The Canadian organization, which has a big existence in metro Detroit, will operate the plant as the “exceptional provider” to “all the electrical SUVs and trucks” generated at Orion Assembly, the venture description claimed.
The GM assembly plant is undergoing a $4 billion electric powered conversion, and the automaker reported last yr it predicted to churn out Chevrolet Silverado EVs and electric GMC Sierra pickups commencing in 2024.
Building of Magna’s seating plant is predicted to start off in July and be entire by November 2024.
Conquest contact
The GM seating deal marks a big get for Magna. Southfield-dependent competitor Lear Corp. has been the seating provider on GM’s Silverado and GMC Sierra applications and introduced a calendar year ago that it gained the agreement for the 2024 Silverado EV remaining constructed at Manufacturing unit Zero.
GM declined to say how it resolved on its seating suppliers.
“For aggressive factors, we do not publicly explore specifics related to provider agreements,” GM spokesman Dan Flores instructed Crain’s.
The enhancement on the former internet site of Oakland County Animal Handle is getting led by Basic Development Co., which together with Friedman Genuine Estate bought the house in 2021 for $3.7 million.
The moment built, the constructing will be leased to Magna, even though the lease has not still been finalized, Fuerst explained.
“The metropolis council has had a lengthy-standing strategic target to get ready underutilized homes for redevelopment,” in accordance to the preparing doc. “The function involved with getting ready this property is a prime instance of the City Council’s vision becoming implemented.”
The arranging document explained the Magna plant will operate with a few shifts — the very first consisting of 250-300 staff — and run 5 days a week, with perform on the weekends dependent on GM’s desires.
The sum of regional and condition incentives remaining sought for the venture had been not disclosed. The Michigan Economic Advancement Corp. declined comment.
“It would be premature to examine facts of any opportunity project that could or may well not go in advance of the Michigan Strategic Fund board,” spokesman Otie McKinley reported in an electronic mail.
The proposed plant is scheduled to go ahead of the setting up fee board Wednesday for approval of the website program and a tree removing allow.
In accordance to the program, about 165,000 sq. feet of the plant would be shop area, 85,000 sq. ft would be warehouse and the remaining 30,000 sq. ft would be for place of work.
Magna has been on an electric shelling out spree in Michigan not long ago. The corporation introduced in October it would devote $530 million in new and current vegetation in Highland Park, Shelby Township and St. Clair while making 1,569 employment to help new enterprise from automakers.
About 270 staff at an Autoneum plant in Bloomsburg, Pa., went on strike very last 7 days in opposition to the vital global automotive insulation techniques provider.
Deal negotiations in between the business and its union stalled pursuing the firm’s hottest agreement offer you becoming turned down by personnel, in accordance to media stories. Workers walked off the occupation Thursday afternoon, according to the stories.
Autoneum, centered in Winterthur, Switzerland, focuses on inner and external seem and heat insulation techniques. The supplier will work with just about each individual major automaker, which include General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, according to its internet site.
For the Bloomsburg plant, its precise record of customers is unclear. Even so, the plant obtained awards from Toyota in 2011, Ford in 2014 and GM in 2021. Autoneum did not react to phone calls from Automotive News seeking remark on the strike.
Brian Heverly, president of Regional 1700 Employees United, instructed Fox 56 that the rank-and-file turned down Autoneum’s 3rd and last contract offer you.
Amongst employee complaints is the supplier’s insistence that staff spend 5 per cent far more of their health treatment prices outdoors of common yearly will increase.
Regional 1700 Vice President Dave Schaffer, an staff at the plant for 44 decades, advised Fox 56 that the personnel failed to want to strike but felt compelled to provided the conditions.
“I am fourth generation. Created this city, this put crafted this town. The people today and the community appreciate what we have here and we didn’t want to go this way,” Schaffer claimed. “We didn’t want to do this. It is really a very historic working day. We’re sticking together, and it’s not a good detail but so significantly pride in everyone that will work in this article.”
Schaffer additional that the last strike at the plant was in 1968.
A GM spokesman advised Automotive News that the automaker is knowledgeable of the problem but does not foresee the strike acquiring an immediate affect on GM operations.
It was not clear whether or not the plant has been capable to proceed creation with salaried personnel. Union officials could not be achieved for further more remark.
Very first-fifty percent internet reduction
Autoneum, in a assertion introduced July 27, reported it swung to a internet reduction of 12.8 million Swiss francs ($13.6 million) during the to start with half of 2022 in contrast with a earnings of 25.5 million francs ($27 million) in the course of the very same period of time very last 12 months. Earnings fell .2 {515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} to 889 million francs.
The firm’s struggles have mirrored people of several other international car suppliers this calendar year — especially all those with business publicity in Europe.
“Recent geopolitical developments substantially influenced enterprise overall performance in the initially fifty percent of 2022,” Autoneum reported in a assertion. “They are accompanied by accelerating inflation and major cost will increase in the commodities markets, which the war in Ukraine has more exacerbated. These developments are also delaying market restoration in the automotive sector.”
The organization mentioned Oct. 31 that it achieved a new financial loan settlement with its banking companies for 355 million francs ($377 million).
“We are happy to have concluded this personal loan arrangement, which secures the group’s very long-phrase funding,” CFO Bernhard Wiehl reported in a assertion. “It is also critical to say at this place that Autoneum has managed to additional reinforce its economic stability around the previous three many years regardless of the corona disaster and a complicated setting in the automotive business. Constructive funds circulation growth over the previous two decades has enabled Autoneum to consistently lower internet personal debt considering that 2020.”
Philip Nussel of Automotive Information contributed to this report.
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.”
Volkswagen Team CEO Oliver Blume designs to force back the automaker’s critical Trinity flagship EV project from 2026 towards the conclusion of the decade and may possibly also scrap plans for a new manufacturing unit in Germany, reports stated.
VW reported in March that it would to make investments 2 billion euros in a new factory in close proximity to its Wolfsburg headquarters to develop electrical cars with advanced self-driving functions, with development thanks to start out in spring 2023.
The Trinity EVs would use the group’s new SSP software package-led system, which VW says will empower Level 4 autonomy, meaning the car or truck will be equipped to push itself.
VW experienced prepared to officially start out manufacturing at the new manufacturing facility in 2026. Blume would like to delay this right until 2030 for the reason that new software program will not be ready in time, Manager Magazin claimed.
VW’s management nevertheless ideas to provide the self-driving, long-vary EVs to market place, a source told Reuters, introducing the concern was no matter if a new manufacturing facility was needed in Wolfsburg or the assembly line at Wolfsburg’s primary plant could make them.
The SSP platform will probably no longer be introduced with the Trinity plant as at first prepared, Supervisor Magazin reported.
The delays complicate VW’s bid to capture up with Tesla and lay bare the challenges of overhauling Europe’s biggest automaker, from retooling factories to repairing buggy software package that has pissed off drivers of its electric cars.
VW “presently is having the option to glimpse at all jobs and investments and verify them for viability,” the enterprise reported in an internal information to employees. A spokesperson declined to remark additional.
VW prepared to develop a new plant to slash output situations to match individuals of Tesla at its new European factory in the vicinity of Berlin by employing approaches this kind of as significant die casting and cutting the range of parts in its cars and trucks.
Tesla states it can presently develop a Model Y SUV in 10 hrs at its manufacturing facility in Gruenheide close to Berlin, whilst it can get VW 3 occasions as lengthy to make its ID3 total-electrical hatchback.
The final decision to increase a new manufacturing unit website was component of previous CEO Herbert Diess’s force to make EVs faster and become additional economical. The government, whom Blume changed in September, very last 12 months unveiled aggressive methods for EVs, application and new-mobility offerings.
Blume has to stroll back some of all those targets for the reason that they are unrealistic, a VW source said, incorporating that the details of the alterations are still getting labored out.
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.
