Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said grain exports through the Black Sea safe-passage corridor will continue, as foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations prepared to meet in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s plight, including Russian attacks on water and power supplies.
(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said grain exports through the Black Sea safe-passage corridor will continue, as foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations prepared to meet in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s plight, including Russian attacks on water and power supplies.
The G-7 is still working to bring other nations on board with its plan to cap Russian oil prices, even as the US is scaling back the scheme and trying to offer clarity about the plan to oil traders.
A senior occupation official said Moscow’s troops will “most likely” pull out of the city of Kherson, which Russia captured in the first days of its invasion, and move to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
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Key Developments
- Turkey Unlikely to Sign Off on Swedish NATO Bid Before Year-End
- Wheat Extends Slump as Russia Resumes Ukraine Grain-Export Deal
- Ukraine’s First Lady Urges World to Resist Fatigue With the War
- Uniper Suffers €40 Billion Loss Amid Russian Gas Supply Cuts
- How Ukrainians Are Protecting Their Centuries-Old Culture From Putin’s Invasion
On the Ground
The areas of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region remain the most tense on the front line, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for eastern operational command, said on TV. Constant position battles are taking place there and Ukrainian troops are holding the defense line, he said. Due to lack of strategy and training, the losses of Russian troops have risen to 100 people killed and as many wounded per day. A Russian drone damaged an energy facility in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine late Wednesday, leaving several districts without electricity and water, mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.
(All times CET)
Russian Forces ‘Likely’ to Leave Kherson, Occupation Official Says (1:40 p.m.)
Russian troops will “most likely” pull out of the city of Kherson and move to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, an occupation official said, as Ukrainian forces step up pressure in the area.
“Most likely, our units, our forces will move to the left bank part of the Kherson region and those people who haven’t already should get out of the city of Kherson as fast as possible,” Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian occupation administration, said in an online interview with state media.
Though he said Russia’s defensive line is holding, Kyiv’s forces have made steady gains there in recent weeks, cutting off bridges across the Dnipro River. The city of Kherson lies on the west, or right, bank, while the rest of the Kherson region is to the east. Kherson was captured by Kremlin troops in the early days of Russia’s invasion.
Russian Central Bank Denies That Its Systems Were Hacked (1 p.m.)
Bank of Russia said it had found no evidence that its systems had been hacked, pushing back on a claim made on Telegram by Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for digital transformation.
“We checked the archive published by the hackers. All these documents were on the Internet in the public domain,” the central bank’s press service said in a statement. “No information systems of the Bank of Russia were hacked.”
Fedorov said earlier that Ukrainian cyberwarfare volunteers hacked into the central bank’s internal networks, and posted a link to what he said were 27,000 files obtained by the so-called IT Army of Ukraine.
About 120 Ships Still in Queue for Grain Corridor (11:55 a.m.)
While the queue has shrunk, about 120 vessels are still waiting for inspections in order to transit the Ukrainian crop-export corridor, according to an update from the United Nations. Most are waiting to head inbound for loading in Ukraine.
The Black Sea crop-export deal requires ships to be inspected in Istanbul before and after transiting Ukraine ports. A delegation from Russia re-joined the checks on Thursday, the UN said, the day after its government opted to resume participation in the pact.
Ukraine Set for More EU Funds in January (11:40 a.m.)
Ukraine could receive a first payment of a new European Union financial package in January, according to a senior EU official. There is a broad support among member states to move quickly and to accelerate the national procedures to approve the funds as much as possible, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is expected to present next week a mechanism to provide around 18 billion euros ($17.5 billion) in liquidity support to Ukraine next year in a more predictable and stable manner. A total of three billion euros promised last May still need to be approved by member states, although they could be released as part of the new package, the official added.
Microsoft Pledges Ukraine $100 Million in Tech Support (11.30 a.m.)
Microsoft Corp. will provide Ukraine with tech support worth $100 million next year, bringing the total to over $400 million since the Russian invasion, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said at the Web Summit in Lisbon.
Microsoft withdrew from Russia after the war started and has provided government agencies, critical infrastructure and other sectors in Ukraine access to its digital infrastructure and the Microsoft Cloud.
Turkey Unlikely to Sign Off on Swedish NATO Bid Before Year-End (11:15 a.m.)
Turkey is unlikely to sign off on Sweden’s bid for NATO membership before the end of the year, and the chances of this happening even before elections due next year are slim, according to officials familiar with the issue.
Sweden has not done enough to meet Turkish demands and the Turkish parliament’s agenda is full for the rest of the year, said the officials who asked not to be named on a confidential matter. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen to consolidate the votes of nationalists in the run-up to elections which are currently scheduled for June, they said. The vote may be held earlier.
Ukraine Never Put Grain Corridor at Risk, Official Says (10:55 a.m.)
Ukraine holds strictly to the grain agreement and has never exposed the corridor route to danger, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said on Facebook.
“Moscow returned to the grain agreement thanks to the active diplomacy of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In coordination with Ukraine, they found words that Putin understood,” Nikolenko said.
Russia Steps Up Air Raids Amid Logistics Problems, Hromov Says (10:50 a.m.)
Russia increased air raids from Crimea over Ukrainian territory as its artillery positioned on the right bank of the Dnipro river increasingly faces problems with supplies, military spokesman Oleksiy Hromov said in a video briefing.
Ukrainian air defenses downed four Russian military jets and nine helicopters over the past seven days, he said. Ukraine also shot down two-thirds of missiles and 40% of alleged Iranian drones launched by Russia over the same period. Russian forces fired 68 missiles and used 30 Shahed-136 drones against Ukraine since Oct. 27, according to Hromov.
Russia May Be Filling Tank Deficit With Belarus Help, UK Says (9:55 a.m.)
Russia has likely received at least 100 additional tanks and infantry fighting vehicles from the military stock in neighboring Belarus, the U.K. defense ministry said in an intelligence update.
Russian forces fighting in Ukraine have been losing more than 40 armored vehicles a day in mid-October amid the Ukrainian offensive, the ministry estimates. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops are struggling partially due to difficulties in sourcing both artillery ammunition and sufficient serviceable replacement armored vehicles, according to the statement.
Eight Ships Due Through Grain Corridor on Thursday, UN Says (8:55 a.m.)
Eight ships are scheduled to transit through the Ukraine crop-export corridor on Thursday, according to a United Nations spokesperson for the Black Sea Grain Initiative. That includes seven outbound ships, plus one inbound.
The moves come after Russia’s announcement Wednesday that it would resume its participation in the Ukraine grain deal, abruptly reversing course after suspending it over the weekend. The disruption had spurred a temporarily halt to vessel traffic through the channel. Ukraine exported 10 million tonnes of foodstuffs to 43 countries since the deal took effect, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Ukrainian Electricity Cutoffs Continue (8:10 a.m.)
Ukraine’s power grid operator NPC Ukrenergo continued electricity cutoffs in 10 out of the country’s 24 regions, excluding annexed Crimea, as the war-torn nation struggled to fix heavy damage inflicted by Russia’s air attacks since last month.
Emergency blackouts were extended to Thursday from the previous day in the Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, while scheduled power cutoffs lasting several hours persist in another seven northern and central regions, and in the capital Kyiv. Ukraine says 40% of its energy infrastructure has been damaged by Russia’s missile attacks.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Loses all External Power Again, Energoatom Says (8 a.m.)
The last two high-voltage power lines that connected the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to the national grid were damaged by Russian shelling on Wednesday, Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said on Telegram. The plant is now supplied by diesel generators, with fuel inventories sufficient to cover their work in complete blackout mode for 15 days, according to the statement.
Energoatom reiterated its appeal to the international community for urgent measures to demilitarize the plant, saying that Ukraine’s capabilities of ensuring security there are limited.
Zelenskiy Says Grain Exports Will Continue (7:50 a.m.)
“The grain export initiative will continue,” President Zelenskiy said in a statement. “Russian blackmailing has led to nothing.”
Zelenskiy said he had spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about issues including the security of the Black Sea grain-export corridor, and the return of Ukrainian prisoners. “We also discussed constant Russian provocations, Iranian drones, missile strikes of the Russian army,” he said. “For example today a Russian airplane launched cruise missiles near the Snake Island, and they flew over the grain corridor. Each such launch, and they are almost daily, directly threatens food export.”
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