Summary
It is 9pm in Ukraine.
Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, warned that that the UK was in “too deep” in the war in Ukraine, claiming that he had proof that UK special forces had been involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea. But when pressed to see this proof, Kelin said he handed it over to the British ambassador and that “it will become public pretty soon”, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity at three sites in Ukraine that it inspected at Kyiv’s request, in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.
Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs ”strongly condemns” the forced relocation of Ukrainian citizens in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, calling them “deportations” and “war crimes”. Russian authorities in Kherson have been relocating civilians in the region, claiming it is for their safety as Ukrainian forces move closer. One week after Russian authorities relocated 70,000 civilians from the right bank of the Dnieper river to the left bank, Russian authorities said they were moving 70,000 civilians from the left bank to be “temporarily resettled deep into the Kherson region, as well as to other regions of the Russian Federation”. The reason, they said, was “possible damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station”.
Ukraine and Russia held another prisoner of war swap today, exchanging 107 service personnel.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that he will not attend the G20 summit taking place in two weeks in Bali if Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation will be participating in the conference.
Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defence, has said he believes that Ukrainian forces are able to retake Kherson, calling their work “methodical” and “effective”.
US embassy officials in Russia today visited the US basketball star Brittney Griner, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian prison. Last week, when a Russian court rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence, the Biden administration had strong words for Moscow, with Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, calling the rejected appeal “another sham judicial proceeding”. When pressed today, the White House said officials were continuing to work toward a prisoner swap offer with Russia for the release of Griner – but elaborated no further on what that meant, or how soon that could take place.
Last week, when a Russian court rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence, the Biden administration had strong words for Moscow, with Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, calling the rejected appeal “another sham judicial proceeding”.
“President Biden has been clear that Brittney should be released immediately,” he said.
When pressed today, the White House said officials were continuing to work toward a prisoner swap offer with Russia for the release of Griner – but elaborated no further on what that meant, or how soon that could take place.
White House press secretary says the Biden administration continues to “follow up” on its prisoner swap offer with Russia for the release of Brittney Griner and has also proposed “alternative potential ways forward with Russians.” Not details given on the alternative proposal
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) November 3, 2022
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, has been in Russian custody since she was arrested on 17 February at a Moscow airport. Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges in her possession that contained cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia. She was sentenced on 4 August to nine years in a penal colony.
Her family has decried her detention as politically motivated, with many of her supporters raising concerns for her safety, in regards to her race and sexuality. Griner is married to a woman. The US has characterised Griner’s arrest and subsequent sentencing as a “wrongful detention”.
