Russia targeted power grids in central Ukraine overnight as Ukraine boosted its military force near the border with Belarus to counter any possible Russian attack. Follow our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
This live page is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
02:37am: Biden says Putin's talk about nuclear weapons is 'dangerous'
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed skepticism on Thursday about Russian President Vladimir Putin's comment that he had no intention of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
Putin, in a speech earlier in the day, played down a nuclear standoff with the West, insisting Russia had not threatened to use nuclear weapons and had only responded to nuclear "blackmail" from Western leaders.
"If he has no intention, why does he keep talking about it?
Why is he talking about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon?" Biden said in an interview with NewsNation. "He's been very dangerous in how he's approached this," Biden said.
1:10am: Central Banks: Ukraine's economy to shrink by 32%
Ukraine's economy will shrink by almost 32% this year and annual inflation will accelerate to 30%, largely due to the damage done by Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian central bank said on Thursday.
Assuming security risks decline and demand picks up, gross domestic product will grow by around 4% to 5% per year in 2023 and 2024, the bank said in a quarterly inflation report.
"This year's economic downturn has been driven by lower domestic demand, disrupted logistics, and large losses of labor force and production potential caused by the war," it said, predicting the unemployment rate would hit 30% this year.
12:22am: Zelensky, giving address in the dark, says 'shelling will not break us'
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday stood outside in the dark beside the wreckage of a downed drone and vowed that widespread Russian attacks on power plants would not break Ukrainian spirits.
Abandoning his usual indoor setting, Zelensky said in his daily video address that Kyiv had shot down 23 drones in the last two days.
Russia has aimed dozens of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles at Ukraine's electricity generating network in the last two weeks, causing major damage and triggering blackouts.
"Shelling will not break us - to hear the enemy's anthem on our land is scarier than the enemy's rockets in our sky. We are not afraid of the dark," he said.
Kyiv and four regions may have to cut electricity supplies for longer than planned after Russian strikes, a senior official said earlier on Thursday.
10:31pm: IAEA to conduct 'independent verification' of Russia’s dirty bomb allegations
The UN’s nuclear watchdog will this week carry out an “independent verification” of Russian allegations concerning the production of so-called 'dirty bombs' at two sites in Ukraine, it said on Thursday.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said: “IAEA inspectors will conduct independent verification at these locations... to detect any diversion of nuclear material under safeguards, any undeclared production or processing of nuclear material at the two locations and assure that there are no undeclared nuclear material and activities”.
9:43pm: UN says ‘not aware’ of any biological weapons program in Ukraine
The United Nations is “not aware” of any biological weapons program in Ukraine, a disarmament official said Thursday after Russia accused the United States of “biological weapons” there and called on the UN to investigate.
“We are aware that the Russian Federation has filed an official complaint... regarding allegations of biological weapons programs in Ukraine,” Adedeji Ebo, the UN’s Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council.
“The United Nations is not aware of any such biological weapons programs,” he said, noting that the UN also had no mandate or technical capacity to investigate.
9:27pm: Russia calls for UN probe into US ‘biological weapons’ in Ukraine
Russia has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council demanding an international investigation into the United States’ use of “biological weapons” in Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said Thursday.
“The Russian Federation was left with no choice but to file a complaint with the Chairman of the UN Security Council to launch an international investigation,” according to a statement from the ministry.
9:11pm: Blinken says Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine is 'appalling'
Russia’s use of Iranian drones in Ukraine is “appalling,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, adding that the United States and allies would seek to block such shipments.
Russia has used the drones to “kill Ukrainian civilians and destroy the infrastructure they rely on for electricity, for water, for heat,” Blinken said during a visit to Ottawa.
“Canada and the United States will keep working with our allies and partners to expose, to deter and to counter Iran’s provision of these weapons,” he vowed.
8:08pm Kyiv, other regions set for longer-than-planned blackouts after Russia strikes
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv and four regions may have to cut electricity supplies for longer than planned after Russian strikes overnight targeting energy infrastructure.
Authorities had previously said power could be shut off for four hours a day to ease the strain on the generating system as technicians worked to repair the damage, but due to the attacks, energy supplies are expected to be significantly limited in Kyiv and the central regions of Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy and the northern region of Chernihiv
In the video below, FRANCE 24’s correspondent Gulliver Cragg reports on the situation from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
7:05pm: Ukrainian troops prepare for long, and cold, winter battle in Kherson
Despite the Ukrainian army’s flash advance in the southern region of Kherson in recent weeks – recapturing dozens of towns and villages from the Russians – its pace now appears to be slowing down.
Embedded with Ukrainian forces in Mykolaiv, FRANCE 24’s Jonathan Walsh reports how the troops are preparing for a long and tough battle as they close-in on the city of Kherson; chopping wood to fortify their defences, stock-piling anti-tank weaponry and installing heated bunkers.
Watch the full report in the video below:
5:40pm: White House vows response if Russia attacks US satellites
Any attacks on US infrastructure will be met with a response, the White House said Thursday after a senior Russian foreign ministry official said Western commercial satellites could become legitimate targets for Russia if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.
Konstantin Vorontsov, a deputy head of the Russian delegation at a United Nations arms control panel, said in remarks delivered Wednesday that the use of US and other Western commercial satellites for military purposes during the fighting in Ukraine is “extremely dangerous” and effectively means their involvement in the conflict. Vorontsov warned that “the quasi-civilian infrastructure could be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike”.
White House spokesman John Kirby responded by saying such action would be responded to and added that publicly available information shows Russians have been trying to pursue anti-satellite technologies.
5:12pm: Putin says West using Ukraine to claim global domination
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday sought to cast the conflict in Ukraine as part of efforts by the West to secure its global domination. The West is playing a “dangerous and bloody” game, he said.
Putin, who sent his troops into Ukraine on February 24, has cast Western support for Ukraine as part of broad efforts by Washington and its allies to enforce what they call a rules-based world order that only foments chaos. The Russian leader warned that “he who will sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.”
“Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and at the same time important decade since the end of the Second World War.”
4:36pm: Russia amends law to allow for ex-convicts to fight in Ukraine
The Russian parliament on Thursday passed a law allowing ex-convicts to be mobilised into the army and other measures to prop up Moscow’s troops in Ukraine. The recruitment of people released from prison but who hold a criminal record for serious crimes was previously banned from joining the Russian armed forces.
The change does not apply to people convicted of sexual assault against a minor, terrorist acts, traffic of radioactive material or crimes against the government, including treason and espionage.
More than 200,000 people have joined the Russian armed forces since mobilisation was announced, the defence ministry said in early October. But after some public outrage over students, older or sick people being mistakenly ordered to report for duty, Vladimir Putin ordered that mistakes be “corrected”.
3:12pm: Ukraine accuses Russia of planning to stage 'false flag' attack at nuclear plant
Gen. Oleksii Gromov, the chief of the main operational department of the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, has accused Russia of planning to stage explosions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and blame them on Ukraine in a 'false flag' attack.
Russia took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in the opening days of the invasion. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking the plant, which has been shut after continuous shelling.
Moscow has in the past week made the unfounded claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb,” an explosive devise with radioactive material, on its own territory. Western officials have dismissed the claim as misinformation possibly designed as a pretext for Russia to justify its own military escalation.
1:26pm: Ukraine withdrew from talks with Moscow on US 'order', says Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine pulled out of peace talks with Moscow in March on an "order" from the United States, the Kremlin said Thursday.
"The text was ready... And then suddenly the Ukrainian side went off the radar, the Ukrainian side declared its unwillingness to continue negotiations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Putin considered it "obvious" that the decision to stop talks "occurred on an order from Washington".
1:21pm: Authorities in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia order phone checks on residents
Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine's occupied region of Zaporizhzhia ordered phone checks on local residents on Thursday, announcing the implementation of military censorship under Russian President Vladimir Putin's martial law decree.
"From today in the Zaporizhzhia region, law enforcement officers have begun a selective preventing check of the mobile phones of citizens," Moscow-appointed official Vladimir Rogov said.
He said those subscribed to "propaganda resources of the terrorist Kyiv regime" will receive a warning, before being fined. He also warned that there will be "criminal liability" for "malicious violations of a law on the activities of foreign agents".
11:49am: Kherson will be 'the most consequential battle of the war so far'
FRANCE 24’s chief foreign editor Rob Parsons details how Ukraine expects fighting to intensify over the next few weeks and that Kherson will be “the most consequential battle of the war so far”. If Ukraine manages to retake Kherson by the end of the year, it would signify "a massive turnaround, both strategically and in terms of morale". On the other hand, Ukraine's "progress is much more incremental than it has been" because of heavy rain, which is typical for this time of year, and makes parts of the underdeveloped road network harder to navigate for heavy equipment.
10:52am: Ukraine boosts forces near Belarus in case of attack
Ukraine has boosted its forces in the northern region near Belarus to counter any possible renewed Russian attack across the border, Ukraine's General Staff said on Thursday.
"At the current time the creation of a strike force (in Belarus) is not observable. (But) there are and will be threats. We are reacting, we have already increased our troops in the northern direction," Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of the General Staff's Main Operations Directorate, told a regular briefing.
Belarus is Russia's main ally in the conflict and has allowed Russian forces to use its territory as a springboard to attack Ukraine.
9:47am: Russia hit power grid in central regions of Ukraine overnight
Russian forces struck the power grid in central regions of Ukraine overnight and further electricity supply restrictions are possible, grid operator Ukrenergo said on Thursday.
"Equipment at the major network of the Ukrainian energy system in the central regions was damaged," it said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia has stepped up its strikes on crucial Ukrainian infrastructure including the power grid in recent weeks, leaving millions without electricity or heating for lengthy periods of time as winter approaches.
9:05am: Crimea power plant hit by drone attack, say Moscow-backed authorities
Authorities in Moscow-annexed Crimea said Thursday that a thermal power plant on the peninsula was targeted by an overnight drone attack, but claimed it was not badly damaged.
"Today at night there was a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack on the Balaklava thermal power station," the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram. "The transformer is minimally damaged. There were no casualties," he added.
The official said there was "no threat to power supply" and that "the incident does not affect the power supply of Sevastopol and the peninsula."
8:25am: Kyiv prepares to launch counter-offensive on Kherson
Kyiv has deployed thousands of soldiers to Kherson as it plans to encircle the region’s capital and launch a counter-offensive there. The objective is to reclaim Kherson, which Russia took at the start of the war, before winter arrives.
FRANCE 24’s Jonathan Walsh, Amar al Hameedawi and Jean-Emile Jammine report from the front line.
6:00am: Energy crisis sparked by Ukraine war to speed up green transition, says IEA
The drop in Russian fossil fuel exports after its Ukraine invasion this year will transform the global energy landscape for decades and can help to hasten a green energy transition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.
The IEA's annual World Energy Outlook acknowledges the economic hit from reduced supplies of Russian oil, natural gas and coal but is keeping an environmental best case scenario in which no investment in new fossil fuel projects is needed.
The IEA's report said the global energy crisis is causing profound and long-lasting changes that could hasten the transition to a more sustainable and secure energy system.
5:31am: UN optimistic on Ukraine grain deal; Russia has reservations
A senior UN official said Wednesday he is “relatively optimistic” the deal for returning Ukrainian grain and Russian grain and fertiliser to world markets will be extended beyond mid-November, but Russia’s UN ambassador said Moscow needs to see movement on its own exports first.
The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July has led to more than 8.5 million metric tons of foodstuffs being shipped from three Black Sea ports in Ukraine.
But Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that “Russia needs to see the export of its grain and fertilizers in the world market, which has never happened since the beginning of the deal.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
