russia carried out a new wave of missile strikes on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko, responding to media reports about the incident, repeated calls for Kyiv to receive more missile defence systems from its allies.
“This once again proves that Russian missile terror poses a huge threat not only to the security of Ukraine, but also to the security of neighbouring countries,” he said in a statement.
Russia did not immediately comment on the reports.
Updated
Ukraine shoots down most missiles launched by Russia, air force says
Ukraine shot down more than 60 of over 70 missiles launched by Russia in a massed missile strike on Monday, Ukraine’s air force command said.
The strikes targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the air force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Updated
Air defences shot down most of the Russian missiles fired at Ukraine on Monday and energy workers have already begun work on restoring power supplies, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Russia carried out the latest in a wave of airstrikes on Ukraine, destroying homes in the south and knocking out power in the north and killing at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
The governor of the Kyiv region has said 40% of it is without electricity and some infrastructure was hit, but that there were no “critical consequences”, reports Reuters.
Updated
Vladimir Putin has driven across the Kerch bridge, linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, after it was damaged by a truck bomb in October.
The Russian president drove across the bridge today and spoke to workers and a senior government official, reports Reuters.
The bomb attack, on 8 October, disrupted travel on one of the two lanes of the bridge. Russia blamed Ukraine and responded with a wave of strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities and other key infrastructure.
Updated
All clear sounded in Kyiv as Ukrainian capital appears to emerge unscathed by missile strikes
The all clear has been sounded in Kyiv. It is possible there will be further waves of strikes, but for now the capital appears to have emerged unscathed. The air defences could be heard in action. So far there have been no reports of any missile impacts in the city. Odesa seems to have been hit hardest meanwhile and there are reports of a missile landing over the border in Moldova, near Briceni.
Updated
The Moldovan police say they have found missile fragments in the Briceni region near the border with Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing state information portal Prima Sursa.
Ukraine’s state-run Ukrenergo energy company said its infrastructure had been hit in Russian missile strikes on Monday, causing emergency power outages.
“Ukrenergo’s dispatchers are working to maintain balance in the energy system,” it said in a statement. It did not say which facilities had been struck
Ukrainian officials reported a new barrage of Russian missile strikes across the country, an attack that was anticipated as Russia seeks to disable Ukraine’s energy supplies and infrastructure with the approach of winter.
Media reports referred to explosions in several parts of the country, including the cities of Odesa, Cherkasy and Kryvyi Rih. In Odesa, the local water supply company said a missile strike cut power to pumping stations, leaving the entire city without water.
“The enemy is again attacking the territory of Ukraine with missiles!” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, wrote on Telegram.
Air raid alerts sounded across the country, and authorities urged people to take shelter, Reuters reported.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force, Yuriy Ihnat, said Russia had launched land-based missiles from southern Russia and shipborne missiles from the Caspian and Black seas. Russian strategic bombers also launched missiles, he said.
Ihnat warned the Russians could attack in several waves to make it more difficult for the Ukrainian air defences to shoot down the missiles.
Updated
Power outages in Sumy after wave of Russian missile strikes
Power has been knocked out in Sumy after the latest Russian missile strikes, according to the northern region’s energy provider.
However, the governor of the Kyiv region said its air defences were working there and told residents to remain in shelters. There were also reports of loss of power and water in Odesa after strikes there.
The Guardian’s world affairs editor Julian Borger reports that he has still not heard or seen reports of a strike landing in Kyiv city.
But there are fears this was the first of a double punch, with the first wave designed to soak up the air defences, giving the second wave a better chance of getting through to its targets, potentially the power grid, on a day that started with lows of -7C.
Updated
Two killed in Russian missile strikes in Ukraine - senior official
Russian missiles have crashed into buildings in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, destroying several houses and killing at least two people, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, gave no further details of the attacks, Reuters reported.
A city official said buildings had been hit in the suburbs of the city of Zaporizhzhia and some Russian missiles had been shot down.
The governor of the Kyiv region said air defences were working in the region, and told residents to remain in shelters.
An energy provider said power had been knocked out on the northern region of Sumy in the latest missile strikes.
Updated
India gave a list of Indian products to Moscow for access to Russian markets, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, as his country seeks to narrow a growing trade deficit with Russia at a time when Moscow faces acute shortages of some crucial materials following western sanctions.
Reuters reported last week that Moscow had sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery, including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, as sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeeze its ability to keep vital industries running.
Russia has been India’s largest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceuticals. But with India’s purchases of Russian oil soaring and coal and fertiliser shipments also strong, the South Asian nation is looking for ways to rebalance trade.
“We have given Russians a set of products which we believe we are very competitive in and which we feel should be getting access to the Russian market,” Jaishankar told reporters in a briefing with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who is on a visit to India.
The minister added that discussions on expanding trade have been going on for some time, and even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian air defences have managed to shoot down some of the incoming missiles (see 11.58am)
The reported interceptions so far have been four in the Kharkiv region, one in Dnipro and one in Poltava, with other explosions reported elsewhere that could be air defence interceptions.
After the sirens went off in Kyiv, people began gathering in the underground stations, which are beginning to fill up.
The Guardian has not heard or seen reports of the impact on the capital, but there are lots of reports of air defences in action, including in Odesa, suggesting that there are incoming Kalibr missiles fired from Russian warships in the Black Sea.
Updated
Here is a map showing where mysterious explosions took place at two Russian airbases far from the frontlines.
Air raid sirens sound in Kyiv as Russia launches new missile attack
Ukraine has said Russia has unleashed a new barrage of missiles, as air alerts blared in many parts of the country including Kyiv.
Sirens sounded in the capital and across much of Ukraine in what officials described as the latest in a wave of Russian missile strikes, Reuters reported.
“Missile have already been launched,” said Yuriy Ihnat, an air force spokesperson. There was no immediate word of any damage or casualties.
The Guardian understands there are more than 100 missiles incoming, fired from Russian bombers and most likely sea-launched Kalibr missiles as well.
Some have already crossed into Ukrainian territory, with impact time in Kyiv is estimated as 2.15pm local time. There could also be a second wave of missiles aimed at the capital, due to take off in the next few minutes.
“Don’t ignore the alarm,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff.
The anticipated large scale Russian missile strike is on the way. Reportedly 104 missiles fired from 13 aircraft, plus possible strikes from sea-launched Kalibr missiles. Expected to reach Kyiv 2.15pm local.
— Julian Borger (@julianborger) December 5, 2022
Updated
Winter has arrived. Temperatures in the frontline Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, under remorseless attack from the Russians, plunged to -11C (12.2F) this weekend, and at no point got above freezing. Gradually the mud and rain of late autumn will give way to snow and cold of -20C or worse. Yet both sides have their reasons to carry on fighting.
The weather is a neutral party to the near-10-month war, but in winter it inevitably acts as a constraint. Simple operations take far longer to conduct in the cold, cover from foliage is reduced or eliminated, white camouflage is required when snow has arrived and more rations are needed because soldiers consume more calories.
Shelter and warmth is vital, above all because the armies have to ensure soldiers can dry once they get wet, or they will risk hypothermia or frostbite. A report from Channel 4 News on the Donbas frontline concludes in the kind of well-prepared, deep-dug warm bunker required for winter troops, complete with a kitten to hunt down the inevitable mice.
“Training, morale and leadership become critical,” said Ben Barry, a former British army tank commander who served in Bosnia with the Nato postwar stabilisation force during the chilly winter of 1995-6. “It is easy to become demoralised in the cold: imagine a badly run skiing holiday, without good organisation and equipment. In Bosnia, I saw shivering local soldiers who were disinclined to do anything other than go back to their bunkers and drink.”
A key element of the winter struggle will be who has the best kit, and donations have been pouring in from western allies. Canada said in October it would send 500,000 items of winter clothing, Germany 100,000 warm jackets and Britain 25,000 full sets, with Nordic countries also contributing. For the Ukrainians, the challenge will be ensuring the kit reaches the frontline.
Updated
Russia’s recent mobilisation has increased its military threat in Ukraine, with better-trained soldiers now arriving at the frontline, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said.
But he said Russia was now using a lot of old equipment because it had no other way of replenishing supplies, and that Russian forces had made only slow progress around Bakhmut, one of the main battle zones in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
“On the eastern front, the situation is very tense, the enemy attacks our units every day,” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi told national television.
Asked about the mobilisation ordered by Moscow in September, he said: “Such a number of personnel increased the threat for us and these are not just words – these are new brigades, new battalions that have been trained, this is the replenishment that the army was waiting for because it was exhausted.”
“Those who come now have a better level of training than those who were previously sent to the front,” he said.
Updated
Here's a summary of the latest developments ...
Mysterious explosions took place at two Russian airbases far from the frontlines on Monday, raising the possibility that Kyiv has found a way to target Russian long-range bombers used in attacks against Ukraine’s infrastructure.
The Kremlin has warned the new western price cap on Russian oil will destabilise global energy markets, but claimed it would not impact its invasion of Ukraine. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing its response to the move by the G7 and allies.
Olaf Scholz has warned the west to avoid creating a new cold war by dividing the world into blocs. Writing in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine, published today, the German chancellor called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships. He singled out China and Russia as two countries that pose a threat to a multipolar world.
Nine people have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk, Russian-backed military officials have said. It came after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk, Reuters reports, citing state-run TASS news agency.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said it will continue energy cooperation with Russia after the G7, EU and Australia imposed a price cap on Russian oil exports. China, which said it would continue on the basis if respect and mutual benefit, has increased its purchases of Russia’s Urals oil blends this year.
Three people have reportedly been killed and six injured after a fuel tanker exploded at a Russian airfield. The explosion was near the city of Ryazan, south-east of Moscow.
In recent months, the number of sudden troop deployments conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine has “reduced significantly”, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. Russian aircraft now probably conducts tens of missions per day, compared with a high of up to 300 a day in March 2022, the latest British intelligent report suggests.
That’s it from me for now. Handing over to Tom Ambrose. Thanks for reading.
Updated
Russian airbase explosions suggest Kyiv may have found way to target long-range bombers
Mysterious explosions took place at two Russian airbases far from the frontlines on Monday, raising the possibility that Kyiv has found a way to target Russian long-range bombers used in attacks against Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Russian media reports and video posted to social media indicated that an explosion took place early on Monday morning at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia’s Saratov region that hosts Tu-95 bombers that have taken part in cruise missile strikes against Ukraine.
Another explosion took place at a military airbase near the city of Ryazan, less than 150 miles from Moscow. Three were killed and five wounded after a fuel truck exploded, Russian state media reported. That base also hosts Tu-95 and Tu-22M long-range bombers.
Video of the explosion showed a fiery blast illuminating the night sky. Locals reported that the sound of the explosion could be heard from miles away.
The cause of the two explosions has not been confirmed.
But Baza, a Russian media outlet with sources in the security services, reported that the Russian airfield at Engels was attacked by a loitering munition that targeted the airbase’s runway. Astra, another independent Russian media outlet, claimed that two nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers were damaged in the explosion. Neither indicated a source for their information.
The Kremlin said that Vladimir Putin had been informed of the incidents. Local authorities in the Saratov region said that security services were investigating reports of the explosion at the Engels airbase.
Ukrainian monitoring reports in the last week suggested that Russia was delivering cruise missiles to the Engels airbase and transferring aircraft to the Ryazan airbase in preparation for another attack against Ukraine.
Ukraine is not known to have any loitering munitions that would allow it to attack hundreds of miles beyond the frontlines of the conflict, although there have been reports of such UAVs under development.
Updated
Kremlin claims western oil price cap will destabilise global markets
The Kremlin has warned the new western price cap on Russian oil will destabilise global energy markets but claimed it would not impact its invasion of Ukraine (see also 7.51am)
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing how it would respond to the move by the G7 and allies to ban countries and companies from dealing with Russian sea-borne exports of oil where the price is above $60 a barrel, reports Reuters.
“Russia and the Russian economy have the required capacity to fully meet the needs and requirements of the special military operation,” Peskov said today when asked whether the price cap would affect Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
He added that the price cap would “completely destabilise” the global energy markets, and told Europeans that should brace themselves for higher prices.
Global benchmark Brent crude was up 1.7% at $87.01 a barrel on Monday, following the European Union’s move to adopt the price cap on Russian oil.
Updated
The Finnish government has asked its parliament to formally adopt Nato’s founding treaty in preparation for joining the alliance.
Hungary and Turkey have yet to approve the membership of Finland and Sweden, which also applied in May in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our Nato membership moving forward is important for us Finns but also for Nato members,” Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said.
Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, has visited Ukraine to hear accounts of deportation of children, tortured civilians and executed prisoners of war.
The Ukrainian government has praised the move:
I congratulate the decision @volker_turk to visit 🇺🇦 after his appointment immediately to hear first-hand about deported 🇺🇦 children, tortured civilians, and executed prisoners of war. It is necessary to make a joint effort to achieve a fair trial for criminals. #UN #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/BQWPlZ79ox
— Oleksandr Korniyenko (@OlekKorn) December 5, 2022
Kyiv is to provide backup drinking water in case of shortages, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has announced.
In case of shortages in water supply in the capital, a system of backup sources of drinking water will be provided, first of all, pump-room complexes, most of which have the ability to connect to generators, #Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko has announced.https://t.co/IQlPlpkk46
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) December 5, 2022
Olaf Scholz warns west to avoid new cold war
Olaf Scholz has warned the west to avoid creating a new cold war by dividing the world into blocs.
Writing in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine, published today, the German chancellor called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships.
Singling out China and Russia as two countries that pose a threat to a multipolar world, he said there must be stronger European and transatlantic unity.
While he said the west must stand up for democratic values and protect open societies, “we must also avoid the temptation to once again divide the world into blocs,” reports Reuters.
“This means making every effort to build new partnerships, pragmatically and without ideological blinders,” he added.
“Germans are intent on becoming the guarantor of European security that our allies expect us to be, a bridge builder within the European Union and an advocate for multilateral solutions to global problems,” he wrote.
Updated
Nine killed in eastern Luhansk region – reports
Nine people have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk, Russian-backed military officials have said.
It came after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk, Reuters reports, citing state-run TASS news agency.
Updated
Staff at a children’s hospital in Kherson have described how they secretly planned how to save babies from Russia capture after the city was invaded in February.
Russian forces were suspected of taking orphan children and sending them to Russia, prompting the children’s regional hospital in Kherson to start fabricating medical records so that it looked like they were too ill to move.
“We deliberately wrote false information that the children were sick and could not be transported,” Dr Olga Pilyarska, head of intensive care, told the Associated Press. “We were scared that [the Russians]would find out [but] we decided that we would save the children at any cost.”
Updated
China says it will continue energy cooperation with Russia after G7 price cap on oil exports
The Chinese foreign ministry has said it will continue energy cooperation with Russia after the G7, EU and Australia imposed a price cap on Russian oil exports.
China, which said it would continue on the basis if respect and mutual benefit, has increased its purchases of Russia’s Urals oil blends this year, reports Reuters, citing Russia’s RIA news agency.
It comes after the UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, the US, EU member states and Australia came to an agreement to put a $60 a barrel price cap on the world’s second-largest oil exporter (see 6.01am).
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is “more responsible than I am brave” and hates to let people down.
In an interview with the FT, who named him “person of the year” and compared him with Churchill for the social media age, the Ukrainian president said that after nine months fighting Russia, he misses fishing with his son.
He said:
I am more responsible than I am brave … I just hate to let people down.
He also told the newspaper:
I just want to catch a carp in the Dnipro River.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the @FT 's person of the year for his "extraordinary display of leadership and fortitude" - a Churchill for the social media age. With @khalafroula and @ChristopherJM https://t.co/yTjFaCDnAU
— Ben Hall (@hallbenjamin) December 5, 2022
Updated
Three killed and six injured after explosion in Russian airfield
Three people have reportedly been killed and six injured after a fuel tanker exploded at a Russian airfield.
The explosion was near the city of Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, reports Reuters, citing news agency RIA Novosti.
Hi, I’m looking after the Ukraine blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated
Number of Russian sorties 'reduced significantly' in recent months: UK MoD
In recent months, the number of sudden troop deployments conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine has “reduced significantly”, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
Russian aircraft now probably conducts tens of missions per day, compared with a high of up to 300 a day in March 2022, the latest British intelligent report suggests.
“Russia has now lost over 60 fixed-wing aircraft in the conflict, likely including an additional Su-24M FENCER fighter-bomber and a Su-25 FROGFOOT ground attack aircraft last week,” the ministry adds.
The decrease in sorties is likely a result of continued high threat from Ukrainian air defences, limitations on the flying hours available to Russian aircraft, and worsening weather.
With Russia’s ground attack tactics largely reliant on visual identification and unguided munitions, the Russian air force will likely continue a low rate of ground attack operations through the poor winter weather.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 05 December 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 5, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/pmOwk4EqC5
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/KEWi93TjT1
Updated
Russian forces shelled the Kherson region 46 times on Sunday, killing one civilian, according to senior Ukrainian presidential aides.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, made the claim in a Telegram update late on Sunday. “During the day, the occupiers shelled the region 46 times with mortars, tanks, artillery and MLRS. Private and apartment buildings and other buildings were destroyed,” he said citing the Kherson city council.
Anton Gerashchenko, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, said a 65-year-old woman was killed in the attack. He made the claim in a Telegram post early this morning:
As a woman and her husband were crossing the Dnieper in a boat in the Golopristansky district, the rashists [Russians] opened fire from machine guns. The pensioner died from her wounds.”
US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has responded to earlier claims made by senior US government officials, saying they were mistaken in identifying the optimal window of opportunity for Ukraine to conduct more counteroffensives as the spring rather than winter.
Its latest report reads:
US Director for National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines assessed on December 3 that the pace of the war in Ukraine will slow over the winter so both sides can refit, resupply, and reconstitute, despite evidence that conditions on the ground favour a renewed offensive and despite the demonstrated tendency of Ukrainian forces to initiate new counteroffensive efforts relatively quickly after the previous effort has culminated.”
A 'reduced tempo' in fighting to continue over winter, US predicts
A “reduced tempo” in fighting is expected continue over the winter months as brighter prospects for Ukrainian forces emerge in the coming months, the US has said.
Speaking during a defence forum at the weekend, Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said:
Most of the fighting right now around Bakhmut and the Donetsk area has slowed down with the withdrawal of Russia from the western Kherson area to the east of the river. And we expect that’s likely to be what we see in the coming months.”
Vladimir Putin is now “better informed” about the difficulties facing his forces in Ukraine, Haines added, indicating the Russian president was no longer as insulated from bad news arising from his invasion of Ukraine.
Alluding to past assessments that Putin’s advisers could be shielding him, Haines said he was “becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces”.
Kyiv resumes power shutdowns
Cities across Ukraine will resume scheduled power outages today.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko promised there would be “as few deviations as possible” in a Telegram post late on Sunday.
Starting tomorrow, Monday, Kyiv will return to stabilisation shutdowns according to the schedule,” he said.
But the situation in the energy system remains difficult. Therefore, as noted by energy experts, there may be some deviations from the schedule for balancing the energy system.
There is a further need to save electricity. And it must be done.”
Price cap on Russian oil comes into force
A price cap on Russian seaborne oil agreed upon by G7 nations comes into force today as the west aims to reduce the Kremlin’s income from fossil fuels as well as curtailing Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
The UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and the US, as well as EU member states and Australia came to an agreement to put a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian oil after Poland, which was holding out, gave the green light to the deal. Russia is the world’s second-largest oil exporter.
The agreement allows Russian oil to be shipped to third-party countries using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions, only if the cargo is bought at or below the $60 per barrel cap.
The price cap would “immediately cut into Putin’s most important source of revenue” US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said.
But critics, including Ukraine, say the cap is toothless since it is above the price of existing Russian oil prices of about $52 a barrel.
“You wouldn’t call it a serious decision to set such a limit for Russian prices, which is quite comfortable for the budget of a terrorist state,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
“It’s only a matter of time before stronger tools will have to be used anyway. It is a pity that this time will be lost.”
Russian authorities rejected the price cap and on Saturday threatened to stop supplying the nations that endorsed it.
Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday it was a gross interference that contradicted the rules of free trade.
“We are working on mechanisms to prohibit the use of a price cap instrument, regardless of what level is set, because such interference could further destabilise the market,” said Novak, the Russian government official in charge of its oil, gas, atomic energy and coal.
“We will sell oil and petroleum products only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little,” he said.
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.
A price cap on Russian seaborne oil agreed upon by G7 nations comes into force today as the west aims to reduce the Kremlin’s income from fossil fuels as well as curtailing Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
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:
Vladimir Putin is now “better informed” about the difficulties facing his forces in Ukraine, the head of US intelligence has said. Speaking during a defence forum at the weekend, Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, indicated the Russian president was no longer as insulated from bad news arising from his invasion of Ukraine. Alluding to past assessments that Putin’s advisers could be shielding him, Haines said he was “becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces”.
The US expects a “reduced tempo” in fighting to continue over the winter months, adding that there could be brighter prospects for Ukrainian forces in the coming months. “Most of the fighting right now around Bakhmut and the Donetsk area has slowed down with the withdrawal of Russia from the western Kherson area to the east of the river. And we expect that’s likely to be what we see in the coming months,” Haines said.
Heavy fighting continues around the key Donbas town of Bakhmut, where Russian forces have been struggling for six months to make minimal progress. Reports on social media suggested Ukrainian forces were making progress in operations on the east bank of the Dnipro River, opposite the recently liberated city of Kherson, after a reported amphibious landing on the Kinburn Spit last month. Russian forces have also intensified artillery attacks on the Kherson region since withdrawing from the western bank of the Dnipro.
A draft resolution is circulating at the United Nations for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to hold Russia accountable for crimes of aggression in Ukraine. Signs also indicate that US opposition to the proposal may be softening in the face of lobbying by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Beth Van Schaack, the US ambassador for global criminal justice, said this week: “So far, all of the [UN general assembly] resolutions on Ukraine have prevailed. The numbers have been quite strong.” The international criminal court has already started investigating war crimes in Ukraine but cannot prosecute the Kremlin leadership over the broader crime of aggression since Russia is not a signatory to the relevant statute.
Iran’s leadership has locked itself into a “vicious cycle” over protests and arming Russia, the US special envoy has said. “The more Iran represses, the more there will be sanctions; the more there are sanctions, the more Iran feels isolated,” Rob Malley, the US special envoy on Iran, told a conference in Rome. “The more isolated they feel, the more they turn to Russia; the more they turn to Russia, the more sanctions there will be, the more the climate deteriorates, the less likely there will be nuclear diplomacy. So it is true right now the vicious cycles are all self-reinforcing.” US intelligence chief Avril Haines said there was worrying evidence that Russia was seeking to deepen military cooperation with Iran.
Russia will not sell oil that is subject to a western price-cap even if it has to cut production, Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday. The G7 and Australia agreed to the price cap on Friday.
Opec+ agreed to stick to its oil output targets at a meeting on Sunday. Opec+, which comprises the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and allies including Russia, angered the US and other western nations in October when it agreed to cut output by 2m barrels a day, about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.
More than 500 Ukrainian localities remained without power on Sunday following weeks of Russian airstrikes on the electric grid, an interior ministry official said.
Ukraine is imposing sanctions on 10 senior clerics linked to a pro-Moscow church on the grounds they agreed to work with Russian occupation authorities or justified Moscow’s invasion, the security service said.
