The Buffalo Costs have been via a large amount considering that Monday when their teammate Damar Hamlincollapsed on the area, but Thursday was complete of favourable information about his health and fitness and development.
Hamlin’s doctors at the College of Cincinnati Health care Middle have introduced that there has been “sizeable enhancement in his ailment around the past 24 hrs.” His “neurological problem and operate is intact” and he’s “commencing to awaken.” He is opened his eyes and has been relocating his fingers and toes.
Hamlin continues to be critically unwell and will continue being in intense treatment for the time currently being, but it was very clear the medical doctors were being inspired by how he’s been responding. They have been designed guaranteed to point out that he “nonetheless has considerable development he requirements to make,” but his development over the final 24 hours “marks a definitely good turning issue in his ongoing care.”
The physicians also explained that Hamlin has been responsive to inquiries and instructions, and has even been inquiring inquiries of his possess. He’s however intubated and on a ventilator, so he hasn’t been capable to communicate, but he’s been composing thoughts with a pen and paper. One of the initially items Hamlin desired to know? Who gained Monday night’s video game.
A number of instances all through the news conference, the physicians manufactured a place to say that the lightning-speedy reaction from the Payments and Bengals medical practitioners and health-related staff on the area saved Hamlin’s existence and preserved his neurological functionality. They were at his aspect a lot less than 1 moment following he collapsed, gave him CPR instantly, shocked his heart, and continued to execute CPR on him, all of which was very important to keeping his coronary heart likely until eventually he could be set on a ventilator.
The Expenditures shared a much less-thorough version of the physicians’ report on Thursday morning, revealing that Hamlin experienced sown “impressive enhancement.” One of his teammates also tweeted that he was awake and displaying much more indications of advancement.
Payments to observe Thursday right after contact from Hamlin’s father
The information about Hamlin’s development will unquestionably give the entire staff a increase ahead of they reportedly practice Thursday for the first time given that Hamlin collapsed on the industry and went into cardiac arrest. That’s a huge phase for them to take looking at what they expert Monday night, but even before the beneficial news about Hamlin was announced, the Payments acquired a call from a extremely exclusive human being.
In accordance to a number of stories, Mario Hamlin, Damar’s father, spoke to the Charges via Zoom on Wednesday. He informed the gamers that Damar, who remains in significant condition in the ICU at the College of Cincinnati Health-related Heart, has been “earning development.”
Listening to from Mario was reportedly “psychological,” but it helped “tranquil” anyone down and was anything the staff “desired.”
Buffalo Expenses security Damar Hamlin is demonstrating signs of advancement right after struggling cardiac arrest Monday. (AP Photo/John McCoy)
Hamlin was wounded throughout the first quarter of the Monday night time recreation towards the Cincinnati Bengals. Right after taking a hit directly to the chest even though tackling extensive receiver Tee Higgins, Hamlin at initial bought up, but he just about promptly collapsed again down to the floor.
The Costs afterwards mentioned that Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field. The paramedics who rushed more than had to restart his stopped coronary heart and then administer CPR for practically 10 minutes prior to he could be loaded into an ambulance, which had driven ideal onto the industry, and taken to the healthcare facility.
The 15 minutes that elapsed concerning Hamlin’s injury and the ambulance driving away were chaotic and emotional. Expenditures gamers experienced occur onto the area to guidance their teammate, and lots of were being brazenly crying as they watched Hamlin acquire daily life-preserving CPR. At the time the recreation was postponed, Costs head mentor Sean McDermott and many players went to the healthcare facility to be with Hamlin.
The crew reportedly did not get back to Buffalo until eventually 2:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, and no formal pursuits had been held that day. The Bills came again alongside one another Wednesday for meetings and a walkthrough, as they even now have a recreation to perform towards the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Just after likely via this kind of an emotionally fraught couple of days, listening to from Mario Hamlin and acquiring a favourable update about Damar will only assistance the Costs as they get back to company.
The time in Kyiv is nearly 1pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s stories so far:
At least two powerful explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital in the early hours of Monday morning, as officials claim the city was hit by a series of Russian drones. Multiple local news sources reported the blasts in central Kyiv. Several loud blasts were also heard in the city’s surrounding regions, Reuters witnesses reported. A fire was also reported in Kyiv’s central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Ukraine’s air force says it shot down 30 out of 35 Russian-launched Shahed drones overnight. The Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones were reportedly launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov, the force added.
Russia’s drone attack caused “fairly serious” damage in Kyiv region on Monday and three areas in the region have been left without power supply, governor Oleksiy Kuleba has said. Russia unleashed 35 “kamikaze” drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday as many people slept, hitting critical infrastructure in and around Kyiv in Moscow’s third air attack on the Ukrainian capital in six days.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down four US-made HARM anti-radiation missiles over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, in the space of 24 hours, the state-run TASS news agency has reported. One person died and several were injured by Ukrainian shelling in the region on Sunday morning, the region’s governor told Reuters.
Belarus’ defence ministry said on Monday it had completed a series of inspections of its armed forces’ military preparedness, hours ahead of a visit to Minsk by Belarus’ most important ally, the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Weeks of military manoeuvres and inspections have raised fears in Kyiv that Belarus, which acted as a staging post for Russia to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February, could be preparing to take a more active role in the conflict once again, Reuters reported.
Russian troops that were moved to Belarus in October to become part of a regional formation will conduct battalion tactical exercises, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the Russian defence ministry.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is set to fly to Belarus on Monday amid fears he intends to pressure the former Soviet ally to join a new ground offensive against Ukraine and open a new front. His visit for talks with the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, will be his first to Minsk since 2019.
Russian military proxy group Wagner continues to take a major role in attritional combat around Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. In recent months, the group has developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited, the ministry notes in its latest intelligence report.
Rishi Sunak has touched down in the Latvian capital, where he is meeting northern European allies to discuss countering Russian aggression. He will urge fellow leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force to stand firm in their support for Ukraine, after announcing a major new artillery package for the war-torn nation.
EU countries will need to reach a compromise on a gas price cap on Monday, and the latest proposal on the table offers a good basis to do so, Malta’s energy minister, Miriam Dalli, has said. “What the presidency is proposing is a very good step in the right direction,” Dalli said before entering a meeting of the EU’s energy ministers.
Four people in the southern Russian border region of Belgorod were reportedly wounded by shelling on Sunday, the governor said. Witnesses reported loud blasts in the regional capital.
Ukraine’s forces are holding on to the heavily contested eastern city of Bakhmut, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “The Bakhmut direction is key,” he said in his latest national address. “We keep the city, although the occupiers are doing everything so that not a single undamaged wall remains there.”
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for now. My colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be along shortly to continue bringing you the latest from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down four US-made HARM anti-radiation missiles over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, in the space of 24 hours, the state-run TASS news agency has reported.
One person died and several were injured by Ukrainian shelling in the region on Sunday morning, the region’s governor told Reuters.
Belarus’ defence ministry said on Monday it had completed a series of inspections of its armed forces’ military preparedness, hours ahead of a visit to Minsk by Belarus’ most important ally, the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Weeks of military manoeuvres and inspections have raised fears in Kyiv that Belarus, which acted as a staging post for Russia to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February, could be preparing to take a more active role in the conflict once again, Reuters reported.
Rishi Sunak has touched down in the Latvian capital, where he is meeting northern European allies to discuss countering Russian aggression.
The UK prime minister landed in snowy Riga at 11.20am local time, stepping out of the plane into a gusty -4C, PA Media reported.
He will urge fellow leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force to stand firm in their support for Ukraine, after announcing a major new artillery package for the war-torn nation.
He will continue his whistlestop tour by flying to Estonia later on Monday, where he will meet British troops and sign a new technology partnership.
Russia’s drone attack caused “fairly serious” damage in Kyiv region on Monday and three areas in the region have been left without power supply, governor Oleksiy Kuleba has said.
Russia unleashed 35 “kamikaze” drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday as many people slept, hitting critical infrastructure in and around Kyiv in Moscow’s third air attack on the Ukrainian capital in six days.
EU countries will need to reach a compromise on a gas price cap on Monday, and the latest proposal on the table offers a good basis to do so, Malta’s energy minister, Miriam Dalli, has said.
“What the presidency is proposing is a very good step in the right direction,” Dalli said before entering a meeting of the EU’s energy ministers.
“It shows also the willingness to arrive at a compromise today. I’m convinced that today we will mange to compromise, I believe that the willingness is there. Today is crunch time.”
Critical power infrastructure burns after a drone attack in Kyiv this morning
Drones attacked the Ukrainian capital early on Monday, the Kyiv city military administration said, urging people to heed air alerts. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine’s air force says it shot down 30 out of 35 Russian-launched Shahed drones overnight.
The Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones were reportedly launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov, the force added.
ЗНИЩЕНО ТРИДЦЯТЬ “ШАХЕДІВ”
У ніч з 18 на 19 грудня 2022 російські окупанти атакували Україну дронами-камікадзе іранського виробництва «Shahed-136/131».
Russian troops that were moved to Belarus in October to become part of a regional formation will conduct battalion tactical exercises, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the Russian defence ministry.
Interfax cited the ministry’s statement as saying:
The final assessment of the combat capability and combat readiness of the units will be given by the command at the final stage of coordination – after the battalion tactical exercises have been conducted.”
It was not immediately clear when and where in Belarus the exercises will be conducted.
Belarus defence ministry said in October that 9,000 Russian troops were moving to the country as part of a “regional grouping” of forces to protect its borders.
Putin set to fly to Belarus
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is set to fly to Belarus on Monday amid fears he intends to pressure the former Soviet ally to join a new ground offensive against Ukraine and open a new front.
His visit for talks with the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, will be his first to Minsk since 2019. Ukrainian joint forces commander Serhiy Nayev said:
During (these talks) questions will be worked out for further aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular, in our opinion, also on the ground.”
Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhniy, told the Economist last week that Russia was preparing 200,000 fresh troops for a major offensive that could come from the east, south or even from Belarus as early as January, but more likely in spring.
There has been constant Russian and Belarusian military activity for months in Belarus. Russia also used its ally as a launch pad for an abortive attack on Kyiv in February.
Moscow and Minsk have since set up a joint regional unit of forces in Belarus and held numerous military exercises. Three Russian warplanes and an airborne early warning and control aircraft were deployed to Belarus last week.
Foreign diplomats say Lukashenko, a pariah in the west who relies heavily on Russian support, understands it would be a deeply unpopular step at home for him to commit troops to Ukraine. But he has already supported Russia’s war extensively.
Some military analysts see the manoeuvring as a ploy to make Ukraine commit forces to its north so it is more exposed to Russian assaults elsewhere.
UK to announce major new artillery package for Ukraine
The UK is set to announce a major new artillery package for Ukraine as British prime minister Rishi Sunak prepares to meet with his Nordic, Baltic and Dutch counterparts in Riga, Latvia, on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office and as cited by Agence France-Presse, he will announce Britain’s intention to supply “hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition next year under a £250m ($304m) contract that will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine throughout 2023”.
The prime minister will travel to Latvia for the leaders’ gathering of Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries, including Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands, which will be addressed by Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenksiy.
From the Arctic Circle to the Isle of Wight, the UK and our European allies have been in lockstep in our response to the invasion of Ukraine, and we remain steadfast in our ambition for peace in Europe once again,” Sunak said ahead of the visit.
But to achieve peace, we must deter aggression and our deployments across the region together are vital in ensuring we are able to respond to the gravest of threats. I know this Joint Expeditionary Force summit will only underline our close friendships and unwavering support for Ukraine.”
No 10 said the meeting would also discuss intelligence sharing between JEF countries, threats to infrastructure and hybrid threats posed by Russian aggression and bolstering support to Finland and Sweden ahead of their accession to Nato. Further announcements on joint military exercises are also expected.
Sunak is then expected to fly on to Estonia, where he will meet UK and Nato troops serving on the military alliance’s eastern flank on the Russian border.
Two injured in Kyiv drone attack – reports
New information published by Ukrainian authorities suggests that Russia’s earlier drone attack on Kyiv damaged critical infrastructure and injured two people.
Kyiv’s regional governor, Oleksiy Kuleba, wrote on Telegram this morning:
Infrastructure objects and private houses were damaged as a result of a night drone attack in the Kyiv region … two victims. People are given help – they are under the supervision of doctors.”
Russia’s Wagner recruits likely threatened with execution if they deviate from assault plan, UK says
Russian military proxy group Wagner continues to take a major role in attritional combat around Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
In recent months, the group has developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited, the ministry notes in its latest intelligence report.
Individual fighters are likely issued a smart phone or tablet which shows the individual’s designated axis of advance and assault objective superimposed on commercial satellite imagery.
At platoon level and above, commanders likely remain in cover and give orders over radios, informed by video feeds from small un-crewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Individuals and sections are ordered to proceed on the preplanned route, often with fire-support, but less often alongside armoured vehicles. Wagner operatives who deviate from their assault routes without authorisation are likely being threatened with summary execution.
These brutal tactics aim to conserve Wagner’s rare assets of experienced commanders and armoured vehicles, at the expense of the more readily available convict-recruits, which the organisation assesses as expendable.”
Kyiv hit by drone strike, officials say
At least two powerful explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital in the early hours of Monday morning, as officials claim the city was hit by a series of Russian drones.
Multiple local news sources reported the blasts in central Kyiv. Several loud blasts were also heard in the city’s surrounding regions, Reuters witnesses reported. A fire was also reported in Kyiv’s central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Ukraine’s armed forces first sounded the alarm in a Telegram alert about 2am local time, saying the military had sent air defences to protect the capital from drone attacks.
The Kyiv city state administration also sent an alert urging residents to seek shelter.
It later added that more than 20 Iranian-made drones were detected over Kyiv’s air space and at least 15 of them were shot down.
Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said air defence works were operating in the region and claimed the city was under a drone attack.
Kyiv’s military administration later said that nine Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down in Kyiv’s airspace. In a Telegram update, the administration said:
Air alert continues in Kyiv. The enemy is attacking the capital with ‘Shahed’ barrage ammunition. Air defence is being at work.”
It was not immediately clear whether the blasts were air defence systems destroying the drones or hitting targets.
⚡️Governor: Air defense at work in Kyiv Oblast amid drone attack.
Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram that the air defenses in Kyiv Oblast were operating “due to a Russian attack.”
Kuleba asked residents to stay in shelters as the “drone attack continues.”
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
A series of explosions have rocked Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours of this morning, according to regional officials.
Meanwhile, the UK is set to announce a major new artillery package for Ukraine as British prime minister Rishi Sunak prepares to meet with his Nordic, Baltic and Dutch counterparts in Riga, Latvia, on Monday.
For any updates or feedback you wish to share, please feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
The UK is set to announce a major new artillery package for Ukraine as British prime minister Rishi Sunak prepares to meet with his Nordic, Baltic and Dutch counterparts in Riga, Latvia, on Monday. According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office and as cited by Agence France-Presse, he will announce Britain’s intention to supply “hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition next year under a £250m ($304m) contract that will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine throughout 2023”.
Ukraine said Russian shelling targeted the southern city of Kherson on Sunday, which has faced repeated attacks since Kyiv’s forces recaptured it last month. “Another blow was delivered to the city centre. Three people were injured. They received shrapnel wounds, one wounded is in a serious condition,” deputy head of the president’s office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said. Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Sunday that Moscow’s troops had carried out 54 attacks on Kherson region with artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks and mortars over the previous day, leaving three dead and wounding six others.
Four people in the southern Russian border region of Belgorod were reportedly wounded by shelling on Sunday, the governor said. Witnesses reported loud blasts in the regional capital.
Ukraine’s forces are holding on to the heavily contested eastern city of Bakhmut, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “The Bakhmut direction is key,” he said in his latest national address. “We keep the city, although the occupiers are doing everything so that not a single undamaged wall remains there.”
Power has been restored to three million more Ukrainians after the latest Russian attacks on infrastructure, bringing the total to nine million after two days, Ukraine’s president has said. “Electricity supplies have been restored to a further three million Ukrainians,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his Sunday evening video address. “That means after the terrorist strikes on Friday, we have results already for nine million of our people.” Heating has also been fully restored to Kyiv, the city’s mayor said.
Protecting Ukraine’s borders is a “constant priority” as the country readies for all possible scenarios with Russia and its ally Belarus, Zelenskiy added. “Protecting our border, both with Russia and Belarus – is our constant priority,” he said in his nightly video address. “We are preparing for all possible defence scenarios.” Zelenskiy also issued a new appeal to western nations to provide Ukraine with effective air defences.
Russia will reportedly deploy musicians to Ukraine’s frontlines in a bid to boost morale, according to its defence ministry. The “frontline creative brigade” will be tasked with maintaining “a high moral, political and psychological state [among] the participants of the special military operation,” Russian outlet RBC news cited the ministry as saying. UK defence officials said the new unit is in keeping with the historic use of “military music and organised entertainment” to boost morale as low morale continues to be a “significant vulnerability across much of the Russian force”.
Iran’s foreign ministry has said it will not “seek permission from anyone” to expand relations with Russia, dismissing US concerns over a growing military partnership between Tehran and Moscow. Iran has been accused of supplying drones to Russia, allegedly used to attack Ukraine. CIA chief William Burns said the military cooperation between Iran and Russia “poses real threats” to US allies in the Middle East. Nasser Kanani, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, called the comments “baseless” adding that Tehran “acts independently in regulating its foreign relations and does not seek permission from anyone”.
Veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger believes the time is approaching for a negotiated peace in Ukraine. “The time is approaching to build on the strategic changes which have already been accomplished and to integrate them into a new structure towards achieving peace through negotiation,” Kissinger wrote in The Spectator magazine. “A peace process should link Ukraine to Nato, h owever expressed. The alternative of neutrality is no longer meaningful,” he added. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed the comments as amounting to “appeasing the aggressor” and said there could be no deal involving ceding territory. “Any agreement with the devil – a bad peace at the expense of Ukrainian territories – will be a victory for Putin and a recipe for success for autocrats around the world,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
A woman walks on an empty street in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on 18 December. Photograph: Reuters
Ukrainian president condemns ‘terrorist state’ rocket attack
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a response on Telegram to the earlier attack on the convoy in Zaporizhzhia. He wrote:
The terrorist state fires rockets at the civilian population in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. It strikes Ukrainian regions from rocket launchers and drones. The occupiers fired 16 rockets in one morning in Zaporizhzhia district alone. Only complete terrorists can do this, who should have no place in the civilised world. The enemy rages and seeks revenge for our steadfastness and his failures. It cynically destroys peaceful Ukrainians, because it lost everything human a long time ago. Bloodthirsty scum. You will definitely answer for every lost Ukrainian life.
Key events
Russian-held Lyman ‘semi-encircled’ by Ukrainian forces, says Donetsk self-proclaimed leader
The head of the Moscow-installed administration in east Ukraine’s Donetsk region has admitted that the Russian stronghold of Lyman is “semi-encircled” by the Ukrainian army.
It comes after western analysts said Russian forces faced “imminent defeat” in the key north-eastern city of Lyman as Ukrainian soldiers continue their counteroffensive in the east of the country.
The villages of Yampil and Drobysheve near the Russian-occupied Lyman “are no longer fully controlled” by Russian forces, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-backed leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said in a message posted on Telegram today.
The Ukrainian army “is trying with all its might to blacken this historic event for us”, Pushilin said, as Russian president Vladimir Putin stands poised to formally annex the Donetsk region from Ukraine.
Lyman, a key railway juncture about 100 miles (160km) south-east of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was captured by Russia in May after an extended battle.
Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev, citing Russian reports, said Ukrainian forces have now surrounded Lyman. The loss of this key city would be a major embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, he writes.
Russian war channels acknowledge niw that Ukraine has now surrounded Liman, a town of strategic military importance in Donbass. The loss of Liman just a day after Putin signed the annexation of “DNR”, which has claimed the city since May this year, will be a major embarrassment.
Ukrainian soldiers have also claimed they have retaken the village of Yampil, while pro-Russian Telegram channels said Russian troops have “withdrawn from Yampil to Lyman”.
On Thursday, the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said a possible collapse of the Lyman pocket would allow Ukrainian troops to “threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk” region.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Peter Beaumont
Volodymyr Marchuk, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, explained to the Guardian what had happened:
It’s a logistics hub to allow people go into the temporarily Russian occupied territories. The Russians only accept 150 cars a day so that’s why we created a programme, where people could come register and get their number in line.
So at 7.15 in the morning there were a large number of cars waiting for the turn to cross, mostly people who want to go to and drop off aid to relatives and maybe pick up people who want to leaver on the way back.
They hit that queue with an S-300 missile. There’s no doubt it is a deliberate war crime. They always say they are aiming at a military object and hit something else. But there are no military objects near that site. That’s why there’s no doubt that’s it’s a terrorist act.
Peter Beaumont
The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reports from Zaporizhzhia, after a civilian convoy of cars was hit by Russian forces this morning:
Even five hours after the attack it remained a scene of utter carnage with broken bodies spread around the site.
Many, it appears, had been standing outside of their vehicles, not far from a registration point with white tents and a desk when the missile flew in exploding some 10 metres from the cars leaving a huge crater.
In one car, a victim sat slumped dead with one hand gripping his steering wheel, the windows blown out.
Another body was slumped on its knees, covered with a blanket next to the luggage the person was pulling a few metres away.
Summary of the day so far …
A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine has been hit by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports saying at least 25 people were killed and 50 people injured. Footage posted on social media showed a horrific scene with dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city.
The governor of Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Starukh, said in a statement: “The enemy launched an attack on a civilian convoy and the outskirts of the city. People were standing in line to leave for the occupied territory to pick up their relatives and to deliver aid. There are dead and wounded. Emergency services are at the site.
According to locals, 60 cars had gathered on a road in two lines after registering for a convoy that was due to take people back into the Russian-occupied territories in the south, some planning to return to homes in places such as Mariupol, others planning to fetch relatives and bring them to government-occupied territory for fear that Russia will prevent people from leaving. In the hours before the attack, Russia launched strikes on several cities, including the centre of the nearby city of Dnipro.
Ukraine: footage shows aftermath of deadly Russian strike on civilian convoy – video
The attack on the convoy on Friday morning came amid a feared Russian escalation in its war in Ukraine, as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, prepared to publicly sign annexation orders for four regions.
Putin will sign accession documents at the Kremlin before delivering a speech. A pop concert is also planned on Red Square, where a stage and screens have been set up. The territory Russia controls amounts to about 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Ukraine’s total area.
The Kremlin said again on Friday that it would consider attacks against any part of the regions of Ukraine that it is about to annex – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as acts of aggression against Russia itself.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia would “de jure” incorporate parts of Ukraine which are not under the control of Russian forces. Of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson are the only territories that Russia is close to having total control over.
US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has reiterated her country’s opposition to Russia’s planned annexations, saying “Russia’s sham ‘referenda’ were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognise Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory.”
The UN secretary general has warned Russia that annexing Ukrainian regions would mark a “dangerous escalation” that would jeopardise the prospects for peace in the region. António Guterres said any decision to proceed with the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions “would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned”.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warned of a “very harsh” response by Ukraine if Russia went ahead with the annexations.
British prime minister, Liz Truss, has said that the UK will never accept the Russian annexations, and accused Putin of acting in violation of international law with clear disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people he claims to represent.
A large number of Russian forces in the strategic Donbas town of Lyman were reported to have been encircled in the latest setback in the battlefield for Russia.
Ukrainian forces have secured all of Kupiansk and driven Russian troops from their remaining positions on the east bank of the river that divides the north-eastern Ukrainian city. Most of Kupiansk, a strategic railway junction, was recaptured earlier this month as part of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops. AFP reported that those Russian troops who held out on the east bank of the Oskil river have been driven out.
The so-called “People’s militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)” has stated that the first Russian troops from the partial mobilisation have arrived in Donetsk, and are undergoing training.
The Kremlin has reiterated calls for an international investigation into the circumstances of the suspected attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Without providing any evidence, the head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin said “We have materials that point to a western trace in the organisation and implementation of these terrorist acts.”
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later on. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you shortly.
A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine was hit earlier this morning by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports suggesting at least 25 people have been killed and at least 50 wounded.
Footage from the horrific scene shows dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city.
Please be warned that this video includes graphic images that some viewers may find distressing.
Ukraine: footage shows aftermath of deadly Russian strike on civilian convoy – video
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has reiterated her country’s opposition to Russia’s planned annexations. She tweeted:
Russia’s sham “referenda” were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognise Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory and, as President Joe Biden has said, the United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Russia’s sham “referenda” were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory and, as @POTUS has said, the United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. https://t.co/g1NE7NgYgT
The so-called “People’s militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)” has stated on Telegram that the first Russian troops from the partial mobilisation have arrived in Donetsk. It posted to Telegram:
The first military personnel called up for military service in the partial mobilisation announced in Russia arrived in the zone of the special military operation, on the territory of the DPR. Now they are undergoing an intensive combat training course at the training grounds, which takes into account the experience of the battles of recent months. Residents of the People’s Republic enthusiastically met the approaching forces and thank the President of the Russian Federation for the decision.
Russia, Syria and North Korea are the only UN member states to recognise the DPR as a legitimate authority. Russia is expected to announce the annexation of Donetsk, a territory it does not fully control, into the Russian Federation later today.
Kremlin: Russia will ‘de jure’ incorporate parts of Ukraine it does not control
The Kremlin said again on Friday it would consider attacks against any part of the regions of Ukraine that it is about to annex as acts of aggression against Russia itself, which appears to also include the areas it does not currently control on the ground.
Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Russia would “de jure” incorporate parts of Ukraine which are not under the control of Russian forces into Russia itself as part of its move to annex four regions of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin will sign a decree incorporating occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson into the Russian Federation later today.
Of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson are the only territories that Russia is close to having total control over. The line of contact between Ukrainian and Russian forces runs through significant parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, with Ukraine maintaining control of the northern areas of each region.
The Kremlin has reiterated calls for an international investigation into the circumstances of the suspected attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Declining to comment on earlier reports by the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service that it held unspecified “materials” pointing the finger of blame at the west, Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said there was a need for a thorough international investigation.
My colleague Peter Beaumont is in Zaporizhzhia, and has just posted this video showing several hundred cars escaping the occupied areas of southern Ukraine.
The head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service has said Russia has “materials” to show western forces had responsibility for the Nord Stream pipeline incident.
Without providing any evidence, Sergei Naryshkin said “We have materials that point to a western trace in the organisation and implementation of these terrorist acts.”
Reuters notes that Naryshkin’s remarks are the most direct accusation yet against the west from a senior Russian official.
Footage shows aftermath of Russian strike on civilian convoy in Zaporizhzhia – video
Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin are in Zaporizhzhia for the Guardian:
A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine has been hit by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports saying dozens were killed and injured. That casualty figure could not immediately be confirmed.
Footage posted on social media showed a horrific scene with dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city. In one video, taken from inside a nearby building, a woman can be heard sobbing, saying repeatedly: “Dead people are lying there.”
At least one crater was visible in other images showing cars that had taken the full force of the blast.
At the site of the blast, in a wooded area just outside the city, police and military were clearing the area after discovering another unexploded munition, with the dead and wounded removed to nearby hospitals.
According to locals, about 60 cars had gathered on a road in two lines after registering for a convoy that was due to take people back into the Russian occupied territories in the south, some planning to return to homes in places such as Mariupol, others planning to fetch relatives and bring them to government occupied territory for fear that Russia will prevent people from leaving following Friday’s annexation ceremony.
Police officers and medics work near damaged cars after a Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Viacheslav Tverdokhlib/AP
Standing on the road outside, Dalina Yakushava, 48, had arrived after the explosion to see if she could register for a convoy.
“This is where people are told to come and register by the authorities to join a convoy. You register online but I came to make sure my permission had been received. I live in Mariupol. We just drove our daughter to Poland but we need to go back because my parents are there. It’s terrible but it is our home.
“There were a lot of cars waiting to leave this morning because no one has been able to go into the occupied areas for the past week.”
Read more of Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin’s report from Zaporizhzhia: Dozens feared dead after Russian strike on civilian convoy near Zaporizhzhia
Ukrainian president condemns ‘terrorist state’ rocket attack
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a response on Telegram to the earlier attack on the convoy in Zaporizhzhia. He wrote:
The terrorist state fires rockets at the civilian population in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. It strikes Ukrainian regions from rocket launchers and drones. The occupiers fired 16 rockets in one morning in Zaporizhzhia district alone. Only complete terrorists can do this, who should have no place in the civilised world. The enemy rages and seeks revenge for our steadfastness and his failures. It cynically destroys peaceful Ukrainians, because it lost everything human a long time ago. Bloodthirsty scum. You will definitely answer for every lost Ukrainian life.
My colleague Andrew Roth highlights in this map just how much of Ukraine Putin is planning to annex today that he is yet to control. Our Moscow correspondent notes that “under Russia’s amended constitution, no Kremlin leader can cede territories once they are annexed”.
Useful @guardian map showing how much of the territory Putin is “annexing” isn’t even under Russian control. The total territory is about 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Ukraine and includes major cities. Under Russia’s amended constitution, no Kremlin leader can cede territories once they are annexed. pic.twitter.com/HVgTGP1QFC
UK PM Liz Truss rejects annexation of Ukrainian regions
The British prime minister, Liz Truss, has said that the UK will never accept the Russian annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
She accused Vladimir Putin of acting in violation of international law with clear disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people he claims to represent.
Reuters reports she said in a statement that Putin could not be allowed to alter international borders by brute force.
The Ukrainian governor of Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, has declared tomorrow to be a day of mourning in the region following the strike on a convoy this morning that has killed at least 23 people and wounded 28 others.
In a message posted to Telegram, Starukh said:
This morning, the Rashists fired at civilians who were waiting in a civilian humanitarian convoy to leave the regional centre. These people went to their relatives in the occupied territories, brought humanitarian aid. They were supposed to take our fellow citizens and take them to the free part of Ukraine. The occupiers struck defenceless Ukrainians. This is another terrorist attack by a terrorist country. In connection with the tragedy and in order to honour the memory of the dead, 1 October 2022 is declared a day of mourning in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Reuters is carrying a witness report from the scene of the attack on the civilian convoy that happened earlier on Friday.
Jonathan Landay writes for the agency that police and emergency workers had rushed to the scene of the missile strike, the impact of which threw chunks of dirt into the air and sprayed the vehicles with shrapnel. The windows of the vehicles – mostly cars and three vans – were blown out.
The vehicles were packed with the occupants’ belongings, blankets and suitcases. A body leaned from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat of a yellow car, his left hand still clutching the steering wheel.
Reuters reports plastic sheets were draped over the bodies of a woman and young man in a green car in the next car in front. A dead cat lay next to the young man in the rear seat.
Two bodies lay in a white mini-van in front of that car, its windows blown and the sides pitted with shrapnel.
A woman who gave her name to reporters as Nataliya said she and her husband had been visiting their children in Zaporizhzhia.
“We were returning to my mother who is 90 years old. We have been spared. It’s a miracle,” she said, standing with her husband beside their car.
The proxy Russian authorities have already issued a denial that the incident was caused by Russian munitions, instead blaming Ukrainian forces for the attack. The Russian news agency RIA quotes Volodymyr Rogov, one of the pro-Russian leaders imposed on occupied Zaproizhzhia, saying: “Ukrainian militants hit a convoy with dozens of civilian cars queuing.”
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since its latest invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, despite the clear evidence of damage to civilian infrastructure and discovery of mass burial sites in areas that had been occupied by Russian forces.
