Summary
That concludes the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine war live blog.
Here’s what happened today:
The UN Security Council will meet tomorrow over the “humanitarian consequences” of Russia’s withdrawal from a deal that allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for the past year, Britain’s UN mission said.
The White House confirmed that Ukraine began firing US-made cluster bombs against Russia. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post said Russian forces on the frontlines of the invasion in south-eastern Ukraine have come under attack from the US-supplied indiscriminate weapons that can remain unexploded.
The US imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people from Russia to the UAE to Kyrgyzstan in an effort to restrict Moscow’s access to products, money and financial channels that support its invasion of Ukraine.
At least three people were confirmed to have been killed during Russia’s third night of successive airstrikes on south Ukrainian port cities, according to Ukrainian officials cited by Reuters. China also confirmed that its consulate building in Odesa was damaged in the overnight strike by Russia.
Ukraine and Russia made tit-for-tat warnings that any ships travelling to Ukrainian Black Sea ports would be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes and thus potentially strike targets following the collapse of the multipolar grain deal.
Russia said it was imposing restrictions on British diplomats, requiring them to give five days’ notice of any plans to travel beyond a 120km radius, due to what it called London’s “hostile actions”.
Ukraine’s deputy economy minister held talks with China’s vice-commerce minister in Beijing in the first high-level visit by a Ukraine government official to the country since 2019.
Instructors from the mercenary group Wagner begun training the ex-Soviet country’s special forces, nearly a month after an aborted rebellion in Russia, officials in Belarus said.
The EU said it would prolong its sanctions against Russia by six months, until the end of January, over the country’s military aggression against Ukraine.
Wheat prices have been climbing on global markets, just days after Russia pulled out of an agreement that guaranteed safe passage for ships carrying cereals through the Black Sea.
A peer in the UK House of Lords has suggested that Russia could be offered the prospect of Nato membership in exchange for its withdrawal from Ukraine.
Here’s a link to this morning’s summary.
The blog is now closed. To read our latest news on Ukraine, click here.
Ukraine on Thursday warned ships coming to Russian ports in the Black Sea, as Russia has targeted Ukraine ports with drones and missiles.
Here’s more information from AFP:
Kyiv on Thursday put ships in the Black Sea headed for Russian-controlled ports on notice, as Moscow hit the Ukrainian ports of Mykolaiv and Odesa with drones and missiles in another night of “hellish” strikes.
Ukraine said it would treat the ships as potential carriers of military cargo, mirroring a move made by Russia after it withdrew from a key grain export deal.
At least three people died and more than 20 were injured in the Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian ports, officials said, posting images of buildings in flames and partially collapsed.
Russia pounded the cities with 19 missiles and 19 drones, the Ukrainian air force said, after the Kremlin promised retribution for an attack on the bridge linking annexed Crimea to mainland Russia.
“A hellish night for our people!” said Serhiy Kruk, head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service.
Updated
