Does the Jeff Saturday experiment have a possibility of long lasting over and above 2022? Monday night’s video game may possibly present some responses.
So considerably, the final results have been good. The Colts (4-6-1) took down the Raiders in Saturday’s initial recreation on the sideline and narrowly shed to the NFC-foremost Eagles the subsequent week, though the coaching employees was criticized for mismanagement down the extend in that video game.
Additional: Four issues Jeff Saturday did proper in his successful Colts coaching debut
The Colts nonetheless have a pulse, and a powerful exhibiting from the Steelers’ defense would go a very long way toward making trustworthiness for Saturday.
The Steelers (3-7) surface destined for their very first getting rid of time less than Mike Tomlin, but they have been far more respectable considering the fact that T.J. Watt returned from personal injury. Pittsburgh acquired a earn around the Saints in 7 days 10 ahead of hanging with the Bengals into the fourth quarter last weekend.
Far more: J.J. Watt, Joe Haden respond to T.J. Watt’s ‘unbelievable’ interception vs. Bengals
Watt and the Steelers’ defense have an chance to construct momentum in opposition to a shaky Colts offense and decide on up their initially highway get considering that Week 1.
Kenny Pickett also has an prospect to establish himself in his second prime-time begin. The rookie quarterback is coming off back again-to-back again turnover-cost-free performances and would tranquil critics with a powerful displaying on the highway.
The Sporting News is tracking stay scoring updates and highlights as Indianapolis hosts Pittsburgh on “Monday Night time Soccer.” Comply with alongside with all the important times from the 7 days 12 matchup.
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Steelers vs. Colts stay updates, highlights from ‘Monday Night Football’
Updates will start off nearer to kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET.
Steelers vs. Colts get started time
Date: Monday, Nov. 28
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Steelers vs. Colts will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET. The game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
What channel is Steelers vs. Colts on these days?
The match will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Pregame protection commences at 6 p.m. ET with “Monday Night Countdown.” Joe Buck (participate in-by-play), Troy Aikman (colour commentary) and Lisa Salters (sideline reporter) will be on the get in touch with from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
For the third consecutive week, there will be no “Monday Night With Peyton and Eli” alternate broadcast. The pair will return following week for Saints vs. Buccaneers.
Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Serbia at the 2022 World Cup was overshadowed by an ankle injury which left Neymar in tears on the substitutes’ bench.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward was repeatedly fouled during the match and was eventually withdrawn after Richarlison had scored a sublime goal to give Brazil a two-goal lead.
After being substituted Neymar appeared to be in tears on the bench. He was then pictured heading towards the dressing room with a badly swollen ankle.
Brazil’s national team doctor later confirmed that Neymar had sustained a sprained ankle, although Tite, the manager, said he believed the 30-year-old would play again in Qatar.
Brazil’s doctor said: “Neymar has a sprain on the right ankle. We started treatment immediately but we need to wait 24 hours to have a better assessment.
“We have nothing else scheduled. Now we need to wait and we cannot make any premature comments.”
Tite later added: “We are confident that Neymar will continue playing, that he will continue playing in the World Cup.”
James Horncastle·
Serie A Correspondent
November 24, 2022 at 4:51 PM EST
West Ham’s Kurt Zouma set for spell on sidelines
West Ham defender Kurt Zouma is set for a spell on the sidelines after having surgery on a knee problem.
The Frenchman was forced off during the first half of the 2-0 home defeat by Leicester, in the final Premier League match ahead of the World Cup break.
West Ham did not provide a timescale for Zouma’s expected recovery.
A club statement read: “West Ham United can confirm that Kurt Zouma has had surgery on a knee injury.
“The French defender will now continue his rehabilitation at Rush Green with the Club’s medical team.
“Everyone at West Ham United would like to wish Kurt a speedy recovery.”
Ali Humayun
November 24, 2022 at 2:15 PM EST
Portugal overcome Ghana 3-2 in nail-biting finish
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five World Cups as Portugal began their 2022 World Cup with a winning start following a late flurry of second-half goals.
A match that saw five goals scored in the second half ended 3-2 in Portugal’s favour, and could have ended level if Inaki Williams had managed to stay on his feet in the dying embers of the game.
Enthralling stuff.
Ali Humayun
GO FURTHER
Portugal vs Ghana result: Portugal edge past Ghana in five-goal thriller
November 24, 2022 at 1:10 PM EST
Wolves appoint Matt Hobbs as sporting director
The Midlands club have promoted their former recruitment chief.
Steve Madeley·
West Bromwich Albion Staff Writer
Matt Hobbs has been appointed to the position of sporting director.
Matt will work closely with chairman Jeff Shi, head coach Julen Lopetegui and his backroom staff, and oversee a number of sporting and performance departments across our men’s, women’s and academy teams.
Wolves’ tehcnical director Scott Sellars has left the club after eight years.
He originally held the role as under-23s manager before “moving upstairs” three years ago, first as head of player development, then head of the academy and eventually technical director in 2021.
Although Sellars held the title of technical director, a large proportion of players arriving at Molineux did so via super agent Jorge Mendes, with the say-so of executive chairman Jeff Shi.
News of Sellars’ departure comes at a time of change for Wolves, with Julen Lopetegui the club’s new head coach.
Steve Madeley·
West Bromwich Albion Staff Writer
November 24, 2022 at 11:19 AM EST
Chelsea to face Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi
Graham Potter’s side will play a friendly on December 11 against Aston Villa.
Kick-off will be at 6:10pm local time, that is 2:10pm GMT, and Chelsea fans can also purchase tickets for the match at the Al Nahyan Stadium.
Simon Johnson·
Chelsea Correspondent
November 24, 2022 at 11:00 AM EST
KICK OFF: Portugal 0-0 Ghana
Ali Humayun
November 24, 2022 at 10:12 AM EST
Catch up on the Totally Football Show
Ali Humayun
November 24, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST
FULL TIME: Uruguay 0-0 South Korea
Another goalless draw at the World Cup but entertaining nonetheless.
Uruguay came closer to grabbing the winner, hitting the woodwork twice, but Ui-jo should also have scored for South Korea.
Neither side really showed enough quality to score, and Group H looks like it will be tight.
Ali Humayun
November 24, 2022 at 9:32 AM EST
Hazard criticises Germany World Cup protest: ‘They would have done better to win’
Eden Hazard has suggested Germany would have been better off focusing on winning rather than protesting over the OneLove armband ban.
The German national team covered their mouths in their team photo as a protest against the decision not to allow them to wear the OneLove captain’s armband — which was a planned anti-discrimination message.
They went on to lose 2-1 on Wednesday to Japan in one of the shock results of the World Cup so far.
And Hazard admitted he had been reluctant to wear the armband after the possibility he would be given a yellow card was made clear.
“Afterwards they lost the match,” Hazard told RMC Sport. “They would have done better not to do it and to win.”
Ali Humayun
GO FURTHER
Eden Hazard jokingly mocks Germany for World Cup protest: ‘They would have done better to win’
November 24, 2022 at 8:58 AM EST
The Athletic Football Podcast
There’s a lot to dissect after nearly five days of World Cup football…
Luke Bosher·
Junior Editor, News
“This team realised – in a very painful way – that they can’t trust each other.”
Germany are staring down the barrel of back-to-back World Cup group stage exits.@honigstein discusses the Japan defeat 🇩🇪
Need something to fill the time before Uruguay – South Korea? Give the Totally Football Show a listen now. Host James Richardson does his best to cheer up German correspondent Rafa Honigstein and the team look ahead to Portugal’s clash with Ghana. Listen now.
Iain Macintosh
November 24, 2022 at 6:41 AM EST
Wales chief exec on OneLove armband threat: ‘It was pretty cheap and pretty low’
Wales chief executive Neil Mooney has spoken about the situation regarding the OneLove armband that his nation and others had been planning to wear, but abandoned after a threat of sporting sanction from FIFA.
Mooney told ITV: “For months and months we have known we were going to wear the OneLove armband and they certainly did. To lay that one on us is pretty cheap and pretty low, to be frank. We are really disappointed by that attitude.
“We have been absolutely furious about this. We have given FA everything we have got in terms of how furious we are about this decision. We think it was a terrible decision.
“I understand why everybody would be upset about the OneLove armband not being there but there was no way we could ask Gareth Bale to take a yellow or red card at his first world cup, how could you do that? Anybody who thinks the player can just take a red card like that, they don’t really understand the psyche of a professional athlete who is going out to play the biggest moment of their lives.”
(Photo: Getty Images)
Luke Bosher·
Junior Editor, News
November 24, 2022 at 6:23 AM EST
Here’s today’s games
Switzerland are currently beating Cameroon 1-0 in Group G’s opener, with three more fixtures to come later on.
Uruguay vs South Korea (1pm GMT / 8am ET / 5am PT) – Group H
Portugal vs Ghana (4pm / 11am / 8am) – Group H
Brazil vs Serbia (7pm / 2pm / 11am) – Group G
(Photo: Getty Images)
Luke Bosher·
Junior Editor, News
November 24, 2022 at 5:45 AM EST
An interview with Saudi Arabia’s Herve Renard
Oli Kay spoke to the man who masterminded Saudi Arabia’s incredible win over Argentina.
Renard has had quite some journey…
Luke Bosher·
Junior Editor, News
An interview with Hervé Renard, mastermind of Saudi Arabia’s shock victory over Argentina. * His days as a cleaner * Managing @CambridgeUtdFC * That incredible, emotional AFCON win with Zambia 🇿🇲 * Klopp’s teeth * And of course That White Shirthttps://t.co/TFP1Z1n97D
Need something to listen to ahead of the Switzerland – Cameroon game? Try The Athletic Football Podcast. Host Adam Leventhal is joined by Rafa Honigstein to discuss that astonishing Japanese victory over Germany. It’s just 30mins long, so you’ll be done in time for kick off!
Iain Macintosh
November 24, 2022 at 4:27 AM EST
So, what are the USMNT doing for Thanksgiving?
Today is American Thanksgiving, but the USMNT play England tomorrow in what is a huge World Cup game.
Ukraine’s SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU said.
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex that was raided is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reported.
“These measures are being taken … as part of the systemic work of the SBU to counter the destructive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine,” the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement.
It said the search was aimed at preventing the use of the cave monastery as “the centre of the Russian world” and carried out to look into suspicions “about the use of the premises … for sheltering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign citizens, weapons storage”.
The SBU did not say what the result of the raid was. The Moscow Patriarchate did not immediately comment.
In May, the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow Patriarchate ended its ties with the Russian church over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemned the support of Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s church, for what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.
Key events
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 1pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s main stories so far:
Ukraine’s SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU said. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex that was raided is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reported.
Ukrainians are most likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said on Monday, as the government started free evacuations for people in Kherson to other regions. Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, leaving millions of people without electricity and water as winter sets in and temperatures drop below freezing.
Russian shelling hit a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the town of Orihiv in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing a volunteer and wounding two women, the regional governor said. Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, gave no further details of the attack on Orihiv, about 70 miles east of the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station which has been shelled in the past few days.
Russians have murdered, tortured and kidnapped Ukrainians in a systematic pattern that could implicate top officials in war crimes, the US state department’s ambassador for global criminal justice said Monday. There is mounting evidence that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has been accompanied by systemic war crimes committed in every region where Russian forces have been deployed”, said ambassador at large Beth Van Schaack.
The Ukrainian government has been offering people in the recently liberated city of Kherson, which remains mostly without electricity and running water, free evacuations to regions with better infrastructure, as well as free accommodation. “Given the difficult security situation in the city and infrastructure problems, you can evacuate for the winter to safer regions of the country,” the deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia has reiterated that it is not seeking a change of government in Ukraine. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said his country “does not intend the ‘special operation’ to change the government in Ukraine”, Sky News reports.
The Kremlin said that no substantive progress had been made towards creating a security zone around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia seized shortly after its invasion, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will in coming days meet the mothers of soldiers amid fierce fighting in Ukraine, the Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing three unidentified sources in the presidential administration. Russia celebrates Mother’s Day on 27 November. The Kremlin has not officially announced any Putin meeting with soldiers’ mothers.
Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will soon be able to add New Zealand to the list of parliaments he has addressed, after Wellington agreed to a request to do so. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the government had agreed to the request from the Canberra-based Ukrainian embassy which serves both countries.
Ukraine is to evacuate civilians from recently liberated areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Residents of the two southern regions have been advised to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country, amid fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to endure the winter.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ukraine’s health system is “facing its darkest days in the war so far”. WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, called for a “humanitarian health corridor” to be created to all areas of Ukraine newly recaptured by Kyiv, as well as those occupied by Russian forces.
Russian troops havebeen accused of burning bodies at a landfill on the edge of Kherson during their occupation. Residents and workers at the site told the Guardian they saw Russian open trucks arriving to the site carrying black bags that were then set on fire, filling the air with a large cloud of smoke and a stench of burning flesh.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for the time being. I’ll be back at 2pm UK time but my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be along shortly to bring you all the latest news from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin said that no substantive progress had been made towards creating a security zone around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia seized shortly after its invasion, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.
Russian shelling hit a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the town of Orihiv in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing a volunteer and wounding two women, the regional governor said.
Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, gave no further details of the attack on Orihiv, about 70 miles east of the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station which has been shelled in the past few days.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of firing the shells that fell near reactors and damaged a radioactive waste storage building at the plant, Reuters reported.
“Russian terrorists are shelling humanitarian delivery points, continuing nuclear blackmail – a pitiful tactic of military losers,” Andriy Yermak, chief of the presidential staff, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Well, for every such action there is a Ukrainian counteraction,” he added.
An image shows the destruction of Kherson International airport in Chornobaivka, located in Kherson oblast, Ukraine.
The destruction of Kherson International airport in Chornobaivka, located in Kherson oblast in Ukraine. Photograph: Jose Hernandez/REX/Shutterstock
Russia reiterates that it does not want to topple Ukraine government
Russia has reiterated that it is not seeking a change of government in Ukraine.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said his country “does not intend the ‘special operation’ to change the government in Ukraine”, Sky News reports.
A reporter asked Peskov if one of the goals of the “special military operation” was regime change in Ukraine.
“No [it is not], the president has already spoken about this,” Peskov replied.
This is in contrast to the beginning of the invasion in February, when Moscow had appeared to be aiming to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install a Russia-friendly regime.
Ukraine’s SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU said.
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex that was raided is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reported.
“These measures are being taken … as part of the systemic work of the SBU to counter the destructive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine,” the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement.
It said the search was aimed at preventing the use of the cave monastery as “the centre of the Russian world” and carried out to look into suspicions “about the use of the premises … for sheltering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign citizens, weapons storage”.
The SBU did not say what the result of the raid was. The Moscow Patriarchate did not immediately comment.
In May, the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow Patriarchate ended its ties with the Russian church over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemned the support of Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s church, for what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will in coming days meet the mothers of soldiers amid fierce fighting in Ukraine, the Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing three unidentified sources in the presidential administration.
Russia celebrates Mother’s Day on 27 November. The Kremlin has not officially announced any Putin meeting with soldiers’ mothers.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to deny or confirm the meeting, Vedomosti said.
The UK Ministry of Defence’s update for today reports that Russian and Ukrainian media reported an attack at an oil terminal in Novorssiysk port on Russia’s Black Sea coast on 18 November.
More on the winter energy crisis in Ukraine: the Ukrainian government has been offering people in the recently liberated city of Kherson, which remains mostly without electricity and running water, free evacuations to regions with better infrastructure, as well as free accommodation.
“Given the difficult security situation in the city and infrastructure problems, you can evacuate for the winter to safer regions of the country,” the deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians on Monday to conserve energy, saying they “should be mindful and redistribute their consumption throughout the day”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the blackouts and Russia’s strikes on energy infrastructure are the consequences of Kyiv not willing to negotiate, the state Tass news agency reported late last week.
Temperatures in some of Ukraine’s regions have already dropped below freezing, including in the capital of Kyiv.
Kovalenko said the country should be prepared for all options, including lengthy power outages.
“Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about options that will help you wait a long outage,” Kovalenko said. “It’s better to do it now than to be miserable.”
That’s it from me for today. My colleague Tom Ambrose will take you through the news for the next while.
The Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will soon be able to add New Zealand to the list of parliaments he has addressed, after Wellington agreed to a request to do so.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the government had agreed to the request from the Canberra-based Ukrainian embassy which serves both countries.
“The ask has been made. Happy to accommodate that,” she said, adding that it would be over to a parliamentary committee to find the time. The address is likely to be in the final week of the sitting year, which begins on 13 December.
Zelenskiy has given Ardern an invitation to visit Kyiv, which she is yet to take-up. But the defence minister, Peeni Henare, made a 10-hour trip to the Ukrainian capital last weekend.
New Zealand has given tens of millions of dollars of aid in support of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, as well as donating military equipment and levying sanctions targeting Russian elites and trade.
US state department seeing ‘mounting evidence of systemic war crimes’
Russians have murdered, tortured and kidnapped Ukrainians in a systematic pattern that could implicate top officials in war crimes, the US state department’s ambassador for global criminal justice said Monday.
There is mounting evidence that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has been accompanied by systemic war crimes committed in every region where Russian forces have been deployed”, said ambassador at large Beth Van Schaack.
Evidence from liberated areas indicates “deliberate, indiscriminate and disproportionate” attacks against civilian populations, custodial abuses of civilians and POWs, forceful removal, or filtration, of Ukrainian citizens – including children – to Russia, and execution-like murders and sexual violence, she told reporters.
“When we’re seeing such systemic acts, including the creation of a vast filtration network, it’s very hard to imagine how these crimes could be committed without responsibility going all the way up the chain of command,” she said.
Van Schaack represents the US to global bodies investigating war crimes and other atrocities, and called the current situation a “new Nuremberg moment”, a reference to the war crimes trials held in the German city at the end of the second world war.
She said in a briefing for reporters that Russia’s nine-month-old assault on Ukraine has sparked an “unprecedented array of accountability initiatives”, involving numerous bodies, along with the international criminal court in The Hague.
The bodies are coordinating to develop priorities and approaches “under all available jurisdictional bases”, she said.
Van Schaack declined to say specifically if the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, could be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine.
But she said prosecutors will “follow the evidence where it leads”.
Under international law, the doctrine of superior responsibility allows for prosecutions “to go all the way up the chain of command”, she said.
She also said that rights officials are looking closely at a video that emerged over the weekend that suggests Ukrainian troops may have killed Russian prisoners of war.
Blackouts likely to last until March 2023
Ukrainians are most likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said on Monday, as the government started free evacuations for people in Kherson to other regions.
Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, leaving millions of people without electricity and water as winter sets in and temperatures drop below freezing.
Sergey Kovalenko, head of the YASNO major private energy provider for Kyiv, said that workers are rushing to complete repairs before the winter cold arrives.
“I would like everyone to understand: Ukrainians will most likely live with blackouts until at least the end of March,” Kovalenko said in a post on his Facebook page. He added:
The basic scenario is that if there are no new attacks on the power grid, then under current conditions of electricity generation, the power deficit could be evenly distributed across the country. This means the outages will be everywhere but less lasting.
There are also different forecasts of the development of this situation, and they completely depend on attacks Russia.”
Summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next while.
Ukrainians are most likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said late on Monday.
Sergey Kovalenko, head of the YASNO major private energy provider for Kyiv, said that workers are rushing to complete repairs before the winter cold arrives.
“I would like everyone to understand: Ukrainians will most likely live with blackouts until at least the end of March,” Kovalenko said in a post on his Facebook page.
More on this soon. In the meantime, here are the key recent developments:
Ukraine is to evacuate civilians from recently liberated areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Residents of the two southern regions have been advised to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country, amid fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to endure the winter.
The Kremlin said it was concerned by what it claimed to be Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control. Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, countered that the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia plant was a Russian tactic aiming to disrupt power supplies and “freeze Ukrainians to death”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appealed to Nato members to guarantee the protection of his country’s nuclear power plants from “Russian sabotage”.
The UN nuclear watchdog was to conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia planton Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the forces behind its shelling were “playing with fire” and such attacks risked a major disaster.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ukraine’s health system is “facing its darkest days in the war so far”. WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, called for a “humanitarian health corridor” to be created to all areas of Ukraine newly recaptured by Kyiv, as well as those occupied by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general office has said its officials have identified four locations where Russian forces tortured detainees in Kherson city. It said Russian forces “set up pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in pre-trial detention centres and a police station before troops withdrew from the southern Ukrainian city.
Russian troops havebeen accused of burning bodies at a landfill on the edge of Kherson during their occupation. Residents and workers at the site told the Guardian they saw Russian open trucks arriving to the site carrying black bags that were then set on fire, filling the air with a large cloud of smoke and a stench of burning flesh.
UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday after the site was shelled more than a dozen times over the weekend.
The blasts damaged buildings and equipment, though none had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Its head, Rafael Grossi, said the forces behind the shelling were “playing with fire”, adding that “it must stop immediately”.
A statement published by the IAEA late on Sunday read:
Repeated shelling at the site of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) yesterday evening and this morning damaged buildings, systems and equipment, with some of the explosions occurring near the reactors.”
The agency said the plant was hit with “more than a dozen blasts within 40 minutes” though radiation levels at the site remained normal and there were no reports of casualties.
The ZNPP’s external power supplies, which have been knocked out several times during the conflict, were also not affected.
According to the IAEA experts, site management reported damage in several places, including a radioactive waste and storage building, cooling pond sprinkler systems, an electrical cable to one of the reactors, condensate storage tanks, and to a bridge between another reactor and its auxiliary buildings.
Rafael Grossi added:
Even though there was no direct impact on key nuclear safety and security systems at the plant, the shelling came dangerously close to them. We are talking metres, not kilometres. Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, is taking huge risks and gambling with many people’s lives.”
The IAEA team of experts plan to conduct an assessment on Monday of the shelling impact on the site.
Key events
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 1pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s headlines so far:
The southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol was hit by Russian shelling overnight, according to city officials. The shelling reportedly hit a residential area injuring a 78-year-old man, the Kyiv Independent reports city governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, as saying.
The Kremlin said it was concerned by what it claimed was repeated Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It called on global powers to ensure that Kyiv ceased attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power station. Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.
The UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday after the site was shelled more than a dozen times over the weekend. The blasts damaged buildings and equipment, though none had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Russia also said that it would bring to justice those responsible for the alleged execution of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine and that it would do everything possible to draw attention to what it has claimed is a war crime. Russia has accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing more than 10 Russian prisoners of war, citing a video circulating on Russian social media. Ukraine denies the claims.
Russian forces launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday in Ukraine’s east as part of a campaign of artillery fire, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Sunday night address. “The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high,” Zelenskiy said.
Russian forces are constructing defensive positions partially staffed by poorly trained mobilised reservists around the Svatove sector in the Luhansk region in north-eastern Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. With Russia’s south-western frontline now more readily defendable along the east bank of the Dnipro River, the Svatove sector is likely now a more vulnerable operational flank of the Russian force, the latest British intelligence report reads.
A new training centre for Ukrainian troops in the central Spanish city of Toledo will start operating at the end of November, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told the Nato parliamentary assembly. Spanish police will also be deployed in Ukraine over the coming weeks to help investigate alleged Russian war crimes, Sanchez added.
A video purportedly showing the detention of two Russian servicemen who refused to fight against Ukraine has appeared across multiple Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels. The video shows two men – each dressed in military uniform – called to appear in front of their commander.
Italy’s government will ask parliament to pass a new law on military and civilian supplies to Ukraine throughout 2023, defence minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview. The Rome government can send aid to Ukraine without seeking parliamentary authorisation each time on the basis of a decree that expires at the end of the year.
Forty-five countries and institutions will meet in Paris on Monday to pledge millions of euros of aid for Moldova, as fears mount that it could be further destabilised by the conflict in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report. Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, has felt the effects of rising food and energy prices as well as an influx of thousands of refugees arriving in the country of about 2.5 million people.
Ukraine has exported almost 16.2m tonnes of grain so far in the 2022-23 season, down 31.7{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} from the 23.8m tonnes exported by the same stage of the previous season, agriculture ministry data showed. The volume included almost 6.3m tonnes of wheat, 8.6m tonnes of corn and 1.3m tonnes of barley, Reuters reported.
Negotiating with Russia would be “capitulation”, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency has said. Mykhaylo Podolyak said attempts by the west to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow were “bizarre” given a series of major military victories by Kyiv. He added it would mean that a country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”. The comments come after recent US media reports that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks.
The first Ukrainian supermarket has opened in Kherson since the city was liberated earlier this month. ATB, a 24/7 shop in the city, had queues of people outside on Sunday as it welcomed customers back. Kherson remains without electricity, running water or heating, but residents found some relief in being able to purchase Ukrainian pickled gherkins, dumplings, horseradish and other favourites.
France has sent another two air defence systems to Ukraine, along with two multiple rocket launchers, according to an interview given by a French defence minister.
Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of feeding disinformation to further its “predatory project” in Africa, where France has had military setbacks. In an interview with TV5 Monde on the sidelines of a conference of Francophone nations in Tunisia, the French president said there was a “predatory project” pushing disinformation into African countries, which was “a political project financed by Russia, sometimes others”.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy marked Ukraine’s annual Day of Dignity and Freedom on Monday by celebrating the sacrifices made by Ukrainian people since Russia’s invasion and saying his country would endure and prevail.
In a video address to the nation, Zelenskiy hailed the contributions made by Ukrainians – from soldiers, firefighters and medics to teachers giving online lessons, villagers cooking for the military, tailors sewing uniforms and farmers ploughing their fields despite the risk.
He hailed their defiance despite frequent missile strikes, widescale destruction, shortages and rolling blackouts as winter sets in, almost exactly nine months since Russia’s invasion, Reuters reported.
“We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom,” Zelenskiy said in an address that he delivered standing in an ornate room in the presidential palace in the capital Kyiv.
The Kremlin also said that it would bring to justice those responsible for the alleged execution of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine and that it would do everything possible to draw attention to what it has claimed is a war crime.
Russia has accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing more than 10 Russian prisoners of war, citing a video circulating on Russian social media.
“There is no doubt that Russia itself will be looking for the perpetrators of this crime. They must be found and punished,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Kyiv would investigate the video but that it was “very unlikely” it showed what Moscow claimed.
A spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office told Reuters it was looking into the footage and called for allegations to be investigated promptly and in full.
Russia claim Ukraine shelling nuclear plant, denied by Kyiv
The Kremlin has said it was concerned by what it claimed was repeated Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It called on global powers to ensure that Kyiv ceased attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.
“This cannot but cause our concern,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We call on all countries of the world to use their influence so that the Ukrainian armed forces stop doing this.”
Ukraine says it was Russia that shelled the plant. Reuters was unable to independently verify which side was responsible.
A new training centre for Ukrainian troops in the central Spanish city of Toledo will start operating at the end of November, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told the Nato parliamentary assembly.
Spanish police will also be deployed in Ukraine over the coming weeks to help investigate alleged Russian war crimes, Sanchez added.
Ukraine has exported almost 16.2m tonnes of grain so far in the 2022-23 season, down 31.7{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} from the 23.8m tonnes exported by the same stage of the previous season, agriculture ministry data showed.
The volume included almost 6.3m tonnes of wheat, 8.6m tonnes of corn and 1.3m tonnes of barley, Reuters reported.
After an almost six-month blockade caused by the Russian invasion, three Ukrainian Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
Ministry data showed that 3m tonnes of various grains were exported in the first 20 days of November, 29.7{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} less than in the same period of November 2021.
The government has said Ukraine could harvest between 50m and 52m tonnes of grain this year, down from a record 86m tonnes in 2021 because of the loss of land to Russian forces and lower yields.
Ukrainians living in the capital, Kyiv, are preparing for the “worst winter of their lives” with temperatures set to plummet and the nation’s power grid a target for Russian attacks.
Here is an extract from an Associated Press article today:
When the power is out, as it so often is, the high-rise apartment overlooking Ukraine’s war-torn capital feels like a deathtrap. No lights, no water, no way to cook food. And no elevator by which to escape from the 21st floor should a Russian missile strike. Even when electricity comes back, it’s never on for long.
“Russian strikes are plunging Ukraine into the Stone Age,” says Anastasia Pyrozhenko. In a recent 24-hour spell, her 26-story high-rise only had power for half an hour. She says the “military living conditions” have driven her and husband from their apartment.
“Our building is the highest in the area and is a great target for Russian missiles, so we left our apartment for our parents’ place and are preparing for the worst winter of our lives,” said the 25-year-old.
The situation in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other major cities has deteriorated drastically following the largest missile attack on the country’s power grid on Tuesday. Ukrainian state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo reported that 40{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Ukrainians were experiencing difficulties, due to damage to at least 15 major energy hubs across the country.
Warning that electricity outages could last anywhere from several hours to several days, the network said that “resilience and courage are what we need this winter.”
Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, too, stressed the need to be ready and resilient in the face of a potential blackout: “Worst case scenario. Actually, I don’t like to talk about that, but I have to be prepared if we (do not) have electricity, blackout, no water, no heating, no services and no communication,” Klitschko told the AP on Friday.
Ukrainian soldiers fire an artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers fire an artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photograph: Libkos/AP
Italy’s government will ask parliament to pass a new law on military and civilian supplies to Ukraine throughout 2023, defence minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview.
The Rome government can send aid to Ukraine without seeking parliamentary authorisation each time on the basis of a decree that expires at the end of the year.
“The defence [ministry] will shortly propose to renew that same measure, extending it to all of 2023,” Crosetto told Il Foglio newspaper.
Crosetto said Italy would continue supplying arms, as it has done in the past, “in the times and ways that we will agree with our Atlantic allies and with Kyiv”.
Crosetto belongs to Brothers of Italy, the right wing party of Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who is a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
The southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol was hit by Russian shelling overnight, according to city officials.
The shelling reportedly hit a residential area injuring a 78-year-old man, the Kyiv Independent reports city governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, as saying.
Forty-five countries and institutions will meet in Paris on Monday to pledge millions of euros of aid for Moldova, as fears mount that it could be further destabilised by the conflict in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report.
Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, has felt the effects of rising food and energy prices as well as an influx of thousands of refugees arriving in the country of about 2.5 million people. Moldova is believed to have taken more refugees per head than any other country.
Largely dependent on Russia energy supplies, Moldova is facing more difficulties with winter arriving and Moscow cutting natural gas supplies by about 40{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502}, hurting its ability to supply enough electricity to its population.
“Moldova is directly impacted because it’s dependent on Russian energy supplies and is a country which has a part of its territory controlled by Russian soldiers so it’s especially vulnerable,” a French diplomat told reporters in a briefing.
Aid would be used to support Moldova’s budget and electricity supplies as well as the costs for hosting thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Russia forming defensive positions around Svatove, Luhansk: UK MoD
Russian forces are constructing defensive positions partially staffed by poorly trained mobilised reservists around the Svatove sector in the Luhansk region in north-eastern Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
With Russia’s south-western frontline now more readily defendable along the east bank of the Dnipro River, the Svatove sector is likely now a more vulnerable operational flank of the Russian force, the latest British intelligence report reads.
Russian leaders will highly likely see retaining control of Svatove as a political priority though their commanders are likely struggling with the military realities of maintaining a credible defence, while also attempting to resource offensive operations further south in Donetsk.
“Both Russian defensive and offensive capability continues to be hampered by severe shortages of munitions and skilled personnel,” the report adds.
A video purportedly showing the detention of two Russian servicemen who refused to fight against Ukraine has appeared across multiple Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels.
The video shows two men – each dressed in military uniform – called to appear in front of their commander.
According to Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet based abroad, who shared the video published by the Military Ombudsman Telegram channel on Sunday, the incident occurred in Russia’s Belgorod region. The outlet states:
The investigator informs the privates that on 16 November a criminal case was opened against them for failure to comply with the order (Part 2.1 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This article implies a punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of two to three years. The convoy then detains the soldiers.”
Human rights activists believe that this video was filmed “as a warning to others”.
Residents of Kherson waved Ukrainian flags to celebrate the arrival of the first train to arrive in the southern city since the start of the Russian invasion.
Images published over the newswires today show a train carrying passengers from Kyiv roll into Kherson on Saturday for the first time in more than eight months.
Residents wave flags and wait to receive the first train to arrive in Kherson since the start of the Russian invasion. Photograph: Svet Jacqueline/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Karina, 14, hugs a Ukrainian soldier at the Kherson train station waiting for the arrival of a train from Kyiv. Photograph: Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
The first train seen arriving in Kherson. Photograph: Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday after the site was shelled more than a dozen times over the weekend.
The blasts damaged buildings and equipment, though none had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Its head, Rafael Grossi, said the forces behind the shelling were “playing with fire”, adding that “it must stop immediately”.
A statement published by the IAEA late on Sunday read:
Repeated shelling at the site of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) yesterday evening and this morning damaged buildings, systems and equipment, with some of the explosions occurring near the reactors.”
The agency said the plant was hit with “more than a dozen blasts within 40 minutes” though radiation levels at the site remained normal and there were no reports of casualties.
The ZNPP’s external power supplies, which have been knocked out several times during the conflict, were also not affected.
According to the IAEA experts, site management reported damage in several places, including a radioactive waste and storage building, cooling pond sprinkler systems, an electrical cable to one of the reactors, condensate storage tanks, and to a bridge between another reactor and its auxiliary buildings.
Rafael Grossi added:
Even though there was no direct impact on key nuclear safety and security systems at the plant, the shelling came dangerously close to them. We are talking metres, not kilometres. Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, is taking huge risks and gambling with many people’s lives.”
The IAEA team of experts plan to conduct an assessment on Monday of the shelling impact on the site.
Russia launches almost 400 strikes in Ukraine’s east, Zelenskiy says
Russian forces launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday in Ukraine’s east as part of a campaign of artillery fire, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Sunday night address.
The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there are fewer attacks today due to the deterioration of the weather, the number of Russian shelling occasions remains, unfortunately, extremely high.
Luhansk region – little by little we are moving forward with battles. As of now, there have been almost 400 shelling occasions in the east since the beginning of the day.”
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sunday, 20 November. Photograph: Libkos/AP
Russia has moved troops to reinforce positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions after withdrawing from the southern city of Kherson.
Referring to Ukrainian positions in the south, Zelenskiy said Kyiv’s forces “are holding the line, consistently and very calculatedly destroying the potential of the occupiers.”
Russia’s surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv’s supplies of air defences and achieve dominance of the skies, a senior Pentagon official said on Saturday.
Summary and welcome
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.
Russian forces launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday in Ukraine’s east as part of a campaign of artillery fire, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Sunday night address.
Away from the battlefield, the UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday after the site was shelled more than a dozen times over the weekend.
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:
Russian forces launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday in Ukraine’s east as part of a campaign of artillery fire, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Sunday night address. “The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high,” Zelenskiy said. “In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day.” Russia has moved troops to reinforce positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions after withdrawing from Kherson.
The UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Monday after the site was shelled more than a dozen times over the weekend. The blasts damaged buildings and equipment, though none had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Its head, Rafael Grossi, said the forces behind the shelling were “playing with fire”, adding that “it must stop immediately”.
Germany has offered Poland the Patriot missile defence system to help it to secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed in the country last week, the defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, said. “We have offered Poland support in securing airspace – with our Eurofighters and with Patriot air defence systems,” Lambrecht told the Rheinische Post and General Anzeiger. Ground-based air defence systems such as Raytheon’s Patriot are built to intercept incoming missiles.
Ukraine has denied its forces executed Russian prisoners of war, arguing its soldiers were defending themselves against Russians who feigned surrender. The Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights responded on Sunday to videos circulated on Russian social media this week purporting to show the bodies of Russian servicemen killed after surrendering to Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said “excerpts” of a video showed that Russians “using a staged capture … committed a war crime by opening fire on the Ukrainian armed forces”. This means the soldiers “cannot be considered prisoners of war”, he said. A UN spokesperson told AFP it was “aware of the videos” and was “looking into them”.
Negotiating with Russia would be “capitulation”, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency has said. Mykhaylo Podolyak said attempts by the west to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow were “bizarre” given a series of major military victories by Kyiv. He added it would mean that a country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”. The comments come after recent US media reports that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks.
The first Ukrainian supermarket has opened in Kherson since the city was liberated earlier this month. ATB, a 24/7 shop in the city, had queues of people outside on Sunday as it welcomed customers back. Kherson remains without electricity, running water or heating, but residents found some relief in being able to purchase Ukrainian pickled gherkins, dumplings, horseradish and other favourites.
France has sent another two air defence systems to Ukraine, along with two multiple rocket launchers, according to an interview given by a French defence minister.
Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of feeding disinformation to further its “predatory project” in Africa, where France has had military setbacks. In an interview with TV5 Monde on the sidelines of a conference of Francophone nations in Tunisia, the French president said there was a “predatory project” pushing disinformation into African countries, which was “a political project financed by Russia, sometimes others”. Macron said: “A number of powers, who want to spread their influence in Africa, are doing this to hurt France, hurt its language, sow doubts, but above all pursue certain interests.”
Ukraine has encircled Russia’s forces around a bastion that is critical for Moscow at the eastern town of Lyman, in an operation that is still under way, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Saturday.
Russia’s forces at Lyman totalled about 5,000 to 5,500 soldiers, but the number of encircled troops may have fallen because of casualties and some soldiers trying to break out of the encirclement, said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces, according to Reuters.
Cherevatyi said:
Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas. It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important.
On Saturday, Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said via Telegram:
The occupiers trapped in Liman asked the Russian command to allow them to leave the city, but were refused.
He added: “The possibilities of delivering ammunition to the Russians to the surrounded city or a peaceful exit from the settlement are already blocked.”
Key events
Russia is trying to transfer the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the Russian energy firm Rosatam, says head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company
Speaking with BBC News on Saturday, Petro Kotin said “they are trying to make our personnel just to sign the accurate deals for the work at Rosatam”.
His remarks come after reports that the Ukrainian director-general of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ihor Murashov, had been detained by a Russian patrol on Friday afternoon.
Citing previous attempts, Kotin added:
We expect that they’re trying to make him accept this move from Russians to catch the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by Rosatam.
Kotin also described Murashov as the main person responsible for the plant’s safety, which is currently operated by 7,000 people on site.
Here’s a video of Ukraine’s armed forces raising the nation’s flag before the entrance sign to the city of Lyman, where Ukraine said it encircled thousands of Russian troops earlier today.
Ukraine’s armed forces raising the blue and yellow flag above the #Lyman entrance sign on the outskirts of the city. “Stabilisation measures” are being carried out, eastern command says, amid reports that around 5000 Russian soldiers remain trapped inside pic.twitter.com/xWnp4YbkX7
The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said she shared key information on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines with Liz Truss at a meeting in Downing Street.
Following the meeting, outside No 10, Frederiksen told PA news:
Of course, it has been very important for me to underline that the Danish authorities have said that this this is not an accident. This is sabotage and it is critical infrastructure. So of course, this is a very serious situation.
Both Britain and Denmark have reaffirmed their support for Ukraine, following Vladimir Putin’s annexation of four regions on Friday.
We talked most of all about the situation in Ukraine and the so-called referendums in Ukraine. As you know, Britain and Denmark are very supportive of Ukraine and we will continue to be so and to continue our work and our co-operation.
Liz Truss and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Downing Street. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has requested clarifications from Russian authorities following reports that the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained.
A spokesperson for the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, told Reuters:
We have contacted Russian authorities and are requesting clarifications.
Earlier, we reported that Ihor Murashov had been detained on his way from Europe’s largest nuclear plant to the town of Enerhodar at about 4pm on Friday.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, said his detention “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant”.
Here are the latest photos from Ukraine and elsewhere:
A local walks on the destroyed bridge over the Donets river in Staryi Saltiv, east of Kharkiv. Photograph: Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty
More and more Ukrainian people are returning to their home country from Poland, or transiting through Poland from other countries. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
Russian President Vladimir Putin stands on stage during a concert marking the declared annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of four Ukraine regions, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Sputnik/Reuters
A man with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Children play at the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian people square in Kyiv. Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP
Summary
It’s 12pm in Ukraine, here’s the latest:
Ukraine has encircled Russia’s forces around a bastion that is critical for Moscow at the eastern town of Lyman, in an operation that is still under way. Russia’s forces at Lyman totalled about 5,000 to 5,500 soldiers, but the number of encircled troops may have fallen because of casualties and some soldiers trying to break out of the encirclement, according to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces.
The Ministry of Defence said Russia’s expansion strategy has resulted in “killing civilians it now claims are its own citizens”.The MoD said Russia is expending “strategically valuable military assets” in attempts to gain tactical advantage.
Ukraine’s president thanked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on Saturday for signing an additional $12.35 bn (£11bn) in support for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “This help is more important today than ever.”
The Ukrainian director-general of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained by a Russian patrol, according to Energoatom. The company said his detention on Friday “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.”
Turkey which has been at the centre of mediation between the west and Russia, rejected Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, calling the decision a “grave violation” of international law.
The World Bank said it will provide an additional US$530m in support to Ukraine, bringing the total aid by the bank to $13bn. The aid is supported by the UK ($500m) and Denmark ($30m).
Ukrainian forces close in on Lyman
Ukraine has encircled Russia’s forces around a bastion that is critical for Moscow at the eastern town of Lyman, in an operation that is still under way, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Saturday.
Russia’s forces at Lyman totalled about 5,000 to 5,500 soldiers, but the number of encircled troops may have fallen because of casualties and some soldiers trying to break out of the encirclement, said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces, according to Reuters.
Cherevatyi said:
Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas. It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important.
On Saturday, Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said via Telegram:
The occupiers trapped in Liman asked the Russian command to allow them to leave the city, but were refused.
He added: “The possibilities of delivering ammunition to the Russians to the surrounded city or a peaceful exit from the settlement are already blocked.”
Russia killing citizens it claims are its own, says UK
The Ministry of Defence said Russia’s expansion strategy has resulted in “killing civilians it now claims are its own citizens”.
The latest intelligence update,published on Saturday morning, comes after Putin signed annexation agreements across four occupied regions in Ukraine, marking the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.
The MoD said Russia is expending “strategically valuable military assets” in attempts to gain tactical advantage. It added that Russia “almost certainly” struck a convoy outside the town of Zaporizhzhia on Friday, where local media reported 25 civilians had been killed, and more than 50 injured.
Ukraine’s president thanked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on Saturday for signing an additional $12.35 bn (£11bn) in support for Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter:
The law provides the financing of defence programs, as well as powerful direct budget support to Ukraine. This help is more important today than ever.
Thank you @POTUS for signing into law $12.35 bln in supplemental support for 🇺🇦. The day before, the bill was backed by both houses of 🇺🇸 Congress. We appreciate this powerful act of solidarity of the 🇺🇸 people with 🇺🇦. And the bicameral and bipartisan support of our state. 1/2
Here are the latest photos from Ukraine and elsewhere:
People arrive in Poland from Ukraine after the annexation of 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of regions of Ukraine. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
Destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP
Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen during the broadcast of a ceremony to declare the annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Photograph: Alexey Malgavko/Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds an application for ‘accelerated accession to Nato’ in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: AP
Ukrainians soldiers carry a wounded comrade across a damaged bridge over the Oskil River. Photograph: Scott Peterson/Getty
A pedestrian walks among bombed apartments in the town of Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region. Photograph: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty
Head of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant abducted, says Ukrainian state agency
The Ukrainian director-general of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was detained by a Russian patrol, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian state agency in charge of the plant.
In a statement on Saturday, the company said Ihor Murashov had been detained on his way from Europe’s largest nuclear plant to the town of Enerhodar around 4pm on Friday, Reuters reports.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, wrote on Telegram:
He was taken out of the car, and with his eyes blindfolded he was driven in an unknown direction.
With no immediate word on Murashov’s fate, Kotin added:
His detention by the Russians jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) faced calls for a demilitarised zone around the plant last month from the United Nations after Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for shelling at the site that has damaged buildings and caused the disconnection of power lines.
Turkey has rejected Russia’s annexation of Ukraine on Saturday, calling the decision a “grave violation” of international law.
Turkey, which has been at the centre of mediation between the west and Russia, said it had not recognised Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, adding that it rejected Russia’s decision to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Reuters reports.
This decision, which constitutes a grave violation of the established principles of international law, cannot be accepted. We reiterate our support to the resolution of this war, the severity of which keeps growing, based on a just peace that will be reached through negotiations.
The World Bank has said it will provide an additional US$530m in support to Ukraine, bringing the total aid by the bank to $13bn. The aid is supported by the UK ($500m) and Denmark ($30m), the World Bank said.
Of the total aid of $13bn to Ukraine to date, $11bn had been fully disbursed, the bank added.
The World Bank’s most recent analysis put the total long-term cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine over the next three years at well over $100bn, said Arup Banerji, World Bank regional country director for eastern Europe.
Overnight, Ukrainian forces were reportedly on the doorstep of Lyman in Donetsk, which Moscow’s forces pummelled for weeks to capture this summer.
“Lyman is partially surrounded,” said Denis Pushilin, the pro-Moscow leader in Donetsk, adding later on social media that Russian forces were holding out “with the last of their strength”.
Reports have circulated online of the Ukrainians also reaching Kreminna, 30km further east of Lyman. Hopefully we’ll have more on Ukrainian troops’ advances as the day progresses.
Summary
Hello and thanks for joining today’s live coverage of the Russian war against Ukraine, brought to you by the Guardian. I’m Warren Murray here to get things started. Let’s begin with some of the most recent developments.
Russian forces were potentially on the verge of one of their worst defeats of the war after Ukrainian troops recaptured two villages close to the eastern Russian-occupied stronghold of Lyman.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, proclaimed the annexation of territory seized in his invasion in four regions amounting to 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of total Ukrainian territory while Kyiv said it would continue its fight to retake the illegally occupied land.
Before signing the documents which lay claim to Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk – an act denounced as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the head of the United Nations – Putin delivered a 37-minute anti-western diatribe.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was formally applying for Ukraine to join the Nato military alliance, adding that Kyiv was ready for talks with Moscow but not while Putin remained president.
Russia vetoed a UN security council resolution introduced by the US and Albania condemning Moscow’s proclaimed annexations. Russia’s strategic partner China abstained from the vote, as well as India, which has historic defense ties with Russia despite a warming relationship with the United States.
The United States responded to the annexations by imposing more sanctions on Russia, targeting hundreds of people and companies, including those in Russia’s military-industrial complex and lawmakers.
At least 30 civilians were killed and almost 100 wounded in what Kyiv said was a cynical Russian missile strike on a convoy of civilian cars in southern Ukraine.
Putin, without providing evidence, blamed the US and its allies for blowing up pipelines under the Baltic Sea, raising the temperature in a crisis that has left Europe racing to secure its energy infrastructure and supplies.
Joe Biden, the US president, said “was a deliberate act of sabotage and now the Russians are pumping out disinformation and lies”, adding that Washington and its allies would send divers to find out what happened.
The ruptures on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline system have led to what is likely the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane recorded, the United Nations Environment Programme said.
Hurricane preparations have been underway at the Big Cat Rescue, the animal sanctuary in Tampa famously featured on Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ TV series.
Speaking to the Weather Channel, sanctuary head Carole Baskins laid out the measures BCR has taken to prepare for the hurricane.
“Unfortunately if a cat does escape, we have sedation drugs, we have a vet on call. But if a cat starts to exit the property, we have to shoot to kill,” she said.
Around a dozen staff will take shelter in the gift shop and also patrol the sanctuary grounds, the Weather Channel reports.
Additionally, fuel and generators are being kept readily available to ensure that the animals do not miss any mealtimes.
“Usually what happens after a storm is we start getting calls about wild animals running loose in Florida and so if it is an exotic cat that you see, do give us a call and we will help respond with the Florida Wildlife Commission to bring that cat into safety,” Baskins said.
Hurricane Ian’s eyewall ‘coming onshore’
It’s 11am eastern time, and the National Hurricane Center has just released its latest advisory on Hurricane Ian.
The category 4 storm’s “extremely dangerous eyewall” is “moving onshore”, the NHC says, and “will cause catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula soon”.
The official landfall is not declared until the center of the storm reaches land, which will happen in the coming few hours.
The cities of Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and Cape Coral lie directly in Ian’s path, with effects stretching for hundreds of miles along the Florida coast either side and inland.
“Ian is expected to make landfall in southwestern Florida in the next few hours as a catastrophic hurricane,” the NHC says, repeating its warnings of a storm surge up to 18ft, and winds of 155mph at landfall.
You can follow the latest storm track models and hurricane center’s predictions at their website here.
Hurricane #Ian Advisory 24: Extremely Dangerous Eyewall of Ian Moving Onshore. Ian Will Cause Catastrophic Storm Surge, Winds, and Flooding in The Florida Peninsula Soon. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB
There’s been a briefing at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Agency, where administrator Deanne Criswell has been warning Florida residents not to focus just on the areas of Hurricane Ian’s landfall.
“The majority of the state of Florida is in Ian’s crosshairs,” she said.
“We need everyone to heed the warnings of their local officials before during and after the storm.
“These are life saving messages that simply cannot be ignored. Water is dangerous, period, from coastal storm surge to inland flooding. Never drive through standing or moving water, as it takes only a few inches of water to carry away a vehicle.
“Second, if you are taking shelter in an area with rising water levels, quickly find higher ground. And third, never operate a generator in your home. Too many lives are lost each year due to carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Biden: Hurricane ‘no excuse’ for gas price gouging
Joe Biden is warning gas and oil companies not to use Hurricane Ian as an excuse for price gouging.
Speaking in Washington DC at the White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health, the president also said he’d spoken with Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis and made “an absolute commitment” of federal resources to help the state during and after the storm:
I made it clear to the governor and the mayors that the federal government is ready to help in every single way possible.
When the storm passes, the federal government will be there to help you recover, we’ll be there to help you clean up and rebuild to help get Florida get moving. We’ll be there at every step of the way. That’s my absolute commitment to the people in the state of Florida.
Joe Biden delivers a warning to energy companies at the White House on Wednesday. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Biden has approved DeSantis’s request for a federal emergency declaration and set aside, temporarily at least, bitter political differences between two men who could be rivals for the presidency in 2024.
He said hundreds of Fema (Federal Emergency Management Agency) personnel, thousands of National Guard members and teams of search and rescue teams had been deployed from federal agencies:
They’re already on the ground and ready to help as we speak. Fema has requisitioned literally millions of liters of water, millions of meals and hundreds of generators. We have a scheduled everything we can possibly do.
He closed his remarks with the warning to energy companies:
This warning is to the oil and gas industry executives. Do not, let me repeat, do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices and gouge the American people.
Florida governor DeSantis: ‘Pray for people’
Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis says Hurricane Ian is an historic storm that’s going to leave “an indelible mark” on the state.
He’s just been speaking at a press conference in Lake City as the storm edged closer to Florida’s south west coastline:
Pray for people. This is a major, major storm.
There’s some storms that really leave an indelible impact… this is going to be one of those historic storms and it’s going to shape the communities in south west Florida and have a profound impact on our state.
So we just ask people for their thoughts and their prayers.
DeSantis said Florida had coped with numerous storms in the past, and would deal with this one and move on.
It’s never fun to have damage. It’s never fun to see flooding. It’s never fun to see power interrupted. But you kind of deal with it. And then you move forward.
About 30,000 electricity linemen, numerous urban search and rescue teams and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere are ready to help once the weather clears, the governor said:
The assets we have are unprecedented in the state’s history and, unfortunately, they’ll need to be deployed.
Here’s the updated official storm surge projection from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which says up to 18ft of water from the Gulf of Mexico can be expected in some areas close to Ian’s imminent landfall.
In addition, up to 2ft of rain is expected in the next 24 to 48 hours in the most heavily impacted areas.
Hurricane Ian won’t make landfall until this afternoon, but some areas of Florida have already suffered substantial damage from tornadoes spawned in the storm’s outer bands.
On Tuesday night in Broward county, on Florida’s south east coast, several small planes were overturned at North Perry airport, and numerous trees came crashing down.
Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around her mobile home in Davie, close to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Joe Cavaretta/AP
Florida Power and Light, the state’s largest energy provider, is warning that power could be out for “days” for those in Ian’s path.
In Tampa, hundreds of residents have been evacuated from several nursing homes and hospitals in anticipation of power loss.
Fema chief: ‘This is going to be a catastrophic impact’
One of the mantras of major hurricanes is that you can shelter from the wind – which is up to 155mph in the case of Hurricane Ian – but you can’t hide from the water. Officials fear the storm surge of up to 18ft, predicted by the National Hurricane Center in Florida, will be deadly.
Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has just been on CNN to explain the risk:
This is going to be a catastrophic impact, and not just where we’re going to see the storm make landfall.
We’re really concerned about all of the inland flooding because it’s bringing with it a lot of rain and it’s going to move slowly, which means people in the path are going to experience the impacts for a long period of time.
My biggest concerns is the water, the storm surge and flooding. Water is one of the leading causes of death, direct fatalities, in these storms.
We know that a lot of people have evacuated but we also know there’s people that haven’t.
Criswell says a “robust search and rescue capability” of teams from several emergency response agencies including firefighters and the US coast guard has been assembled, and is stationed in Miami, on Florida’s south-east coast.
They will go in when it’s safe to do so, which might be before the storm has fully passed, she says:
As the storm moves, and as it’s safe for our search and rescue teams to go in, they’ll start searching those areas to see and assess damage, but most importantly look for people that may need help getting out of the area.
But just because they’re out doesn’t mean that individuals should be out. They need to stay put until the storm completely passes. And then when they do go out they need to be really cautious.
So many dangers that are going to be out there, with the flooding, the water, the downed power lines.
Good morning, it’s Richard Luscombe in Miami, Florida, welcoming you to our live blog covering the imminent landfall of Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland.
Millions of Florida residents are in the path of the deadly monster storm, and officials are warning of a looming catastrophe after Ian strengthened overnight to just shy of maximum category 5 status, pushing out winds of 155mph at its center.
The hurricane claimed several lives as it tore through Cuba, wrecking western communities and knocking out power to the entire island.
Now Ian has its sights on an afternoon landfall on the south-west coast of Florida, where a predicted storm surge of up to 18ft is liable to cause substantial flooding.
The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, told coastal residents in Ian’s path who haven’t already fled that it’s too late to do so now. “It’s no longer possible to safely evacuate,” he said, urging them to shelter in place.
We’ll bring you all the developments as they happen.
Meanwhile, please take a read of our news story here: