today
Friday 4 November 2022
20:07
TO NEED
Ukraine has “an acute need” for anti-aircraft equipment “at this critical moment” when Russia is launching massive attacks on its energy sites, said Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to US President Joe Biden.
“We recognize the acute need for air defenses at this critical time when Russia and Russian forces are raining down Iranian missiles and drones on this country’s civilian infrastructure,” Sullivan said at a news conference ahead of the Ukrainian presidency.
19:49
MEETING
Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday to reiterate Washington’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, the White House said.
Joe Biden’s top adviser also met with Defense Secretary Oleksiy Reznikov and the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak to “underline the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine and her people who are defending their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said in the statement.
19:16
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday thanked the United States for providing an additional “$400 million” in military aid to help Ukraine fight Russia. “We appreciate this continued support,” said the President of Ukraine.
6:50 p.m
FOOD AID
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will step up action in Ukraine to allow farmers to continue producing despite the war, it announced on Friday. “Additional resources are urgently needed to support vulnerable rural households, especially in anticipation of the approaching winter,” she said.
Specifically, it will set up a new “project office” in Ukraine to “facilitate and scale up technical and humanitarian assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations, particularly in rural areas.”
18:45
WAGNER GROUP
The paramilitary group Wagner opened its first official headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.
18:22
FREEZE
Anthony Blinken condemned on Friday that Russia is trying to subjugate the Ukrainians by “freezing” them. “Around 40 percent of the infrastructure that supplies the Ukrainians with hot water and electricity has been destroyed (…)”, he regretted on Friday on the sidelines of the G7.
17:27
TERRORISM
British justice on Friday acquitted ten Greenpeace activists who prevented a cargo ship from unloading Russian diesel at a port in England. They were prosecuted for trespassing and obstructing legitimate activity for occupying a jetty at a terminal in the Thames Estuary in May.
But Chelmsford Court Judge Christopher Williams exonerated them, declaring to their applause that “oil offloading constitutes a potential criminal offense”. “I think it is more than likely that the war being waged by Russia can be labeled as terrorism,” he said.
He believed that the UK Terrorist Financing Act 2000 could be invoked in this case.
“This is the first time a British court has accepted the argument that Russia’s war in Ukraine can be considered terrorism,” the NGO said in a statement. In her opinion, this decision could have “seismic consequences for British energy policy”.
16:34
KHERSON
Civilians “currently living in Kherson” must be “removed” from combat zones, Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Local Russian occupation authorities announced on Tuesday that they had begun expelling “up to 70,000 people”.
International
Posted today at 4:34pm
16:29
CURFEW
Russian occupation authorities on Friday announced a “24-hour curfew” in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, from which the Russians have already expelled thousands of civilians. “A curfew has been imposed in the city of Kherson, which will last 24 hours a day so that we can defend our city,” said deputy head of the local Russian occupation authority, Kirill Stremoussov.
The leader deleted his original video a few minutes later and replaced it with a similar but edited video that no longer mentioned the curfew. A reason for this change was not given. Third, he released a new video assuring that despite Ukraine’s push into the region, there are “no restrictions on residents” in Kherson.
15:03
NUCLEAR
Russia’s nuclear rhetoric was “unacceptable,” the G7 castigated on Friday.
15:00
INFRASTRUCTURE
The G7 group on Friday agreed to set up “a coordination mechanism” to help Ukraine repair and defend its critical power and water supply infrastructure, which has been damaged by Russia in recent weeks.
The group’s foreign ministers also reiterated their “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
1:45 p.m
“MORE THAN 5000 CIVILIANS” WERE EVACUATED “EVERY DAY” FROM THE KHERSON REGION
“More than 5,000” civilians have fled their homes “every day” since evacuations resumed Tuesday in the Kherson region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday, as Moscow faces a Ukrainian counter-offensive in that annexed area of southern Ukraine. “Military engineers transport up to 1,200 civilian vehicles, trucks and cars and more than 5,000 civilians to the left bank of the Dnieper every day,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
12:40 p.m
BERLIN AND PEKING REJECT ANY ATOMSTRIKE IDEA
Germany and China have agreed to reject any idea of a nuclear strike linked to the war in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday after a visit to Beijing, while Russia has repeatedly mentioned the threat to Vladimir Putin in a bid to overturn the conflict.
In the talks with the Chinese leadership, it was “very important to emphasize, to say clearly that an escalation” of the war “in the form of the use of a tactical nuclear weapon is out of the question,” Merkel’s successor told the press, “and I I am very pleased that at least an agreement has been reached on this issue”.
12:37 p.m
G7 INVITES MOSCOW TO RENEW GRAIN AGREEMENT
The G7 countries are calling on Russia to extend the expiring agreement on Ukrainian grain exports. “Everyone agrees that the Black Sea Grains Agreement must be extended,” said the senior US diplomat on condition of anonymity on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Munster.
12:36
V. PUTIN CALLS ON KHERSON CIVILIANS TO KEEP FAR FROM FIGHTING
Civilians in Kherson in occupied southern Ukraine “must be removed” from “dangerous” combat zones, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday as Moscow faced a Ukrainian counter-offensive there. “Those currently living in Kherson must be kept away from the most dangerous combat zones,” the Kremlin chief said during a brief ceremony in Moscow’s Red Square to mark Russia’s National Unity Day.
11:16
D. MEDVEDEV CASTIES THE “COWARD TRAITORS” FLEEING THE FIGHTS
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday railed against thousands of Russians fleeing fighting in Ukraine, calling them “cowardly traitors”. Russia would be “stronger and cleaner” without them, he wrote on Telegram, on Russian Unity Day, a holiday instituted by Vladimir Putin in 2005 to celebrate a 1612 victory over invading Polish forces.
“We were abandoned by scared, caring people.” “Cowardly traitors and greedy defectors fled to distant lands and rotted their bones abroad,” said this close friend of Vladimir Putin.
11:12
O. SCHOLZ PLEASE PEKING TO PLAY “HIS INFLUENCE”.
During a visit to Beijing on Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had urged Chinese President Xi to “use his influence” on Russia to end its “war of aggression” against Ukraine.
“It’s about the need to respect the principles of the United Nations Charter, which we all subscribe to, it’s about principles like sovereignty and territorial integrity, which are also important for China,” he added. The German leader also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin from Beijing not to “oppose” the extension of Ukraine’s grain exports deal, which expires on November 19.
06:57
THE DRONE WAR
Ukrainians and Russians are increasingly using drones in the armed conflict between them. Guided missiles that rarely miss their target. The Ukrainian army plans to double its capabilities in the coming months.
International
Posted today at 6:57am
06:55
REVIEW OF THE LAST 24 HOURS
The transport of Ukrainian grain was able to resume on Thursday after being halted last weekend. Almost 4.5 million Ukrainians are now without electricity. A look back at the highlights of the last 24 hours.
International
Posted today at 6:55am
03:56
‘DIRTY BOMB’: IAEA MAKES ‘APPARENT’ CONCLUSION
The “obvious” conclusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) represents “clear and irrefutable evidence” that there are no preparations for a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
“We have given the IAEA inspection mission full freedom of action” and upon its completion “we have clear and irrefutable evidence that no one in Ukraine has developed or is in the process of making dirty bombs,” he said.
03:56
NEW HUGE POWER FAILURE
Nearly 4.5 million consumers in Ukraine were plunged into darkness Thursday night after Russian strikes against energy assets. “Tonight alone, around 4.5 million consumers in Kyiv and ten other regions were temporarily disconnected from the power grid,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Russians “cannot defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they are trying to break our people” by indulging in “energy terror.”
03:55
WELCOME
Hello, everyone. Welcome to this live dedicated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Follow all the latest information for this Friday, November 4th here.