Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin’s troops ‘pushed back miles’ after major Kyiv breakthrough on Dnipro River

Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian troops three to eight kilometeres back on the banks of the key Dnipro River.

If confirmed, it would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a relatively slow counteroffensive.

“Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape design of the left bank,” army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television, without specifying whether Ukraine’s military had complete control of the area or if the Russians had retreated.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

Ukrainian forces have staged multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side - with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a “successful” breakthrough last week.

After securing multiple footholds on the eastern bank, the Ukrainian military claimed to have repelled 12 attacks over the weekend. Mr Putin has lost around a brigade’s worth of forces there in a month, claims Kyiv.

Key Points

• Ukrainian army pushing Russian forces back at Dnipro river

• Russia launches waves of drone strikes on Kyiv for second night

• Cluster bombs in battle for Avdiivka fuelling stalemate on frontline, says UK

• Ukraine establishes 'several bridgeheads' on eastern bank of Dnipro

Around 3,000 trucks stuck at Ukrainian border due to Polish drivers' blockade

22:30 , Holly Evans

bout 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks were stuck on the Polish side of the border as of Sunday morning due to a more than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities said.

Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to three border crossings with Ukraine to protest against what they see as government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials said last week Kyiv and Warsaw had again failed to reach an agreement to stop the protest.

“For over 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked at the Polish border. Thousands of people are forced to live in difficult conditions with limited food, water and fuel,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Ukraine’s Prime Minister, said on X, formerly Twitter.

He said trucks were backed up more than 30 kms (18.6 miles)towards the Yahodyn crossing, more than 10 kms towards Rava-Ruska, and more than 16 kms towards the Krakivets crossing.

Russia and Iran call for ceasefire in Gaza

21:30 , Holly Evans

Russia and Iran’s foreign ministers on Sunday called for a ceasefire in Gaza and said that urgent assistance must be given to the civilian population there.

Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian at the request of Tehran.

“During the conversation, main attention was focused on the current situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Ukrainian teen returns to Ukraine after being taken to Russia from occupied Mariupol

20:39 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving the country earlier this year returned to Ukraine on Sunday.

Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this month to help bring him back to Ukraine. In March, he tried to leave Russia for Ukraine via Belarus, but was stopped and sent back.

“I believed I would be in Ukraine, but not on this day,” Yermokhin told Reuters while eating at a petrol station after crossing into Ukraine.

“This is a very pleasant gift, to put it in the right way. The emotions are overwhelming, all good, with the notion that Ukraine needs me.”

Zelenskiy welcomed Yermokhin’s return in his nightly video address.

“Many attempts were made to help him. I am happy everything worked out,” he said, expressing thanks to Ukrainian officials, international organisations, and particularly the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and authorities in Qatar for help in mediation.

Hungary’s Orban says Ukraine ‘light years away’ from joining EU

19:30 , Athena Stavrou

Hungary’s prime minister has said Ukraine is “light years away” from joining the European Union, further signalling that his government is likely to present a roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc.

Speaking at a biannual congress of his nationalist Fidesz party, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he and his government would “resist” talks scheduled for mid-December on whether to formally invite Ukraine to start membership negotiations.

Admitting a new country requires unanimous approval from all existing member countries, giving Mr Orban a powerful veto.

Mr Orban said afterwards that standing in the way of Ukraine joining the EU would be one of his government’s top priorities in the coming months.

“Our task will be to correct the mistaken promise to start negotiations with Ukraine, since Ukraine is now light years away from the European Union,” Mr Orban said.

ICYMI: In Russia, more Kremlin critics are being imprisoned as intolerance of dissent grows

18:45 , Athena Stavrou

Russia under President Vladimir Putin has been closing in on those who challenge the Kremlin. Protesters and activists have been arrested or imprisoned, independent news outlets have been silenced, and various groups have been added to registers of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations.”

The crackdown has been going on for years.

Full report:

In Russia, more Kremlin critics are being imprisoned as intolerance of dissent grows

Ukraine ‘preparing for winter attacks'

18:00 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine is preparing for further attacks on their energy grid this winter.

In his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian president Zelensky said that the “closer we are to winter, the more Russians will try to make the strikes more powerful.”

Zelenksy has previously raised concerns over Russian attacks on Ukraines energy grid - which became a prime target last year.

Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the head of energy firm Ukrenergo, told local media: “All of us energy workers and defence forces are preparing to repel possible Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure this winter.”

Thousands of Ukrainian children forcefully taken to Belarus via Russia, study finds

17:15 , Athena Stavrou

Thousands of children from Ukraine aged between six and 17 years old have been forcefully transferred to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia‘s invasion last year, a study by Yale University has found.

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health found that the transfer of 2,442 children was “directly overseen” by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko – a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Full report:

Thousands of Ukrainian children forcefully taken to Belarus via Russia, study finds

Ukrainian teen who was taken to Russia from occupied Mariupol returns to Ukraine

16:30 , Athena Stavrou

A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving the country earlier this year returned to Ukraine on Sunday.

Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this month to help bring him back to Ukraine. In March, he tried to leave Russia for Ukraine via Belarus, but was stopped and sent back.

Ukraine says 20,000 children have been illegally transferred to Russia since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, with some being put up for adoption. Kyiv says this is a war crime, an allegation denied by Russia, which says it was protecting children in a war zone.

Yermokhin, an orphan from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol that was captured by Moscow’s troops during the first year of the war, was taken to Russia and placed in a foster family in the Moscow region.

On Sunday, Reuters correspondents at Kortelisy, a Ukrainian village near the border with Belarus, saw Yermokhin driven into Ukraine from the border in a van. Asked if he was glad to be back in Ukraine, Yermokhin said “yes”.

Putin to take part in G20 summit

15:45 , Athena Stavrou

Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to take part in a virtual G20 summit next week, according to local media.

The conference is set to be hosted by India and happen on Wednesday, as reported by Russian news agency TASS, citing the TV channel ‘Russia-1’.

Putin did not attend the last two G20 meetings in India in September and Indonesia last year. He has taken few trips outside Russia since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader over the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

Latest pictures from Ukraine

15:03 , Athena Stavrou

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – now is not the moment for the West to turn away

14:20 , Athena Stavrou

Despite slow progress, the War in Ukraine has not reached a stalemate.

Ukraine’s forces can only win if the West shows a renewed commitment to forcing Russia out, James Nixey writes:

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – the West must not turn away now

Around 3,000 trucks stuck at Ukrainian border

13:19 , Athena Stavrou

About 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks were stuck on the Polish side of the border as of Sunday morning due to a more than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities said.

Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to three border crossings with Ukraine to protest against what they see as government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials said last week Kyiv and Warsaw had again failed to reach an agreement to stop the protest.

“For over 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked at the Polish border. Thousands of people are forced to live in difficult conditions with limited food, water and fuel,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Ukraine‘s Prime Minister, said on X, formerly Twitter.

He said trucks were backed up more than 30 kms (18.6 miles)towards the Yahodyn crossing, more than 10 kms towards Rava-Ruska, and more than 16 kms towards the Krakivets crossing.

Ukrainian grain brokers said last week Ukraine‘s shipments of food by road decreased 2.7% in the first 13 days of November due to difficulties on the Polish border caused by a drivers’ strike.

Ukrainian army pushing Russian forces back at Dnipro river

12:05 , Athena Stavrou

The Ukrainian army said on Sunday that it has pushed Russian forces back “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of Dnipro river.

If confirmed, it would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive.

“Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape design of the left bank,” army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television Sunday, without specifying whether Ukraine’s military had complete control of the area or if the Russians had retreated.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

Ukrainian forces have staged multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side -- with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a “successful” breakthrough last week.

‘Greater fighting capacity' of Ukrainian recruits trained by UK

11:54 , Athena Stavrou

A Ukrainian military spokesperson has said recruits trained in the UK’s Interflex training course have a “greater fighting capacity”.

Operation Interflex was launched by the UK Armed Forces in June 2022 to develop and better prepare Ukrainian soldiers. Recruits spend five weeks in the UK receiving intense training.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that 30,000 Ukrainians have been trained through Op Interflex.

They shared a comment from a Ukrainian armed forces spokesperson that said: “We notice the greater fighting capacity of the servicemen and women of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who completed the Interflex training course.”

Five hurt in Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine says

10:56 , Athena Stavrou

Five people including a 3-year-old girl were injured in Russian artillery shelling of Kherson on Sunday morning, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said.

“All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The child and the grandmother were walking in the yard. Enemy artillery hit them near the entrance,” Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian troops abandoned Kherson and the western bank of the Dnipro River in the region late last year, but now regularly shell those areas from positions on the eastern bank.

Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Ukrainian forces work to push back Putin’s troops on key river

10:15 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian troops worked to push back Russian forces positioned on the east bank of the Dnieper River, the military said Saturday.

It comes a day after Ukraine claimed to have secured multiple bridgeheads on that side of the river that divides the country’s partially occupied Kherson region.

Ukraine’s establishment of footholds on on the Russian-held bank of the Dnieper represents a small but potentially significant strategic advance in the midst of a war largely at a standstill.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said its troops there had repelled 12 attacks by the Russian army between Friday and Saturday.

The Ukrainians now were trying to “push back Russian army units as far as possible in order to make life easier for the (western) bank of the Kherson region, so that they get shelled less,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, said.

The Russian military said on Saturday it had heavily bombed Ukrainian forces around the River Dnipro in southern Ukraine and killed up to 75 Ukrainian soldiers.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claim.

Jailed Russian nationalist Girkin 'wants to run for president'

09:49 , Athena Stavrou

Pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, has said he wants to run for president in the March 2024 election, his supporters said, citing a letter from prison.

A presidential election in Russia is set to take place in March 2024 with current president Vladimir Putin expected to also run once again.

Girkin has repeatedly warned that Russia faces revolution and even civil war unless Putin’s military top brass fight the war in Ukraine more effectively.

Oleg Nelzin, co-chairman of the Russian movement supporting Strelkov, read out a letter from Girkin in which he asked supporters to start work on putting him forward to run in the March election.

A picture of Girkin, 52, above a slogan “Our president - Igor Ivanovich Strelkov - ‘24,” was projected on a screen behind Nelzin as he spoke. Applause followed at the meeting, a clip of which Girkin’s supporters posted on Telegram.

Russia has cracked down on nationalist critics, who have called for a much tougher approach to fighting the war including martial law and a country-wide mobilisation, after the failed June mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Russia ‘considering bringing Soviet-era aircraft back into service'

09:10 , Athena Stavrou

Russia is likely considering bringing a Soviet-era aircraft back into service, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

In their latest defence intelligence update, the UK said the M-55 MYSTIC B high altitude reconnaissance aircraft may come back into service.

With an operating ceiling of over 70,000 feet, the aircraft has been recently employed as an earth-sciences research platform. However, it has been observed carrying a military reconnaissance pod, developed for employment on Russian fighter aircraft.

The defence ministry added that it was “almost certain” that the aircraft will conduct missions against Ukraine from the “relative safety of Russian airspace”.

Zelensky issues sanctions for 108 people

08:38 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian Presidenty Zelensky has sanctioned 37 Russian groups and 108 people including a former prime minister and a former education minister.

“We are increasing the pressure of our state onto them and each of them must be held responsible for what they have done,” he said in his nightly video address on Saturday, after his office issued corresponding decrees with his signature.

Zelenskiy did not associate specific individuals or groups with particular wrongdoings. The decrees showed a range of 10-year penalties against individuals and five-year penalties against non-profit groups including one named in English as the “Russian Children’s Foundation.”

Zelenskiy said in his address that the list included “those involved in the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territory” and individuals who “in various ways help Russian terror against Ukraine.”

Dmytro Tabachnyk, a former minister of education and science who had his Ukrainian citizenship stripped from him in February, and ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov were also included in the sanctions.

With former President Viktor Yanukovich, Azarov previously had assets and property frozen among other penalties. The two men fled Ukraine for Russia in 2014 after a crackdown on street protests that killed more than 100 demonstrators in Kyiv.

Russia launches waves of drone strikes on Kyiv for second night

07:48 , Andy Gregory

Russia launched several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv for the second night in row, stepping up its assaults on the Ukrainian capital after several weeks of pause, the head of the city’s military administration has said.

“The enemy’s UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were launched in many groups and attacked Kyiv in waves, from different directions, at the same time constantly changing the vectors of movement along the route,” Serhiy Popko said.

“That is why the air raid alerts were announced several times in the capital.”

According to preliminary information Ukraine’s air defence systems hit close to 10 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones in Kyiv and its outskirts, Mr Popko said.

There have been no initial reports of “critical damage” or casualties, he added.

Plight of one Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

06:00 , Holly Evans

Kamianka lies in a charming valley of bright flowers and lush trees. It used to be portrayed as a model village for a contented life in rural idyll. It was also a place of archaeological and geological lure, with its rare bronze age and Scythian sites and Jurassic limestone cliffs attracting visitors from afar.

The settlement, set in a sleepy hollow, was established in the 18th century by a count from the Tsar of Russia’s court who had returned from Britain with new methods of farming and an English bride. Keen to put his new knowledge into practice, he allocated land, built a mill, constructed roads and funded a church and a school.

But Kamianka, in eastern Ukraine, also has a dark history of violence. Its strategic position on the banks of the Siversky Donets River made it a battleground for armies over the ages.

Read the full story from Kim Sengupta here

Bombs and betrayal: Plight of one Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

In Russia, more Kremlin critics are being imprisoned as intolerance of dissent grows

05:00 , Holly Evans

Russia under President Vladimir Putin has been closing in on those who challenge the Kremlin. Protesters and activists have been arrested or imprisoned, independent news outlets have been silenced, and various groups have been added to registers of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations.”

The crackdown has been going on for years.

But it increased within days of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when Russia adopted a law criminalizing the spreading of “false information” about the military, effectively outlawing any public expression about the war that deviated from the official narrative. Scores of people have been prosecuted under the new law, and those implicated in high-profile cases have been given long prison terms.

Read more here

In Russia, more Kremlin critics are being imprisoned as intolerance of dissent grows

The Lazarus Project star says series predicted Russia-Ukraine war

04:00 , Holly Evans

The Lazarus Project star says series predicted Russia-Ukraine war

Former Bank of Russia deputy placed on Moscow’s wanted list

03:00 , Holly Evans

Russia’s interior ministry has placed former Bank of Russia deputy governor and senior politician Sergei Aleksashenko on its wanted list, Russian state news agencies have reported.

Mr Aleksashenko, who has criticised Russia’s war in Ukraine, has been living in exile in the United States after falling out with President Vladimir Putin’s government and had already been designated a “foreign agent”.

Tass reported that Mr Aleksashenko had been added to the interior ministry’s wanted list on an unspecified criminal charge. Mr Aleksashenko said on Telegram that he had been listed on the database for five years already, but suggested that being added to the wanted list was a new development.

Earlier this week, Vasiliy Piskarev – who leads the Duma’s committee on investigating foreign interference – accused Mr Aleksashenko and economist Sergei Guriev of being engaged in shaping sanctions against Russia through their involvement with Stanford University’s international working group on Russian sanctions.

The world's attention is on Gaza, and Ukrainians worry war fatigue will hurt their cause

02:00 , Holly Evans

When Tymofii Postoiuk and his friends set up an online fundraising effort for Ukraine, donations poured in from around the globe, helping to purchase essential equipment for Ukrainian armed forces.

As the fighting with Russia wore on and war fatigue set in, the donations slowed down, but money continued to come in steadily. Then the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.

With the start of another major conflict, social media networks including X, formerly known as Twitter, were flooded with news from the Middle East. “Our fundraising posts and updates simply get lost in between those tweets,” Postoiuk said.

Read more here

The world's attention is on Gaza, and Ukrainians worry war fatigue will hurt their cause

Thousands of Ukrainian children forcefully taken to Belarus via Russia, study finds

01:00 , Holly Evans

Thousands of children from Ukraine aged between six and 17 years old have been forcefully transferred to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia‘s invasion last year, a study by Yale University has found.

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health found that the transfer of 2,442 children was “directly overseen” by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko – a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president in March, accusing him and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

Read more here

Thousands of Ukrainian children forcefully taken to Belarus via Russia, study finds

Ukraine pushes back Russian troops from Dnieper River

00:00 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian troops worked to push back Russian forces positioned on the east bank of the Dnieper River, the military said Saturday, a day after Ukraine claimed to have secured multiple bridgeheads on that side of the river that divides the country’s partially occupied Kherson region.

Ukraine‘s establishment of footholds on on the Russian-held bank of the Dnieper represents a small but potentially significant strategic advance in the midst of a war largely at a standstill.

The General Staff of Ukraine‘s armed forces said its troops there had repelled 12 attacks by the Russian army between Friday and Saturday. The Ukrainians now were trying to “push back Russian army units as far as possible in order to make life easier for the (western) bank of the Kherson region, so that they get shelled less,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine‘s Southern Operational Command, said.

In response, the Russian military used “tactical aviation,” including Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, to try to pin down Ukraine‘s troops, Humeniuk said.

The harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol' is coming to TV. Here's how to watch

00:00 , Holly Evans

The visceral documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” about Russia’s early assault on the Ukrainian city, will soon reach its widest audience yet.

The 94-minute film, a joint production by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” has been met with critical acclaim and an audience award at the Sundance Film Festival.

AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov directed the movie from 30 hours of footage shot in Mariupol in the opening days of the war. Chernov and AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka, a photographer, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last international journalists in the city before escaping.

Ukraine says it is pushing Putin’s forces back in ‘successes’ on Dnipro River’s east bank

Saturday 18 November 2023 23:00 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian soldiers out of positions on the eastern bank of the River Dnipro in the occupied Kherson region, Kyiv’s military said on Friday.

Crossing the Dnipro and transporting heavy military equipment and supplies over the river could allow Ukrainian troops to open a new line of attack in the south on the most direct land route to Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Ukrainian marines said that they had had a series of “successes”, established several bridgeheads and conducted other operations on the river’s eastern side. Russia conceded for the first time this week that Kyiv’s troops had crossed the Dnipro.

Read the full story here

Ukraine says it is pushing Russia back in ‘successes’ on Dnipro River’s east bank

Two dead in Russian strikes near front line

Saturday 18 November 2023 22:00 , Holly Evans

At least two people have died and several more were injured after Russian strikes hit a village near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian police said.

The strikes occurred in the village of Komyshuvakha.

“As a result of the first two strikes, four local residents were injured and a fire broke out in a residential building,” Ukrainian police said in a statement.

“When the police and rescuers arrived at the scene, Russians conducted another strike. Two emergency service workers were killed, and three more were injured.”

The Moscow Times is declared 'foreign agent’

Saturday 18 November 2023 21:00 , Holly Evans

Russia‘s Justice Ministry on Friday added The Moscow Times, an online newspaper popular among Russia’s expatriate community, to its list of “foreign agents” in the country’s continuing crackdown on critical news media and opposition.

The “foreign agent” designation subjects individuals and organizations to increased financial scrutiny and requires any of their public material to prominently include notice of being declared a foreign agent. The label is seen as a pejorative aimed at undermining the designees’ credibility.

Read more here

The Moscow Times, noted for its English coverage of Russia, is declared a 'foreign agent'

Dozens of migrants wait at Finland-Russia border after Helsinki blocks crossings

Saturday 18 November 2023 20:00 , Holly Evans

Dozens of migrants stood behind barriers at two crossings on Finland’s border with Russia on Saturday, the Finnish Border Guard said, after Helsinki erected barricades to halt a flow of asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.

The Finnish government has accused Russia of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.

The Finnish Border Guard erected barriers from midnight on Friday at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland, which account for most of the traffic between the two countries.

Hungary’s Orban says Ukraine ‘light years away’ from joining EU

Saturday 18 November 2023 19:00 , Holly Evans

Hungary’s prime minister has said Ukraine is “light years away” from joining the European Union, further signalling that his government is likely to present a roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc.

Speaking at a biannual congress of his nationalist Fidesz party, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he and his government would “resist” talks scheduled for mid-December on whether to formally invite Ukraine to start membership negotiations.

Admitting a new country requires unanimous approval from all existing member countries, giving Mr Orban a powerful veto.

Mr Orban said afterwards that standing in the way of Ukraine joining the EU would be one of his government’s top priorities in the coming months.

“Our task will be to correct the mistaken promise to start negotiations with Ukraine, since Ukraine is now light years away from the European Union,” Mr Orban said.

Aftermath of a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhhzia region

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:52 , Jabed Ahmed

Pictures below show firefighters working at the site where houses were damaged by a Russian drone strike, in the Zaporizhzhia region on Friday night.

Ukrainian police said Russia fired a series of rockets at the village of Komyshuvakha, close to the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia annexed last year.

Two first responders were also killed by the rocket attacks.

Russian doctors call for release of imprisoned artist who protested Ukraine war

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:30 , Jabed Ahmed

More than 100 Russian doctors have signed an open letter today that demands the immediate release of Sasha Skochilenko, an artist and musician who was sentenced to seven years in prison for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war slogans.

The letter calling for the artist to be freed was addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned that time in prison could lead to a “significant deterioration” in the 33-year-old artist’s health.

Skochilenko was “diagnosed with a number of severe chronic diseases that require proper medical supervision and a special diet,” states the letter, which also notes the doctors’ anger at the “obvious injustice of the verdict.”

Sasha Skochilenko, 33, a self-described pacifist, appeared in a St Petersburg court on 17 November after 19 months of pre-trial detention.

She was charged last April with discrediting Russia’s armed forces and spreading misinformation about the “special military operation”.

"The Russian army bombed an arts school in Mariupol. Some 400 people were hiding in it from the shelling," one replaced price tag read. Another said, "Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. Lives of our children are the price of this war."

Hungary must ‘correct EU’s mistaken promise’ of Ukrainian membership, says Orban

Saturday 18 November 2023 16:30 , Andy Gregory

Hungary’s Viktor Orban has reiterated his government’s opposition to starting talks with Ukraine about its accession to the EU, in an address to the congress of his Fidesz party.

“Correcting the mistaken promise [by Brussels] to start talks [with Ukraine about EU membership] will also be our task, as Ukraine is light years away from the EU now,” Mr Orban said, adding that he would fight off attempts by the EU to settle migrants in Hungary.

With Hungary clambering out of an inflation crisis, Mr Orban has this week started campaigning heavily for European parliamentary elections due next June. His government sent out a survey on Friday to its citizens questioning whether the EU should allocate more funds to Ukraine or grant it membership.

“We will resist the crazy ideas of Brussels bureaucrats, the migrants’ invasion, the gender propaganda, and we will resist the illusions over the war [in Ukraine] and Ukraine’s unprepared EU membership,” Mr Orban said on Saturday.

Bombs, betrayal and burying loved ones: Plight of one Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

Saturday 18 November 2023 16:05 , Andy Gregory

Our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports from the village of Kamiansk, in Ukraine:

The tranquil life in Kamiansk was shattered with Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022. In early March, Ukrainian forces became engaged in prolonged and fierce combat with the Russian troops who were attempting a pincer movement into Kharkiv, the country’s second city. For months the village, and surrounding areas, experienced airstrikes, artillery duels and firefights on its narrow streets and through the houses.

Russian forces captured Kamianka after weeks of bloody fighting. They stayed there until driven out six months later when Ukrainian troops swept out of Kharkiv in an offensive which reclaimed a wide swathe of territory in a major change in the tide of the war putting the invaders on the defensive.

What was left of Kamianka was in ruins. The church, lyceum and agricultural plant had been destroyed as were almost all of the houses: not one building escaped damage. Some of the inhabitants had been killed. Some arrested and disappeared. The rest had fled to places of greater safety

The fate of Kamianka is in many ways what has befallen Ukraine in microcosm, reflecting the bitterness, sorrow and pity of this war. There were murders and mass graves; treachery and torture. Prosecutors gathered evidence of human rights abuse ; exhumed bodies piled up in morgues in Kharkiv. Families continue desperate searches for those missing, seeking their graves as hopes of finding them alive fade away.

A handful of residents who returned to the village after the Russians left found a lethal legacy of fighting and occupation – unexploded ordnance, concealed booby traps and mines. Soon these began to maim and kill as had been the enemy’s intention.

Serhei and Iryna Olynik’s house had been used, like many others in the village, to quarter Russian troops. They found a parting message left on a mirror in a bedroom written with Irnyna’s lipstick: “Thanks for everything; whatever happens for now, we’ll win at the end”.

They also found what they call “gifts” left behind by the Russians, explosive devices hidden inside the rooms and out in the garden.

Bombs and betrayal: Plight of one Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

Two wounded by Russian shelling in Kherson, says Ukraine

Saturday 18 November 2023 15:30 , Andy Gregory

Russian shelling has wounded two people in Kherson, including a volunteer, Ukrainian officials have said.

The 42-year-old volunteer was in his car when it was hit by shelling in Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin. He was taken to the hospital with a blast injury and shrapnel wounds.

A 56-year-old man was also wounded by shelling in the village of Veletenske, and was taken to the hospital with wounds in the chest and leg, officials said.

Kyiv protesters rally against alleged corruption and diversion of military funds

Saturday 18 November 2023 14:40 , Andy Gregory

Hundreds of people have gathered in Kyiv to oppose corruption and to demand the reallocation of public funds to the armed forces, in the 10th such protest on the streets of the Ukrainian capital amid anger over municipal projects.

Protesters held Ukrainian flags and banners bearing slogans such as “We need drones not stadiums” and “money to the AFU” [Armed Forces of Ukraine].

“I’ve organised demonstrations in more than 100 cities protesting against corruption in Ukraine and for more money, which should go to the army,” Maria Barbash, an activist with the organisation Money for the Armed Forces, told the Associated Press.

“The first priority of our budget – local budgets and the central budget – should be the army.”

Ukraine’s troops trying to ‘push Russia as far as possible’ from Dnipro

Saturday 18 November 2023 14:13 , Andy Gregory

Ukrainian troops are working to push back Russian forces positioned on the east bank of the Dnipro River, the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has said.

Speaking a day after Kyiv claimed to have established multiple footholds on the Russian-held eastern bank, Ukrainian military spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said Kyiv’s troops were now trying to “push back Russian army units as far as possible in order to make life easier for the [western] bank of the Kherson region, so that they get shelled less”.

In response, the Russian military used “tactical aviation”, including Iranian-made Shahed drones, to try to pin down Ukraine’s troops, Ms Humeniuk said.

Russia summons Czech diplomat over plan to freeze state-owned properties

Saturday 18 November 2023 13:35 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned the Czech Republic’s temporary deputy ambassador in Russia over Prague’s decision to freeze Russian state-owned properties, state news agencies have reported.

The Czech government announced on Wednesday it had frozen Russian state-owned properties on its territory, in an expansion of its sanctions in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin insisted the move was illegal and claimed Moscow may retaliate against what it called a hostile step. Russia’s foreign ministry now says it has lodged a decisive protest with the Czech diplomat, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

Russia claims 75 Ukrainans killed in heavy bombing at Dnipro River

Saturday 18 November 2023 12:57 , Andy Gregory

The Russian military claims to have killed up to 75 Ukrainian soldiers in heavy bombing around the River Dnipro, where Kyiv has recently established a foothold.

Moscow conceded for the first time on Wednesday that some Ukrainian forces had crossed onto the river’s eastern bank, but said they faced “Hell fire”.

Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday that artillery and air strikes had targeted Ukrainian forces in the settlement of Kachkarivka, on the west bank of the River Dnipro, and on two islands, killing up to 75 soldiers and destroying four vehicles. It was not possible to verify the claims.

Exclusive: Wife of twice-poisoned Briton held in Kremlin prison fears ‘time is running out’

Saturday 18 November 2023 12:28 , Andy Gregory

The wife of a British-Russian national held in a Krelimn prison says she fears time is running out, and has called for the UK to take more urgent action to free him.

Vladimir Kara-Murza survived two near-fatal poisonings, in 2015 and 2017, which resulted in organ failure and polyneuropathy, a condition that causes nerve damage.

The Vladimir Putin critic was jailed for 25 years in April this year on charges of treason and spreading “false information” about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Although the British government has spoken out on his case, applying sanctions on at least five of the judges and prosecutors involved in his trial, his wife Evgenia Kara-Murza has claimed such measures have only been taken because she has “pushed and pushed and pushed” to make them happen.

My colleague Tom Watling has the full exclusive report here:

Wife of twice-poisoned Briton held in Kremlin prison fears ‘time is running out’

Putin must take first step towards peace in Ukraine, says Germany’s Scholz

Saturday 18 November 2023 12:00 , Andy Gregory

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated calls for Vladimir Putin to take the first step towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

“He must withdraw troops,” Mr Scholz said during a visit to Nuthetal in the state of Brandenburg.

However, there are currently no signs of this happening, he said in response to a question about whether peace negotiations are possible.

Warning that Mr Putin must not succeed in his goal of using force to annexe parts of a neighbouring country, Mr Scholz once again assured Ukraine of Germany’s help in its defence against the Russian invasion for as long as necessary.

Russian artist jailed for staging anti-war supermarket protest

Saturday 18 November 2023 11:39 , Andy Gregory

A Russian artist and musician has been jailed for seven years for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war slogans in what fellow critics of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have decried as a “deeply tragic and frustrating illustration of the state of Russia today”.

Sasha Skochilenko, 33, a self-described pacifist, appeared in a St Petersburg court on 17 November after 19 months of pre-trial detention. She was charged last April with discrediting Russia’s armed forces and spreading misinformation about the “special military operation”.

Standing behind bars, the artist blew kisses and made a love symbol with her hands during her final hearing as crowds applauded from outside. She was dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

Her seven-year sentence was handed down in the same week that former Russian detective Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, who murdered Kremlin-critic Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, was pardoned by Putin for spending a year fighting in Ukraine. He had served less than half of his sentence, having been imprisoned in 2014.

My colleague Tom Watling has the full report:

Russian artist jailed for seven years over anti-war supermarket protest

On the ground | Plight of one Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

Saturday 18 November 2023 11:10 , Andy Gregory

Our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports from Ukraine:

Kamianka lies in a charming valley of bright flowers and lush trees. It used to be portrayed as a model village for a contented life in rural idyll. It was also a place of archaeological and geological lure, with its rare bronze age and Scythian sites and Jurassic limestone cliffs attracting visitors from afar.

The settlement, set in a sleepy hollow, was established in the 18th century by a count from the Tsar of Russia’s court who had returned from Britain with new methods of farming and an English bride. Keen to put his new knowledge into practice, he allocated land, built a mill, constructed roads and funded a church and a school.

But Kamianka, in eastern Ukraine, also has a dark history of violence. Its strategic position on the banks of the Siversky Donets River made it a battleground for armies over the ages. One of the bloodiest encounters was fought during the Second World War between Soviet and German forces, leaving thousands dead. The Waffen SS set up a prison camp nearby woods in which captured partisan fighters and local civic leaders were tortured and executed.

Kamianka, however, recovered from the ravages of that war and began to slowly prosper. A lucrative agricultural plant, a modern health centre, a lyceum with scientific facilities, a sports stadium and a community centre attracted people from neighbouring cities and towns. The village’s original church, dismantled during Soviet times, with its stones used to build an airfield was replaced with a wooden one which was praised for its cupola which became a destination for pilgrimage.

The tranquil life was shattered with Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022.

You can read the full dispatch here:

Bombs and betrayal: Plight of one Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

Moscow Times newspaper declared a ‘foreign agent’ by Russia

Saturday 18 November 2023 10:47 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s justice ministry has added The Moscow Times – an online newspaper founded in 1992 and popular among Russia’s expat community – to its list of supposed “foreign agents”.

You can read more details in this report:

The Moscow Times, noted for its English coverage of Russia, is declared a 'foreign agent'

Jon Sopel | Why Gaza and Ukraine could crush Biden’s hopes of winning the election

Saturday 18 November 2023 10:09 , Andy Gregory

In his latest Independent Voices column, Jon Sopel writes that misgivings over America’s role in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are “being played like a Stradivarius by that great fiddler, Donald Trump”. He argues:

“It’s becoming the campaign of the counterfactual. And being Donald Trump, the counterfactuals are contentious and tendentious.

He and his team are busy telling anyone who’ll listen he was the president signing peace deals between Israel and the Gulf states via the Abraham Accords – but with Biden in charge, war is breaking out. When he was president, his friend Vladimir Putin would never have dared invade Ukraine. He would have been too scared. But with Sleepy Joe in the White House?

It doesn’t need to cohere or be rational, but Trump is finding this riff is working well for him: when I was president, I was building relationships with Putin, breaking bread with Kim Jong Un, talking man-to-man with President Xi. When I was president, the world was a more peaceful place.”

Why Gaza and Ukraine could crush Biden’s hopes of beating Trump | Jon Sopel