Ukraine news – live: Blasts rock Kharkiv as Zelensky says Russia preparing society for nuclear weapons use

Multiple explosions struck Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv early Saturday, sending towering plumes of smoke in the sky.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said the explosions were the result of missile strikes at the centre of the city.

The blasts sparked fires at one of the city’s medical institutions and a non-residential building, he said on Telegram.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called for the west to impose pre-emptive sanctions on Russia, claiming Moscow officials have started to “prepare their society” for the possible use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.

He denied having urged strikes on Russia, claiming that an earlier remark had been mistranslated.

“You must use preventive kicks,” he told the BBC, referring to sanctions, “not attacks”.

He had earlier called for Nato to take preventive action to preclude Russia’s use of a nuclear weapon. Kyiv later clarified that he had meant sanctions, adding that Ukraine would never call for a nuclear attack.

Key Points

• Fresh explosions rock Kharkiv

• Moscow preparing society for nuclear weapons, says Zelensky

• Kremlin accuses Zelensky of appealing ‘to start another world war'

• Biden warns danger of nuclear ‘armageddon’ now highest in decades

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzia’s nuclear plant ‘needs urgent protection’ as last power supply cut

13:14 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in need of “urgent protection” after fresh rounds of Russian shelling destroyed its last external power source, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at around 1 am Saturday. It cited official information from Ukraine as well as reports from IAEA experts at the site, which is held by Russian forces.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible. The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be protected,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

Read more:

Ukraine nuclear plant ‘needs urgent protection’ as last power supply cut by shelling

Ukraine police say bodies of more than 500 civilians found in Kharkiv including children

12:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The bodies of more than 500 civilians have been found in Russian-occupied Kharviv, a region recently retaken by Ukraine’s forces.

Out of 534 bodies, 226 were women and 19 were children, the head of Kharviv’s police said.

At least 447 victims were found at a mass burial site uncovered in Izium, a town liberated by Ukraine’s army in early September.

Ukraine police say bodies of 500 civilians found in Kharkiv including children

Putin’s 70th birthday surprise as Lukashenko buys him a tractor

12:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

What birthday present do you give the man who gave himself chunks of Ukraine last week?

The answer is a tractor.

On the day Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday – and the US president warned that the Russian president could drive the world towards “armageddon”, while the Nobel Peace Prize committee made little attempt to disguise its contempt for his woeful human rights record – at least he could rely on his old friend and fellow tyrant Alexander Lukashenko.

The president of Belarus decided to give Putin a piece of agricultural machinery, or at least a gift certificate he can exchange for a tractor, on Friday to celebrate the big day, our international editor David Harding writes.

The leaders were meeting at the Tsarist-era Konstantin Palace in St Petersburg, Putin’s home city.

Putin’s 70th birthday surprise as Lukashenko buys him a tractor

Putin ‘directly criticised’ by member of inner circle over Ukraine war

11:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been directly criticised by a member of his inner circle over his botched war in Ukraine, according to US intelligence reportedly included in Joe Biden’s daily briefing.

In what could mark the first time one of the president’s closest aides and advisers have dared to challenge him directly over the invasion, the individual is claimed to have expressed discontent over the mismanagement and mistakes by those in charge of Russia’s war effort.

The individual’s name is believed to been included in the intelligence report handed to Mr Biden and other US officials, but their identity was not disclosed to the Washington Post, which was told of the development by multiple people familiar with the matter.

My colleague Andy Gregory has more:

Putin ‘directly criticised’ by member of inner circle over Ukraine war

Leader of Zelenksy’s party says bridge explosion is ‘just the beginning'

11:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The parliamentary leader of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s party said the bridge explosion “is just the beginning” but did not say Kyiv was responsible for the truck bomb.

Instead, the explosion was said to be a consequence of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and Russia’s “illegal” empire. “Russian illegal construction is starting to fall apart and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, then sooner or later it will explode,” David Arakhamia, the leader of the Servant of the People party, wrote on Telegram.

“And this is just the beginning. Of all things, reliable construction is not something Russia is particularly famous for,” he said.

Other Ukrainian officials were more celebratory while still stopping short of claiming responsibility.

The secretary of Ukraine‘s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, posted a video onTwitter with the Kerch Bridge on fire on the left side and video with Marilyn Monroe singing her famous “Happy Birthday Mr. President” on the right.

An advisor to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled:”

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant disconnected from power supply by shelling -Energoatom

11:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine‘s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its connection to external power supply early on Saturday as a result of shelling, Ukraine‘s state nuclear company Energoatom said, blaming Russia.

Energoatom said the plant was now getting power to cover its own needs from its backup diesel generators.

“The diesel generators started automatically. The available supplies of diesel fuel for their operation in this mode will be enough for 10 days,” the company wrote on Telegram.

Footage of the moment the explosion happens on bridge from Russia to Crimea

10:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

More footage of the moment a truck bomb exploded on a crucialn bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that the truck bomb caused seven railway cars carrying fuel to catch fire, resulting in a “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge.”

Internal criticism of Russia’s military leadership grows for Moscow - British MoD

10:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In Saturday’s intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence, it said that “increasingly diverse actors within the Russian system have joined voices in criticism” of Russia’s military leadership.

“Critics have included Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Wagner Group private military company owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, state-approved TV presenters, pop stars, and an increasingly vocal community of ultra-nationalistic military bloggers,” the MoD added.

Rebuke to Putin as Eastern European rights campaigners win Nobel Peace Prize

09:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A trio of Eastern European human rights campaigners from three neighbouring countries have been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Ales Bialyatski – a human rights advocate from Belarus – took the award along with Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation the Centre for Civil Liberties.

The award can be seen as a rebuke to the rulers of Russia and Belarus as the three are linked to fighting political repression in their own countries, as well as the war in Ukraine.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, praised all the winners for the importance of the “right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens”.

Our international editor David Harding reports:

Rebuke to Putin as Eastern European rights campaigners win Nobel Peace Prize

Moment fire engulfs key bridge connecting Crimea and Russia

09:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Footage appears to capture the moment fire engulfs the Kerch bridge, a key crossing between the occupied Crimean peninsula and Russia.

Video shows the exact moment an explosion occurred, as a number of vehicles were driving on the road.

Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack, but an advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky called the incident “the beginning”.

“Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

Watch here:

Moment fire engulfs key bridge connecting Crimea and Russia

Russia says truck bomb damages bridge to Crimea

09:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian authorities have said that a truck bomb has caused a fire and the collapse of a section of a bridge linking Russia-annexed Crimea with Russia.

Russia‘s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that the truck bomb triggered seven railway cars carrying fuel to catch fire, resulting in a “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge.”

The committee didn’t immediately apportion blame.The 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is the longest in Europe.

It has cost billions of dollars to build and it has provided the essential link to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly threatened to strike the bridge.

Video shows exact moment of Crimea bridge explosion

08:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Video footage captures the exact moment an explosion occured on a key bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

Fire engulfed the entirety of the crossing made up of two roads and rail bridges.

Recordings of the damage post-explosion shows large chunks of the collapsed road fallen to the water below the bridge.

Ukraine presidential advisor says Crimea bridge ‘must be destroyed’ following fire

08:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Ukrainian presidential advisor posted a message on Twitter after conflicting reports of an explosion or fire on Saturday that damaged the bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, calling it “the beginning” but not directly claiming Ukrainian responsibility.

“Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote.

Large fire reported on key bridge linking Russia to Crimea

08:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A fire has occurred on a bridge linking mainland Russia with the Crimean peninsula, according to Russian state-backed media.

RIA-Novosti and the Tass news agency quoted local Russian official Oleg Kryuchkov as saying an object thought to be a fuel storage tank caught fire and that traffic has been stopped on the bridge.

Images shared on social media purported to show fire and damage to the span.

The authenticity of the reports and images could not be immediately verified.

The crossing is a pair of road and rail bridges that Russia built after it seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in violation of international law in 2014.

The fire occurred hours after explosions rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on Saturday, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said the early-morning explosions were the result of missile strikes in the centre of the city.

He added that the blasts sparked fires at one of the city’s medical institutions and a non-residential building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Putin marks birthday with muted fanfare

07:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian president Vladimir Putin marked his 70th birthday with little fanfare and a decree targeting a key Western energy investment, but signs gew that key parts of his Ukraine invasion were unravelling to trigger unprecedented criticism at home.

News programmes made only glancing references to Friday’s event and celebrations were low-key - in contrast to just a week ago, when Putin held a huge concert on Red Square to proclaim the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukrainian land.

On the world stage, in a clear repudiation of Putin’s record, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Russia‘s most prominent human rights group, Memorial, which Moscow shut down at the end of 2021.

A Ukrainian human rights group and a jailed campaigner against abuses by the pro-Russian government in Belarus also shared the award.

Kremlin lets state media report some Russian losses in Ukraine

07:14 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The Kremlin has reportedly directed state media to start admitting to at least some battlefield failures.

The shift in policy has unleashed a wave of public backlash involving top state TV anchors and online commentators – but criticism remains limited to Vladimir Putin’s defence minister and top generals, rather than directed at the president himself.

State TV reports have included details of Russian defeats on the ground without giving them a positive, government-approved spin.

Namita Singh has more.

State media report Russian losses in Ukraine amid ‘hunt for those responsible’

Crucial bridge connecting Russia to Crimea hit by explosion

06:39 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The Kerch bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, was hit by explosions on Saturday morning, according to local reports.

Videos on social media showed at least two train carriages fiercely burning on the railway track as plumes of smoke rose to the sky.

The explosion reportedly took place around 6 am when a train was crossing the bridge, which led to the immediate suspension of traffic.

A portion of the road bridge that runs parallel to the train tracks collapsed following the blast.

A fuel tanker was involved in the incident, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian government in Crimea, said: “According to preliminary data, a fuel tank car has been on fire at one of the sections of the Crimean bridge, shipping arches aren’t damaged.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin unveiled the bridge in 2018 after annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

UN rights body agrees to appoint expert to scrutinise Russia

06:11 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The UN’s top human rights body voted on Friday to appoint an independent expert to step up scrutiny of Russia’s rights record at home amid a crackdown on dissenting voices and arbitrary arrests during the war in Ukraine.

The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) passed the proposal, presented last week by all EU member countries except Hungary, on a 17-6 vote, with 24 abstentions.

The original proposal expressed concerns about “mass forced shutdowns” of independent media, non-governmental organisations and opposition groups in Russia.

The HRC majority agreed to name a “special rapporteur” to keep tabs on rights violations in Russia, in part by relying on help from Russian groups and activists who are both still in the country and abroad.

Jamey Keaten reports.

UN rights body agrees to appoint expert to scrutinize Russia

Fire on bridge connecting Russia with Crimea

05:51 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A massive fire broke out on the Kerch bridge that connects Russia with Crimea.

Putin was ‘directly’ confronted by angry Kremlin insider, Biden told

05:34 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Vladimir Putin was confronted by a Kremlin insider angry over the conduct in the Ukraine war, Joe Biden has reportedly been told.

A report said the alleged rare intervention from someone considered a member of the Russian leader’s inner circle, was treated with enough credibility that it made its way into Mr Biden’s daily intelligence briefing.

The report in the Washington Post said the insider’s identity could not be confirmed, although the name had been included in US intelligence reporting.

“The new intelligence, coupled with comments from Russian officials, underscores divisions within Putin’s upper echelon, where officials have long been loath to bring bad news to an autocratic Russian leader who is seen as more isolated that at any time in his 22-year rule,” the Post said.

Andrew Buncombe has more.

US intelligence tells Biden Putin was ‘directly’ confronted by angry Kremlin insider

Ukraine has liberated 2,434 sq km of land, says Zelensky

05:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address on Friday said his forces have liberated a total of 2,434 square km and 96 settlements in the east of the country in their latest offensive.

He added that in the last week alone, the Ukrainian forces had reclaimed 776 sq km and 29 settlements in the east of the country.

Earlier on Thursday, he said over 500 sq km had been recaptured in the south.

Putin marks 70th birthday with muted fanfare

05:05 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Vladimir Putin marked his 70th birthday with low-key celebrations on Friday amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

News programmes made only glancing references to the event and celebrations were low-key - in contrast to just a week ago, when the Russian president held a huge concert on Red Square to proclaim the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukrainian land.

Mr Putin received wishes and gifts from his allies, which included a tractor from the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Hospital on fire following explosion in Kharkiv

04:41 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said that the explosions, which were a result of Russian missile strikes, set a medical institution and a non-residential building on fire.

Multiple explosions were reported from downtown Kharkiv during the early hours of Saturday.

Editorial | Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace is one that is desperately needed today

03:59 , Thomas Kingsley

It was not the 70th birthday present Vladimir Putin wanted, and it will be widely welcomed throughout the democratic world. The Nobel Peace Prize committee has awarded the coveted prize to Ales Bialiatski, the veteran civil rights activist, who is currently being held in prison without trial in his native Belarus. Sharing the prize with him are Memorial, Russia’s oldest rights organisation, and the Centre for Civil Liberties, the Ukrainian rights group.

The committee said the laureates “have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy”.

Read the full story below:

Editorial: Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace is one that is desperately needed today

Ukraine police say bodies of more than 500 civilians found in Kharkiv

02:59 , Thomas Kingsley

The bodies of more than 500 civilians have been discovered in territory in northeast Ukraine recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukrainian police say.

And as Ukrainian forces liberate more land in the northeast, new burial sites are being discovered in Donetsk. Many appear to contain the remains of civilians who lost their lives during several months of shelling and rocket fire.

“We found the bodies of 534 civilians from the de-occupied territories” in Kharkiv region alone, said Serhii Bolnivov, head of the investigative department of the regional police.

The bodies included 226 women and 19 children, Mr Bolvinov added.

ICYMI: Russians being prepared for nuclear war, Zelensky warns

01:59 , Thomas Kingsley

Officials in Moscow have started to prepare citizens for the possible use of nuclear weapons in seized areas of Ukraine, according to president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“They begin to prepare their society. That’s very dangerous,” he said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has threatened to use “all the means at our disposal” to defend what he sees as his country’s territory, including the four areas of Ukraine annexed last week.

The Ukrainian leader said: “They are not ready to do it, to use it. But they begin to communicate. They don’t know whether they’ll use or not use it. I think it’s dangerous to even speak about it.”

In an interview with the BBC, president Zelensky denied having urged strikes on Russia, claiming that an earlier remark of his had been mistranslated.

Read the full story below:

Russians being prepared for nuclear war, Zelensky warns

IMF board approves $1.3 bln in emergency funding for Ukraine

Saturday 8 October 2022 00:59 , Thomas Kingsley

The International Monetary Fund said on Friday its executive board approved Ukraine's request for $1.3 billion in additional emergency funding to help sustain its economy as it battles Russia's invasion.

The funds will come from a new emergency lending program to address food shortages approved by the IMF board last month. Ukraine also requested program monitoring with board involvement to strengthen the policy commitment and further catalyze donor support, the IMF said.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed the decision on Twitter. “This is vital to help catalyze urgently needed donor support and help pave the way for a full-fledged fund program,” she said.

Speak with prudence on nuclear threat, warns Macron

Friday 7 October 2022 23:59 , Jane Dalton

French President Emmanuel Macron said “we must speak with prudence”, as he responded to comments by Joe Biden in which the US president said there was a risk of nuclear “Armageddon”.

“We must speak with prudence when commenting on such matters,” Macron said at the end of a European Union summit in Prague.

Biden had said earlier that Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine had brought the world closer to “Armageddon” than at any time since the Cold-War Cuban Missile Crisis.

Mr Macron also announced a 100m-euro fund for Ukraine to buy weapons.

Kremlin lets state media report some Russian losses in Ukraine

Friday 7 October 2022 22:59 , Jane Dalton

The Kremlin has reportedly ordered Russian state media to start admitting to at least some of the country’s battlefield failures.

The shift in policy has unleashed a wave of public backlash involving top state television hosts and online commentators – but criticism remains limited, writes Namita Singh:

State media report Russian losses in Ukraine amid ‘hunt for those responsible’

UK rejects Russian bid for secret UN ballot

Friday 7 October 2022 21:59 , Jane Dalton

Britain has rejected Russia’s call for a secret ballot in the UN General Assembly next week on whether to condemn Moscow’s annexation of four partially occupied regions and requested that the 193-member body vote publicly.

The General Assembly is set to vote on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia’s “illegal so-called referenda” and the “attempted illegal annexation”. It also reaffirms the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine and calls on states not to recognise Russia’s move.

In a letter to UN states earlier this week, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called for a secret ballot, arguing that Western lobbying meant that “it may be very difficult if positions are expressed publicly”.

But Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the rules of the General Assembly were clear that any representative may request a recorded vote.

Zaporizhia death toll rises to 12

Friday 7 October 2022 21:00 , Jane Dalton

The death toll from Russian strikes on apartment buildings in Zaporizhia has risen to 12, while another 12 people wounded in the bombardment remained in hospital.

Russia used Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones there for the first time and damaged two infrastructure facilities, authorities said.

With its army losing ground to a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east, Russia has deployed unmanned, disposable Iranian-made drones that are cheaper and less sophisticated than missiles but still can damage targets on the ground.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Russia’s use of the explosives-packed drones was unlikely to affect the course of the war.

Russia concentrated attacks on Friday on the four areas it illegally annexed last week.

Musk says reports his devices are not working in Ukraine are ‘bad reporting’

Friday 7 October 2022 20:30 , Thomas Kingsley

Elon Musk has criticised a FT report about Ukrainian troops having problems with communication devices powered by his Starlink satellite broadband service.

Sharing a link to his piece on Twitter, reporter Christopher Miller wrote: “NEW: Ukraine troops reported outages of Starlink devices on frontline, hindering efforts to liberate territory from Russian forces, Ukrainian officials & soldiers told us.”

Elon Musk responded to the post writing: “Bad reporting by FT. This article falsely claims that Starlink terminals and service were paid for, when only a small percentage have been. This operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year. As for what’s happening on the battlefield, that’s classified.”

UN body votes to establish Russia human rights investigator despite Moscow protests

Friday 7 October 2022 20:15 , Jane Dalton

A UN human-rights body has comfortably passed a motion to appoint a new independent expert on alleged human rights abuses in Russia, accusing Moscow of creating a "climate of fear" through repression and violence.

The Russian government quickly made clear it would not cooperate with the expert.

Members voted 17 in favour and six against, with 24 abstaining. The move is the first time that the 16-year-old Human Rights Council has appointed a special rapporteur to examine the rights record of one of its so-called P5 members, which hold permanent seats on the Security Council.

"We want it to be clear today that we didn't forget those who struggle for freedom at home while (Russian President Vladimir) Putin represses the Russian people and carries out aggression overseas," Britain's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Simon Manley, told Reuters.

Nuclear watchdog chief set to plan power plant protection zone

Friday 7 October 2022 19:25 , Jane Dalton

The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi will travel to Russia early next week for talks on setting up a protection zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the agency said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency had previously said Mr Grossi would travel to Kyiv and Moscow this week. He was in Kyiv on Thursday.

Separately, four agency staff relieved the two who had been at the plant since 1 September. The four will “provide support” to the protection zone once it is agreed, the agency said.

Moscow ‘preparing society for nuclear weapons'

Friday 7 October 2022 19:09 , Jane Dalton

The Ukrainian president has warned that Moscow officials have begun to “prepare their society” for the possible use of nuclear weapons.

“They begin to prepare their society. That’s very dangerous,” President Zelensky told the BBC.

“They are not ready to do it, to use it. But they begin to communicate. They don’t know whether they’ll use or not use it. I think it’s dangerous to even speak about it.”

In a BBC interview, he denied having urged strikes on Russia, claiming that an earlier remark had been mistranslated.

“You must use preventive kicks,” he said, referring to sanctions, “not attacks”.

Vladimir Putin and senior Russian officials have suggested that smaller, tactical nuclear weapons could be used to defend the areas Russia has annexed, although Western officials say there has been no evidence Moscow is prepared to do so.

No indication Russia preparing to use nuclear weapons imminently, White House says

Friday 7 October 2022 18:21 , Thomas Kingsley

The United States sees no reason to change its nuclear posture and does not have indications that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons, the White House said on Friday after President Joe Biden on Thursday referenced nuclear Armageddon.

“He was reinforcing what we have been saying, which is how seriously we take these threats about nuclear weapons,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One when asked about Biden's comments.

“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indications that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons,” she said.

UN working to expand, extend Ukraine Black Sea grain export deal

Friday 7 October 2022 18:10 , Thomas Kingsley

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and his team are working to expand and extend a deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports, which could expire in late November, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

“They're working actively to remove also the last obstacles to facilitate the export of Russian grain and fertilizer,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding that UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan would travel to Moscow in about a week to discuss the issue.

ICYMI: Putin’s defence minister ‘should have shot himself’, says Russian-installed official in rare public backlash

Friday 7 October 2022 17:55 , Thomas Kingsley

A Russian-installed official in occupied Ukraine slammed Vladimir Putin’s defence minister saying he should consider killing himself due to the shame of defeats at the hand of Kyiv’s forces.

In an astonishing public insult to Russia’s top brass, Kirill Stremousov lambasted the “generals and ministers” in Moscow for their failure to understand the problems on the ground.

"Indeed, many say: if they were a defence minister who had allowed such a state of affairs, they could, as officers, have shot themselves," he said in the four-minute video message. "But you know the word ‘officer’ is an incomprehensible word for many."

Read the full story here

'It is incredible': the moment Ukraine rights group heard of Nobel win

Friday 7 October 2022 17:17 , Thomas Kingsley

Norwegian television showed the emotional moment when the executive director of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties heard her group was among the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel Committee member Olav Njoelstad is shown on the phone informing Oleksandra Romantsova that the group had won the prize.

"It is great, thank you," an almost speechless and clearly delighted Romantsova says to the secretary of the award committee during a phone call that was filmed and broadcast on Norwegian television.

"For us it is really important, like part of Ukrainian society and culture to understand what it means, so thank you," she said, her voice breaking up with emotion.

"It is incredible."

Putin ‘directly criticised’ by member of inner circle over Ukraine war

Friday 7 October 2022 16:45 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin has been directly criticised by a member of his inner circle over his botched war in Ukraine, according to US intelligence reportedly included in Joe Biden’s daily briefing.

In what could mark the first time one of the president’s closest aides and advisers have dared to challenge him directly over the invasion, the individual is claimed to have expressed discontent over the mismanagement and mistakes by those in charge of Russia’s war effort.

The alleged critic’s name is believed to been included in the intelligence report handed to Mr Biden and other US officials, but their identity was not disclosed to the Washington Post, which was told of the development by multiple people familiar with the matter.

Putin ‘directly criticised’ by member of inner circle over Ukraine war

Putin’s 70th birthday surprise as Lukashenko buys him a tractor

Friday 7 October 2022 16:43 , Thomas Kingsley

What birthday present do you give the man who gave himself chunks of Ukraine last week?

The answer is a tractor, our foreign editor David Harding writes.

On the day Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday - and the US president warned alarmingly that the Russian president could drive the world towards “armageddon”, while the Nobel Peace Prize committee made little attempt to disguise its contempt for the his woeful human rights record - at least he could rely on his old friend and fellow tyrant Alexander Lukashenko.

The president of Belarus decided to give Putin a piece of agricultural machinery, or at least a gift certificate he can exchange for a tractor, on Friday to celebrate the big day.

Read the full story below:

Putin’s 70th birthday surprise as Lukashenko buys him a tractor

How ‘street justice’ and retribution complicate the war in Ukraine

Friday 7 October 2022 16:07 , Andy Gregory

Our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports from Kramatorsk:

As Ukrainian forces continue their swift and successful offensive though the northeast and south of the country, some of those who had sided with the invading Russians have been left stranded and are now deeply worried about retribution.

Some have disappeared, such as Kupyansk’s mayor Hennaidy Matsegore who handed over the key to the city to Moscow’s forces and urged citizens not to resist. He was charged with treason by Ukraine but is now likely to be across the border.

However, being inside Russia does not guarantee safety.

Read the full report here:

How ‘street justice’ and retribution complicate the war in Ukraine

EU leaders ‘reaching consensus’ on new gas pricing system

Friday 7 October 2022 15:40 , Andy Gregory

Spain’s energy minister Teresa Ribera has said that European leaders meeting in Prague were making progress on setting a new EU gas pricing system, with Germany and the Netherlands amenable to an option that would create an alternative to the current benchmark.

While countries including Germany and the Netherlands were opposed to a gas cap – as announced in the most recent round of EU sanctions this week – the assembled leaders are moving towards a “consensus” on an alternative benchmark price to the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas price, Teresa Ribera told Reuters.

Historically, TTF has been used as a benchmark for the delivery of both pipeline and Liquified Natural Gas into Europe but has been distorted by the shifting supply landscape since the Ukraine conflict.

Eastern commander is latest Russian general to be sacked, report suggests

Friday 7 October 2022 15:12 , Andy Gregory

Russia has sacked the commander of its Eastern Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Chaiko, the Russian news site RBC has reported, in the latest reshuffle of top brass amid a string of battlefield embarrasments.

RBC cited publicly available state registers to report that Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov had been appointed to head the Eastern Military District, which covers troops based in Russia’s Far East, though much of its strength is currently deployed in Ukraine.

Mr Muradov, who was sanctioned by the European Union in February, previously served in the Donbas region and commanded Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians.

It comes days after RBC reported that the commander of the Western military district, Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlyov, had been replaced, following dramatic Russian losses in Kharkiv last month and Ukraine’s recapture of the strategic hub of Lyman.

In September, the deputy defence minister in charge of logistics, General Dmitry Bulgakov, was also replaced by Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, accused by the EU of orchestrating the siege Mariupol early in the war, which killed thousands of civilians.

A month prior, the state-owned RIA news agency reported that the commander of the Black Sea fleet had been fired after a series of humiliations including the sinking of its lead warship and the loss of eight warplanes in an attack on a Russian base in Crimea.

Russian PM requests role in Nord Stream investigation

Friday 7 October 2022 14:34 , Reuters

Russia’s prime minister has sent a letter to the Swedish government requesting a role for Russian authorities in the investigation into the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines, Sweden’s foreign ministry has said.

A Swedish crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe has found evidence of detonations and prosecutors suspect sabotage.

“On October 6, a letter was received from Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin to prime minister Magdalena Andersson requesting that Russian authorities and the company Gazprom be involved in the Swedish investigation,” the Swedish foreign ministry said.

Sweden has previously rejected calls from the Kremlin for Russia to be part of the investigation.

UN rights body agrees to appoint expert to scrutinise Russia

Friday 7 October 2022 14:04 , Andy Gregory

The UN’s top human rights body has voted to appoint an independent expert to step up scrutiny of Russia’s domsetic rights record, as arbitrary arrests, a crackdown on dissenting voices and limits on free speech worsen during the war in Ukraine.

The 47-member Human Rights Council passed the proposal, presented last week by all European Union member countries except Hungary, on a 17-6 vote, with 24 abstentions.

The Human Rights Council majority agreed to name a “special rapporteur” to keep tabs on rights violations in Russia, in part by relying on help from Russian groups and activists who are both still in the country and abroad.

Peace prize should not be seen as birthday gift to Putin, says Nobel committee chair

Friday 7 October 2022 13:48 , Andy Gregory

Nobel committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen has said that the peace prize shared by rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia should not be seen as a “birthday gift” to Vladimir Putin, who turns 70 today.

“The prize is not addressing President Putin, not for his birthday or in any other sense, except that his government, as the government in Belarus, is representing an authoritarian government that is suppressing human rights activists,” Ms Reiss-Andersen said.

All three laureates had made “an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power”, she added.

Belgium expresses hopes ‘last hurdles’ for EU gas price cap can be overcome

Friday 7 October 2022 13:21 , Andy Gregory

Belgium’s prime minister Alexander De Croo has expressed hope that the “last hurdles” to an EU-wide price cap on natural gas – announced in this week’s sanctions – could be agreed at a meeting today.

But with each member state depending on different energy sources and suppliers, they are struggling to see eye-to-eye on the best way ahead.

summed up the challenge for the EU as it considers a possible gas-price ceiling.

“A price cap on gas, if that could be achieved, would be grand — with the caveat that we cannot endanger security of supply,” said Latvian PM Krisjanis Karins. “So we cannot set the price so that no one would sell gas into Europe.”

Mr De Croo, however, said he hoped the “last hurdles” to a price cap would be overcome today in Prague, but also that leader should agree on a joint path of action to send two important messages.

“One to the energy markets, to make it clear we no longer accept these prices, we will not continue to pay this market manipulation. Secondly, an important signal to our populations, to our companies, that we are going to tackle the problem at the root,” he said.

New governor of Ukraine central bank vows to ensure a strong independent regulator

Friday 7 October 2022 13:05 , Andy Gregory

The new governor of Ukraine’s central bank has said his “absolute priority” will be to ensure an institutionally strong and independent regulator, describing this as crucially important for ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability.

Before the Ukrainian parliament approved his appointment, Andriy Pyshnyi had helped advise the government on implementing sanctions against Russia, as the head of Ukraine’s central bank.

Drone ‘crashes’ into military airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region

Friday 7 October 2022 12:00 , Andy Gregory

A drone has crashed into a military airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region, some 130 miles northeast of Ukraine, according to the region’s governor.

“Today there was an explosion at the Shaykovka military airfield in Kaluga region,” governor Vladislav Shapsha wrote on Telegram. “A drone, presumably coming from the direction of the border, crashed,” he said.

“The airfield infrastructure and equipment were not damaged. There is no threat to operations.”

Putin’s defence minister ‘should have shot himself’, says Russian-backed official

Friday 7 October 2022 11:35 , Andy Gregory

A Russian-installed official in Kherson has lambasted Vladimir Putin’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu, saying he should consider shooting himself over recent military defeats by Kyiv.

In an astonishing public insult to Russia’s top brass, Kirill Stremousov criticised “generals and ministers” in Moscow for their failure to understand the problems on the ground.

“Indeed, many say: if they were a defence minister who had allowed such a state of affairs, they could, as officers, have shot themselves,” he said in the four-minute video message. “But you know the word ‘officer’ is an incomprehensible word for many.”

My colleague Namita Singh has the full report:

Putin’s defence minister ‘should have shot himself’, says Russian official

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian human rights campaigners win Nobel Peace Prize

Friday 7 October 2022 11:16 , Andy Gregory

Human rights campaigners from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in what will be viewed by many as a rebuke to Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko.

Ales Bialiatski – a jailed human rights advocate from Belarus – took the award, along with Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation the Centre for Civil Liberties.

Our international editor David Harding has more details here:

Rebuke to Putin as Eastern European rights campaigners win Nobel Peace Prize

Ukraine will ‘never’ call for use of nuclear weapons, Zelensky aide says

Friday 7 October 2022 10:56 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky was referring to imposing sanctions on Russia when he suggested preventive strikes were necessary to preclude any use of nuclear weapons, and Ukraine will “never” call for such an attack, his spokesperson has said.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the remarks, made by Mr Zelensky during a discussion with an Australian think-tank yesterday, confirmed the need for what Moscow calls its “special operation” in Ukraine.

Serhii Nykyforov said hints at the use of nuclear weapons were “afforded only by the terrorist state Russia”, adding: “You will never hear such calls from Ukraine.”

Majority of Ukrainian tanks on battlefield are likely seized from Russia, claims UK

Friday 7 October 2022 10:39 , Andy Gregory

Tanks seized from Russia now potentially account for more than half of those being used on the battlefield by Ukraine, the UK’s ministry of defence has claimed.

Kyiv has likely captured at least 440 Russian battle tanks and around 650 other armoured vehicles since Vladimir Putin’s invasion began, the department said in an “intelligence update”.

“The failure of Russian crews to destroy intact equipment before withdrawing or surrendering highlights their poor state of training and low levels of battle discipline,” it added.

“With Russian formations under severe strain in several sectors and increasingly demoralised troops, Russia will likely continue to lose heavy weaponry.”

Death toll from Zaporizhzhia strike rises to 11

Friday 7 October 2022 10:22 , Andy Gregory

The death toll from a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia has risen to 11, Ukraine’s emergency service has said.

Twenty-one people were rescued from the rubble of residential buildings that were hit with modified S-300 missiles, the service said on Friday.

Regional governor Oleksandr Staruch claimed that the strike was not random and that Russian forces had deployed Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones for the first time, damaging two infrastructure facilities in Zaporizhzhia.

Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of targeting the same spot twice in order to kill responders, telling a summit of European leaders in Prague: “In Zaporizhzhia, after the first rocket strike today, when people came to pick apart the rubble, Russia conducted a second rocket strike. Absolute vileness, absolute evil.”

West ‘must build very credible deterrents’ to avoid war’s expansion, says Lithuania’s president

Friday 7 October 2022 10:06 , Andy Gregory

The West must build strong deterrence to ensure that Moscow does not want to risk expanding the war in Ukraine, Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda has said.

“We have to build very credible deterrents that Kremlin’s regime does not want to test our ability to respond,” he told reporters upon arriving at the European Political Community summit in Prague.

“We have to be strong and not let us [be] manipulated because the Kremlin regime is very good at that,” Mr Nauseda added.

Zelensky’s comments about ‘pre-emptive strikes’ confirm need for Ukraine invasion, claims Lavrov

Friday 7 October 2022 09:48 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed that that remarks by Volodymyr Zelensky suggesting Nato should launch “pre-emptive strikes” on Russia “confirmed the need” for what Moscow calls its “special operation” in Ukraine.

“By doing so, [he] essentially presented the world with further evidence of the threats posed by the Kyiv regime,” Mr Lavrov said. “This is why a special military operation was launched to neutralise them.”

In a discussion with the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, the Ukrainian president said (see post at 08:01 am) he believed strikes were necessary to preclude any use of nuclear weapons, however his office later clarified that Mr Zelensky was not referring to nuclear strikes.

EU’s Borrell to push member states for more support for Ukraine

Friday 7 October 2022 09:31 , Andy Gregory

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has said he will push the bloc to earmark more money to support Ukraine with weapons.

“I will ask the leaders to support the proposal for a new tranche for European Peace Facility to continue providing military support to Ukraine, also to the training mission,” Josep Borrell told reporters as he arrived for the inaugural European Political Community summit in Prague.

Putin was criticised by member of his inner circle, Biden reportedly told

Friday 7 October 2022 09:16 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin has faced criticism of his handling of the war in Ukraine directly from someone in his inner circle, The Washington Post reports, cititing information obtained by US intelligence.

The claims were included in US president Joe Biden’s daily intelligence briefing and were shared with other US officials, people familiar with the matter are reported to have said.

Ukraine has retaken 500 sq kilometres in Kherson in past week, says Zelensky

Friday 7 October 2022 08:56 , Andy Gregory

Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 500 square kilometres (195 square miles) and dozens of settlements in Kherson in the past week, Volodymr Zelensky has claimed.

“There are successes in the east as well. The day will surely come when we will report on successes in the Zaporizhzhia region as well, in those areas that the occupiers still control,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address.

Ukraine’s defence minister urges Russians to lay down weapons

Friday 7 October 2022 08:37 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov has urged Russian troops to lay down their weapons, promising them “life and safety”.

“You can still save Russia from tragedy and the Russian army from humiliation,” Mr Reznikov said in a video addressed to Russian troops.

Russian-backed Kherson official criticises Moscow

Friday 7 October 2022 08:18 , Andy Gregory

In rare but growing public criticism of Russia’s top military officials, Kirill Stremousov – the deputy head of the Russian-backed administration in Kherson – said the “generals and ministers” in Moscow failed to understand the problems on the front lines.

There was no immediate comment from Russia’s defence ministry, but discontent has begun to bubble up among even loyalist state television commentators.

“Please explain to me what the general staff’s genius idea is now?” said Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent Russian talk show hosts. “Do you think time is on our side? They [Ukraine] have hugely increased their amount of weapons. But what have you done in that time?”

Zelensky calls on Nato to ‘eliminate possibility’ of Russia using nuclear weapons

Friday 7 October 2022 08:01 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Nato should launch “pre-emptive strikes” on Russia to preclude its use of nuclear weapons, in remarks to Australia’s Lowy Institute – before his office sought to clarify that the Ukrainian president did not mean a nuclear strike.

"What should Nato do? Eliminate the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons,” Mr Zelensky said. “But, importantly, I am once again appealing to the international community, as I did before 24 February: pre-emptive strikes — so that they know what will happen if they are used. And not the other way around — to wait for Russiaʼs nuclear strikes to then say: ‘Ah, you are, well, take that from us!’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the comments as “an appeal to start yet another world war with unpredictable, monstrous consequences”, according to the RIA news agency.

But Mr Zelensky’s press secretary later said that the president “did not call on Nato countries to pre-emptively use nuclear weapons against the Russian Federation”, adding: “Colleagues, you have gone a little far with your nuclear hysteria and now you hear nuclear strikes even where there are none.”

“The president spoke about the period until 24 February. Then it was necessary to take preventive measures to prevent Russia from starting a war. Let me remind you that the only measures discussed at that time were preventive sanctions,” said Serhiy Nikiforov.

Hundreds of bodies found in Kharkiv following Russian retreat, police say

Friday 7 October 2022 07:34 , Andy Gregory

In the Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian forces regained huge swathes of territory in September, the bodies of 534 civilians – including 19 children – have been found after Russian troops left, a police official has claimed.

The total included 447 bodies found in Izium, said Serhiy Bolvinov, adding that investigators have found evidence of 22 “torture rooms”. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Unhappy birthday: Putin turns 70 amid a string of embarrassing defeats

Friday 7 October 2022 07:10 , Stuti Mishra

Vladimir Putin turns 70 today.

It is a landmark birthday but it is fair to say however he chooses to mark the day, a shadow will hang over the Russian president’s celebrations.

Here Maryam Zakir-Hussain writes how the Russian president has celebrated his birthdays in the past and how the situation has turned for him this year with the Ukraine war.

Unhappy birthday: Russia’s Vladimir Putin turns 70 with plenty to ponder

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled Russia

Friday 7 October 2022 06:50 , Stuti Mishra

Moscow has denied reports that 700,000 Russians have fled the country since Vladimir Putin last month announced a mobilisation order to increase the numbers fighting in Ukraine.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov conceded he did not have an exact figure for how many people had left since the announcement on 21 September.

“I don’t think those numbers should be taken seriously,” Mr Peskov said.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain has more:

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled since call-up – but doesn’t have ‘exact figure’

Two Russians seek asylum after reaching Alaska island on boat

Friday 7 October 2022 06:20 , Stuti Mishra

Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid compulsory military service have requested asylum in the US after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Sea, Alaska US senator Lisa Murkowski‘s office said yesterday.

Karina Borger, a Murkowski spokesperson, said the office has been in communication with the US Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection and that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service.”

Read more:

2 Russians seek asylum after reaching remote Alaska island

Russia struck Zaporizhzhia with kamikaze drones, says governor

Friday 7 October 2022 05:50 , Stuti Mishra

Russian forces have attacked Zaporizhzhia with Shahed-136 drones, Zaporizhzhia oblast’s governor Oleksandr Starukh said this morning.

Mr Starukh said infrastructure in two districts of Zaporizhzhia was damaged.

Overnight on Thursday, seven Russian missiles hit the city of Zaporizhzhia, damaging more than 40 buildings and causing injuries. Some people were also left trapped in the rubble of an apartment block.

At least seven people died and five were reported missing after the strikes.

Ukrainian forces liberated 93 settlements in two weeks

Friday 7 October 2022 05:31 , Stuti Mishra

Ukraine’s armed forces have liberated 93 settlements occupied by Russia since 21 September, according to a Ukrainian general.

The military said it has advanced up to about 55 km over the last two weeks in a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, pushing the Russian army significantly to the backfoot.

Biden warns danger of nuclear ‘armageddon’ now highest in decades

Friday 7 October 2022 04:59 , Stuti Mishra

President Joe Biden warned yesterday evening that the risk of nuclear “armageddon” is at its highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Biden made the remarks at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party’s apparatus dedicated to defending incumbent Senators and electing Democratic Senators.

“We have not faced the prospect of armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Mr Biden said.

The US president said he knew his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin very well.

“He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming.”

Eric Garcia has more details:

Biden says risk of nuclear ‘armageddon’ now highest since 1962

Social media users mock Putin with claims Czech Republic has annexed Kaliningrad

Friday 7 October 2022 03:59 , Andy Gregory

Social media users in the Czech Republic have shared tweets claiming that their country has annexed the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and renamed it Kralovec, in a satire of Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Slovak president Zuzana Caputova also got in on the joke on Thursday, tweeting that she “might consider a state visit. Or not”, adding: “Well done our Czech friends for de-masking the absurdity of Russia’s fictitious referendums in Ukraine.”

An anonymous Twitter user in Poland first posted about the fake “annexation” of Kaliningrad, with a Czech member of the European Parliament, Tomasz Zdechovsky, doing the same shortly afterwards. There has since been an explosion of jokes under the hashtags Kralovec and VisitKralovec.

EU sanctions individuals involved in Putin’s sham referenda

Friday 7 October 2022 02:58 , Andy Gregory

Here are more details on the newly-announced eighth package of EU sanctions against Russia.

The bloc has frozen the assets of an additional 37 people and entities tied to Russia’s war Ukraine, bringing the total targeted by EU blacklists to 1,351. The new intake includes officials involved in Vladimir Putin’s sham referenda and annexation of the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The latest sanctions, published in the EU’s Official Journal, also widen trade bans against Russia and lay the ground for a price cap on Russian oil being prepared with other G7 members. The new commercial curbs hit an estimated €7bn of EU imports of Russian goods including steel, plastics, textiles and non-gold jewelry.

The wider EU prohibition on exports to Russia covers such products as coal, electronics used in Russian weapons and aircraft components.

Russian authorities ‘detain hundreds of Ukrainians near Estonian border'

Friday 7 October 2022 01:51 , Andy Gregory

The head of Ukraine’s human rights commission has accused Russian authorities of detaining hundreds of Ukrainians as they approached Russia’s border with Estonia.

Russians “took them away on trucks to an unknown destination” on Wednesday, Dmytro Lubinets wrote on Facebook the following day, citing information from the Estonian interior ministry.

Most of them had fled their Ukraine through Russia and Crimea and were seeking ways to enter the EU or find a way to return home, Mr Lubinets wrote, adding that children and the elderly were among those waiting to cross the border in cold conditions without proper clothing or food.

Mr Lubinets noted that a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which counts both Russia and Ukraine as members, was expected to meet next week with Ukrainians who had been processed through Russian “filtration camps”.

It came as Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu said: “We condemn the Russian Federation for not allowing war refugees to cross the border,” warning that such actions could amount to provocations by Moscow along the EU-Russia border.

IAEA to double number of inspectors at Zaporizhzhia

Friday 7 October 2022 00:46 , Andy Gregory

The head of the UN’s atomic energy agency has said it will double to four the number of inspectors that it plans to deploy to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

During a visit on Thursday to the Ukrainian capital, Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency deplored how workers in Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant are facing “almost unbearable circumstances” after it was captured by Russia.

Mr Grossi vowed to take up that issue and hopes of establishing a secure protection zone around the nuclear power station during talks with an unspecified “very high-level” official when he travels soon to Moscow.

Brittney Griner’s wife says Russia is holding WNBA star ‘hostage’

Thursday 6 October 2022 23:40 , Andy Gregory

The wife of basketball star Brittney Grinerhas warned that her spouse is demoralised and afraid that she will be forgotten as she waits to appeal the nine-year prison sentence handed to her from a Russian court on drug charges.

“As much as everybody’s telling me a different definition of what BG is, it feels to me as if she’s a hostage,” Cherelle Griner said. “It terrifies me because when you watch movies, sometimes those situations don’t end well. Sometimes they never get the person back.”

My colleague Graig Graziosi reports:

Brittney Griner’s wife says Russia is holding WNBA star ‘hostage’

EU nations will send Ukraine more weapons, including howitzers, says Macron

Thursday 6 October 2022 22:51 , Andy Gregory

Emmanuel Macron has said that European countries will send Ukraine more military equipment to counter Russia’s invasion, including more French Caesar-type howitzers.

“We are working indeed on several requests, with several members of the EU, including on new Caesars,” the French president said, as European leaders met at the inaugural summit of the European Political Community in Prague.

US accuses Wagner group of exploiting resources in Africa to fund war

Thursday 6 October 2022 22:02 , Andy Gregory

The United States has accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and elsewhere, using “these ill-gotten gains” to “fund Moscow’s war machine in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine”.

“Make no mistake: people across Africa are paying a heavy price for the Wagner Group’s exploitative practices and human rights violations,” ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a UN Security Council meeting on the financing of armed groups through illicit trafficking of natural resources in Africa.

Wagner, staffed by veterans of the Russian armed forces, has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and other countries. It was founded in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and started supporting pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Russias UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he regretted that Ms Thomas-Greenfield had raised the issue of “Russian support to African partners”, adding without elaborating: “This exposes their real plans and aims – what they really need from African countries.”

Two Russian men flee forced military service by boating to Alaska

Thursday 6 October 2022 21:31 , Andy Gregory

Two Russian men fled the country by boat to a small Alaskan island to avoid being forced into military service, according to the state senator’s office.

The men arrived on a small island in the Bering Sea after leaving Russia and have asked for asylum, the Associated Press reported.

My colleague Graig Graziosi has the full story:

Two Russian men flee forced military service by boating to Alaska

European summit ‘a forceful show of solidarity with Ukraine, Liz Truss says

Thursday 6 October 2022 20:59 , Andy Gregory

Liz Truss has described the inaugural summit of the European Political Community in the Czech Republic as a “forceful show of solidarity with Ukraine” in the face of Vladimir Putin’s war.

“Leaders leave this summit with greater collective resolve to stand up to Russian aggression,” the prime minister said in a statement. “What we have seen in Prague is a forceful show of solidarity with Ukraine, and for the principles of freedom and democracy.”

Number of Ukrainian families facing homelessness in England increases by 22% in a month

Thursday 6 October 2022 20:33 , Andy Gregory

The number of Ukrainian families who are presenting as homeless to English councils has increased by 22 per cent in a single month, leading local authorities to demand “urgent solutions” from government.

Some 1,915 Ukrainian households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness have turned to local authorities for help since 24 February, with 350 families seeking help in the past month alone.

Charities have warned that the problem “will escalate in the coming months” as Homes for Ukraine sponsor arrangements come to an end.

You can read the full report from my colleague Holly Bancroft here:

Number of Ukrainian families facing homelessness in England surges by 22% in a month

Russia demands secret ballot in UN vote on annexation

Thursday 6 October 2022 20:05 , Andy Gregory

Russia has demanded a secret ballot during next week’s United Nations vote on a Western-backed resolution that would condemn its “attempted illegal annexation” of part of four Ukrainian regions and call on Moscow immediately reverse its actions.

The UN General Assembly has announced that its emergency special session on Ukraine will resume on Monday afternoon, when the draft resolution will be presented, with the vote expected on Wednesday.

While votes are traditionally public, Russia's ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said in a six-page letter to all of his other UN counterparts, obtained by the Associated Press, that the UN legal counsel has confirmed that a secret ballot can be used by the General Assembly “in decision-making”.

The resolution, sponsored by the US and Albania, demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders ... to enable peaceful resolution of the conflict through political dialogue, negotiations, mediation and other peaceful means”.

Russia seeks secret UN vote on condemning Ukraine annexation

Putin turns 70 with plenty to ponder

Thursday 6 October 2022 19:47 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin turns 70 tomorrow.

In previous years he has celebrated by hiking in Siberia, playing ice hockey and scoring seven goals, and attending world summits. However, this year promises not to be such a grand birthday – despite last week’s “gift” to himself of four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.

When he threw Europe into chaos after launching his war against Ukraine in February, the Russian president believed his “special military operation” could be achieved in a week. But more than 220 days into what he supposedly hoped would be a seven-day war, Mr Putin is grappling with several major problems.

My colleague Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

Unhappy birthday: Russia’s Vladimir Putin turns 70 with plenty to ponder

Ukrainian troops have advanced up to 34 miles in Kharkiv, says general

Thursday 6 October 2022 19:14 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s armed forces have advanced by as much as 34 miles in a counter-attack in the Kharkiv region over the past fortnight, according to a Ukrainian general.

Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov told reporters that Ukraine had taken back 93 settlements and liberated over 926 square miles in the region since 21 September, in comments reported by Reuters.

Russian troops were fighting to slow a Ukrainian advance out of Kupiansk, a recently liberated railway hub town, claimed Mr Gromov, the loss of which he said had significantly complicated Russia’s logistics in the area.

Germans using too much gas, regulator says

Thursday 6 October 2022 18:46 , Andy Gregory

Germans are using too much gas to avoid a potential energy “emergency” this winter, the head of the national network regulator has warned, after last week’s gas consumption in homes and small businesses was nearly 10 per cent above average consumption since 2018.

With the reduction in natural gas flows from Russia, German officials have urged citizens to cut back on gas usage and conserve energy heading into the colder months.

“Gas consumption increased by too much last week,” said Klaus Mueller, the head of Germany’s network agency.

“We will hardly be able to avoid a gas emergency in winter without at least 20 per cent savings in the private, commercial and industrial sectors,” Mr Mueller added. “The situation can become very serious if we do not significantly reduce our gas consumption.”

Moscow calls for ‘comprehensive and open’ probe into suspected Nord Stream sabotage

Thursday 6 October 2022 18:34 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s foreign ministry has said that Moscow will insist on a “comprehensive and open investigation” into the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines – one which includes Russian officians and Gazprom, who were not invited to take part in the current probe.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the ministry said: “Not to allow the owner [of the pipelines] to witness the investigation means there is something to hide.”

But a spokesperson for the Swedish government – which is conducting the investigation – said it had received no application from Gazprom or Nord Stream to investigate the damage themselves.

UN nuclear watchdog ‘considers Zaporizhzhia plant to be a Ukrainian facility’

Thursday 6 October 2022 17:36 , Andy Gregory

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that the UN nuclear watchdog considers the Zaporizhzhia power plant to be a Ukrainian facility.

Russia captured the plant – which is Europe’s largest – in March, and yesterday Vladimir Putin ordered his government to take control of it.

“This is a matter that has to do with international law ... we want the war to stop immediately, and of course the position of the IAEA is that this facility is a Ukrainian facility,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Kyiv.

Mr Grossi was due to travel to Moscow for talks to meet Russian officials following his talks in the Ukrainian capital.

More work needed to implement Russian oil cap, EU officials say

Thursday 6 October 2022 16:57 , Andy Gregory

There remain many details to be worked out by the G7 and European Union before a price cap on Russian seaborne oil deliveries – announced this week in the bloc’s eighth package of sanctions – can take effect, EU officials have told Reuters.

“Discussions on how the pricing will be set are still needed,” the officials were reported as saying, meaning that the EU’s decision is more of a first step towards putting in place an oil cap, rather than actually already implementing it.

They added that there was “some time pressure” to figure out the more nuanced approach compared to the EU’s previously agreed blanket bank for European firms on providing insurance and banking services to Russian oil shipments that would otherwise kick in from December.

Zelensky brands Russia ‘the most anti-European state in the world’ during summit speech

Thursday 6 October 2022 16:29 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelensky has addressed the inaugural meeting of the newly-formed European Political Community, which today sees the leaders of 44 countries meet in Prague, in what many called a united stand against Vladimir Putin’s war.

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal was in Prague for the meeting, while the country’s president addressed the leaders by video link, saying: “There are no representatives of Russia with us here — a state that geographically seems to belong to Europe, but from the point of view of its values and behavior is the most anti-European state in the world.

“We are now in a strong position to direct all possible powers of Europe to end the war and guarantee long-term peace,” he said. “For Ukraine, for Europe, for the world.”

Norway to restrict access of Russian fishing vessels

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Norway’s government on Thursday said it would restrict access to its ports by Russian fishing vessels, the Nordic country’s latest tightening of security following last week’s discovery of major leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Russian trawlers will from now on only be allowed to visit three ports and must undergo security checks when they do so, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told a news conference.

Russia submits objections to Ukraine genocide case in World Court

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:28 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has submitted preliminary objections to a genocide case against Moscow brought by Ukraine, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Thursday.

At the ICJ, the United Nations highest court for disputes between states, parties can file preliminary objections if they believe the court does not have jurisdiction in a case.

The filing, which the court tweeted Thursday it had received on Oct. 3, has not been made public.

In a letter to the United Nations court in March, Moscow argued that the ICJ, also known as the World Court, did not have jurisdiction because the genocide convention does not regulate the use of force between states.

The filing signifies a change in Moscow’s attitude to the ICJ case. Russia is now engaging with the court, whereas it has previously skipped hearings and not filed documents directly with the court.

Ukraine filed a case with the ICJ shortly after Russia‘s invasion began on Feb. 24, saying that Moscow’s stated justification, that it was acting to prevent a genocide in eastern Ukraine, was unfounded.

During hearings in March, Ukraine said there was no threat of genocide in eastern Ukraine, and that the U.N.’s 1948 Genocide Convention, which both countries have signed, does not allow an invasion to prevent one.

After those hearings, which Russia had skipped, ICJ judges ordered Russia to stop the invasion of Ukraine as an emergency measure while it looked into the merits of Ukraine‘s claim.

The next step in the case will be a hearing on the objections against the jurisdiction of the court. No date for such a hearting has been set yet, but it is expected to be several months away.

Nord Stream: Sweden investigation points to ‘gross sabotage’ of pipelines

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:08 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Swedish investigation of the damaged Nord Stream natural gas pipelines has revealed detonations were set off, strengthening suspicions of “gross sabotage”.

“After completing the crime scene investigation, the Swedish Security Service can conclude that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone that have caused extensive damage to gas pipelines,” they said in a statement.

Undersea blasts damaged the gas pipelines last week, leading to huge methane leaks. Investigators said the blasts have involved several hundred pounds of explosives.

Although no officials have publicly blamed Russia for the explosions, Western officials are suspicious that Moscow was behind the attack, and say the leaks are a result of deliberate action.

Nord Stream: Sweden investigation points at ‘gross sabotage’ of pipelines

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled since Putin’s call-up order - but does not have ‘exact figure’

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Moscow has denied reports that 700,000 Russians have fled the country since Vladimir Putin last month announced a mobilisation order to increase numbers fighting in Ukraine.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov conceded he did not have an exact figure for how many people had left the country since the announcement on 21 September.

“I don’t think those numbers should be taken seriously,” Peskov said when asked about some reports in Russian media that up to 700,000 Russians could have left the country.

“I don’t have exact figures, but of course they are far from what’s being claimed there.”

Moscow denies 700,000 have fled since call-up - but doesn’t have ‘exact figure’

Russian missile strike kills 3 people, destroys apartment block in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Russian rocket strike destroyed a five-storey apartment block in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least three people and leaving other residents trapped under rubble, the regional governor and emergencies service said on Thursday.

Firefighters rushed through the streets to tackle the blazes after the overnight attack, and more explosions were heard on Thursday morning in what local officials said was a renewed Russian strike.

“Another enemy missile attack. Stay in shelters!” Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, told residents on the Telegram messaging app.

He later told Ukrainian television that one woman was killed in the overnight shelling, but said another woman who was earlier reported dead had survived.

Ukrainian emergencies service said later on Thursday a total of three bodies had been pulled from the rubble.

Twelve people were wounded, including a three-year-old child. Five were still under the rubble, Starukh said.

Kremlin rejects reports that 700,000 have fled Russia

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin on Thursday denied reports that 700,000 Russians have fled the country since Moscow announced a mobilisation drive to call up hundreds of thousands to fight in Ukraine.

In a briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not have exact figures for how many people had left the country since President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “partial mobilisation” on Sept. 21.

“I don’t think those numbers should be taken seriously,” Peskov said when asked about some reports in Russian media that up to 700,000 Russians could have left the country.

“I don’t have exact figures, but of course they are far from what’s being claimed there.”

Tens of thousands of Russians, mostly military-age men, have fled the country in a bid to avoid being called up to serve in Ukraine. Kazakhstan, Georgia and Mongolia - which all share land borders with Russia - reported a surge in the number of border crossings following Putin’s announcement.

But getting exact figures on how many have left for good is tricky.

Ukraine accuses Russia of 'nuclear blackmail' over Zaporizhzhia plant

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Thursday of “nuclear blackmail” over its seizure of the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southern Ukraine.

Russia captured the plant in March, shortly after invading Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin ordered his government on Wednesday to take control of it. The plant is Europe’s largest, and Ukrainian staff have continued to operate it.

“(The) capturing of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (stands) for nuclear blackmail and for exerting pressure on the world and on Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a video address to the Sydney-based Lowy think tank via a translator.

“You’re not using the weapons, but you can still be blackmailing by not having the nuclear power plant working for the people - the people are not receiving the electricity.”

Before the Russian invasion, the plant provided Ukraine with about one-fifth of its electricity.

Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling the territory of the plant, risking a nuclear catastrophe.

U.S. believes Ukraine was behind killing of Dugina in Russia, NYT says

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

US intelligence agencies believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorised a car bomb attack near Moscow in August that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, the New York Times reported.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which cited unidentified U.S. officials. Ukraine repeated on Thursday its denial of any involvement in the attack.

The United States took no part in the attack on Dugina and was not aware of it ahead of time, the Times reported. American officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said.

Dugina, 29, was killed when a car bomb tore through the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving on Aug. 20. Her father, Alexander, who had been in a separate car, was pictured holding his head in shock as he surveyed the wreckage of the vehicle.

After the killing, Ukraine denied any involvement, while Russia‘s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Ukraine‘s secret services of being behind it.

If Ukraine were behind the killing, it would illustrate Kyiv’s ability to strike at targets in Moscow while also potentially opening up the Ukrainian elite in Kyiv to revenge attacks from Russia.

“The involvement of the Ukrainian state in this terrorist act, in this murder of a young girl was argued and proven by our special services,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

Peskov said the Times report was positive in the sense that it appeared that U.S. intelligence agreed with Russia on who was behind the killing.

However, he added: “I really want to hope that this is not some attempt by our American colleagues to absolve themselves of responsibility for any preparations for future terrorist acts which the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian regime, might prepare.”

Residents trapped under rubble of their home as Russian missiles blast Zaporizhzhia

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Seven Russian missiles have struck a residential block in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least one woman and injuring several others, a local official has said.

Residents were left trapped in the rubble of their homes of the five-story building after the strikes rained down in the city close to Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Thursday.

Governor Oleksandr Starukh told Ukrainian television that one woman was killed in shelling overnight, and another who had been reported dead had survived.

Residents trapped under rubble of their home in Russian missile strike

‘Cruelty with no meaning’: Civilians flee a city with no power or water – but plenty of Russian missiles

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

There is regular shelling in Kupyansk, large parts of which have already been damaged and destroyed, when Kim Sengupta visits.

Groups waiting on streets to be evacuated, or for welfare supplies to arrive, scurry for cover as explosions gouge craters on the road, he writes.

‘Cruelty with no meaning’: Civilians killed by Russian missiles as they flee

Kremlin says Russia will not be invited to Nord Stream investigation

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia was informed via diplomatic channels that there were no plans to invite Moscow to join an investigation into Nord Stream gas leaks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

Peskov added that Russia considers it is impossible to conduct such an investigation without Moscow’s participation.