Summary
That’s it for today’s live blog. Thank you for following our coverage. Here’s a a round-up of today’s top headlines and latest developments:
Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since this year’s invasion. Russia did not formally declare its retreat, but in a televised meeting with Shoigu, General Sergei Surovikin said it was no longer possible to keep supplying Kherson. This represents a setback for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who just weeks before had announced the “forever” annexation of the Kherson region.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-appointed administration in the Kherson region, was killed in a car crash. Once an anti-vaccine blogger, Stremousov rose to notoriety as one of the most prominent public faces of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, frequently posting aggressive anti-Ukrainian videos to social media. Russian president Vladimir Putin posthumously decorated Stremousov with the Order of Courage, a top state award.
Russian forces destroyed bridges on the west bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region to slow a continuing Ukrainian advance. Ukrainian forces were reported to have retaken a number of settlements, amid what Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskiy described as “intense fighting” on the southern frontline.
US president Joe Biden said Russia’s withdrawal of troops from Kherson is “evidence” that the Russian military has “real problems.” During a White House press conference, Biden said: “It remains to be seen whether or not there will be a judgment made as to whether or not Ukraine is prepared to compromise with Russia.” As midterm election votes are still being counted, Biden also told reporters he expects US aid to Ukraine will carry on.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said it was “encouraging” to see Ukrainian forces liberating more of the country’s territory. On his visit to London to meet with prime minister Rishi Sunak, Stoltenberg said Russia’s retreat from Kherson is “part of an overall pattern” demonstrating that Moscow “has absolutely lost the momentum.”
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan will meet with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday to discuss extending the Black Sea grain initiative. “They will continue ongoing consultations in support of the efforts by the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the full implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July in Istanbul,” a UN spokesperson said in a statement.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow had contacts with US officials from time to time. Zakharova confirmed there would soon be US-Russia consultations on the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
A British man has died fighting in Ukraine, his family and the Foreign Office said. Simon Lingard, a father of two from Blackburn, Lancashire, died on Monday. “We are supporting the family of a British national who has lost his life in Ukraine and we are in touch with the local authorities in connection with his death,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
Biden expects US aid to Ukraine will continue
US president Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he expects American aid to Ukraine to continue uninterrupted, as the divisive midterm elections saw Republican pushback on the issue.
Last month, Kevin McCarthy – the Republican minority leader in the US House of Representatives – said his party will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if the GOP wins the House majority.
Speaking to reporters from the White House, Biden was asked whether aid to Ukraine will continue uninterrupted, to which he responded: “That is my expectation.”
“And by the way, we’ve not given Ukraine a blank check,” the president said. “There’s a lot of things that Ukraine wants that we didn’t do.”
“For example, I was asked very much whether we’d provide American aircrafts to guarantee the skies over Ukraine,” he continued. “I said ‘No, we’re not gonna do that, we’re no gonna get into a third world war taking on Russian aircrafts and directly engage, but would we provide them with all the rational ability to defend themselves? Yes.”
Biden said he wants to ensure Ukraine is able to defend itself and “take on what is purely the ugliest aggression that’s occurred since World War 2 on a massive scale”.
“So I would be surprised if leader McCarthy even has a majority of his Republican colleagues who say they’re not gonna fund the legitimate defence and needs of Ukraine,” he added.
Updated
Biden says Kherson retreat shows Russia's military has 'real problems'
US president Joe Biden said Wednesday that Russia’s withdrawal of troops from Kherson is “evidence” that its military has “real problems".
During a White House press conference as midterm election votes are still being counted, Biden addressed Moscow’s decision to remove its forces from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson.
“First of all, I found it interesting that they waited until after the election to make that judgment, which we knew for some time that they were going to be doing,” Biden said. “And it’s evidence of the fact that they have some real problems, the Russian military.”
“It remains to be seen whether or not there will be a judgment made as to whether or not Ukraine is prepared to compromise with Russia,” he added.
Biden – who will be attending the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia – said he and other world leaders will “have an opportunity to see what the next steps may be” regarding the conflict.
US president Joe Biden on Wednesday expressed hope for Democrats and Republicans to continue their “bipartisan approach” to Russia’s war in Ukraine, regardless of the final results of the midterm elections.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden said:
“Regardless of what the final tally of these elections show, and there’s still some counting going on, I’m prepared to work with my Republican colleagues. The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans be prepared to work with me as well.
In the area of foreign policy, I hope we’ll continue this bipartisan approach of confronting Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Updated
A British man died fighting in Ukraine, Foreign Office confirms
A British man has died fighting in Ukraine, his family and the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
Simon Lingard died on Monday, according to a GoFundMe set up by his family for funeral expenses. The father of two from Blackburn, Lancashire, was described as “an inspiration to all who knew him” and “a real life hero who died fighting for what he believed in”.
“He was loved and adored by so many a true representation of what a soldier should be,” the fundraiser’s description reads.
A Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed Lingard’s death in a statement to AFP.
“We are supporting the family of a British national who has lost his life in Ukraine and we are in touch with the local authorities in connection with his death,” the spokesperson said.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin posthumously decorated Kirill Stremousov with the Order of Courage, a top state award, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-appointed administration in the Kherson region, was killed in a car crash earlier today. A decree from Putin’s office said Stremousov was awarded for “courage and valour shown in the line of duty”.
Formerly an anti-vaccine blogger, Stremousov rose to notoriety as one of the most prominent faces of Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.
A setback for Moscow, Stremousov’s death came as Ukrainian forces launched an offensive to gain a foothold in the key city of Kherson. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu later ordered troops to withdraw from the city.
Updated
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan will meet with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday to discuss extending the Black Sea grain initiative, Reuters reports.
Griffiths leads talks on Ukrainian exports, while Grynspan heads discussions on Russian food and fertiliser exports.
“It is hoped that the discussions will advance progress made in facilitating the unimpeded export of food and fertilisers originating from the Russian Federation to the global markets,” a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said Russia’s apparent retreat from Kherson is “part of an overall pattern” demonstrating that Moscow “has absolutely lost the momentum.”
On his visit to London to meet with prime minister Rishi Sunak, Stoltenberg was asked about the Kherson retreat in an interview with Sky News.
“It’s part of an overall pattern or picture we have seen over the last month that Russia has absolutely lost the momentum,” Stoltenberg said.
“But we should not underestimate Russia, they still have capabilities,” he added. “We have seen the drones, we have seen the missile attacks. It shows that Russia can still inflict a lot of damage.”
Updated
Summary
The time in Kyiv is almost 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s main headlines:
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered the country’s troops to leave Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow captured since the invasion began in February. Ukrainian victory in Kherson, one of the main objectives of Kyiv’s southern offensive, will be widely seen as a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, only weeks after a high-profile ceremony in Moscow in which he announced the “forever” annexation of Kherson region along with three other regions.
While Russia did not formally declare that it was abandoning the key city of Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat from the only regional capital it captured after invading in February. In a televised meeting with defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Gen Sergei Surovikin said it was no longer possible to keep supplying Kherson.
Russian forces have destroyed bridges on the west bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region to slow a continuing Ukrainian advance, as it was reported that one of the most prominent Russian-installed officials had been killed in a car crash. As the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, described “intense fighting” on the southern frontline, Ukrainian troops were reported to have retaken a number of settlements.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region, has died in a car crash, state news agencies have reported, citing local Russian-backed officials. Stremousov, previously an anti-vaccine blogger and political marginal, had emerged as one of the most prominent public faces of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, frequently using social media to record aggressive anti-Ukrainian videos. Stremousov’s death comes as Ukraine appears to have launched a new offensive to recapture the key city of Kherson.
Senior United Nations officials planned to meet members of a high-level Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss the Ukraine grain deal, a UN spokesperson said. “They will continue ongoing consultations in support of the efforts by the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the full implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July in Istanbul,” the spokesperson said in a statement today.
Jens Stoltenberg said Vladimir Putin made “several huge mistakes” when he invaded, including underestimating Nato’s ability to support Ukraine. “President Putin made several huge mistakes when he invaded Ukraine, strategic mistakes,” the Nato chief told media outside No 10 Downing Street on a visit to the UK.
The UK Ministry of Defence released its latest intelligence update, saying: “Russian efforts to repair the Crimean bridge continue but it is unlikely to be fully operational until at least September 2023.” According to intelligence, the road bridge was closed yesterday to allow the movement and installation of a replacement 64-metre space. Three more spans will be required to replace the damaged sections. “Although Crimean officials have claimed these additional spans will be in place by 20 December, a briefing provided to President Putin added that works to the other carriageway would cause disruption to road traffic until March 2023.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow had contacts with US officials from time to time, and confirmed there would soon be US-Russia consultations on the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
Ukraine has collated thousands of reports of its children being deported to Russia and wants their plight addressed at a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, Vladimir Zelenskiy’s chief of staff was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “The Russian Federation continues to commit its crimes in connection with Ukrainian children,” Zelenskiy’s office quoted Andriy Yermak as saying at a meeting he chaired of a group of officials responsible for child protection. “The removal of children continues.”
Thousands of Kyiv residents have signed a petition urging city authorities not to erect a giant tree during this year’s festive period, and instead to give money to the army and to people displaced by the war with Russia. The Kyiv tree, which in recent years has been set up in front of the 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral at the heart of the capital, is traditionally the main one in Ukraine at Christmas and New Year.
Russia has been an “active adversary” of the UK for a number of years, the British defence secretary has said. Ben Wallace visited the Lydd army camp in Kent, where Ukrainian volunteers are being trained to fight in the war against Russia. The cabinet minister referred to the Salisbury novichok poisonings in 2016 and said the UK did not fear reprisals from Russia for supporting Ukraine.
Villages and towns in Ukraine have experienced more heavy fighting and shelling as Ukrainian and Russian forces strained to advance on different fronts after more than eight and a half months of war. At least nine civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in 24 hours, the Ukrainian President’s office said, as it accused Russia of using explosive drones, rockets, heavy artillery and aircraft to attack eight regions in the country’s south-east.
Ukrainian and Russian forces also clashed overnight over Snihurivka, a town about 30 miles north of the southern city of Kherson, the Associated Press reported. Ukraine’s army hopes to reclaim the Russian-occupied city, the only regional capital captured during Moscow’s February invasion and a key target of an ongoing counter-offensive.
The US basketball player Brittney Griner is being transferred to a Russian penal colony but neither her family nor legal team have any details on where she is or where she is going.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Danya Hajjaji will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Senior United Nations officials planned to meet members of a high-level Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss the Ukraine grain deal, a UN spokesperson said.
“They will continue ongoing consultations in support of the efforts by the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the full implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July in Istanbul,” the spokesperson said in a statement today.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday it was “encouraging” to see Ukrainian forces being able to liberate more of the country’s territory, after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his troops to withdraw from Kherson.
Speaking in London where he was meeting British prime minister Rishi Sunak, Stoltenberg said:
The victories, the gains the Ukrainian armed forces are making belongs to the brave, courageous Ukrainian soldiers but of course the support they receive from the United Kingdom, from Nato allies and partners is also essential.
While Russia did not formally declare that it was abandoning the key city of Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat from the only regional capital it captured after invading in February.
In a televised meeting with defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Gen Sergei Surovikin said it was no longer possible to keep supplying Kherson.
Shoigu then ordered his troops to withdraw from the right bank of the River Dnipro where the city of Kherson is located and take up defensive lines on the opposite bank.
Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson was met with both anguish as well support from prominent pro-war figures.
Defending Russia’s decision to withdraw, the head of the Wagner private military corporation and an ally of Gen Surovikin, Yvgeny Prigozhin said:
Of course, this is not a victorious step in this war, but it is important not to agonise, not succumb to paranoia, but to draw conclusions and work on our mistakes.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, similarly backed Surovikin. He said:
After weighing all the pros and cons, General Surovikin made a difficult but correct decision… everyone knew that Kherson is a difficult combat territory from the very first days of the special operation.
On the edge of a copse, Danilo and two fellow soldiers stared intently at a screen. On it was a live video feed from a drone. “It’s quite simple to use. We put the drone up, call in an artillery strike and see where it lands. Then we adjust the position,” said Danilo, a member of Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanised Brigade.
The drone offered a panoramic view of the city of Snihurivka, occupied since spring by Russian troops. There was an industrial estate, buildings, and a grain silo, used by the enemy as a lookout point. The latest attack missed its target. “We were 300 metres off,” said Danilo, pointing to the feed that showed a puff of grey smoke.
The trio were standing next to a white satellite dish connected to Elon Musk’s Starlink system. Immediately behind them was a well-developed network of first world war-style trenches, dug beneath a line of bare autumn trees. For months the Russians were a mere kilometre away, hidden in civilian houses and dugouts.
On Wednesday however, they were staging a withdrawal. The Kremlin was retreating from its positions in Snihurivka and other villages on the right bank of the Dnipro. The ruined city is in a sliver of Mykolaiv oblast, close to the administrative border with the Kherson region and the occupied city of Kherson.
Updated
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered the country’s troops to leave Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow captured since the invasion began in February.
Jens Stoltenberg said Vladimir Putin made “several huge mistakes” when he invaded, including underestimating Nato’s ability to support Ukraine.
“President Putin made several huge mistakes when he invaded Ukraine, strategic mistakes,” the Nato chief told media outside No 10 Downing Street on a visit to the UK.
“One was to underestimate the Ukrainians - their courage, their commitment to fight and protect their country.
“The other mistake he made was to underestimate Nato allies, partners, in our ability to support Ukraine.
“What we have seen is that Nato allies and partners have provided unprecedented support to Ukraine. And what we see when you look at the opinion polls, the political messages from different Nato allied countries, is that we are ready to continue to provide support for as long as it takes.”
He said there are “always some voices that have a different opinion”, but the “clear message” from the majority is that “we will continue to support Ukraine”.
Russia orders troops to leave Ukrainian city of Kherson
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered the country’s troops to leave Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow captured since the invasion began in February.
Ukrainian victory in Kherson, one of the main objectives of Kyiv’s southern offensive, will be widely seen as a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, only weeks after a high-profile ceremony in Moscow in which he announced the “forever” annexation of Kherson region along with three other regions.
A senior adviser to Ukraine’s president said it was too early to talk about a Russian troop pullout from the southern city of Kherson.
“Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” Mykhailo Podolyak said in a statement to Reuters.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu had said earlier on Wednesday ordered his troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks near the southern city of Kherson.
The Guardian’s Luke Harding has tweeted a video of Sergei Shoigu giving the order to retreat in Kherson.
He says:
The lives and health of our troops always takes priority.
Take into account the threat to the civilian population and respect the wishes of those who wish to leave.
And secure the transfer of military equipment across the Dnipro.
Here's Shoigu giving the order to pullout: "The lives and health of our troops always takes priority. Take into account the threat to the civilian population and respect the wishes of those who wish to leave. And secure the transfer of military equipment across the Dnipro" pic.twitter.com/InuLjbk97s
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) November 9, 2022
Russian forces have destroyed bridges on the west bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region to slow a continuing Ukrainian advance, as it was reported that one of the most prominent Russian-installed officials had been killed in a car crash.
As the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, described “intense fighting” on the southern frontline, Ukrainian troops were reported to have retaken a number of settlements.
A few hours after Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region, announced that Ukrainian forces had gained a foothold on the northern edge of Snihurivka amid heavy fighting, a town that lies on a highway 31km north of Kherson city, Stremousov himself was reported by Russian media to have died in unclear circumstances.
Stremousov – a former anti-vaccination blogger – had become the hated face of Russia’s occupation of Kherson, posting videos online, including a bizarre poetry rendition and hosting press conferences for pro-Russian media.
According to local media reports, the crash happened near Henichesk, on the Sea of Azov, the seaside town used as the headquarters of the Russian occupation administration since it fled Kherson.
The Tass news agency said the press service for the head of the region had confirmed Stremousov’s death.
Alexander Dugin, a far-right nationalist figure in Russia whose daughter was killed earlier this year in a car bomb, said: “Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the administration of the Kherson region, has died. A true hero. Kherson must be defended at all costs. Kherson is what keeps Russia in power today.”
Updated
Kremlin defence minister orders Russian troops to retreat in key city of Kherson
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered the country’s troops to retreat to the Dnipro river’s right bank, a move that will likely lead to Moscow surrendering the key southern city of Kherson.
Ukrainian victory in Kherson, one of the main objectives of Kyiv’s southern offensive, will be widely seen as a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, only weeks after a high-profile ceremony in Moscow in which he announced the annexation of the Kherson region along with three other regions.
In televised comments, General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, recommended the withdrawal of Russian troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River, citing logistical difficulties.
“Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function. Russia did everything possible to ensure the evacuation of the inhabitants of Kherson.” Surovikin told Shoigu.
“The decision to defend on the left bank of the Dnipro is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military,” Surovikin added.
Updated
Russia orders pullout from west bank of Dnipro at Kherson
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered his troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks near the southern city of Kherson, the Reuters news agency reported.
More to follow on this story as it happens.
Bridge blown up as Ukraine continues Kherson advance
The main bridge on a road out of Kherson city was blown up, bringing more turmoil to a Russian-held area where Ukraine’s forces are advancing.
Images on the internet showed the span of the Darivka bridge on the main highway east out of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine completely collapsed into the water of the Inhulets River, a tributary of the Dnipro River that bisects the country.
Reuters was able to verify the location of the images, though not how the bridge had been destroyed or by whom.
Ukrainians who posted the photos speculated it had been blown up by Russian troops in preparation for a retreat, but Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military analyst, told Reuters it could have been destroyed by Ukrainian saboteurs to isolate Russian forces on either side and “cut the fighting unit in half”.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, has cautioned people against giving away information. He has posted to Telegram to say: “In the interests of the armed forces, I ask all those involved to maintain informational silence in the direction of the south.”
Updated
Understandably words from the Ukrainian side about the reported death of the Russian-imposed leader Kirill Stremousov in occupied Kherson are a million miles from the tributes being paid by his colleagues. The Kyiv Independent journalist Illia Ponomarenko has said Stremousov was a “Russian collaborator” and a “traitor”.
Updated
On Telegram, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has paid tribute to Kirill Stremousov, amid reports that the latter has been killed in a car crash. [See 13.37 GMT]
Pushilin described Stremousov, who was a prolific social media face of the Russian-imposed authorities in occupied Kherson, as “a courageous fighter for justice, for truth, for the Russian people.”
The leader of the chiefly-unrecognised DPR said of Stremousov “With the start of the special military operation [Russia’s term for its invasion of Ukraine], he led the people’s movement towards the Kherson region becoming a subject of the Russian Federation, and did a lot to ensure that Kherson returned to its natural harbour. He leaves behind a good memory and forever goes down in the history of Russia as a true patriot, a man of honour and deeds.”
Russian state-owned news agency Tass are reporting that the Russian-imposed leader of Kherson has confirmed the death of his deputy. The so-called acting governor of the Kherson region, which Russia has claimed to annex, Volodymyr Saldo, said: “It’s very hard for me to say that Kirill Stremousov died today. He died on the territory of the Kherson region, moving in a car that got into an accident. He is a father of many children: he has five children, and the sixth is due to be born soon. Of course, we will take care of all of them, but, unfortunately, Kirill cannot be returned.”
Updated
The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has added to recent public discussions of the level of diplomatic contact between Russia and the US. She said on Wednesday that Moscow had contacts with US officials from time to time.
She said such contacts were between specific unnamed government agencies in both countries but the Russian foreign ministry had not been involved.
Reuters reports Zakharova confirmed there would soon be US-Russia consultations on the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
The Russian state-owned news agency Tass is also reporting comments from Zakharova, in which she is critical of Germany. It quotes her saying: “Instead of using its influence on the Kyiv regime, the German side, contrary to its own laws and regulations prohibiting the export of lethal weapons to crisis regions and zones of armed conflicts, continues to pump the Kyiv regime with various weapons systems, thereby encouraging its continuation of hostilities at any cost.”
Tass also reports Zakharova restated Russia’s position on negotiations, in which it blames Kyiv for a lack of talks. “We are still open to negotiations. We have never refused them, we are ready to conduct them, of course, taking into account the realities that are emerging at the moment,” she said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February this year, and in September claimed to have annexed four regions of the country.
Updated
Russian-installed official in Kherson region dies in car crash – agencies
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region, has died in a car crash, state news agencies have reported, citing local Russian-backed officials.
According to local media, the accident happened near Henichesk, in the Kherson region.
Stremousov, previously an anti-vaccine blogger and political marginal, had emerged as one of the most prominent public faces of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, frequently using social media to record aggressive anti-Ukrainian videos.
Stremousov’s death comes as Ukraine appears to have launched a new offensive to recapture the key city of Kherson
In a video address late Tuesday, Stremousov said that Ukrainian forces gained a foothold on the northern edge of Snihurivka, a southern Ukrainian town that lies on a highway 31 kilometres north of Kherson.
Updated
Russia said it still saw no progress on easing its exports of fertilisers and grain - parts of the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow views as fundamental to extending the initiative beyond next week.
A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said the US and the EU were putting up obstacles to Russia’s exports and it remained unclear whether Russia would extend its participation in the initiative.
Updated
Russia has been an “active adversary” of the UK for a number of years, the defence secretary has said.
Ben Wallace visited the Lydd army camp in Kent, where Ukrainian volunteers are being trained to fight in the war against Russia.
The cabinet minister referred to the Salisbury novichok poisonings in 2016 and said the UK did not fear reprisals from Russia for supporting Ukraine.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said:
Russia has been an active adversary of Britain for many years – many will remember the Salisbury poisoning, where they deployed nerve agents.
Russia has been regularly behind cyber-attacks in this country.
Of course Russia doesn’t like the fact the United Kingdom is standing up against it – we’re standing up for the values of freedom, democracy and human rights, but that isn’t going to put us off.
We’re going to continue to support Ukraine, to defend its sovereign territory against an illegal invasion, and we’ll just carry on doing it.
Britain stands for more than a small moment in time, Britain stands for those enduring human rights.
Updated
The UK is a “lead nation” when it comes to supporting Ukraine, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said.
Stoltenberg was hosted by the UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, at Lydd army and training camp in Kent where Ukrainian volunteers are being trained to fight in the war against Russia.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Stoltenberg said:
The United Kingdom is a lead nation when it comes to providing support to Ukraine. I’m very grateful to the UK because this is really important, it makes a difference every day on the battlefield.
The UK supports Ukraine not only with equipment but with training, and the training I’ve seen here today by UK and Canadian trainers is extremely important, and I’m very grateful.
Stoltenberg also described the possibility of Russia winning in Ukraine as “a catastrophe”, adding:
Not just for the Ukrainian people but it will also be dangerous for us, because then it will send a message to President Putin and other authoritarian leaders that if they use brutal military force, they can achieve their goals.
Updated
Villages and towns in Ukraine have experienced more heavy fighting and shelling as Ukrainian and Russian forces strained to advance on different fronts after more than eight and a half months of war.
At least nine civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in 24 hours, the Ukrainian President’s office said, as it accused Russia of using explosive drones, rockets, heavy artillery and aircraft to attack eight regions in the country’s south-east.
Ukrainian and Russian forces also clashed overnight over Snihurivka, a town about 30 miles north of the southern city of Kherson, the Associated Press reported. Ukraine’s army hopes to reclaim the Russian-occupied city, the only regional capital captured during Moscow’s February invasion and a key target of an ongoing counter-offensive.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Kherson region’s Kremlin-appointed administration, said in a Telegram post that the Ukrainian army had “gained a foothold” along a railway line in Snihurivka’s north. In a separate post, he claimed Russian forces had repulsed the Ukrainian advance.
The Kherson region is one of four provinces of Ukraine that Russian president Vladimir Putin illegally annexed and subsequently placed under Russian martial law. The Russian military has concentrated much of its firepower on securing control of the others - Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.
Thousands of Kyiv residents have signed a petition urging city authorities not to erect a giant tree during this year’s festive period, and instead to give money to the army and to people displaced by the war with Russia.
The Kyiv tree, which in recent years has been set up in front of the 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral at the heart of the capital, is traditionally the main one in Ukraine at Christmas and New Year, Reuters reports.
But the petition organiser Natalia Popovych said it was “inappropriate” to spend money on a tree when Ukraine is fighting a war, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes and thousands have been killed.
“It’s more appropriate to spend the allocated funds on helping the armed forces of Ukraine or helping IDPs (internally displaced people),” she wrote in the petition, which was posted by Kyiv city authorities.
“I understand that there must be a holiday, but let it take place in every home.”
The petition has secured the 6,000 signatures needed for it to be considered by the authorities. It is unclear when they will do so although the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has said there will be no mass celebrations in the capital.
Updated
Russia’s Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev met Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Wednesday, the Interfax news agency reported.
It follows a meeting earlier on Wednesday with Iran’s security chief in which the two countries discussed Ukraine and allegations of “Western interference” in their domestic affairs.
Sean Penn has given an Oscar statuette to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a meeting in Kyiv.
In a video posted on Zelenskiy’s Instagram account, Penn, who has been one of the most high profile supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion, takes the Oscar statuette out of a bag and places it on a table in front of Zelenskiy, saying: “I feel terrible. This is for you. It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then I’ll feel better and stronger for the fight.”
He added: “When you win, bring it back to Malibu. I’ll feel much better knowing a piece of me is here.”
Zelenskiy is then seen giving Penn Ukraine’s Order of Merit, and the pair walk Kyiv’s streets and stop at a plaque in the ground dedicated to Penn. After Penn expresses his gratitude Zelenskiy says: “We thank you very much.” In a caption to his Instagram video, Zelenskiy wrote: “Sean brought his Oscar statuette as a symbol of faith in the victory of our country. It will be in Ukraine until the end of the war,” adding: “Thank you for such sincere support and significant contribution to the popularisation of Ukraine in the world!”
Today so far
The UK Ministry of Defence released its latest intelligence update, saying: “Russian efforts to repair the Crimean bridge continue but it is unlikely to be fully operational until at least September 2023.” According to intelligence, the road bridge was closed yesterday to allow the movement and installation of a replacement 64-metre space. Three more spans will be required to replace the damaged sections. “Although Crimean officials have claimed these additional spans will be in place by 20 December, a briefing provided to President Putin added that works to the other carriageway would cause disruption to road traffic until March 2023.”
Ukraine has collated thousands of reports of its children being deported to Russia and wants their plight addressed at a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “The Russian Federation continues to commit its crimes in connection with Ukrainian children,” Zelenskiy’s office quoted Andriy Yermak as saying at a meeting he chaired of a group of officials responsible for child protection. “The removal of children continues.”
The US basketball player Brittney Griner is being transferred to a Russian penal colony but neither her family nor legal team have any details on where she is or where she is going.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his Tuesday night address that about 4 million people were without power in 14 regions plus the capital Kyiv, but on a stabilisation rather than an emergency basis. Scheduled hourly power outages would affect the whole of the country on Wednesday, said Ukraine’s electrical grid operator, Ukrenergo.
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces believe about 780 Russian soldiers were killed in the country in the last day.
Landmines continue to cause serious harm to civilians working to restore a sense of normality in Kharkiv, which Ukrainian forces retook from Russian troops in May. Two road service workers, aged 21 and 51, were killed yesterday when their special equipment struck a mine during work in the Chuguyiv district, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv oblast, said on Telegram. A 55-year-old man and 34-year-old man were also injured in the incident.
Russian forces killed three and injured seven in the Donetsk oblast yesterday, the oblast governor said.
Updated
Russian forces killed three and injured seven in the Donetsk oblast yesterday, the oblast governor said.
Shelling in Avdiivka killed one person and wounded another, while three people were injured in Krasnohorivka, said Donetsk oblast governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Meanwhile, an attack on Kramatorsk left one child injured and a school and nearby houses damaged.
In the Horliv region, one person died and two were injured after Russian forces attacked Chasovoy Yar, damaging a kindergarten, a school and an infrastructure facility. The attack completely destroyed four houses and partially destroyed at least 16 more, Kyrylenko said.
Authorities are still establishing the extent of the damage and casualties wrought after Torske and Zarichne in the Lymansk community and Serebryanka, Dronivka and Siversk in the Siversk community came under fire, Kyrylenko said
Eastern European countries preparing for new refugee wave in winter
With Russian forces continuing to target Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, power grid and heating plants, eastern European countries are preparing for a new wave of Ukrainian refugees to come in with the winter months, Reuters is reporting.
There are 6.9 million people estimated to be displaced internally in Ukraine, and the countries bordering Ukraine are reopening reception centres and restocking food supplies in preparation for the possible inflow of hundreds of thousands of them in what is predicted to be a very cold and unmanageable winter.
“An increase in numbers is being felt, and is expected. It is currently up 15%,” Roman Dohovic, an aid coordinator for the eastern Slovak city of Košice, told Reuters.
“We are being called by people who are already staying in Košice and looking for accommodation for family members and acquaintances who are still in Ukraine.”
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reports that about 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees are registered under various protection schemes across Europe. After an initial increase after Russia’s invasion on 24 February, the number of refugees leaving Ukraine dropped in late spring, with some returning after their Ukrainian forces liberated their territories.
One of the the busiest gateways for refugees since the Russian invasion – the eastern Polish town of Przemyśl – has been largely quiet. Just a few dozen people are staying at the local reception centre, a fraction of the 4,000 there in the spring.
“We have to prepare for winter, we have long anticipated that it may be difficult and we must be ready for some new wave of refugees,” said Witold Wołczyk from Przemyśl city hall.
Updated
Landmines continue to cause serious harm to civilians working to restore a sense of normality in Kharkiv, which Ukrainian forces retook from Russian troops in May.
Two road service workers, aged 21 and 51, were killed yesterday when their special equipment struck a mine during work in the Chuguyiv district, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv oblast, said on Telegram. A 55-year-old man and 34-year-old man were also injured in the incident.
“Mine danger in the Kharkiv region will remain one of the biggest problems for a long time,” Syniehubov said. “The Russian occupiers mined absolutely everything.”
The pyrotechnic unit of the state emergency service defused 635 explosive objects yesterday, he added.
Updated
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces believe about 780 Russian soldiers were killed in the country in the last day.
Загальні бойові втрати противника з 24.02 по 09.11 орієнтовно склали / The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 09.11 were approximately: pic.twitter.com/y0nhZf2Rsq
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) November 9, 2022
Updated
The US basketball player Brittney Griner is being transferred to a Russian penal colony but neither her family nor legal team have any details on where she is or where she is going, the Associated Press reports.
“Brittney was transferred from the detention center in Iksha on the 4th November. She is now on her way to a penal colony. We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” her legal team said.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, has been in custody since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, after Russian authorities said they found vape canisters containing hashish oil in her luggage. She was convicted of drug charges in August, and sentenced to nine years in a work colony.
Griner’s family has criticised her detention as politically motivated, and in May, the US deemed it a “wrongful detention”.
“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” said the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. “As the administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the president has directed the administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony. As we have said before, the US government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens.”
Updated
Nato has announced that its next summit will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July 2023.
In a statement, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said:
We face the most complex and unpredictable security environment since the cold war. The meeting in Vilnius will be an opportunity for allied heads of state and government to agree further steps to strengthen our deterrence and defence and review significant increases in defence spending, as well as to continue our support for Ukraine.
In an era of increasing strategic competition, the transatlantic bond between Europe and North America in Nato continues to be essential to the security of our one billion citizens.
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has warned residents that there will be scheduled power outages of about three hours today in the region. He also reminded businesses that outside of working hours they should not be using electricity to power external lights or advertisements. In the message on Telegram, he said: “Thanks to everyone who accepts the situation with understanding. We have to go through this difficult stage together.”
Updated
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is in Cambodia today, meeting prime minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “We focused on bilateral cooperation and global food security. I also congratulated prime minister Sen on Happy Cambodian Independence Day.”
Updated
Eastern European countries are preparing to reopen reception centres and are restocking food supplies in anticipation of a possible fresh surge in Ukrainian refugees as winter looms and Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid and heating plants.
6.9 million people are believed to have been displaced internally within Ukraine, often living in very tough conditions, and Reuters reports the Slovak government’s contingency plan envisages the possible inflow of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in the coming months.
After an initial surge following Russia’s invasion on 24 February, the number of refugees heading west out of Ukraine dropped in late spring. There has been no big rise in numbers so far this autumn but charities say there are signs of increased movement across the borders and are stepping up preparations.
“An increase in numbers is being felt, and is expected. It is currently up 15%,” said Roman Dohovič, an aid coordinator for the eastern Slovak city of Košice.
“We are being called by people who are already staying in Košice and looking for accommodation for family members and acquaintances who are still in Ukraine.”
Košice has provided accommodation for about 60 people daily in recent weeks but is preparing to raise that to 1,000 within 48 hours if needed.
In Hungary, Zsófia Dobis-Lucski, spokesperson for the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, an NGO working at the border, said the number of daily arrivals at the Záhony train station close to the border had jumped tenfold to about 300-500 since Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities intensified.
That is still below the 1,000 a day seen in the spring but power shortages in Ukraine are expected to boost arrivals in coming weeks.
Updated
More Ukrainian governors are posting their daily status updates to Telegram on what appears to have been a quiet night in several regions. Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv reports that in his region one house has been destroyed and a car damaged overnight by shelling with no casualties reported. Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, governor of Sumy, reports that the region suffered eight explosions following shelling, but as yet there were no details of any casualties.
Updated
Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has posted to Telegram to say that there were no missile strikes on the region overnight, but there was continued shelling in the border settlements. The Kharkiv region borders Donetsk and Luhansk, two of the occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed to annex.
Synyehubov said two residents were hospitalised as a result of the shelling. He also said that two highway workers were killed and two injured as a result of their equipment hitting a mine in Chuhuiv. The claims have not been independently verified.
This is Martin Belam in London taking over the live blog. I will be with you for the next couple of hours.
Updated
Ukraine calls on G20 to address child deportations
Ukraine has collated thousands of reports of its children being deported to Russia and wants their plight addressed at a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, Vladimir Zelenskiy’s chief of staff was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
“The Russian Federation continues to commit its crimes in connection with Ukrainian children,” Zelenskiy’s office quoted Andriy Yermak as saying at a meeting he chaired of a group of officials responsible for child protection. “The removal of children continues.”
The statement by Zelenskiy’s office said its National Information Bureau showed 10,500 children had been deported or forcibly displaced. Ukraine’s minister responsible for reintegrating Russian-occupied territories noted at the meeting that only 96 children had been returned.
Yermak was quoted as saying Ukraine could count on UN help, but he restated Ukraine’s lack of confidence in the International Committee of the Red Cross to help.
Yermak said discussions about the return of the children should start at the 15-16 November G20 summit in Indonesia, which Zelenskiy is expected to attend, most likely remotely.
Updated
Crimean Bridge repair unlikely before 2023, UK says
The UK Ministry of Defence has released its latest intelligence update, saying: “Russian efforts to repair the Crimean bridge continue but it is unlikely to be fully operational until at least September 2023.”
“On 8 November the road bridge was due to be closed to allow the movement and installation of a replacement 64-metre space. Three more spans will be required to replace the damaged sections,” it said.
“Although Crimean officials have claimed these additional spans will be in place by 20 December, a briefing provided to President Putin added that works to the other carriageway would cause disruption to road traffic until March 2023.”
“The damage to the bridge, the recent attack on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and the probable withdrawal from Kherson all complicate the Russian government’s ability to paint a picture of military success.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 09 November 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 9, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/FT7t3N6kyr
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/0qMw4Erx9t
Updated
Millions in Ukraine without power
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday about 4 million people were without power in 14 regions plus the capital Kyiv, but on a stabilisation rather than an emergency basis. Scheduled hourly power outages would affect the whole of the country on Wednesday, said Ukraine’s electrical grid operator, Ukrenergo.
Russian missile and drone attacks have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the past few weeks as winter approaches, when mean temperatures typically drop to several degrees below 0C and lows of -20C.
A Ukrainian military statement on Tuesday accused Russian troops of continuing to loot and destroy infrastructure in the southern city of Kherson, where a showdown has been looming for weeks in the only regional capital Russia has captured intact since its invasion.
Russian artillery hit more than 30 settlements in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, and in Zaporizhzhia region the Russian-installed authorities were forcing residents to accept Russian passports after seizing their Ukrainian documents, the statement said.
Fierce fighting in southern Ukraine – reports
A Russian-installed mayor in the town of Snihurivka, east of the southern city of Mykolaiv, was cited by Russia’s RIA news agency as saying residents had seen tanks and that fierce fighting was going on, Reuters reports.
“They got into contact during the day and said there were tanks moving around and, according to their information, heavy fighting on the edge of the town,” said the mayor, Yuri Barabashov referring to the residents.
“People saw this equipment moving through the streets in the town centre.”
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region, said on the Telegram messaging service that Ukrainian forces had tried to advance on three fronts, including Snihurivka.
Vitaly Kim, the Ukrainian governor of Mykolaiv region, apparently quoting an intercepted conversation between Russian servicemen, suggested that Ukrainian forces had already pushed the Russians out of the area.
“Russian troops are complaining that they have already been thrown out of there,” Kim said in a statement on his Telegram channel.
Summary
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Virginia Harrison and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
If you have just joined us, here are the latest developments:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces would not yield “a single centimetre” in fighting for control of eastern Donetsk region after earlier insisting that restoration of Ukrainian territory and compensation from Russia were conditions under which peace talks could take place. “The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level – dozens of attacks every day,” Zelenskiy said. “They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same – to advance on the administrative boundary of Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimetre of our land.”
The Ukrainian president said about 4 million people were without power in 14 regions plus the capital, Kyiv, but on a stabilisation rather than an emergency basis.
The Ukrainian military accused Russian troops of continuing to loot and destroy infrastructure in Kherson, where a showdown has been looming for weeks in the only regional capital Russia has captured since its invasion. “On 7th November, a convoy of trucks passed over the dam of the Kakhova hydroelectric station loaded with home appliances and building materials,” a statement said. Russian forces were dismantling mobile phone towers and taking away equipment, it said.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russia was preparing new fortified lines deep inside territory it controls “to forestall any rapid Ukrainian advances in the event of breakthroughs”. This involved installing concrete barriers known as “dragon’s teeth” to stop tanks, including near Mariupol in the south to help safeguard Russia’s “land bridge” to occupied Crimea even if Moscow loses other territory.
Zelenskiy called on Tuesday for an extension to the Black Sea grain export deal that lifted a Russian blockade of three major Ukrainian ports and eased a global food crisis. The accord, brokered by Turkey and the UN in July, expires on 19 November and looked in jeopardy in October when Russia briefly suspended its participation before rejoining. Ukraine also wanted the grain export deal expanded to include more ports and goods, and hoped a decision to renew the pact for at least a year would be taken next week, the deputy infrastructure minister said in a Reuters interview.
Pro-Kremlin forces in Russia are hoping that the Republicans win control of Congress, an outcome they believe could mean the Democratic president, Joe Biden, finds it harder to get military aid packages for Ukraine approved. But for now, few in Moscow expect the bipartisan US political consensus on Ukraine to crack, whatever the result of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Zelenskiy urged the US to stay united in its support and for US politicians to maintain “unwavering unity” and follow Ukraine’s example “until peace is restored”.
The US and Russia will soon hold talks on resuming suspended nuclear arms control inspections that had been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic and languished after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the state department spokesman Ned Price said. Negotiations on the inspections would take place “in the near future” under the terms of the New Start treaty and would not include any discussion of the conflict in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy has told world leaders they will not be able to tackle the climate crisis unless Russia’s invasion of his country ends. “There can be no effective climate policy without the peace,” he said in a video address at the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will join next week’s G20 summit “if the situation is possible”, his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, who is hosting the meeting, said on Tuesday, adding that Putin could attend virtually instead. On Monday the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin would decide by the end of the week whether he would attend.
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Zelenskiy will take part in the G20 meeting in Bali, most probably attending virtually, his spokesman has told Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster. Previously the Ukrainian position was that Zelenskiy would not appear if Putin did.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
