The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of delaying the passage of more than 150 ships scheduled to carry grain exports through the Black Sea. In a video address, he said that Russia’s actions mean that Ukraine has delivered three million tonnes less grain than planned.
The UK, France and Germany called for a UN investigation into accusations that Russia is using Iranian drones in Ukraine. If found to be true, the allegations would be in breach of UN security council resolution (UNSCR) 2231. A letter, seen by Reuters, was circulated to UN security council members by the three countries, known as the E3.
Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine will need Europe’s support “for as long as it takes”. The president of the EU Commission made the comments at the European Council in Brussels.
Russia claims it has destroyed a depot with foreign-made Ukrainian military equipment in the Kherson region. The agency was not able to immediately verify the report.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of planning to destroy a hydroelectric dam in the eastern Kherson region, where Ukrainian soldiers have been steadily advancing and Moscow-installed authorities have begun what they call ‘evacuations’ of civilians. Late on Thursday Zelenskiy accused Moscow of planting mines at a the dam in the Russian-occupied region, posing a threat to a 400km Soviet-built long canal network. A Russian-appointed official in occupied Kherson has denied the allegations. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, claimed that Russia has resorted to the tactic because “nuclear blackmail did not work. They won’t break us. We will hit back even harder.”
A Russian-appointed official in occupied Kherson has denied allegations by Kyiv that Russia has started mining a hydroelectric dam in the region. Citing state-owned news agency RIA, Reuters reported that Kirill Stremousov denied suggestions by the Ukrainian president that Russia is planning to blow up Kakhovska HPP and that claims that it had started mining the dam were “false”.
Russia has hit at least half of Ukraine’s thermal generation capacity since 10 October, but not all stricken power units have stopped working completely, Ukraine’s energy minister said on Friday. Herman Halushchenko said that 30-40% of overall national power infrastructure had been hit in attacks intended to destroy Ukraine’s energy system – a goal he said had not been achieved.
Russia’s defence ministry said Friday a telephone conversation has taken place between the defence minister Sergei Shoigu, and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin. The statement says “Topical issues of international security, including the situation in Ukraine, were discussed.” A readout later published by the Pentagon said that Austin “emphasised the importance of maintaining lines of communication”.
The Pentagon also confirmed a call between the US defence secretary and the Ukrainian defence minister, in which Austin pledged “unwavering US commitment” to supporting Ukraine against Russia.
Six people have been injured Friday morning in a Russian strike at “an object of industrial infrastructure” in the city of Kharkiv, according to a Telegram post by the regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov. A series of explosions have also been reported in Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, and no casualties were reported after strikes on the coast of the Kutsurub community in Mykolaiv region.
Moscow-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied southern Kherson region said on Friday that Ukrainian armed forces killed four people when they shelled the Antonivskiy Bridge over the Dnipro River.
Authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, one of the occupied areas of Ukraine which Russia has claimed to annex, have reported that a man has been killed in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk by shelling from Ukrainian armed forces.
The UK Ministry of Defence has claimed Russia orchestrated a distraction campaign by announcing that 70,000 Belarusian troops would be involved in a new Russian-Belarussian group of forces. It is unlikely that Russia has actually deployed a significant number of extra troops into Belarus and the announcement is likely an attempt to convince Ukraine to divert forces to guard the northern border, according to British intelligence.
A Russian court has ordered the arrest of television journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, local media reports. Ovsyannikova was under house arrest and has already fled Russia, her lawyer said this week.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president of Turkey, has said he will meet Sweden’s new prime minister Ulf Kristersson over Sweden’s bid to join Nato, which Turkey has opposed. Erdoğan also said he sees no obstacles to extending the UN-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports.
Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, has said the country is still in regular contact with Turkey in relation to its Nato membership bid.
The European Union must remain united in its support for Ukraine and should start working on holding Russia legally accountable for its activities in the war, the Latvian prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, said on his way to the second day of an EU summit. His Estonian counterpart, Kaja Kallas, echoed his words, saying “We definitely have to discuss the legal response to the crimes of aggression that have been committed in Ukraine. That can only be addressed by a separate tribunal.”
France will invite the leader of Moldova to Paris in November to express France’s solidarity for the country in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said at an EU meeting.
Iran deepened its involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by providing technical support for Russian pilots flying Iranian-made drones to bomb civilian targets, the White House confirmed. The US national security council’s John Kirby said on Thursday that it was the US’s understanding that the Iranian advisers were in Crimea to provide training and maintenance – but not to actually pilot the drones – after Russian forces experienced difficulties in operating the unmanned flying bombs.
Iran’s foreign ministry advised its citizens on Friday to refrain from traveling to Ukraine and asked Iranians there to leave the country.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has spoken to Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid and discussed in detail Kyiv’s request for air and missile defence systems and technology.
The UK is implementing new sanctions on three Iranian individuals and a business responsible for supplying Russia with drones used to bombard Ukraine. By supplying these drones Iran is “actively warmongering, profiting off Russia’s abhorrent attacks on Ukrainian citizens, and adding to the suffering of the people and the destruction of critical infrastructure”, a foreign office statement said. The assets of all four have been frozen and the individuals are also subject to travel bans.
Prior to the UK’s announcement, the EU agreed sanctions against the same business and three individuals. Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow, while the Kremlin said the west is seeking to put “pressure” on Iran with accusations that Moscow is using drones made in the country.
Ukraine began restricting electricity supplies across the country starting from 7am on Thursday in response to Russia’s strikes against its energy infrastructure. A barrage of more than 300 attacks have destroyed a third of all power plants across the country, President Zelenskiy said. Ukrainians will now need to prepare for “rolling blackouts” and people will have to conserve energy, the deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, warned.
A Russian air strike that hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine on Wednesday has caused “quite serious” damage, the region’s governor said on Thursday.
A Russian aircraft released a missile near a British plane patrolling in international airspace over the Black Sea on 29 September, the UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, revealed. He told the House of Commons that the Russians blamed the incident on a “technical malfunction”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Putin was using energy and hunger as weapons but has failed to break the west’s unity and will not achieve his war aims through scorched earth tactics. “We will not let Moscow’s latest escalation go unanswered. Scorched earth tactics will not help Russia win the war. They will only strengthen the unity and resolve of Ukraine and its partners,” Scholz told the German parliament.
Nato allies will act if Sweden or Finland come under pressure from Russia or another adversary before they become full members of the alliance, Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Thursday.
