Summary
Ukraine claimed it has killed Adm Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, along with 33 other officers, in one of Kyiv’s boldest attacks yet on the occupied peninsula of Crimea.
A UN investigation into human rights violations in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion warned that evidence indicates the use of torture by Russian forces has been “widespread and systematic”.
Canada became embroiled in an escalating political controversy after members of its House of Commons were encouraged to join in a standing ovation for an individual who fought in Ukraine with a Nazi military unit accused of war crimes during the second world war.
A Russian drone and missile strike near Odesa damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and an abandoned hotel and injured one person, as attacks on Ukraine killed four civilians and wounded 13 in the past day, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that his army had taken delivery of US Abrams battle tanks, boosting Kyiv’s forces in their slow-moving counteroffensive against Russian troops.
Poland raised the prospect of providing Ukraine with older weapons from his country’s arsenal after they are replaced with more modern equivalents, in an apparent attempt to defuse a row that caused relations to sour last week.
Hungary will not support Ukraine on any issue in international affairs until Ukraine restores “the former rights for ethnic Hungarians on its territory”, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, told his country’s parliament.
The EU’s trade commissioner has warned that China’s position on the war in Ukraine could endanger its relationship with Europe, while calling for a more balanced economic relationship with China and noting an EU trade deficit of nearly $425bn.
Updated
Germany plans to halve the federal aid it allocates for states to cover expenses of receiving and integrating refugees next year as part of budget-tightening amid soaring inflation after years of generous spending, sources have told Reuters.
More than 1 million people sought refuge in Germany after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Supporting them has taken a toll on the country’s cities and municipalities and the country’s 16 states have been demanding more federal funds to cover refugees’ expenses next year.
Today, Berlin informed the states it would allocate a maximum of €1.7bn as support for refugees’ expenses in 2024, down from €3.75bn this year, two government sources said, who declined to be named due to the confidentiality of the meeting. The federal government did not promise that it will match 2023 funding in the following years.
A spokesperson for the finance ministry said a meeting of the federal and states’ governments on the issues had yielded no results ahead of a planned consultation with the chancellor in November. “Essentially, the states are responsible for the accommodation and care of refugees. The federal government is aware of the national dimension,” the spokesperson added.
The government would also eliminate its contribution to the costs of caring for and integrating Ukrainian refugees, the sources added.
Updated
