G7 foreign ministers agreed on the need for a coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure, a senior US State Department official said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that grain sent under the Black Sea export deal should go free to poor African countries. “In my phone call with Vladimir Putin, he said ‘Let’s send this grain for free to countries like Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan’ – and we agreed,” Erdogan said in a speech to businessmen in Istanbul.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting China and meanwhile has urged Putin to extend the Black Sea grain deal when it expires on November 19.
Dmitry MedvedevA longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, the current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, and formerly both president and prime minister of Russia, released a large banner this morning claiming that Russia’s war has “a sacred goal” and that “the goal is to stop the supreme ruler of hell, whatever name he uses – Satan, Lucifer or Iblis.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, said 450,000 residents of the Ukrainian capital were without power on Friday morning. “It’s one and a half times more than the previous days,” he said, adding that the electrical system was overloaded.
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it had found no signs of undeclared nuclear activity at three sites in Ukraine which he inspected at Kyiv’s request, in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”. “Our technical and scientific assessment of the results we have so far have shown no signs of undeclared nuclear material and activities at these three sites,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. . statementadding that the environmental samples taken would be analyzed.
In southern Ukraine, a Russian-installed occupation official said Wednesday that Moscow was likely to withdraw its troops from the west bank of the Dnipro., signaling a huge retreat which, if confirmed, could be a major turning point in the war. “Most likely our units, our soldiers, will go to the left [eastern] bank,” said Kirill Stremousov, the deputy civil administrator of the Kherson region installed by Russia, in an interview with Solovyov Live, a pro-Kremlin online media outlet.
Ukraine says it fears Moscow is setting a trap by simulating a withdrawal from the Kherson region and maintained that his forces were still fighting in the area. Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Military Command, said it could be a Russian trap. “It could be the manifestation of a particular provocation, in order to give the impression that the settlements are abandoned, that it is safe to enter them, as they prepare for street battles,” he said. she said in televised comments. “We continue to fight, also in the direction of Kherson, despite the fact that the enemy is trying to convince us that he is leaving the settlements and creating the effect of a total evacuation.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, said on Thursday he believed Ukrainian forces were able to retake Khersoncalling their work “methodical” and “efficient”.
Ukraine described the relocation of its citizens to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as “deportations” and “war crimes”. Russian authorities in Kherson have moved civilians, saying it is for their safety that Ukrainian forces are closing in. A week after Russian authorities moved 70,000 civilians from the right bank of the Dnipro River to the left bank, Russian authorities said they were moving 70,000 civilians from the left bank to be “temporarily resettled deep in the region of Kherson, as well as in other regions”. of the Russian Federation”, citing “possible damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station”.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has again been disconnected from the power grid after the Russian bombings damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving only diesel generators, Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom said on Thursday. The plant, in Russian hands but operated by Ukrainian workers, has 15 days of fuel to run the generators, Energoatom said.
Due to low morale and reluctance to fight, Russian forces likely began deploying units threatening to fire on their own retreating soldiers, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.. An intelligence report released early this morning described these Russian units as “barrier troops” or “blocking units” used to force offensives.
By syyehubovgovernor of Kharkov, said that yesterday in Izium, a 69-year-old man was blown up by a mine and hospitalized with moderate injuries. In a message on Telegram, he said that over the past day Ukrainian forces had neutralized “471 explosive objects” in the area.
The Russian Ambassador to the UK said British special forces were involved during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow Black Sea Fleet. Andrei Kelin told Sky News: “We know perfectly [the] participation of British specialists [the] formation, preparation and execution of violence against Russian infrastructure and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. We know it’s done. Kelin added: “It’s actually a warning that Britain is too involved in this conflict. This means that the situation is becoming more and more dangerous.
Another 107 Ukrainian servicemen were freed from Russian captivity in a POW exchangeUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed. “Many of them were injured, and very seriously,” he said in his latest national report. address.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a one-time payment of 195,000 rubles (£2,800) for contract soldiers and those who have been mobilized to fight in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced on Thursday. Moscow last week said the ‘partial mobilisation’ of 300,000 reservists was complete, but acknowledged there had been problems
Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that he would not attend the G20 summit to be held in two weeks in Bali if Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation will participate in the conference.
On Thursday, officials from the US Embassy in Russia visited imprisoned basketball star Brittney Griner.. The White House said officials were continuing to work on a prisoner swap offer with Russia for Griner’s release – but did not elaborate further on what that meant or how soon it might happen.