Summary of the day
Thanks for following the Russia-Ukraine war live blog today. It will be closed shortly but you can continue to follow the latest news here. Below is a closing summary of today’s key posts.
Poland will demand that the EU restore permits for Ukrainian truckers, the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said. Empty cargo trucks have crossed the border between Ukraine and Poland, in the first steps towards a de-escalation of a border blockade that has crippled Ukrainian trade. Estimates of the Ukrainian trade loss so far, exceed €400m (£343m). Processing of empty trucks began at the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv checkpoint by customs services at 1am (Kyiv time), in accordance with an agreement between Kyiv and Warsaw announced on Monday.
The US is running out of time and money to help Ukraine fight its war with Russia, says the White House. Its budget director, Shalanda Young, issued the warning in a letter to the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, and other congressional leaders on Monday.
Maj Gen Vladimir Zavadsky, the deputy commander of Russia’s 14th army corps, has been confirmed killed in Ukraine, said the governor of Russia’s Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev. He said Zavadsky had died “at a combat post in the special operation zone”, but further details have not been released.
The death toll, after a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s eastern town of Novohrodivka, has risen to three after a body of a child was retrieved from underneath rubble. The updated death toll comes five days after a missile damaged a residential building in the town.
Russian troops recorded “executing” two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed said Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the Tavria group of forces.
Russia is opening new fronts in the battle for Avdiivka, say Ukrainian officials, who have accused Russian forces of assaulting the industrial town in the eastern Donetsk region from two new directions.
An estimated 320,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence.
Ukraine is working towards changing its war tactics, said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. He highlighted Russia’s “emphasis on drones” and said that although winter would not be easy, Ukrainians were prepared.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has praised the alternative “grain corridor” after Russia withdrew from the deal allowing safe Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian president said it had allowed for more than 7m tonnes of cargo to be transported so far.
Rumen Radev, the president of Bulgaria, has vetoed an agreement for the provision of armoured transport vehicles to Ukraine, returning it to parliament for further discussion. The Bulgarian prime minister, Nikolai Denkov, responded by saying the veto would be “overcome”.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 18 Russian drones and one missile. It also added that a cultural centre and a shop were hit in Kherson.
Ukraine’s forces attacked an oil depot in Russia-controlled Luhansk on Sunday night using combat drones. A fire that broke out after the attack was extinguished and there was no information about casualties.
The Hungarian carrier Wizz Air has restarted inbound flights to Chisinau, Moldova, in eastern Europe, having suspended flights to the country in March due to tensions linked to Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Updated
Death toll in Russian strike on eastern town rises to three
The death toll, after a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s eastern town of Novohrodivka, has risen to three after the body of a child was retrieved from underneath rubble. Rescuers retrieved the body of the eight-year-old girl on Monday and authorities are still looking for her parents, Reuters reports.
“As of the morning, the girl’s body was recovered from the rubble. The child’s parents, who are probably still under the rubble, were not found,” the head of local administration, Oleksandr Shevchenko said on Telegram.
On 29 November, Russia fired six missiles on three settlements in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring 10 people, according to authorities. A missile damaged a residential building in Novohrodivka, and it was said to have killed two, until today’s update.
Updated
