Summary
Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
In a video address on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the US and Joe Biden for the provision of landmines to Ukrainian troops, calling it “essential … to stop Russian assaults”. In addition to the landmines – which aid groups have widely criticized due to their impact on civilians – the latest $275m US aid package includes drones, Himars ammunitions and artillery.
Various aid groups have expressed criticisms to Agence France-Presse over the US’s decision to send landmines to Ukraine, the outlet reports. Alma Taslidžan of Handicap International said that they “cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians” while Tamar Gabelnick, head of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, called the US’s decision “unconscionable”.
Four Latin American countries have issued a joint statement in which they called to “avoid actions that would escalate the arms race” in the Ukraine-Russia war, Agence France-Presse reports. The four countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico – said that such actions would “aggravate the conflict”.
Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources. The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict.
US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.
Sergey Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, was quoted in Russian media on Wednesday as saying that attempts by Nato countries to strike inside Russia would not go “unpunished”. Elsewhere, the chief of staff in Belarus, Pavel Muraveiko, described US moves to allow Ukraine to deploy longer-range missiles and anti-personnel mines as “irresponsible”.
Staff at the Irish embassy in Ukraine have been told to work from home as tensions continue to escalate in the region. It follows from the US shutting its own embassy in Kyiv because of a “potential significant air attack” by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces. Italy, Spain and Greece also closed their embassies in Kyiv today, according to Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster.
In the early afternoon, the Ukrainian air force told people to seek shelter because of a missile threat. Senior officials told people not to ignore the alert. That came shortly before Kyiv’s top military spy agency GUR issued a warning about a Russian psychological operation it said involved fake messages claiming to have been sent by the agency.
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that Ukraine lost 400 service personnel on the Kursk front in the last 24 hours. The ministry gave a detailed list of western-supplied Ukrainian equipment it had destroyed. The claims have not been independently verified.
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Amnesty International has condemned the US decision to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine as part of the latest aid package, calling it “reckless” and a “setback” in the fight against the use of landmines.
In a statement, Amnesty spokesperson Ben Linden said: “It is devastating, and frankly shocking, that President Biden made such a consequential and dangerous decision just before his public service legacy is sealed for the history books.”
Linden urged Biden to reconsider the decision, adding: “Anti-personnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill civilians long after conflicts end and shouldn’t have a place in the arsenal of any country. Even the ‘non-persistent’ mines are a threat to civilians.”
The US is not a signatory to the 1997 Mine Ban treaty but has not exported anti-personnel mines since 1992.
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How might Russia respond to the UK and US letting Ukraine hit it with their missiles?
The Guardian’s Julian Borger reports:
The Kremlin has brandished its strategic arsenal before over the course of the Ukrainian conflict, in an attempt to deter western involvement. But for all the threats, the US has said it has seen no signs of unusual movement at Russian nuclear weapon storage sites, suggesting there has been no change in the physical positioning of tactical warheads.
Most experts think use of nuclear weapons by Russia is unlikely for now, but have cautioned against complacency. Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, said he did not believe that dropping a bomb in Ukraine was on Moscow’s list of options “primarily because it would not help achieve any military goals, and Russia is advancing at the moment”.
Read the full explainer here:
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Four Latin American countries have issued a joint statement in which they called to “avoid actions that would escalate the arms race” in the Ukraine-Russia war, Agence France-Presse reports.
The four countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico – said that such actions would “aggravate the conflict”.
The joint statement comes after Ukraine fired long-range, UK-made missiles into Russia for the first time since the war began in February 2022, prompting Russia to vow a response.
Updated
Zelenskyy hails US's decision to provide landmines, calling it 'essential'
In a video address on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the US and Joe Biden for the provision of landmines to Ukrainian troops, calling it “essential … to stop Russian assaults”.
In addition to the landmines – which aid groups have widely criticized due to their impact on civilians – the latest $275m US aid package includes drones, Himars ammunitions and artillery.
“This marks the 70th defense package from the United States. Ukraine deeply values the bipartisan support from America and the decision of president Biden,” the Ukrainian president said.
Updated
Zelenskyy reportedly welcomes US landmines decision
Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the US’s decision to provide Ukraine with landmines, Agence France-Presse reports.
Calling the weapons – which have been condemned by international aid groups – “very important to stop Russian assaults”, the Ukrainian president said they would “really strengthen our troops on the front”.
Describing the landmines, the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on Wednesday that they “would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it ... far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own”.
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Aid groups criticize US's decision to provide landmines to Ukraine, calling it 'unconscionable'
Various aid groups have expressed criticisms to Agence France-Presse over the US’s decision to send landmines to Ukraine, the outlet reports.
Speaking of the anti-personnel landmines, Alma Taslidžan of Handicap International said that they “cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians”.
Taslidžan added to AFP: “In that sense, it’s unethical to use landmines.”
Similarly, Mary Wareham, advocacy director of the arms division at the Human Rights Watch, told the AFP: “It’s just astonishing that the White House now appears to be walking back its own policy to transfer to Ukraine, which is a member of the treaty banning anti-personnel landmines.”
Meanwhile, Tamar Gabelnick, head of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, called the US’s decision “unconscionable” and said it “represents a dangerous setback in the global fight against landmines”.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires in recent days from Ukraine:
Summary of the day so far
It is approaching 8pm in Kyiv and 9pm in Moscow. Here are the key developments so far today:
Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources. The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict. The spokesperson for UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters.
The Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use US-supplied antipersonnel landmines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war, the US defence secretary said on Wednesday, marking Washington’s second major policy shift in days after it decided to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with longer-range US-made missiles.
US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.
In response, Russia has announced it is adjusting its nuclear doctrine. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would interpret any attack against it carried out by a non-nuclear state using weapons supplied by a nuclear state as a joint assault.
Peskov also reiterated that a “freeze” of the conflict in Ukraine along the existing frontlines would be unacceptable to the Russian Federation. During his daily press briefing, Peskov declined to comment when asked about the US embassy closing in Kyiv, but said that Russia believed the outgoing Joe Biden administration had shown that it is fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and is doing everything possible to achieve that.
Sergey Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, was quoted in Russian media on Wednesday as saying that attempts by Nato countries to strike inside Russia would not go “unpunished”. Elsewhere, the chief of staff in Belarus, Pavel Muraveiko, described US moves to allow Ukraine to deploy longer-range missiles and anti-personnel mines as “irresponsible”.
Staff at the Irish embassy in Ukraine have been told to work from home as tensions continue to escalate in the region. It follows on from the US shutting its own embassy in Kyiv because of a “potential significant air attack” by Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s forces. Italy, Spain and Greece also closed their embassies in Kyiv today, according to Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster.
The UK and Moldova launched a new defence and security partnership on Wednesday in the face of threats from Russia, the UK government announced. The initiative was disclosed as British foreign secretary, David Lammy, visited the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he opposed the US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, because it will enflame the conflict, broadcaster CNN Turk cited him as saying on Wednesday.
In the early afternoon, the Ukrainian air force told people to seek shelter because of a missile threat. Senior officials told people not to ignore the alert. That came shortly before Kyiv’s top military spy agency GUR issued a warning about a Russian psychological operation it said involved fake messages claiming to have been sent by the agency.
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that Ukraine lost 400 service personnel on the Kursk front in the last 24 hours. The ministry gave a detailed list of western-supplied Ukrainian equipment it had destroyed. The claims have not been independently verified.
Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it shot down 56 out of 122 drones and two out of six missiles launched by Russia overnight. The claims have not been independently verified.
Russian media, citing the defence ministry, reports that 44 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones were intercepted over Russia overnight. The Russian defence ministry claims that 20 of them were over Novgorod oblast, which is to the south-east of St Petersburg, and some considerable distance from Ukraine. The claims have not been independently verified.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it detained a German citizen who had been allegedly involved in organising the explosion at a gas distribution station in Kaliningrad in March this year and had been trying to enter Russia, according to state media. Russia detained the German national, named as Nikolai Gaiduk, on sabotage charges.
Italian prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had opened cases against two people accused of spying for Russia “for the purposes of terrorism and subversion”. In a statement, the Milan public prosecutor’s office said that it was initiating criminal proceedings for suspected “corruption of (Italian) citizens by a foreign actor” against the two unidentified defendants.
Updated
Italian prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had opened cases against two people accused of spying for Russia “for the purposes of terrorism and subversion”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In a statement, the Milan public prosecutor’s office said that it was initiating criminal proceedings for suspected “corruption of (Italian) citizens by a foreign actor” against the two unidentified defendants. They are suspected of having “collaborated with the Russian intelligence services to provide them with sensitive information” beginning in May 2023.
That included photos of military installations and intelligence on drone and cybersecurity technicians, according to the findings of the initial investigation, with the pair receiving payment in cryptocurrencies in return, reports AFP.
Searches unveiled the interest Russian intelligence services hold in mapping out the video surveillance systems of Milan and Rome, as well as the areas of those cities with no surveillance cameras, the prosecutor’s office added.
In particular, the two offered taxi companies in Milan to equip their vehicles with cameras free of charge, with the aim – unbeknownst to the taxi drivers – of handing their footage over to Russia.
Trump won’t back peace deal for Ukraine that amounts to victory for Putin, UK foreign secretary claims
Donald Trump’s re-election as US president has prompted fears that he will cut off US support for Ukraine, forcing it into peace talks with Russia that would culminate in a settlement on terms favourable to Vladimir Putin. In an interview with the New Statesman, David Lammy has argued that Trump would not go that far.
That might sound like wishful thinking, but Lammy and Keir Starmer did have dinner with Trump in the autumn. Lammy discusses that too in the interview with George Eaton. Here are the key lines.
Lammy argued that Trump would not accept a deal over Ukraine that would look like a victory for Putin. Asked about Trump’s stance on Ukraine, Lammy said:
I’ve been a politician for 25 years and I understand the different philosophies at play. There’s a deep philosophical underpinning to friends in the Republican party that I’ve known for many years, thinking back to people like [former US secretary of state] Condoleezza Rice. Donald Trump has some continuity with this position, which is ‘peace through strength’.
What I do know about Donald Trump is that he doesn’t like losers and he doesn’t want to lose; he wants to get the right deal for the American people. And he knows that the right deal for the American people is peace in Europe and that means a sustainable peace – not Russia achieving its aims and coming back for more in the years ahead.”
Updated
US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.
In response, Russia has announced it is adjusting its nuclear doctrine. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would interpret any attack against it carried out by a non-nuclear state using weapons supplied by a nuclear state as a joint assault.
But what exactly are Atacms, and why has their deployment unsettled Russia so deeply?
US will allow Ukraine to use US antipersonnel land mines against Russian forces
The Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use US-supplied antipersonnel landmines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war, the US defence secretary said on Wednesday, marking Washington’s second major policy shift in days after it decided to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with longer-range US-made missiles.
The US and some other western embassies in Kyiv stayed closed on Wednesday after a threat of a major Russian aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital.
US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the change in Washington’s policy on antipersonnel landmines for Ukraine follows changing tactics by the Russians, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces more protected in armoured carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians,” Austin said during a trip to Laos.
The announcement came two months before Donald Trump moves back into the White House. Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war and has criticised the amount the US has spent on supporting Ukraine. Biden administration officials say they are determined to help Ukraine as much as possible before Joe Biden leaves office.
Antipersonnel landmines have long been criticised by charities and activists because they present a lingering threat to civilians.
According to the AP, Norway’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, called the US decision “very problematic” because Ukraine is a signatory to an international convention opposing the use of landmines.
Austin sought to allay concerns. He said:
The landmines that we would look to provide them would be landmines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own.”
Austin noted that Ukraine is already manufacturing its own antipersonnel landmines. And the US already provides Ukraine with anti-tank mines. Russia has routinely used landmines in the war, but those do not become inert over time.
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Staff at Irish embassy in Ukraine told to work from home as tensions escalate
Staff at the Irish embassy in Ukraine have been told to work from home as tensions continue to escalate in the region, reports the PA news agency.
It follows on from the US shutting its own embassy in Kyiv because of a “potential significant air attack” by Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The closure of the US embassy comes after the first use of US-supplied missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.
According to the PA news agency, the Irish premier and minister for defence, Micheál Martin, said that “for the purpose of precaution”, Ireland’s embassy staff are working from home and not in the embassy building in Kyiv.
“That follows consultations between different embassies across Ukraine at the moment, but there’s no plans of withdrawing staff from the embassy,” Martin said.
He added:
This is an abundance of caution here, but obviously the situation is escalated, and we believe Russia should stop this war.
The amount of carnage in this war hasn’t got the proper headlines, but it’s absolutely unacceptable.
I spoke to somebody who came back working with an NGO (non-government organisation) yesterday. He said to me that the level of fatalities of young soldiers on both sides is enormous, and it’s just an appalling lack of any moral compass that leaders can preside and president [Vladimir] Putin can preside over such carnage and it should stop.”
He further stated that Putin is using migration as a war weapon. Martin said that the number of people seeking asylum, including from Ukraine, in Ireland is “unprecedented”.
“I think in fairness, back in 2020 no one anticipated what has now transpired,” he added. “I think the government has behaved responsibly, this government has done anything we possibly can, and the government is moving towards a state accommodation approach.”
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he opposed the US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, because it will enflame the conflict, broadcaster CNN Turk cited him as saying on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Such developments might bring the region and world to the brink of larger war, and both Russia and Ukraine should maintain restraint, Erdoğan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight from Brazil where he attended a G20 Summit.
The UK defence secretary, John Healey, spoke with his counterpart in Kyiv on Tuesday where they discussed London’s plan to support Ukraine, reports the PA news agency.
Healey told the House of Commons on Wednesday:
We’ve seen over recent weeks significant change in the action and in the rhetoric on Ukraine, and Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself.
We as a nation and as a government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine and determined to do more. I discussed this with minister [Rustem] Umerov in a call yesterday where he talked about the robust response that Ukraine is making to recent Russian escalations.
That’s the escalation in the attacks on Ukrainian cities and children, the escalation in attacks on their energy system and the escalation with deploying 10,000 North Korean troops in combat positions on the frontline.
We discussed also our plans as the UK to support them throughout 2025. I remain committed to keeping parliament as fully informed as possible and the [shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge] and the House, I think, will understand the reasons why at this point, I’m not able to go into any further operational details.”
Shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, had raised a point of order at the despatch box after “widespread reports in the media of Storm Shadow missiles being used in Russian territory for the first time”, when he asked whether the Commons had been notified of a future statement related to the conflict. Deputy speaker, Nus Ghani, said she was unaware of any indication of a future statement.
UK and Moldova sign defence pact to counter 'Russian aggression'
The UK and Moldova launched a new defence and security partnership on Wednesday in the face of threats from Russia, the UK government announced.
The initiative was disclosed as British foreign secretary, David Lammy, visited the Moldovan capital Chisinau, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The UK foreign ministry said the pact was about “building on extensive cooperation between the two countries and strengthening Moldovan resilience against external threats”.
“Moldova is a vital security partner for the UK, which is why to reinforce their resilience against Russian aggression and to keep British streets safe, I am deepening cooperation on irregular migration and launching a new defence and security partnership,” said Lammy.
Moldova has been looking eastwards with unease since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The war has forced millions of civilians to flee their homes in Ukraine, including tens of thousands to Moldova, with more than 50,000 Ukrainian children now living in the country, the UK statement said.
Earlier this month, Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, won re-election after a tense vote overshadowed by allegations of Russian meddling. It came just two weeks after a referendum in which Moldovans voted by a razor-thin margin in favour of joining the EU.
The two votes laid bare divisions in the former Soviet republic, reports AFP. A large diaspora and those in the capital mostly favour joining the EU, while rural areas and the pro-Russian separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are against.
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In the early afternoon, the Ukrainian air force told people to seek shelter because of a missile threat. Senior officials told people not to ignore the alert, according to Reuters.
That came shortly before Kyiv’s top military spy agency GUR issued a warning about a Russian psychological operation it said involved fake messages claiming to have been sent by the agency.
GUR said in a statement:
A message is being spread via messengers and social networks … about the threat of a ‘particularly massive’ missile and bomb strike on Ukrainian cities today.”
Two Ukrainian military personnel told Reuters they received messages informing them that Russia would launch more than 300 drones and also use warships, warplanes and ground-based systems to fire missiles in a huge salvo.
Reuters could not immediately determine how the messages were sent. One soldier said he received one from a friend, according to the news agency.
The GUR spy agency said earlier that a Russian military command post had been “successfully struck” in the town of Gubkin in Russia’s Belgorod region, about 168 km (105 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Reuters reports that the statement did not specify who carried out the attack, when it took place or the type of weapon used. Ukraine has also used drones for deep strikes against targets in Russia.
Bloomberg later cited a western official as saying Ukraine had fired UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russia. A spokesperson for prime minister, Keir Starmer, said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
UK-made Storm Shadow missiles fired into Russia for the first time
Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Andrew Roth in Washington report on the use of Storm Shadow missiles
Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources.
The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict.
The Guardian earlier this week reported that the UK would soon approve Storm Shadow missiles for use inside Russia after the US president, Joe Biden, agreed to do the same for the similar American Atacms weapon.
It was not immediately clear what Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to target. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location with the Kursk region. One weapons expert, Trevor Ball, formerly of the US Army said the images circulating did show Storm Shadow fragments though he could verify if they were current or old pictures.
The strike came one day after Ukraine used US-supplied missiles to strike targets in the Bryansk region. Western officials have indicated that they’re specifically targeting the North Korean buildup in the region as well as infrastructure that may be used for a 50,000-strong offensive against a Ukrainian incursion into the region.
Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of US and UK-made missiles inside Russia’s borders would be tantamount to Nato entering into a direct conflict with Moscow.
Updated
Defence minister Guido Crosetto has reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine in parliament in Italy today.
Reuters quotes the minister telling lawmakers in Rome:
The government’s position has not changed, we believe it is necessary to continue providing support to Ukraine in line with what we have done so far in order to achieve … the conditions for a just and lasting peace
In the UK, the prime minister’s spokesperson has declined to comment on media reports that UK-manufactured Storm Shadow missiles have been fired at targets within the Russian Federation.
The spokesperson for prime minister Keir Starmer said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters, but the Guardian understands that the missiles have been used.
Bloomberg also reported their use on Wednesday, citing an unnamed western official. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location within Kursk region.
Britain had previously said Ukraine could use Storm Shadow cruise missiles within Ukrainian territory, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government had been pressing for months for permission to strike at targets inside Russia.
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One person has been reported injured in the Belgorod region by Ukrainian shelling.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that Ukraine’s foreign ministry has reminded embassies in Kyiv that the threat of an attack by Russia has been a daily reality for Ukrainians for over 1,000 days now, and said they are in constant contact with foreign partners regarding potential security threats.
Tass, citing the governor of Kursk region, reports that two Ukrainian missiles have been shot down by Russian air defence in the region.
The US’s move to allow Ukraine to use American supplied anti-personnel land mines comes despite the weapons being banned by scores of countries, including the UK.
Downing Street would not be drawn on the US and Ukrainian positions on the use of the weapons but added in “terms of the UK’s position and the support that it provides, it’s in line with the Ottawa Convention” which bans land mines.
US defence secretary confirms Ukraine given permission to use land mines
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has confirmed that the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help fight off Russian forces.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday during a trip to Laos, Associated Press reported that the shift in policy follows changing tactics by the Russians.
Austin said Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces more protected in armoured carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians.”
“The land mines that we would look to provide them would be land mines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it, you know, far more, safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own,” Austin said.
Ukraine's intelligence agency accuses Russia of spreading fake information about impending large attack
Ukraine’s main directorate of intelligence has accused Russia of spreading misinformation that there would be a large-scale attack today in what it described as “a massive information-psychological attack”
Reuters quotes the agency statement saying “A message is being spread via messengers and social networks … about the threat of a ‘particularly massive’ missile and bomb strike on Ukrainian cities today. This message is a fake, it contains grammatical errors typical of Russian information and psychological operations.”
Earlier Italy, Spain and Greece followed the US in closing their Kyiv embassies over attack fears. The US embassy said it had received “specific information” of a potential significant air attack and would be closed.
The UK embassy in Kyiv remained open, while Germany’s embassy remained open in a limited capacity.
The air alert in Kyiv has ended.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted to social media to say that this morning he has spoken to Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk on the phone.
Air alerts have been declared in Kyiv and a number of other regions.
This happens quite regularly during the day, however due to the closure of embassies by the US, Italy, Spain and Greece in anticipation of an attack on Kyiv, there is a heightened sense of alertness.
Andriy Kovalenko, from Ukraine’s national security and defence council has told news agency Ukrinform that Russia was “trying to sow panicky moods” among Ukrainians.
Dan Sabbagh is in Kyiv for the Guardian
The UK embassy remains open in Kyiv. In a statement, it said:
The UK Embassy in Kyiv remains open. However, the safety of our staff and British nationals in Ukraine is paramount and we keep our embassy posture and travel advice under constant review.
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Italy, Spain and Greece follow US in closing Kyiv embassies over attack fears
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that Italy, Spain and Greece have all also closed their embassies in Kyiv today.
The US embassy earlier said it had received “specific information” of a potential significant air attack and would be closed.
Suspilne reports that the intelligence indicates a combined drone and missile attack on the capital, and is not thought to be related to Russia’s change in its nuclear doctrine yesterday.
Russia’s ministry of defence claims it has destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region.
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that Ukraine lost 400 service personnel on the Kursk front in the last 24 hours. The ministry gave a detailed list of western-supplied Ukrainian equipment it had destroyed. The claims have not been independently verified.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that a man faces up to nine years in prison after being arrested in Kharkiv for helping men eligible to be drafted into the armed forces escape Ukraine. The 43-year-old was paid to help people travel into Moldova.
Many organisations this week have been marking the 1,000 day anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fundraising platform GoFundMe has announced that since the beginning of the war more than £17m has been raised in the UK for Ukrainian causes, including media outlet the Kyiv Independent raising more than £1.8m to keep publishing during the conflict. More than 200,000 individual donations have been made to appeals mentioning Ukraine during the period.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Reuters reports, has said that Ukraine and Russia should focus on peace and show restraint.
Turkey’s president also said that the US decision to allow longer range Ukrainian strikes on Russia would further escalate the conflict and prompt a Russian reaction. He said he opposed the move.
Erdoğan has repeatedly tried to position Turkey as a mediator in the conflict, and has proposed a peace plan that would involve Ukraine delaying any moves to join Nato for at least ten years and freezing the existing frontlines. That would effectively mean Ukraine conceding territory to Russia, while Russia would have to accept it had not gained full control the four Ukrainian regions it claimed to annex in 2022.
Reuters reports that the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it shot down 56 out of 122 drones and two out of six missiles launched by Russia overnight. The claims have not been independently verified.
Kremlin: a 'freeze' on conflict in Ukraine is unacceptable
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has reiterated that a “freeze” of the conflict in Ukraine along the existing frontlines would be unacceptable to the Russian Federation.
During his daily press briefing, Peskov declined to comment when asked about the US embassy closing in Kyiv, but said that Russia believed the outgoing Joe Biden administration had shown that it is fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and is doing everything possible to achieve that.
Peskov said president Vladimir Putin’s itinerary had not been altered by the decision of the US that Ukraine could use longer range missiles against Russia, but has ordered security checks on critical infrastructure facilities, including the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait.
Russian state-owned news agency Tass is carrying further quotes from Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, about the country’s new nuclear doctrine.
It quotes him saying that the new doctrine was met with “caution” by the west, adding:
They understand that the adjustments announced by Putin largely devalue the efforts of the US and Nato to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, and the planned expansion of the list of grounds for the use of nuclear weapons effectively excludes the possibility of victory over the Russian armed forces on the battlefield.
In its latest operational update, Ukraine’s army has said that on Tuesday there were up to 139 combat engagements on the front lines between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Sergey Naryshkin, who is director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, is being quoted in Russian media as saying that attempts by Nato countries to strike inside Russia will not go “unpunished”.
Local media reports that explosions have been heard in Kherson. This is not uncommon, as the Dnipro river, on which the city lies to the north, marks a frontline between Ukrainian forces and Russian forces, who occupy the southern portion of the Kherson region.
The chief of staff in Belarus, Pavel Muraveiko, has described US moves to allow Ukraine to deploy longer-range missiles and anti-personnel mines as “irresponsible”, Reuters reports.
In a television interview in France, foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has dismissed Vladimir Putin’s approval of a new nuclear doctrine yesterday as rhetoric, and, Reuters reports, said “We are not intimidated.”
The change in nuclear doctrine yesterday lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, with a significant development being that Russia says it now considers a nuclear response justified if it is on the receiving end of aggression by a non-nuclear power that is being aided by a nuclear power.
Russia arrests German citizen on sabotage charges - state media
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it detained a German citizen who had been allegedly involved in organising the explosion at a gas distribution station in Kaliningrad in March this year and had been trying to enter Russia, according to state media.
Russia detained the German national, named as Nikolai Gaiduk, on sabotage charges. Authorities said he “is implicated in the March 2024 explosion at a gas distribution station” in Kaliningrad, the Russian region sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
The man had returned to Russia “to organise acts of sabotage on local energy infrastructure”, according to a statement by the FSB, which was quoted by news agencies.
A video confession by the man was shown on state television.
Russian media, citing the defence ministry, reports that 44 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones were intercepted over Russia overnight.
The Russian defence ministry claims that 20 of them were over Novgorod oblast, which is to the south-east of St Petersburg, and some considerable distance from Ukraine. The claims have not been independently verified.
A special hotline in place to deflate crises between the Kremlin and the White House, created after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, is not currently being used, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, as nuclear risks rise amid the highest tensions between Russia and West in decades, Reuters reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, days after reports said Washington had allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia. Putin has altered Russia’s so-called “nuclear doctrine” several times since the invasion of Ukraine, without ever making good on nuclear threats.
“We have a special secure line for communication between the two presidents, Russia and the United States. Moreover, even for video communication,” Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov told TASS state news agency. But when asked whether this channel is currently in use, he said, “No.”
Ukraine used US Atacms missiles to strike Russian territory on Tuesday, taking advantage of the newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden on the war’s 1,000th day.
Russian diplomats say the crisis between Moscow and Washington now is comparable to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the two cold war superpowers came closest to intentional nuclear war, and that the West is making a mistake if it thinks Russia will back down over Ukraine.
Some more information on the US embassy closure in Kyiv. Further to its post on X, the US Department of State Consular Affairs published a notice on the embassy website saying the closure was “out of an abundance of caution”.
The US embassy in Kyiv has received specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20.
Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place.
The US embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.
The warning comes a day after Ukraine used US Atacms missiles to strike Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden on the war’s 1,000th day.
Latest Russian airstrikes on Ukraine threaten ‘catastrophic power failure’
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor, reporting from Kyiv
Ukraine’s power network is at “heightened risk of catastrophic failure” after Russia’s missile and drone attack on Sunday, Greenpeace has warned, raising fears about the safety of the country’s three operational nuclear power stations.
The strikes by Moscow were aimed at electricity substations “critical to the operation of Ukraine’s nuclear plants” and there is a possibility that the reactors could lose power and become unsafe, according to a briefing note prepared for the Guardian.
Shaun Burnie, nuclear expert at Greenpeace Ukraine, said:
It is clear that Russia is using the threat of a nuclear disaster as a major military lever to defeat Ukraine. But by undertaking the attacks Russia is risking a nuclear catastrophe in Europe, which is comparable to Fukushima in 2011, Chornobyl in 1986 or even worse.
The pressure group called on Russia to immediately halt its attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid and for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to deploy permanent monitors in substations critical to the country’s nuclear plants. The IAEA conducted one inspection in late October, but has not committed to return.
More on the news that Joe Biden has authorised the provision of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, which was first reported by the Washington Post.
Here is some further context from the Post’s story:
The Biden administration is deeply concerned about Russia’s assaults against Ukraine’s frontlines in recent weeks and sees a pressing need to blunt the advance, officials said. The Pentagon believes that the provision of the mines is among the most helpful steps the Biden administration can do to help slow Russia’s attack, officials said.
One official said the type of antipersonnel landmine is “nonpersistent,” meaning that the mines self-destruct or lose battery charge to render them inactive within days or weeks, reducing the danger to civilians. The official said that Ukrainian policymakers had committed to not deploying the mines in densely populated areas. Arms control experts said that even nonpersistent mines pose a safety hazard.
“Russia is attacking Ukrainian lines in the east with waves of troops, regardless of the casualties that they’re suffering,” one of the officials said. “So the Ukrainians are obviously taking losses, and more towns and cities are at risk of falling. These mines were made specifically to combat exactly this.”
North Korean troops fighting in Russian elite units, Seoul says
Some of 10,900 North Korean troops sent to Kursk have been fighting in elite Russian airborne and marine units against Ukraine, according to a lawmaker on the intelligence committee of the South Korean parliament.
Park Sun-won, citing the South’s spy agency, said North Korea had also shipped additional arms for the war in Ukraine, including self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers.
Park added that the North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month was unusual in terms of protocol, and likely went beyond exchanging greetings, to cover more significant issues including a possible visit to Russia by Kim Jong-un. The spy agency was still trying to determine the exact number of North Korean troop casualties and whether any had surrendered amid conflicting information, Park said.
US embassy in Kyiv shuts over anticipated air attack
The US embassy in Kyiv has received “specific information” of a potential significant air attack on Wednesday and will be closed, the US Department of State Consular Affairs said in a post on X.
It recommended US citizens to be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.
Updated
Biden approves antipersonnel landmines for Ukraine - reports
The US president, Joe Biden, has authorised the provision of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, according to reports, in a step that will bolster Kyiv’s defence against advancing Russian troops but also attract criticism from arms control groups.
Ukraine had committed not to use the mines in densely populated areas, an unnamed official told the Washington Post, which first reported the development.
It comes as Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin – already angered by the Biden administration allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied longer-range missiles to strike targets deeper within Russian territory – formally lowered the threshold for Moscow’s use of its nuclear weapons. A hotline in place to deflate crises between the Kremlin and the White House, created after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, was not being used, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, amid the highest tensions between Russia and the west in decades. Putin has altered Russia’s so-called “nuclear doctrine” several times since the invasion of Ukraine, without ever making good on nuclear threats.
North Korean troops have participated in some battles as part of Russia’s airborne and marine units, while Pyongyang has shipped additional arms including mechanised howitzers and rocket launchers to Russia, a South Korean lawmaker has said, citing his country’s spy agency. The agency was still trying to determine the exact number of North Korean troop casualties, Park Sun-won said.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Fox News that his country “will lose” its war against Russia if the US cuts military funding to Kyiv. “If they cut, we will – I think we will lose,” said the Ukrainian president. “We will fight. We have our production, but it’s not enough to prevail. And I think it’s not enough to survive.” The US president-elect, Donald Trump, is a vocal sceptic of the billions that the Biden administration has given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022. Trump’s surrogates have voiced vehement criticism of Biden’s decision to let Ukraine use US-supplied long-range missiles for attacks inside Russia, accusing him of a dangerous escalation.
With Russia gaining ground, and increasing talk of negotiations, Ukraine is wary of being at a disadvantage when it comes to hashing out a peace settlement. Zelenskyy told Fox that unity between Ukraine and the US was “most important.” Trump, he said, could influence Vladimir Putin to end the war, “because he is much more stronger” than the Russian president.
In other developments:
The US called on Russia “to stop this bellicose and the irresponsible rhetoric”, but said it has not seen any reason to adjust its nuclear posture. US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he was “not surprised” by comments by the Kremlin over the revised nuclear doctrine.
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, also accused Russia of being guilty of making “irresponsible rhetoric”. In a direct message to the Russian president, Starmer added: “On day 1,000 of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, I say again: ‘End the war. Get out of Ukraine’.”
Ukraine fired US-made long-range missiles into Russia for the first time since the Biden administration lifted restrictions on their use. The target appeared to be an ammunition warehouse. Ukraine’s general staff said it hit a military arsenal of the 1046th logistics centre outside the city of Karachev without confirming the use of the missiles. Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine launched six US-made Atacms missiles targeting the south-western Bryansk region overnight. It claimed that five of the missiles were shot down and another was damaged. It said debris from the rockets caused a fire at an unnamed military facility.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did not directly confirm the missile attack targeting Bryansk but said: “We now have Atacms, Ukrainian long-range capabilities, and we will use them.”
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, appeared to suggest that Russia might respond with nuclear weapons if Ukraine used western-supplied missiles to strike targets inside Russia. The Kremlin said the purpose of its updated nuclear doctrine was to make potential enemies understand the inevitability of retaliation for an attack on Russia or its allies. Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine declares that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. The doctrine also states that an attack using conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft could be seen as justification for a nuclear response.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the Ukrainian attack was a clear signal that the west wanted to escalate the conflict. “Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these hi-tech missiles, as Putin has repeatedly said,” Lavrov said in Rio de Janeiro for the G20 summit.
Ukraine’s western allies criticised the final G20 communique as inadequate for failing to highlight Russia’s invasion of its neighbour in 2022 as the conflict entered its 1,000th day. It was significantly weaker than that of the previous year, only highlighting humanitarian suffering in Ukraine and the importance of territorial integrity.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, marked the “grim” milestone of 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by saying that it has been “1,000 days too many of senseless pain and suffering.” A statement by Türk’s spokesperson on Tuesday said the OHCHR has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured, it said.
Denmark is making a new donation of about €130m for development of Ukraine’s arms industry, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has announced. “And make no mistake, our support is long-term.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Denmark had created a “special model” to bring in investments from other countries.
