Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

Russia-Ukraine war: no need to evacuate Kyiv, says Ukraine’s PM, as country rules out peace talks with Moscow – as it happened

This article is more than 1 year old

Denys Shmyhal says no reason to evacuate any city not near frontlines; Kyiv refuses to negotiate until Russian troops have left its territory. This live blog is now closed

 Updated 
Tue 8 Nov 2022 13.23 ESTFirst published on Tue 8 Nov 2022 01.08 EST
Pensioners queue up for free soup, bread and hot food handed out at a stand run by a charity in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Pensioners queue up for free soup, bread and hot food handed out at a stand run by a charity in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Ed Ram/Getty Images
Pensioners queue up for free soup, bread and hot food handed out at a stand run by a charity in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Ed Ram/Getty Images

Live feed

From

Ukrainian PM says no need to evacuate Kyiv

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said he saw no need at present to evacuate Kyiv or any other cities that are not near the frontlines in the war against Russia.

He made his comments at a cabinet meeting following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and after the mayor of Kyiv told residents to consider everything including a worst-case scenario where the capital loses power and water completely.

“Right now, the situation is far from [needing to] announce an evacuation,” Shmyhal said. “We must say that to announce the evacuation of any city not near the front lines, especially the capital, would not make any sense at present.”

Share
Updated at 
Key events

Summary

Here is a roundup of the day’s top headlines:

  • Ukraine said its position on negotiations with Russia had not changed and it was not being asked to negotiate by its allies, after reports by the Washington Post that its main ally and backer, the US, had asked Kyiv to signal that it was open to negotiations amid worry among allies in parts of Europe, Latin American, and Africa about a protracted war. The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Radio Svoboda that Ukraine would only negotiate with Russia once Russian troops had left all of Ukraine’s territory, including those it occupied in 2014. Podolyak said the US treated Ukraine as an equal and there was no coercion. He said Ukraine was winning and that to sit down at the negotiating table now would therefore be “nonsense”.

  • The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said he saw no need at present to evacuate Kyiv or any other cities that were not near the frontlines in the war against Russia. He made his comments at a cabinet meeting following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and after the mayor of Kyiv told residents to consider everything including a worst-case scenario where the capital lost power and water completely.

  • The secretary of Ukraine’s security council said on Tuesday the “main condition” for the resumption of negotiations with Russia would be the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Oleksiy Danilov said Ukraine also needed the “guarantee” of modern air defences, aircraft, tanks and long-range missiles.

  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, claimed his forces were gradually pushing back Russian troops in some parts of the east and south. “We are gradually moving forward,” he said in his latest evening address on Monday. Zelenskiy added that Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region remained the centre of Ukraine’s bloodiest battles, claiming Russians “die by the hundreds every day”.

  • Ukraine wants the Black Sea grain export deal expanded to include more ports and goods, and hopes a decision to extend the agreement for at least a year will be taken next week, Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister said. The deal, which eased a global food crisis by unblocking three major Ukrainian ports during Russia’s invasion, expires on 19 November and briefly appeared to be imperilled last month when Moscow suspended its participation in the deal before rejoining again.

  • Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, Zelenskiy said in a video message played at the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt on Tuesday. “There can be no effective climate policy without the peace,” he said.

  • One of the Russian-imposed leaders in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, Kirill Stremousov, claimed on Telegram: “The situation in the morning is unchanged along the entire frontline. We do not see any kind of mass offensive. At this stage, everything is unchanged and without difficult moments for our region.”

  • Russia is stepping up its efforts to build substantial obstacle barriers to slow the advance of Ukrainian forces in key locations it is defending, including around the devastated city of Mariupol, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said. Its intelligence assessment on Tuesday said the Russian military was using two plants in occupied Mariupol to produce large numbers of “dragon’s teeth” – pyramidal concrete blocks designed to slow advancing military vehicles. The production and placement of the blocks in conjunction with razor wire and mines is the latest indication of how Russia’s struggling forces are increasingly attempting to transition to more defensive warfare, not least on the key southern Kherson front on the east bank of the Dnieper River.

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will join next week’s G20 summit “if the situation is possible”, his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, who is hosting the meeting, said on Tuesday, adding that Putin could attend virtually instead. On Monday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin would decide by the end of the week whether he would attend the summit.

  • Zelenskiy will take part in the G20 summit in Bali next week, most probably attending virtually, his spokesperson told the Suspilne public broadcaster on Tuesday. Previously, the Ukrainian position was that Zelenskiy would not appear if Putin did.

  • The Italian government is readying a new arms package for Ukraine including air defence systems, a governing coalition official said. Western countries have been delivering more air defence hardware to Ukraine since Zelenskiy last month asked the leaders of the G7 for help to stop Russian missiles fired at Ukrainian cities.

  • Ukrainians continue to brace for more blackouts after the country’s grid operator told consumers to expect power outages in Kyiv and other regions on Monday and Tuesday as it seeks to reduce the strain on energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks. Rolling blackouts are becoming increasingly routine after a wave of Russian attacks on power facilities damaged 40% of energy infrastructure since 10 October.

  • A recruitment office in St Petersburg issued a draft notice to a missing Russian sailor who was onboard the flagship Moskva missile cruiser, which sank in the Black Sea in April. According to a report by the local news website Fontanka, the parents of the sailor, named Mikhail, who was a cook on the Moskva cruiser, received his call-up notice last month. The papers ordered their son to report to the drafting station or face possible prosecution.

  • Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, said this morning that air defences in the city shot down a Ukrainian drone.

  • Russia and the US are discussing holding talks on strategic nuclear weapons for the first time since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported, citing at least three sources familiar with the discussions.

  • The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, will seek Turkey’s approval for his country’s bid to join Nato during talks later on Tuesday in Ankara with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  • A further 30 Ukrainian service personnel who were captured on Ukraine’s Zmiinyi (Snake) Island have been released from Russian captivity, according to the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights.

  • Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, visited Kyiv on Tuesday, where she met Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov. She also visited the Kyiv Mlyn flour mill, saying on Twitter of the trip: “Ukraine has long been a breadbasket to the world. And today, I had the chance to visit a facility that stores and processes grain in Kyiv. This site has taken on added importance because Russian forces have attacked so many of Ukraine’s other grain facilities.”

  • Another US volunteer has died in combat in Ukraine, a spokesperson for the country’s International Legion confirmed on Monday, bringing the number of US fighters killed in the war against Russia to at least six. Timothy Griffin, from New York state, had been fighting alongside Ukrainians as part of their counteroffensive on the eastern front when his unit came under attack. The legion’s spokesperson, identified as “Mockingjay” to NBC News, said Griffin was “killed in action”.

Share
Updated at 
Pjotr Sauer
Pjotr Sauer

A recruitment office in St Petersburg has issued a draft notice to a missing Russian sailor who was onboard the flagship missile cruiser Moskva, which sank in the Black Sea in April.

According to a report by the local news website Fontanka, the parents of the sailor, named Mikhail, who was a cook on the cruiser, received his call-up notice last month. The papers ordered their son to report to the drafting station or face possible prosecution.

“You may be prosecuted if you do not appear at the indicated time and place without a legitimate reason,” the draft papers read.

Russia’s first draft since the second world war, announced by Vladimir Putin, caused chaos and anger across the country, as news emerged that local authorities were sending draft papers to Russians who had died or who had severe health conditions.

Share
Updated at 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video message played at the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt on Tuesday.

“There can be no effective climate policy without the peace,” he said.

Share
Updated at 

The Italian government is readying a new arms package for Ukraine including air defence systems, a governing coalition official said.

Western nations have been delivering more air defence hardware to Ukraine since president Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month asked the leaders of the G7 nations for help to stop Russian missiles raining down on Ukrainian cities.

The Italian coalition official, who declined to be named, said Rome was ready to provide Ukraine with a variety of air-defence systems, including the medium-range Franco-Italian SAMP/T and Italian Aspide, as well as portable Stinger missiles.

However, it remains unclear how many of these it could offer or when any shipment might be delivered, the official said.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto spoke by phone on Monday with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and pledged to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion for “as long as necessary”, a statement said.

Summary of the day so far …

  • Ukraine said its position on negotiations with Russia had not changed and it is not being asked to negotiate by its allies, after reports by the Washington Post that its main ally and backer, the US, had asked Kyiv to signal that it is open to negotiations amid worry among allies in parts of Europe, Latin American, and Africa about a protracted war. Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podalyak, told Radio Svoboda, that Ukraine will only negotiate with Russia once Russian troops have left all of Ukraine’s territory, including those it occupied in 2014. Podalyak said that the US treats Ukraine as an equal and there is no coercion. He said Ukraine is winning and therefore to sit down at the negotiating table now would be “nonsense”.

  • The secretary of Ukraine’s security council said on Tuesday the “main condition” for the resumption of negotiations with Russia would be the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Oleksiy Danilov said that Ukraine also needed the “guarantee” of modern air defences, aircraft, tanks and long-range missiles.

  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has claimed his forces are gradually pushing back Russian troops in some parts of the east and south. “We are gradually moving forward,” he said in his latest Monday evening address. Zelenskiy added that Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region remains the centre of Ukraine’s bloodiest battles, claiming Russians “die by the hundreds every day”.

  • One of the Russian-imposed leaders in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, Kirill Stremousov, has claimed on Telegram: “The situation in the morning is unchanged along the entire frontline. We do not see any kind of mass offensive. At this stage, everything is unchanged and without difficult moments for our region.”

  • Russia is stepping up its efforts to build substantial obstacle barriers to slow the advance of Ukrainian forces in key locations it is defending, including around the devastated city of Mariupol, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. Its intelligence assessment on Tuesday said the Russian military was using two plants in occupied Mariupol to produce large numbers of “dragon’s teeth” – pyramidal concrete blocks designed to slow advancing military vehicles. The production and placement of the blocks in conjunction with razor wire and mines is the latest indication of how Russia’s struggling forces are increasingly attempting to transition to more defensive warfare, not least on the key southern Kherson front on the east bank of the Dneiper River.

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will join next week’s G20 leaders summit “if the situation is possible”, his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, the meeting’s host said Tuesday, adding that Putin could attend virtually instead. On Monday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin would decide by the end of the week if he was attending the summit.

  • Zelenskiy will take part in the G20 summit in Bali next week, most likely attending virtually, his spokesperson told the Suspilne public broadcaster on Tuesday. Previously the Ukrainian position was that Zelenskiy would not appear if Putin did.

  • Ukrainians continue to brace for more blackouts after the country’s grid operator told consumers to expect power outages in Kyiv and other regions on Monday and Tuesday as it seeks to reduce the strain on energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks. Rolling blackouts are becoming increasingly routine after a wave of Russian attacks on power facilities damaged 40% of energy infrastructure since 10 October.

  • Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, said this morning that air defences in the city shot down a Ukrainian drone.

  • Russia and the US are discussing holding talks on strategic nuclear weapons for the first time since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, Russian newspaper Kommersant reports, citing at least three sources familiar with the discussions.

  • Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson will seek Turkey’s approval for his country’s bid to join Nato during talks later Tuesday in Ankara with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  • A further 30 Ukrainian service personnel who were captured from Ukraine’s Zmiinyi (Snake) Island have been released from Russian captivity, according to the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights.

  • Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, visited Kyiv Tuesday, where she met Ukraine minister of infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrako. She also visited the KyivMlyn flour mill, saying on Twitter of the trip “Ukraine has long been a breadbasket to the world. And today, I had the chance to visit a facility that stores and processes grain in Kyiv. This site has taken on added importance because Russian forces have attacked so many of Ukraine’s other grain facilities.”

  • Another US volunteer has died in combat in Ukraine, a spokesperson for the country’s International Legion confirmed on Monday, bringing the number of US fighters killed in the war against Russia to at least six. Timothy Griffin, from New York state, had been fighting alongside Ukrainians as part of their counteroffensive on the eastern front when his unit came under attack. The legion’s spokesperson, identified as “Mockingjay” to NBC News, said Griffin was “killed in action”.

Ukraine wants the Black Sea grain export deal expanded to include more ports and goods, and hopes a decision to extend the agreement for at least a year will be taken next week, Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister said.

The deal, which eased a global food crisis by unblocking three major Ukrainian ports during Russia’s invasion, expires on 19 November and briefly appeared imperilled last month when Moscow suspended its participation in the deal before rejoining again.

“[We] are already very late [giving] clear information to the market about the extension [of the agreement],” Yuriy Vaskov, the deputy minister, told Reuters in an interview.

“We hope that no later than next week from our partners Turkey and the UN we will have an understanding and the whole market will also have a clear signal about the further functioning and continuation of the initiative,” he said.

The deal has allowed about 10.5m tonnes of Ukrainian food, mainly grain, to be delivered to foreign markets since it was agreed in July under the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations.

Vaskov said Ukraine had offered an extension of at least one year to Turkey and UN, as well as a broadening of the deal to include the ports of the southern Mykolaiv region, which provided 35% of Ukrainian food exports before Russia’s invasion.

Share
Updated at 

Ukrainian PM says no need to evacuate Kyiv

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said he saw no need at present to evacuate Kyiv or any other cities that are not near the frontlines in the war against Russia.

He made his comments at a cabinet meeting following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and after the mayor of Kyiv told residents to consider everything including a worst-case scenario where the capital loses power and water completely.

“Right now, the situation is far from [needing to] announce an evacuation,” Shmyhal said. “We must say that to announce the evacuation of any city not near the front lines, especially the capital, would not make any sense at present.”

Share
Updated at 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, has visited Kyiv today, where among other things she has met Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrako.

Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov (left), welcomes the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield (right) before their meeting in Kyiv. Photograph: Reuters

She has also visited the KyivMlyn flour mill, where she met workers and was accompanied by the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink.

Thomas-Greenfield said on Twitter of the visit: “Ukraine has long been a breadbasket to the world. And today, I had the chance to visit a facility that stores and processes grain in Kyiv. This site has taken on added importance because Russian forces have attacked so many of Ukraine’s other grain facilities.”

Linda Thomas-Greenfield (centre) meets workers during a visit to the KyivMlyn flour mill in Kyiv. US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink stands to her right. Photograph: Reuters
Share
Updated at 

The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko has said that only Ukraine is holding back the prospect of negotiations. RIA quotes him saying:

There are no preconditions on our part, except for the main condition – for Ukraine to show goodwill.

Rudenko highlighted that Ukraine had passed a law forbidding negotiations, and said: “We have always declared our readiness for such negotiations, which were interrupted through no fault of ours.”

Russia began its latest invasion of Ukraine on 24 February this year, having annexed Crimea in 2014. In September, the Russian Federation declared that it had annexed four regions of Ukraine.

Share
Updated at 
Edward Helmore

Another American volunteer has died in combat in Ukraine, a spokesperson for the country’s International Legion confirmed on Monday, bringing the number of US fighters killed in the war against Russia to at least six.

Timothy Griffin, from New York state, had been fighting alongside Ukrainians as part of their counteroffensive on the eastern front when his unit came under attack. The legion’s spokesperson, identified as “Mockingjay” to NBC News, said Griffin was “killed in action”.

“We are in contact with the family and the International Legion, and the armed forces of Ukraine are handling the repatriation process, in coordination with the family, following their wishes and instructions,” the spokesperson said.

Details of Griffin’s Ukrainian volunteer history are scarce, but people with knowledge of his death told NBC he had been fighting in the Kharkiv region.

The US state department said it was “aware of these unconfirmed reports” of an American citizen killed in Ukraine but had no further comment “due to privacy considerations”.

Read more of Edward Helmore’s report here: Another American dies in combat as part of Ukraine’s international legion

Share
Updated at 

A Ukrainian soldier of a artillery unit fires towards Russian positions outside Bakhmut on 8 November.

A Ukrainian soldier of a artillery unit fires towards Russian positions outside Bakhmut on Tuesday. Photograph: Bülent Kılıç/AFP/Getty Images
Share
Updated at 
Peter Beaumont
Peter Beaumont

Russia is stepping up its efforts to build substantial obstacle barriers to slow the advance of Ukrainian forces in key locations it is defending, including around the devastated city of Mariupol, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.

Its intelligence assessment on Tuesday said the Russian military was using two plants in occupied Mariupol to produce large numbers of “dragon’s teeth” – pyramidal concrete blocks designed to slow advancing military vehicles.

The production and placement of the blocks in conjunction with razor wire and mines is the latest indication of how Russia’s struggling forces are increasingly attempting to transition to more defensive warfare, not least on the key southern Kherson front on the east bank of the Dneiper River.

“Dragon’s teeth have likely been installed between Mariupol and Nikolske village; and from northern Mariupol to Staryi Krym village. Mariupol forms part of Russia’s ‘land bridge’ from Russia to Crimea, a key logistics line of communication. Dragon’s teeth have additionally been sent for the preparation of defensive fortifications in occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson,” the intelligence assessment said.

“This activity suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defences in depth behind their current frontline, likely to forestall any rapid Ukrainian advances in the event of breakthroughs.”

The Institute for the Study of War thinktank also noted the continuing efforts by Russia to improve its defences in the south. “Geolocated satellite imagery from 29 October, 3 November and 4 November shows Russian defensive lines in Kakhovka, 43 miles (70km) east of Kherson city, Hola Prystan, 5 miles south-west of Kherson city, and Ivanivka, 37 miles south-west of Kherson city – all of which lie on the east bank of the Dneiper River,” it said.

Share
Updated at 

Ukraine doubled down on its tough stance on negotiations with Russia on Tuesday, saying talks could resume only once the Kremlin relinquished all Ukrainian territory, and that Kyiv would fight on even if it was “stabbed in the back” by its allies.

The remarks come days after a US media report that Washington had encouraged Kyiv to signal willingness for talks, and seemed aimed at rebuffing such pressure, at a time when US mid-term elections could test western support for Ukraine.

In an overnight address before he was due to address world leaders at a climate summit, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia must be pushed into “genuine” negotiations, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine had repeatedly proposed such talks, but “we always received insane Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail”.

“Once again – restoration of territorial integrity, respect for the UN charter, compensation for all damages caused by the war, punishment of every war criminal and guarantees that this will not happen again. These are completely understandable conditions.”

Share
Updated at 

The US national security adviser has said the White House is keeping open the lines of communication with Moscow to avert the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe.

“We have done so when it’s been necessary to clarify potential misunderstandings and try to reduce risk and reduce the possibility of catastrophe like the potential use of nuclear weapons,” Jake Sullivan said on Monday in a discussion at the Economic Club of New York.

US keeping open lines of communication with Moscow, says national security adviser – video

A damaged Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier (APC) with flowers placed on it by local people in memory of the Ukrainian soldiers who died at this checkpoint in the recently recaptured territory of the Kupiansk district, Kharkiv region, north-eastern Ukraine.

A damaged Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier at s checkpoint in the recently recaptured territory of the Kupiansk district, Kharkiv region. Photograph: Sergey Kozlov/EPA
Share
Updated at 

Summary of the day so far …

  • Ukraine says its position on negotiations with Russia has not changed and it is not being asked to negotiate by its allies, after reports by the Washington Post that its main ally and backer, the US, had asked Kyiv to signal that it is open to negotiations amid concerns among allies in parts of Europe, Latin American, and Africa about a protracted war. The Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podalyak, told Radio Svoboda Ukraine would only negotiate with Russia once Russian troops had left all of Ukraine’s territory, including parts it occupied in 2014. Podalyak said the US treated Ukraine as an equal and there was no coercion. He said Ukraine was winning the war and therefore to sit down at the negotiating table now would be “nonsense”.

  • The secretary of Ukraine’s security council said on Tuesday the “main condition” for the resumption of negotiations with Russia would be the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Oleksiy Danilov said Ukraine also needed the “guarantee” of modern air defences, aircraft, tanks and long-range missiles.

  • Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has claimed his forces are gradually pushing back Russian troops in some parts of the east and south. “We are gradually moving forward,” he said in his Monday evening address. Zelenskiy added that Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region remained the centre of Ukraine’s bloodiest battles, claiming Russians “die by the hundreds every day”.

  • One of the Russian-imposed leaders in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, Kirill Stremousov, has claimed on Telegram: “The situation in the morning is unchanged along the entire frontline. We do not see any kind of mass offensive. At this stage, everything is unchanged and without difficult moments for our region.”

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will join next week’s G20 leaders summit “if the situation is possible”, his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, the meeting’s host, said on Tuesday, adding that Putin could attend virtually instead. On Monday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin would decide by the end of the week if he was attending the summit.

  • Zelenskiy will take part in the G20 summit in Bali next week, most likely attending virtually, his spokesperson told the Suspilne public broadcaster on Tuesday. Previously, the Ukrainian position was that Zelenskiy would not appear if Putin did.

  • Ukrainians continue to brace for further blackouts after the country’s grid operator told consumers to expect power outages in Kyiv and other regions on Monday and Tuesday as it seeks to reduce the strain on energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks. Rolling blackouts are becoming increasingly routine after a wave of Russian attacks since 10 October on power facilities damaged 40% of energy infrastructure.

  • Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, said this morning that air defences in the city shot down a Ukrainian drone.

  • Russia and the US are discussing holding talks on strategic nuclear weapons for the first time since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reports, citing at least three sources familiar with the discussions.

  • The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, will seek Turkey’s approval for his country’s bid to join Nato during talks later on Tuesday in Ankara with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  • A further 30 Ukrainian service personnel who were captured from Ukraine’s Zmiinyi (Snake) Island have been released from Russian captivity, according to the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights.

That is it from me, Martin Belam, on Ukraine for now. I am off to cover the US midterm elections live for a couple of hours, but I will be back later on. I am handing you over to Tom Ambrose.

Share
Updated at 

Zelenskiy aide says Ukraine's president will take part in G20 meeting in Bali

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will take part in the G20 summit in Bali next week, most likely attending virtually, his spokesperson told the Suspilne public broadcaster on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Zelenskiy had said last week he would not take part if Vladimir Putin attended the summit in Indonesia, which is scheduled to take place on 15-16 November. Serhiy Nykyforov, the spokesperson, did not say whether Zelenskiy had changed his position.

Putin has not yet confirmed if he will attend.

Share
Updated at 

Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, governor of Sumy region in the north-east of Ukraine, has warned that there will be unscheduled power outages today. He told residents in a message via the Telegram app:

In addition to scheduled hourly power outages, emergency outages are used in the region. Unfortunately, due to the cold weather, electricity consumption is increasing. This leads to an increase in the load on the equipment and a shortage of electricity. There is a threat of accidents, no less difficult than those that happened due to enemy fire. Therefore, additional restrictions are necessary. Please do not forget about the need to consume electricity sparingly.

Most viewed

Most viewed