Closing summary
The Czech Republic has frozen property owned by Russia on Czech soil, it was announced. Jan Lipavský, the Czech foreign minister, said: “At my suggestion, the government today approved the freezing of Russian state assets in the Czech Republic. The commercial activities from which Russia finances the murder of Ukrainians ends here.”
Russia said that Ukrainian accession to the US-led Nato military alliance would be unacceptable, according to Reuters. “Whether in parts or in any form, Ukraine’s accession to Nato is unacceptable for Russia,” Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, told reporters.
A Russian missile killed two emergency workers in southern Ukraine as they put out a fire from an attack only minutes earlier, Ukrainian officials said. At least seven other people were injured in the strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, in which Russian forces fired three missiles in about half an hour, according to the regional governor, Yuriy Malashko.
Nato has announced it will buy six Boeing aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of Awacs surveillance planes, bolstering the alliance’s capabilities to track the threat from Russia, AFP reported.
Hungary has sought a review of the EU’s policy towards Ukraine, disagreeing with Germany, Lithuania, Finland and Ireland, who backed bringing Kyiv closer to the bloc more quickly and granting it more aid.
Russia said for the first time that some Ukrainian troops had established positions on the Russian-held side of the Dnipro River. Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-installed governor of the part of Kherson region that Moscow controls, acknowledged in a statement that Ukrainian forces had managed to cross the river, but said they were taking heavy losses.
Ukraine’s state railway said it had restricted grain deliveries to Odesa, one of the country’s key Black Sea ports, because of repairs.
Vladimir Putin is likely to announce his presidential candidacy before the end of 2023, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
Updated
Posting on Telegram, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote:
We are interested in a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the states of the African continent. Our relations should be based on mutual respect, respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, language and traditions.
Thank you to journalists from 11 African countries for our conversation and attention to Ukraine. I believe that in defense against aggression, in defence of international law, the world majority will always be with Ukraine.
