Summary
The time in Kyiv is 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s headlines:
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claims Russia has launched 8,000 air strikes and fired 4,500 missiles throughout the war. He vows the attacks will not break Ukraine’s spirits as “to hear the enemy’s anthem on our land is scarier than the enemy’s rockets in our sky”.
At least four people have been killed and 10 wounded in the latest attack from Russian troops, Ukraine has said. Several towns neighbouring the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant across the Dnieper River were hit by shelling, a statement from the presidential office said.
Ukraine has shot down more than 300 Iranian Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drones so far, an air force spokesperson, Yuriy Ihnat, told a briefing on Friday. The drones have become a key weapon in Russia’s arsenal during its war in Ukraine and have often been used in the past month to target crucial energy infrastructure.
Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has said that the “partial mobilisation” Russia announced in September was complete. Speaking at a meeting with president, Vladimir Putin, broadcast on state television, Shoigu said that 82,000 mobilised recruits were in the conflict zone, with a further 218,000 in training.
The United States will provide $275 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine, including arms, munitions and equipment from US Department of Defense inventories, secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. “We are also working to provide Ukraine with the air defense capabilities it needs with the two initial US-provided Nasams ready for delivery to Ukraine next month and we are working with allies and partners to enable delivery of their own air defense systems to Ukraine,” Blinken said.
Assets belonging to Russian and Belarusian individuals seized by Ukraine could be used for the country’s massive post-war reconstruction effort, finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko, was quoted as saying. The government has frozen Russian and Belarusian assets in Ukraine worth some 44 billion hryvnias ($1.21 bn) since the start of Moscow’s invasion, according to the Economic Security Bureau, a state agency.
The US and its allies condemned Russia for wasting the time of the UN security council and spreading conspiracies by again raising its accusation that the US has ‘military biological programmes’ in Ukraine. “How much more of this nonsense do we have to endure?” the UK’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, asked the council.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he had received a phone call from his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday and that he had demanded Tehran stop sending weapons to Russia. Ukraine and its western allies have accused Iran of sending ‘kamikaze’ drones to Russia which have then been used to devastating effect by Russian forces in strikes targeting Ukrainian infrastructure. Iran denies the charge.
Russia has bolstered its troops with “mobilised reservists” west of the Dnieper River, the UK’s MoD says. Over the past six weeks, its ground forces have transitioned to a “defensive posture” on the frontline, likely due to being “severely undermanned” and “poorly trained”.
The EU appoints Polish general Piotr Trytek to lead a new training operation with Ukrainian troops. Trytek, 51, was chosen by the bloc as part of its pledge to step up military support for Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin’s first deputy chief of staff visits the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Kherson. Sergei Kiriyenko stopped at the ferry port where hundreds of people were being removed after a warning from authorities.
A Russian official’s threat to “strike” western satellites aiding Ukraine has raised concerns among space lawyers and industry executives about the safety of objects in orbit. No country has carried out a missile strike against an enemy’s satellite.
The UN nuclear inspectors are expected to reach conclusion on “dirty bomb”. Investigators are being sent to two locations in Ukraine where Russia alleged the activities were taking place, and are expected to reach a conclusion “in days very fast”.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
The United States will provide $275 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine, including arms, munitions and equipment from US Department of Defense inventories, secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Friday.
“We are also working to provide Ukraine with the air defense capabilities it needs with the two initial US-provided Nasams ready for delivery to Ukraine next month and we are working with allies and partners to enable delivery of their own air defense systems to Ukraine,” Blinken said.
Updated
