Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day:
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for recognising regional organisations from four territories annexed from Ukraine. Russia’s National Olympic Committee denounced the decision, calling it counterproductive and politically motivated.
Ukraine claims it has thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian saboteur group to cross its north-eastern border in the Sumy region, Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, said on Thursday. “The saboteurs tried to cross the state border of Ukraine and intended to move further towards one of the civilian critical infrastructure facilities,” Reuters reports he wrote on Telegram. The eight-member group was repelled by Ukrainian fire, he said, adding that there were no losses among Ukrainian troops.
Russia expects its military and defence cooperation with Kyrgyzstan to expand, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin said during a visit to a Russian airbase near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in his first trip outside Russia since the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukraine claims to have downed 28 of 33 drones launched at its territory overnight by Russia. Port infrastructure was damaged and an elderly woman was injured in Odesa by one of the drones that got through. Some of the drones were aimed at ports on the Danube.
A handout photograph from the general prosecutor’s office of Ukraine claims to show damage to a grain warehouse as a result. “Unfortunately, there was a hit on port infrastructure. A grain storage facility was damaged, there is damage directly to the grain itself,” Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the southern military command, told an online briefing.
Romania’s defence ministry has reported the discovery of a drone crater near the Nato member’s border with Ukraine after the Russian attacks.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted on social media claiming Ukraine is holding ground in Avdiivka, which appears to have been the target of concerted Russian military efforts over the last few days. On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had redirected large numbers of troops and equipment to Avdiivka in their largest attack on the town since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Belgorod governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported that three people, including a small child, had been killed by falling debris from a drone over Russia. Earlier he had claimed that air defence had downed several Ukrainian drones over the region.
Antti Pelttari, Finland’s security intelligence service director, has said his country cannot rule out the possibility that a “state actor” was involved in damaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline and a parallel telecoms cable. Speaking at Nato headquarters this morning, the Estonian defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said the security of undersea infrastructure was “one of the most acute topics at the moment for Estonia and Finland”.
The Czech Republic’s foreign ministry will summon Russia’s ambassador over Russian attacks on the Ukrainian hamlet of Hroza earlier this month.
A Russian missile struck a school in the town of Nikopol in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk on Wednesday, killing at least four people, Ukrainian officials said.
Zelenskiy urged Ukraine’s allies on Wednesday to arm his country to survive the winter. He made a plea for air defence, long-range missiles and ammunition in the face of fears that the Hamas attack on Israel could distract key backer the United States from the conflict in his country. “How to survive during this next winter for us is big,” Ukraine’s president said as he addressed the media with Stoltenberg before meeting alliance defence ministers. The Nato meeting continues in Brussels on Thursday.
We’re closing this liveblog shortly. Thanks so much for joining us.
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