Putin to give shock G20 speech as Moscow troops desert Donetsk frontline

Vladimir Putin will set out Russia’s view of the “deeply unstable world scenario” in a shock G20 speech this week, the Kremlin has stated, as Ukraine claimed rising numbers of Moscow’s troops had been deserting the frontline in Donetsk.

Ukraine’s navy has been bracing for a “third wave” of Russian assaults on the important thing metropolis of Avdiivka – however a spokesperson claimed Moscow was being compelled to rely more and more on penal recruits and reservists because of its troopers refusing to participate in casualty-heavy assaults.

Additional south, Kyiv’s forces claimed to have pushed Mr Putin’s forces three to eight kilometres again on the banks of the Dnipro River, in what would mark the primary vital advance by Kyiv’s forces months right into a grindingly sluggish counteroffensive.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on reverse sides of the huge waterway in Kherson for greater than a yr, till Kyiv claimed final week to have lastly established a number of footholds on the river’s jap financial institution.

Key Factors

• Ukrainian military pushing Russian forces again at Dnipro river

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

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

• Ukraine establishes ‘a number of bridgeheads’ on jap financial institution of Dnipro

‘Double requirements’ in Israel-Hamas battle have ‘undermined combat’ for Ukraine, says Varadkar

15:38 , Andy Gregory

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has stated there’s “double requirements” from the EU and a few Western powers in relation to Israel and Palestine.

The Taoiseach stated the stance of some Western nations in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict had “undermined the combat” to garner help for Ukraine because it battles in opposition to the continued Russian invasion.

Right here is the total report:

Varadkar raises considerations about EU ‘double requirements’ on Israel and Palestine

Kyiv hoping for Poland talks over lorry driver protests

15:09 , Andy Gregory

Kyiv hopes to carry a brand new spherical of talks with Poland and the European Union this week to resolve a difficulty with Polish lorry drivers holding protests to dam border crossings, a Ukrainian commerce consultant has stated.

Story continues

“This week we hope to have negotiations in a trilateral format,” Taras Kachka instructed broadcasters.

Yesterday, some 3,000 principally Ukrainian lorries – together with these carrying gas and humanitarian support – had been caught on the Polish facet of the border because of a greater than 10-day blockade by Polish hauliers, Ukrainian officers stated.

The hauliers are protesting in opposition to what they see as authorities inaction over a lack of enterprise to international opponents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US defence secretary meets with Zelensky in Kyiv

14:32 , Andy Gregory

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has stated he was “honoured” to fulfill Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky throughout a shock go to to Kyiv immediately – his second since April 2022.

Washington will “proceed to help Ukraine’s pressing battlefield wants and long-term defence necessities”, Mr Austin stated.

Russia locations Eurovision winner on its wished listing

14:03 , Andy Gregory

Russia has positioned the 2016 winner of the Eurovision Track Contest on its wished listing.

An Inside Ministry database lists Ukrainian singer Susana Jamaladinova – who makes use of the stage title Jamala, and is of Crimean Tatar descent – as being looked for violating a felony legislation, Russian state information businesses reported.

She gained the Eurovision contest with the track “1944,” whose title refers back to the yr the Soviet Union deported Crimean Tatars en masse. Russia protested the track being allowed within the competitors, saying it violated guidelines in opposition to political speech. However the track made no particular criticism of Russia or the Soviet Union.

The unbiased information web site Mediazona stated Ms Jamaladinova was charged beneath a Russian legislation adopted final yr to outlaw the unfold of so-called pretend details about the Ukraine conflict.

Watch: Lazarus Undertaking star says sequence predicted Russia-Ukraine conflict

13:35 , Andy Gregory

High Ukrainian cyber defence officers sacked amid corruption probe

13:22 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine has sacked two high-ranking cyber defence officers amid a probe into alleged embezzlement, a senior authorities official stated.

Yurii Shchyhol, head of the State Service of Particular Communications and Data Safety of Ukraine (SSSCIP), and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, had been dismissed by the federal government, cupboard chief Taras Melnychuk stated on Monday.

The firings coincided with an announcement by anti-corruption prosecutors that they had been investigating officers in cyber defence positions over their alleged roles in a six-person plot to embezzle 62 million Ukrainian hryvnia (£1.38m) in 2021.

Prosecutors didn’t establish both official by title, and the SSSCIP didn’t instantly reply to a written request for remark.

Jailed Russian nationalist Girkin hopes to problem Putin in presidential elections

12:56 , Andy Gregory

Professional-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin has introduced that he needs to run for president – regardless of understanding the upcoming March election will likely be “sham” with the winner already clear.

Mr Girkin – who’s in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism – has repeatedly stated Russia faces revolution and even civil conflict until Vladimir Putin’s navy prime brass combat the conflict in Ukraine extra successfully.

A former FSB officer who helped annex Crimea in 2014 and organise pro-Russian militias in jap Ukraine, Mr Girkin stated earlier than his arrest that he and his supporters had been coming into politics.

“I perceive completely nicely that within the present scenario in Russia, collaborating within the presidential marketing campaign is like sitting down at a desk to play with card sharps,” he stated in a letter printed on Telegram entitled: “I’m going to run.”

Mr Girkin stated that he didn’t suppose that he could be allowed to participate within the election, however hoped that his try and unite patriotic forces would disrupt the Kremlin’s plan for a “sham election” wherein “the one winner is thought upfront”.

Evaluation | Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – now is just not the second for the West to show away

12:27 , Andy Gregory

On this Impartial Voices piece, James Nixey – director of Chatham Home’s Russia and Eurasia Programme – writes:

When Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was fooled not too long ago by two well-known Russian “comics” – absolutely paid-up Kremlin brokers – into saying she was “drained” of the conflict in Ukraine and that everybody would quickly be on the lookout for a “means out”, too a lot of her counterparts within the West would have tacitly agreed (and maybe sympathised: she is hardly the primary to be pranked by these two).

However Ms Meloni deserves no sympathy. She thought she was speaking to the top of the African Union Fee so this could have been an opportunity to train statecraft and cause with the supposed consultant from the World South and argue that Russia’s conflict in Ukraine is nothing if not colonialist itself – a determined try to keep up its empire.

However Ms Meloni’s admission was worse than simply not exhibiting ethical management. She was additionally enjoying into Russia’s arms by parroting its narrative: being drained and on the lookout for a means out of the conflict is exactly what Vladimir Putin now needs from the Western world.

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – the West should not flip away now

Nato involved by secessionist rhetoric and Russian affect in Bosnia

11:58 , Andy Gregory

Jens Stoltenberg has stated Nato is worried by secessionist rhetoric and Russian affect in Bosnia, after months of Serb leaders more and more saying they need to break up and be part of Serbia.

Bosnia emerged from civil conflict in 1995 with a federal construction uniting a Serb-dominated republic and a federation of Croats and Bosniak Muslims. However the chief of Serbian entity, Milorad Dodik, has more and more stated in current months that he goals to secede and be part of neighbouring Serbia.

“We’re involved by secessionist and divisive rhetoric in addition to … international interference together with Russia,” the Nato chief instructed reporters in Sarajevo, throughout a tour of the western Balkans area.

“This undermines the steadiness and hampers reform,” Mr Stoltenberg stated, including that each one political leaders should work to protect unity, construct nationwide establishments and obtain reconciliation.

Nato had deployed about 60,000 troops in Bosnia after the conflict, which had been changed by an EU peacekeeping drive in 2004. Final yr, the EU nearly doubled its dimension to 1,100 troops, amid fears that instability from the Ukraine conflict might spill over to the western Balkans.

Putin to deal with G20 summit this week, Kremlin says

11:15 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin will set out Russia’s view of what it sees because the “deeply unstable world scenario” when he addresses an upcoming digital G20 summit, the Kremlin has stated.

Russian state TV presenter Pavel Zarubin stated on his Telegram channel on Sunday that it might be the “first occasion in a very long time” together with each the Russian president and Western leaders.

In keeping with the state RIA information company, the G20 digital summit will likely be held on Wednesday.

Russia counting on penal recruits to stem improve in deserters on Donetsk frontline, Ukraine claims

11:06 , Andy Gregory

Rising numbers of Russian troopers are deserting the frontline in Donetsk, Ukraine’s navy has claimed because it braces for a long-awaited “third wave” of assaults by Moscow’s forces in Avdiivka.

The Institute for Examine of Conflict think-tank cited Ukrainian Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun as saying that Russia could quickly intensify artillery preparations for the brand new wave of assaults on the strategically key metropolis.

Moscow’s forces haven’t actively used heavy navy gear Avdiivka in current days, have decreased aviation use within the space, and are more and more utilizing infantry, he stated, claiming that Russia’s vital losses imply solely 10 to fifteen p.c of some detachments’ authentic personnel stay.

In remarks on Sunday, Mr Shtupun claimed there have been rising numbers of Russian deserters and personnel who refuse to conduct offensive operations, main Russian commanders to make use of bodily drive and barrier troops to push Russian forces to combat, with an elevated reliance on mobilised reservists and penal recruits.

EU sanctions are likely to have ‘boomerang impact’, Russia claims

10:54 , Andy Gregory

The Kremlin has claimed that European Union sanctions are likely to have a “boomerang impact”, as Moscow faces the prospect of an EU ban on imports of Russian diamonds.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed reporters on Monday that such a transfer had been anticipated for a very long time, however was prone to backfire.

“As a rule, it seems {that a} boomerang impact is partially triggered: the pursuits of the Europeans themselves undergo. Up to now, we now have been capable of finding methods to minimise the unfavourable penalties of sanctions,” he claimed.

EU diplomatic sources instructed Reuters final week that the proposal beneath dialogue was to ban direct diamond imports from Russia from 1 January, and to implement a traceability mechanism by March which might stop imports of Russian gems processed in third nations.

Unique: Andriy Shevchenko urges the world to not overlook Ukraine

10:29 , Andy Gregory

On the morning of 24 February 2022 – a date etched in each Ukrainian’s thoughts – Andriy Shevchenko was woken by a cellphone name from his mom. She instructed him via tears that Russia was invading. Shevchenko was in London, the place he lives together with his spouse and 4 sons; his mom and wider household had been in Ukraine, beneath assault.

Shevchenko has barely slept since. “It’s nearly unimaginable,” he says. “It’s going to be nearly two years for the reason that full conflict began, and on daily basis I get up, examine the cellphone – what’s the information? Are we going to be attacked in Kyiv? Are we going to be attacked in a special metropolis? What number of drones? What number of rockets? The place have the rockets hit? After which, speaking to my associates – who’s useless? It’s a traditional day for us.”

Shevchenko is utilizing his platform as certainly one of Europe’s biggest footballers, a Ballon d’Or winner and a Chelsea cult hero to maintain the highlight on Ukraine at a time when the world’s consideration has turned to the Center East. Within the West, the preliminary shock attributable to Russia’s invasion has subsided, and a way of normalisation has crept in. He’s understandably anxious that Ukraine’s trigger is likely to be forgotten.

“I hope not,” he says. “As a result of for us, it’s all the things. For us, it’s exist or not exist.”

Our senior sports activities author Lawrence Ostlere has the total unique interview right here:

Andriy Shevchenko on Ukraine: ‘Day-after-day I get up, examine the cellphone. Who’s useless?’

Kremlin ‘deeply regrets’ Finland’s border closures

10:08 , Andy Gregory

The Kremlin has stated it deeply regrets Finland’s choice to shut crossings alongside the 2 nations’ huge border on Saturday.

Finland closed 4 crossings on Saturday in a bid to halt the circulate of asylum-seekers, having accused Moscow of funnelling migrants to the frontier in retaliation for Helsinki’s ascension to Nato and elevated Western navy cooperation for the reason that invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied Finland’s accusation on Monday and insisted that Russian border guards had been finishing up their duties in step with the foundations.

Requested concerning the closure of the 4 crossings, Mr Peskov instructed reporters: “This causes nothing however deep remorse, as a result of we had long-standing, excellent relations with Finland, pragmatic, based mostly on mutual respect.

“And naturally, we remorse that these relations had been changed by such an completely Russophobic place, which the leaders of this nation started to espouse,” he stated.

Moscow protest exhibits prolonged Russian deployments to frontline ‘unsustainable’, says UK

09:44 , Andy Gregory

Protests in Moscow by the wives of Russian troopers present that their prolonged deployments to the entrance line are more and more considered as unsustainable, Britain’s Ministry of Defence urged.

Russian wives and moms have been making every day on-line appeals protesting in opposition to the circumstances of their family members’ service for the reason that invasion of Ukraine final February.

“Nevertheless, Russia’s draconian laws has up to now prevented troops’ kin from coalescing into an influential lobbying drive, as troopers’ moms did throughout the Afghan-Soviet Conflict of the Nineteen Eighties,” stated the ministry”.

However on 7 November, they held a uncommon avenue protest in Moscow’s central Teatralnya Sq., unfurling banners demanding the rotation of their companions away from the frontline.

Police broke up the protest inside minutes, in response to the ministry, which added: “Nevertheless, the protestors’ instant demand is notable.

“The apparently indefinitely prolonged fight deployments of personnel with out rotation is more and more seen as unsustainable by each the troops themselves and by their kin.”

US defence secretary’s go to to Kyiv is his first since early months of conflict

09:21 , Andy Gregory

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced go to to Kyiv immediately, as he pushes to maintain cash and weapons flowing to Ukraine.

Mr Austin travelled by prepare from Poland, and is scheduled to fulfill with senior Ukrainian officers.

It marks his second journey to Kyiv – together with his first having taken place in April 2022, simply two months after Russia’s invasion.

Two killed in Kherson after Russia shells parking zone, officers say

08:55 , Andy Gregory

Two folks have been killed this morning after Russian forces shelled a parking zone within the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson, in response to officers.

Regional prosecutors stated they’d opened a war-crimes investigation into the artillery strike, which occurred at round 9am and injured one different particular person.

Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin stated the 2 useless had been drivers for “a personal transport enterprise”.

Pictures posted on Telegram confirmed firefighters dousing vehicles that had been blasted aside, someday after a separate strike on town wounded 5 folks, together with a 3-year-old lady.

Russian forces have often shelled Kherson from throughout the Dnipro River for the reason that metropolis was liberated final November by Ukrainian troops – who at the moment are in search of to push Moscow’s troops away from the river after establishing a foothold on the other financial institution.

Second drone in as many days shot down close to Moscow as Russia and Ukraine trade assaults on capitals

08:29 , Andy Gregory

Russia and Ukraine despatched drones focusing on one another’s capital cities over the weekend in indicators of renewed depth for his or her aerial warfare, my colleague Arpan Rai studies.

Drones had been shot down on each Saturday and Sunday in areas round Kyiv and Moscow. Air defence programs for either side intercepted assaults and no casualties had been reported.

A number of drones that had been heading for Moscow and Russia’s border areas on Sunday had been downed by Russian air defence programs over the weekend, officers stated.

Kyiv has promised to wage a significant drone marketing campaign in opposition to Russia this winter, as dangerous climate circumstances make it troublesome to conduct operations on the bottom.

Russia beneath Ukraine’s drone assault for 2 nights in row as Moscow stays heading in the right direction

Zelensky dismisses Ukraine’s navy medical chief

08:11 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Main Common Tetiana Ostashchenko because the commander of Ukraine’s medical forces, as he demanded speedy adjustments within the operations of the nation’s navy medical system.

“In immediately’s assembly with defence minister [Rustem] Umerov, priorities had been set,” the Ukrainian president stated in his nightly handle on Sunday. “There may be little time left to attend for outcomes. Fast motion is required for forthcoming adjustments.”

He added: “The duty is evident, as has been repeatedly confused in society, significantly amongst fight medics, we want a essentially new stage of medical help for our troopers.”

A variety of enhancements are wanted, Mr Zelensky stated – from higher tourniquets, to enhancements in digitalisation and communication.

Ms Ostashchenko was changed by Main Common Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, head of a navy clinic in Kyiv.

US defence secretary arrives in Kyiv

07:45 , Andy Gregory

US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin has arrived for a go to in Kyiv.

Two killed as grenade explodes in Kyiv condo

07:26 , Andy Gregory

A Ukrainian soldier and a lady died when a grenade exploded in an condo in Kyiv, injuring a second man, police stated.

Explosives technicians and investigators had been working on the scene of Sunday’s explosion within the Dniprovskiy district, Kyiv police stated in an announcement.

“A citizen contacted the police with a report that an explosion rang out in a neighbouring condo,” they added.

Earlier this month, an aide to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Common Valery Zaluzhnyi, died when a grenade given to him as a birthday reward blew up.

An orphaned teenager who was taken to Russia early within the Ukraine conflict is again residence with kin

07:00 , Holly Evans

An orphaned Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia final yr throughout the conflict in his nation returned residence after being reunited with kin in Belarus on his 18th birthday Sunday.

Bohdan Yermokhin was pictured embracing relations in Minsk in pictures shared on social media by Russia’s youngsters’s rights ombudswoman, Maria Lvova-Belova.

Andrii Yermak, the top of the Ukrainian president’s workplace, confirmed that Yermokhin had arrived again in Ukraine and shared a photograph of him with a Ukrainian flag. Yermak thanked UNICEF and Qatari negotiators for facilitating Yermokhin’s return.

Learn the total article right here

An orphaned teenager who was taken to Russia early within the Ukraine conflict is again residence with kin

Putin might face new conflict crime case as proof suggests hunger of Ukraine was pre-planned

05:30 , Holly Evans

Russia was actively making ready to steal grain provides and starve the Ukrainian inhabitants of meals for months earlier than Vladimir Putin ordered final yr’s invasion, in response to new proof compiled by human rights consultants.

When Russian tanks did roll throughout the border on 24 February 2022 they intentionally focused grain-rich areas and meals manufacturing infrastructure first, the brand new report by worldwide human rights legislation agency World Rights Compliance discovered.

GRC discovered that Russia’s defence contractor started buying vans to move grain, in addition to three new 170-metre bulk provider cargo ships, as early as December 2021, proof of advance planning for the pillage of Ukrainian meals assets “on an unprecedented scale”.

Learn the total article right here

Putin might face new conflict crime case over ‘deliberate’ hunger of Ukraine

Spouse of twice-poisoned Briton held in Kremlin jail fears ‘time is working out’

04:30 , Holly Evans

The spouse of a British-Russian nationwide held in a Krelimn jail says she fears time is working out, and has referred to as for the UK to take extra pressing motion to free him.

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

The Vladimir Putin critic was jailed for 25 years in April this yr on prices of treason and spreading “false data” about Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

Learn the total article right here

Spouse of twice-poisoned Briton held in Kremlin jail fears ‘time is working out’

Zelensky requires speedy operation adjustments and sacks commander

03:30 , Holly Evans

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday demanded speedy adjustments within the operations of Ukraine’s navy and introduced the dismissal of the commander of the navy’s medical forces.

Zelensky’s transfer was introduced as he met Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and coincided with debate over the conduct of the 20-month-old conflict in opposition to Russia, with questions over how shortly a counteroffensive within the east and south is continuing.

“In immediately’s assembly with Defence Minister Umerov, priorities had been set,” Zelensky stated in his nightly video handle. “There may be little time left to attend for outcomes. Fast motion is required for forthcoming adjustments.”

Zelensky stated he had changed Main-Common Tetiana Ostashchenko as commander of the Armed Forces Medical Forces.

“The duty is evident, as has been repeatedly confused in society, significantly amongst fight medics, we want a essentially new stage of medical help for our troopers,” he stated.

This, he stated, included a spread of points — higher tourniquets, digitalisation and higher communication.

Umerov acknowledged the change on the Telegram messaging app and set as prime priorities digitalisation, “tactical medication” and rotation of servicemen.

Plight of 1 Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

02:30 , Holly Evans

Kamianka lies in a captivating valley of vivid flowers and plush bushes. It was once portrayed as a mannequin village for a contented life in rural idyll. It was additionally a spot of archaeological and geological lure, with its uncommon bronze age and Scythian websites and Jurassic limestone cliffs attracting guests from afar.

The settlement, set in a sleepy hole, was established within the 18th century by a depend from the Tsar of Russia’s court docket who had returned from Britain with new strategies of farming and an English bride. Eager to place his new information into observe, he allotted land, constructed a mill, constructed roads and funded a church and a faculty.

However Kamianka, in jap Ukraine, additionally has a darkish historical past of violence.

Learn the total article from Kim Sengupta right here

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – now is just not the second for the West to show away

01:30 , Holly Evans

hen Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was fooled not too long ago by two well-known Russian “comics” – absolutely paid-up Kremlin brokers – into saying she was “drained” of the conflict in Ukraine and that everybody would quickly be on the lookout for a “means out”, too a lot of her counterparts within the West would have tacitly agreed (and maybe sympathised: she is hardly the primary to be pranked by these two).

However Ms Meloni deserves no sympathy. She thought she was speaking to the top of the African Union Fee so this could have been an opportunity to train statecraft and cause with the supposed consultant from the World South and argue that Russia’s conflict in Ukraine is nothing if not colonialist itself – a determined try to keep up its empire.

Russia, with an abundance of chutzpah and an absence of disgrace, claims that it’s the West that’s being colonialist in forcing its designs on Kyiv (even supposedly “Nazi-ruled Kyiv”). You need to apply to affix Nato and the EU, after all, however information like these are irrelevant.

Learn the total article from James Nixey right here

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – the West should not flip away now

Moscow mayor says air defence items intercept drone focusing on metropolis

00:30 , Holly Evans

Air defence items in Moscow intercepted a drone focusing on town on Sunday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated.

Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, stated items within the Elektrostal district within the capital’s east had intercepted the drone.

In keeping with preliminary data, falling particles ensuing from the operation had induced no casualties or harm, Sobyanin stated.

UK defence ministry say ‘few instant prospects’ for change alongside entrance line

Sunday 19 November 2023 23:30 , Holly Evans

Russian drones have focused Kyiv because the British Defence Ministry stated there have been “few instant prospects” for main change alongside the Ukrainian entrance line because the conflict enters its second winter.

Russia launched 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones in a single day, focusing on the Ukrainian capital and the Cherkasy and Poltava areas, in response to a navy assertion.

Ukrainian anti-aircraft programs shot down 15 of the drones.

The in a single day strike on Kyiv is the second assault on the Ukrainian capital in 48 hours, stated town’s Army Administration spokesperson, Serhii Popko.

He stated that the drones attacked Kyiv from completely different instructions in waves that had been “always altering vectors”.

Preliminary studies indicated no casualties or essential harm, he stated.

Round 3,000 vans caught at Ukrainian border because of Polish drivers’ blockade

Sunday 19 November 2023 22:30 , Holly Evans

bout 3,000 principally Ukrainian vans had been caught on the Polish facet of the border as of Sunday morning because of a greater than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities stated.

Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to 3 border crossings with Ukraine to protest in opposition to what they see as authorities inaction over a lack of enterprise to international opponents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian officers stated final week Kyiv and Warsaw had once more failed to achieve an settlement to cease the protest.

“For over 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked on the Polish border. 1000’s of persons are compelled to dwell in troublesome circumstances with restricted meals, water and gas,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Ukraine’s Prime Minister, stated on X, previously Twitter.

He stated vans had been backed up greater than 30 kms (18.6 miles)in the direction of the Yahodyn crossing, greater than 10 kms in the direction of Rava-Ruska, and greater than 16 kms in the direction of the Krakivets crossing.

Russia and Iran name for ceasefire in Gaza

Sunday 19 November 2023 21:30 , Holly Evans

Russia and Iran’s international ministers on Sunday referred to as for a ceasefire in Gaza and stated that pressing help should be given to the civilian inhabitants there.

Russia stated International Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Iranian International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on the request of Tehran.

“Through the dialog, major consideration was centered on the present scenario within the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli battle,” Russia’s international ministry stated.

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 20:39 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied metropolis of Mariupol throughout the conflict and prevented from leaving the nation earlier this yr returned to Ukraine on Sunday.

Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this month to assist convey him again to Ukraine. In March, he tried to depart Russia for Ukraine through Belarus, however was stopped and despatched again.

“I believed I might be in Ukraine, however not on this present day,” Yermokhin instructed Reuters whereas consuming at a petroleum station after crossing into Ukraine.

“It is a very nice reward, to place it in the suitable means. The feelings are overwhelming, all good, with the notion that Ukraine wants me.”

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

“Many makes an attempt had been made to assist him. I’m pleased all the things labored out,” he stated, expressing due to Ukrainian officers, worldwide organisations, and significantly the U.N. Kids’s Fund, UNICEF, and authorities in Qatar for assist in mediation.

Hungary’s Orban says Ukraine ‘gentle years away’ from becoming a member of EU

Sunday 19 November 2023 19:30 , Athena Stavrou

Hungary’s prime minister has stated Ukraine is “gentle years away” from becoming a member of the European Union, additional signalling that his authorities is prone to current a roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to affix the bloc.

Talking at a biannual congress of his nationalist Fidesz social gathering, Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated he and his authorities would “resist” talks scheduled for mid-December on whether or not to formally invite Ukraine to begin membership negotiations.

Admitting a brand new nation requires unanimous approval from all current member nations, giving Mr Orban a robust veto.

Mr Orban stated afterwards that standing in the best way of Ukraine becoming a member of the EU could be certainly one of his authorities’s prime priorities within the coming months.

“Our process will likely be to appropriate the mistaken promise to begin negotiations with Ukraine, since Ukraine is now gentle years away from the European Union,” Mr Orban stated.

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 18:45 , Athena Stavrou

Russia beneath President Vladimir Putin has been closing in on those that problem the Kremlin. Protesters and activists have been arrested or imprisoned, unbiased information retailers have been silenced, and varied teams have been added to registers of “international brokers” and “undesirable organizations.”

The crackdown has been occurring for years.

Full report:

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

Ukraine ‘making ready for winter assaults’

Sunday 19 November 2023 18:00 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine is making ready for additional assaults on their power grid this winter.

In his nightly handle on Saturday, Ukrainian president Zelensky stated that the “nearer we’re to winter, the extra Russians will attempt to make the strikes extra highly effective.”

Zelenksy has beforehand raised considerations over Russian assaults on Ukraines power grid – which grew to become a first-rate goal final yr.

Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the top of power agency Ukrenergo, instructed native media: “All of us power staff and defence forces are making ready to repel attainable Russian assaults on the power infrastructure this winter.”

1000’s of Ukrainian youngsters forcefully taken to Belarus through Russia, research finds

Sunday 19 November 2023 17:15 , Athena Stavrou

1000’s of youngsters from Ukraine aged between six and 17 years outdated have been forcefully transferred to 13 services throughout Belarus since Russia‘s invasion final yr, a research by Yale College has discovered.

The Humanitarian Analysis Lab at Yale College of Public Well being discovered that the switch of two,442 youngsters was “straight overseen” by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko – a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Full report:

1000’s of Ukrainian youngsters forcefully taken to Belarus through Russia, research finds

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 16:30 , Athena Stavrou

A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied metropolis of Mariupol throughout the conflict and prevented from leaving the nation earlier this yr returned to Ukraine on Sunday.

Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this month to assist convey him again to Ukraine. In March, he tried to depart Russia for Ukraine through Belarus, however was stopped and despatched again.

Ukraine says 20,000 youngsters have been illegally transferred to Russia for the reason that full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, with some being put up for adoption. Kyiv says this can be a conflict crime, an allegation denied by Russia, which says it was defending youngsters in a conflict zone.

Yermokhin, an orphan from the Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol that was captured by Moscow’s troops throughout the first yr of the conflict, was taken to Russia and positioned in a foster household within the Moscow area.

On Sunday, Reuters correspondents at Kortelisy, a Ukrainian village close to the border with Belarus, noticed Yermokhin pushed into Ukraine from the border in a van. Requested if he was glad to be again in Ukraine, Yermokhin stated “sure”.

Putin to participate in G20 summit

Sunday 19 November 2023 15:45 , Athena Stavrou

Russian president Vladimir Putin is anticipated to participate in a digital G20 summit subsequent week, in response to native media.

The convention is about to be hosted by India and occur on Wednesday, as reported by Russian information company TASS, citing the TV channel ‘Russia-1’.

Putin didn’t attend the final two G20 conferences in India in September and Indonesia final yr. He has taken few journeys outdoors Russia for the reason that Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian chief over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian youngsters.

Newest footage from Ukraine

Sunday 19 November 2023 15:03 , Athena Stavrou

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – now is just not the second for the West to show away

Sunday 19 November 2023 14:20 , Athena Stavrou

Regardless of sluggish progress, the Conflict in Ukraine has not reached a stalemate.

Ukraine’s forces can solely win if the West exhibits a renewed dedication to forcing Russia out, James Nixey writes:

Russia’s plan B in Ukraine is working – the West should not flip away now

Round 3,000 vans caught at Ukrainian border

Sunday 19 November 2023 13:19 , Athena Stavrou

About 3,000 principally Ukrainian vans had been caught on the Polish facet of the border as of Sunday morning because of a greater than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities stated.

Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to 3 border crossings with Ukraine to protest in opposition to what they see as authorities inaction over a lack of enterprise to international opponents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian officers stated final week Kyiv and Warsaw had once more failed to achieve an settlement to cease the protest.

“For over 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked on the Polish border. 1000’s of persons are compelled to dwell in troublesome circumstances with restricted meals, water and gas,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Ukraine‘s Prime Minister, stated on X, previously Twitter.

He stated vans had been backed up greater than 30 kms (18.6 miles)in the direction of the Yahodyn crossing, greater than 10 kms in the direction of Rava-Ruska, and greater than 16 kms in the direction of the Krakivets crossing.

Ukrainian grain brokers stated final week Ukraine‘s shipments of meals by street decreased 2.7% within the first 13 days of November because of difficulties on the Polish border attributable to a drivers’ strike.

Ukrainian military pushing Russian forces again at Dnipro river

Sunday 19 November 2023 12:05 , Athena Stavrou

The Ukrainian military stated on Sunday that it has pushed Russian forces again “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of Dnipro river.

If confirmed, it might be the primary significant advance by Kyiv’s forces months right into a disappointing counteroffensive.

“Preliminary figures range from three to eight kilometres, relying on the specifics, geography and panorama design of the left financial institution,” military spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk instructed Ukrainian tv Sunday, with out specifying whether or not Ukraine’s navy had full management of the world or if the Russians had retreated.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on reverse sides of the huge waterway within the southern Kherson area for greater than a yr, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western financial institution final November.

Ukrainian forces have staged a number of makes an attempt to cross and maintain positions on the Russian-controlled facet — with officers in Kyiv lastly reporting a “profitable” breakthrough final week.

‘Higher preventing capability’ of Ukrainian recruits skilled by UK

Sunday 19 November 2023 11:54 , Athena Stavrou

A Ukrainian navy spokesperson has stated recruits skilled within the UK’s Interflex coaching course have a “higher preventing capability”.

Operation Interflex was launched by the UK Armed Forces in June 2022 to develop and higher put together Ukrainian troopers. Recruits spend 5 weeks within the UK receiving intense coaching.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence posted on X, previously generally known as Twitter, that 30,000 Ukrainians have been skilled via Op Interflex.

They shared a remark from a Ukrainian armed forces spokesperson that stated: “We discover the higher preventing capability of the servicemen and ladies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who accomplished the Interflex coaching course.”

5 damage in Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine says

Sunday 19 November 2023 10:56 , Athena Stavrou

5 folks together with a 3-year-old lady had been injured in Russian artillery shelling of Kherson on Sunday morning, Ukrainian inside minister Ihor Klymenko stated.

“All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The kid and the grandmother had been strolling within the yard. Enemy artillery hit them close to the doorway,” Klymenko stated on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian troops deserted Kherson and the western financial institution of the Dnipro River within the area late final yr, however now often shell these areas from positions on the jap financial institution.

Reuters couldn’t independently verify the report.

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 10:15 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian troops labored to push again Russian forces positioned on the east financial institution of the Dnieper River, the navy stated Saturday.

It comes a day after Ukraine claimed to have secured a number of bridgeheads on that facet of the river that divides the nation’s partially occupied Kherson area.

Ukraine’s institution of footholds on on the Russian-held financial institution of the Dnieper represents a small however probably vital strategic advance within the midst of a conflict largely at a standstill.

The Common Workers of Ukraine’s armed forces stated its troops there had repelled 12 assaults by the Russian military between Friday and Saturday.

The Ukrainians now had been attempting to “push again Russian military items so far as attainable as a way to make life simpler for the (western) financial institution of the Kherson area, in order that they get shelled much less,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, stated.

The Russian navy stated on Saturday it had closely bombed Ukrainian forces across the River Dnipro in southern Ukraine and killed as much as 75 Ukrainian troopers.

Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the battlefield declare.

Jailed Russian nationalist Girkin ‘needs to run for president’

Sunday 19 November 2023 09:49 , Athena Stavrou

Professional-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who’s in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, has stated he needs to run for president within the March 2024 election, his supporters stated, citing a letter from jail.

A presidential election in Russia is about to happen in March 2024 with present president Vladimir Putin anticipated to additionally run as soon as once more.

Girkin has repeatedly warned that Russia faces revolution and even civil conflict until Putin’s navy prime brass combat the conflict in Ukraine extra successfully.

Oleg Nelzin, co-chairman of the Russian motion supporting Strelkov, learn out a letter from Girkin wherein he requested supporters to begin work on placing him ahead to run within the March election.

An image of Girkin, 52, above a slogan “Our president – Igor Ivanovich Strelkov – ‘24,” was projected on a display behind Nelzin as he spoke. Applause adopted on the assembly, a clip of which Girkin’s supporters posted on Telegram.

Russia has cracked down on nationalist critics, who’ve referred to as for a a lot more durable strategy to preventing the conflict together with martial legislation and a country-wide mobilisation, after the failed June mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Russia ‘contemplating bringing Soviet-era plane again into service’

Sunday 19 November 2023 09:10 , Athena Stavrou

Russia is probably going contemplating bringing a Soviet-era plane again into service, in response to Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

Of their newest defence intelligence replace, the UK stated the M-55 MYSTIC B excessive altitude reconnaissance plane could come again into service.

With an working ceiling of over 70,000 ft, the plane has been not too long ago employed as an earth-sciences analysis platform. Nevertheless, it has been noticed carrying a navy reconnaissance pod, developed for employment on Russian fighter plane.

The defence ministry added that it was “nearly sure” that the plane will conduct missions in opposition to Ukraine from the “relative security of Russian airspace”.

Zelensky points sanctions for 108 folks

Sunday 19 November 2023 08:38 , Athena Stavrou

Ukrainian Presidenty Zelensky has sanctioned 37 Russian teams and 108 folks together with a former prime minister and a former training minister.

“We’re growing the strain of our state onto them and every of them should be held accountable for what they’ve finished,” he stated in his nightly video handle on Saturday, after his workplace issued corresponding decrees together with his signature.

Zelenskiy didn’t affiliate particular people or teams with specific wrongdoings. The decrees confirmed a spread of 10-year penalties in opposition to people and five-year penalties in opposition to non-profit teams together with one named in English because the “Russian Kids’s Basis.”

Zelenskiy stated in his handle that the listing included “these concerned within the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian youngsters from the occupied territory” and people who “in varied methods assist Russian terror in opposition to Ukraine.”

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

With former President Viktor Yanukovich, Azarov beforehand had property and property frozen amongst different penalties. The 2 males fled Ukraine for Russia in 2014 after a crackdown on avenue protests that killed greater than 100 demonstrators in Kyiv.

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 07:48 , Andy Gregory

Russia launched a number of waves of drone assaults on Kyiv for the second night time in row, stepping up its assaults on the Ukrainian capital after a number of weeks of pause, the top of town’s navy administration has stated.

“The enemy’s UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] had been launched in lots of teams and attacked Kyiv in waves, from completely different instructions, on the identical time always altering the vectors of motion alongside the route,” Serhiy Popko stated.

“That’s the reason the air raid alerts had been introduced a number of occasions within the capital.”

In keeping with preliminary data Ukraine’s air defence programs hit near 10 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones in Kyiv and its outskirts, Mr Popko stated.

There have been no preliminary studies of “essential harm” or casualties, he added.

Plight of 1 Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

Sunday 19 November 2023 06:00 , Holly Evans

Kamianka lies in a captivating valley of vivid flowers and plush bushes. It was once portrayed as a mannequin village for a contented life in rural idyll. It was additionally a spot of archaeological and geological lure, with its uncommon bronze age and Scythian websites and Jurassic limestone cliffs attracting guests from afar.

The settlement, set in a sleepy hole, was established within the 18th century by a depend from the Tsar of Russia’s court docket who had returned from Britain with new strategies of farming and an English bride. Eager to place his new information into observe, he allotted land, constructed a mill, constructed roads and funded a church and a faculty.

However Kamianka, in jap Ukraine, additionally has a darkish historical past of violence. Its strategic place on the banks of the Siversky Donets River made it a battleground for armies over the ages.

Learn the total story from Kim Sengupta right here

Bombs and betrayal: Plight of 1 Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

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

Sunday 19 November 2023 05:00 , Holly Evans

Russia beneath President Vladimir Putin has been closing in on those that problem the Kremlin. Protesters and activists have been arrested or imprisoned, unbiased information retailers have been silenced, and varied teams have been added to registers of “international brokers” and “undesirable organizations.”

The crackdown has been occurring for years.

Nevertheless it elevated inside days of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when Russia adopted a legislation criminalizing the spreading of “false data” concerning the navy, successfully outlawing any public expression concerning the conflict that deviated from the official narrative. Scores of individuals have been prosecuted beneath the brand new legislation, and people implicated in high-profile circumstances have been given lengthy jail phrases.

Learn extra right here

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

The Lazarus Undertaking star says sequence predicted Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sunday 19 November 2023 04:00 , Holly Evans

The Lazarus Undertaking star says sequence predicted Russia-Ukraine conflict

Former Financial institution of Russia deputy positioned on Moscow’s wished listing

Sunday 19 November 2023 03:00 , Holly Evans

Russia’s inside ministry has positioned former Financial institution of Russia deputy governor and senior politician Sergei Aleksashenko on its wished listing, Russian state information businesses have reported.

Mr Aleksashenko, who has criticised Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, has been residing in exile in the USA after falling out with President Vladimir Putin’s authorities and had already been designated a “international agent”.

Tass reported that Mr Aleksashenko had been added to the inside ministry’s wished listing on an unspecified felony cost. Mr Aleksashenko stated on Telegram that he had been listed on the database for 5 years already, however urged that being added to the wished listing was a brand new growth.

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

The world’s consideration is on Gaza, and Ukrainians fear conflict fatigue will damage their trigger

Sunday 19 November 2023 02:00 , Holly Evans

When Tymofii Postoiuk and his associates arrange a web-based fundraising effort for Ukraine, donations poured in from across the globe, serving to to buy important gear for Ukrainian armed forces.

Because the preventing with Russia wore on and conflict fatigue set in, the donations slowed down, however cash continued to return in steadily. Then the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7.

With the beginning of one other main battle, social media networks together with X, previously generally known as Twitter, had been flooded with information from the Center East. “Our fundraising posts and updates merely get misplaced in between these tweets,” Postoiuk stated.

Learn extra right here

The world’s consideration is on Gaza, and Ukrainians fear conflict fatigue will damage their trigger

1000’s of Ukrainian youngsters forcefully taken to Belarus through Russia, research finds

Sunday 19 November 2023 01:00 , Holly Evans

1000’s of youngsters from Ukraine aged between six and 17 years outdated have been forcefully transferred to 13 services throughout Belarus since Russia‘s invasion final yr, a research by Yale College has discovered.

The Humanitarian Analysis Lab at Yale College of Public Well being discovered that the switch of two,442 youngsters was “straight overseen” by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko – a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The Worldwide Prison Court docket in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president in March, accusing him and Russia’s Kids’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, of the conflict crime of illegally deporting tons of of youngsters from Ukraine.

Learn extra right here

1000’s of Ukrainian youngsters forcefully taken to Belarus through Russia, research finds

Ukraine pushes again Russian troops from Dnieper River

Sunday 19 November 2023 00:00 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian troops labored to push again Russian forces positioned on the east financial institution of the Dnieper River, the navy stated Saturday, a day after Ukraine claimed to have secured a number of bridgeheads on that facet of the river that divides the nation’s partially occupied Kherson area.

Ukraine‘s institution of footholds on on the Russian-held financial institution of the Dnieper represents a small however probably vital strategic advance within the midst of a conflict largely at a standstill.

The Common Workers of Ukraine‘s armed forces stated its troops there had repelled 12 assaults by the Russian military between Friday and Saturday. The Ukrainians now had been attempting to “push again Russian military items so far as attainable as a way to make life simpler for the (western) financial institution of the Kherson area, in order that they get shelled much less,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine‘s Southern Operational Command, stated.

In response, the Russian navy used “tactical aviation,” together with Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, to attempt to pin down Ukraine‘s troops, Humeniuk stated.

The harrowing Ukraine conflict doc ’20 Days in Mariupol’ is coming to TV. Here is find out how to watch

Sunday 19 November 2023 00:00 , Holly Evans

The visceral documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” about Russia’s early assault on the Ukrainian metropolis, will quickly attain its widest viewers but.

The 94-minute movie, a joint manufacturing by The Related Press and PBS “Frontline,” has been met with essential acclaim and an viewers award on the Sundance Movie Competition.

AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov directed the film from 30 hours of footage shot in Mariupol within the opening days of the conflict. Chernov and AP colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka, a photographer, and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko had been the final worldwide journalists within the metropolis earlier than escaping.

Ukraine says it’s pushing Putin’s forces again in ‘successes’ on Dnipro River’s east financial institution

Saturday 18 November 2023 23:00 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian troopers out of positions on the jap financial institution of the River Dnipro within the occupied Kherson area, Kyiv’s navy stated on Friday.

Crossing the Dnipro and transporting heavy navy gear and provides over the river might enable Ukrainian troops to open a brand new line of assault within the south on probably the most direct land path to Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Ukrainian marines stated that they’d had a sequence of “successes”, established a number of bridgeheads and performed different operations on the river’s jap facet. Russia conceded for the primary time this week that Kyiv’s troops had crossed the Dnipro.

Learn the total story right here

Ukraine says it’s pushing Russia again in ‘successes’ on Dnipro River’s east financial institution

Two useless in Russian strikes close to entrance line

Saturday 18 November 2023 22:00 , Holly Evans

At the least two folks have died and several other extra had been injured after Russian strikes hit a village close to the entrance line within the Zaporizhzhia area, Ukrainian police stated.

The strikes occurred within the village of Komyshuvakha.

“Because of the primary two strikes, 4 native residents had been injured and a fireplace broke out in a residential constructing,” Ukrainian police stated in an announcement.

“When the police and rescuers arrived on the scene, Russians performed one other strike. Two emergency service staff had been killed, and three extra had been injured.”

The Moscow Instances is asserted ‘international agent’

Saturday 18 November 2023 21:00 , Holly Evans

Russia‘s Justice Ministry on Friday added The Moscow Instances, a web-based newspaper common amongst Russia’s expatriate neighborhood, to its listing of “international brokers” within the nation’s persevering with crackdown on essential information media and opposition.

The “international agent” designation topics people and organizations to elevated monetary scrutiny and requires any of their public materials to prominently embody discover of being declared a international agent. The label is seen as a pejorative aimed toward undermining the designees’ credibility.

Learn extra right here

The Moscow Instances, famous for its English protection of Russia, is asserted a ‘international 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 limitations at two crossings on Finland’s border with Russia on Saturday, the Finnish Border Guard stated, after Helsinki erected barricades to halt a circulate of asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.

The Finnish authorities has accused Russia of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its choice to extend defence cooperation with the USA, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.

The Finnish Border Guard erected limitations from midnight on Friday on the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland, which account for many of the visitors between the 2 nations.

Hungary’s Orban says Ukraine ‘gentle years away’ from becoming a member of EU

Saturday 18 November 2023 19:00 , Holly Evans

Hungary’s prime minister has stated Ukraine is “gentle years away” from becoming a member of the European Union, additional signalling that his authorities is prone to current a roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to affix the bloc.

Talking at a biannual congress of his nationalist Fidesz social gathering, Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated he and his authorities would “resist” talks scheduled for mid-December on whether or not to formally invite Ukraine to begin membership negotiations.

Admitting a brand new nation requires unanimous approval from all current member nations, giving Mr Orban a robust veto.

Mr Orban stated afterwards that standing in the best way of Ukraine becoming a member of the EU could be certainly one of his authorities’s prime priorities within the coming months.

“Our process will likely be to appropriate the mistaken promise to begin negotiations with Ukraine, since Ukraine is now gentle years away from the European Union,” Mr Orban stated.

Aftermath of a Russian drone assault in Zaporizhhzia area

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:52 , Jabed Ahmed

Footage under present firefighters working on the web site the place homes had been broken by a Russian drone strike, within the Zaporizhzhia area on Friday night time.

Ukrainian police stated Russia fired a sequence of rockets on the village of Komyshuvakha, near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia annexed final yr.

Two first responders had been additionally killed by the rocket assaults.

Russian docs name for launch of imprisoned artist who protested Ukraine conflict

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:30 , Jabed Ahmed

Greater than 100 Russian docs have signed an open letter immediately that calls for the instant launch of Sasha Skochilenko, an artist and musician who was sentenced to seven years in jail for changing grocery store worth tags with anti-war slogans.

The letter calling for the artist to be freed was addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned that point in jail might result in a “vital deterioration” within the 33-year-old artist’s well being.

Skochilenko was “recognized with quite a lot of extreme continual ailments that require correct medical supervision and a particular food regimen,” states the letter, which additionally notes the docs’ anger on the “apparent injustice of the decision.”

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

She was charged final April with discrediting Russia’s armed forces and spreading misinformation concerning the “particular navy operation”.

“The Russian military bombed an arts faculty in Mariupol. Some 400 folks had been hiding in it from the shelling,” one changed price ticket learn. One other stated, “Russian conscripts are being despatched to Ukraine. Lives of our youngsters are the worth of this conflict.”