Russia-Ukraine war live: Dutch F-16 jets to arrive at Romanian training centres in weeks; Moldova blocks Russian news agencies | Ukraine
Ukraine says it ‘successfully hit’ part of Russia’s air defence system in Crimea
Ukraine’s army said it had overnight “successfully hit” part of Russia’s air defence system located in annexed Crimea, Agence France-Presse reports.
“The armed forces successfully hit a strategic object of the air defence system on the western coast of occupied Crimea,” the army’s strategic communications unit said on social media. It gave no further details and Russia gave no official comment.
But the influential Rybar Telegram channel – which is close to the Russian army – alleged Ukraine had launched two US ATACMS missiles that fell near the village of Olenivka, on the western coast of Crimea.
Rybar said Russian forces were not able to down the missiles “but thanks to measures taken earlier there was no serious damage”.
The social media account alleged that “half an hour later” Black Sea fleet sailors found three Ukrainian naval drones near Sevastopol.
Rybar said one of them was “destroyed”, while another two tried to enter the Bay of Khersones before being shot at and sunk by Russian forces.
These claims are yet to be independently verified.
Key events
Moldova blocks access to Russia’s main news agencies
Moldova has blocked access to the websites of major Russian news media, accusing them of taking part in an information war against the country.
Moldova, a small country located between Ukraine and the Nato-member Romania, has accused Russia of trying to overthrow its pro-western government since it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Moldova holds local elections later this week.
A decree published online by Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service listed 31 websites to be blocked immediately for “online content used in the war of information against the Republic ff Moldova”, adding to 22 blocked earlier this month.
The new list included 14 Russian news sources, including prominent newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and website Lenta.ru, as well as Tass and Interfax, Reuters reports.
In a separate decree, Moldova also suspended the licences of six domestic TV channels.
Russian troops occupy a small, mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region, and Moldova’s main opposition parties have long had close ties to Moscow.
Russia denies meddling in Moldova’s affairs and accuses Maia Sandu, the president, of promoting animosity.
Dutch F-16s for Ukraine to arrive in Romania within two weeks, says Netherlands’ PM
The first US-made F-16 combat aircraft that the Netherlands is donating to Ukraine will arrive in Romania’s training centre within two weeks, outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said on Monday.
“I expect the Patriot missiles to be delivered shortly, to aid Ukraine in the upcoming winter. And the same speed applies to the F-16s,” Rutte said during a video conference with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that was posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“The first ones will be shipped to the training centre in Romania within the next two weeks so that day we will get ready for further training,” he said.
Denmark, Norway and Belgium have also announced they will give F-16 jets to Ukraine.
The Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine in the face of continued Russian aggression, as much and for as long as necessary. The devastating situation in Israel and Gaza will not divert our attention away from Ukraine. The existential need to push back against Russian… pic.twitter.com/o1CCW3gKQp
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) October 30, 2023
One person killed from shelling in cemetery, says Kherson’s regional governor
Kherson’s regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, has said that a cemetery in the village of Kindiyka has been shelled by Russia, killing one person and injuring a 62-year-old man.
He said on Telegram that the 62-year-old man was hospitalised in a “moderate condition” and was receiving medical attention.
Prokudin also said on Monday that seven people – two men and five women – were known to have been injured as a result of the shelling of a shuttle taxi in Kherson.
Separately, Prokudin said Russia attacked an unspecified critical infrastructure facility in the region, leaving the residents of four small settlements without electricity.
These claims are yet to be independently verified.
Ukrainian air defences intercepted all 12 Shahed drones that Russia fired at several regions overnight and two Kh-59 guided missiles, according to the country’s air force.
The success of Ukraine’s new Black Sea export corridor has led to a sharp increase in the number of rail wagons heading to ports in the Odesa region, a senior railway official has said.
Valeriy Tkachov, deputy director of the commercial department at Ukrainian Railways, said on Facebook that over the last week the number of grain wagons heading to Odesa ports increased by more than 50% to 4,032 from 2,676.
In August, Ukraine launched a “humanitarian corridor” for ships bound for African and Asian markets to try to circumvent a de facto blockade in the Black Sea after Russia quit a deal that had guaranteed Kyiv’s seaborne exports during the war.
The Ukrainian general staff has said Russian forces have continued trying to regain control over Andriivka to the south of Bakhmut, which Kyiv’s forces said they had retaken in September.
It said Ukraine’s troops continued to conduct assault operations south of Bakhmut and were inflicting losses in manpower and equipment, Reuters reports.
Russia has also been pushing in recent weeks to encircle and capture the eastern town of Avdiivka.
Missiles have damaged an administrative building and equipment in a shipyard in the Black Sea region of Odesa this morning, local prosecutors have said, adding that four workers had been hurt (see update from earlier post at 08.28).
“The attack caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished by our rescuers,” Odesa regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said in a Telegram post.
Images published online by the Odesa prosecutor’s office showed a blast crater, buildings with shattered windows and two destroyed vehicles, Reuters reports.
Russia bulks up forces near Bakhmut, says Ukrainian commander
Russia has significantly bulked up its forces around the devastated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, with its soldiers switching from a defensive posture to taking “active actions”, a Ukrainian military commander has said.
Russia captured Bakhmut, the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the 20-month war, in May. Ukraine has been on the counteroffensive since June to try to retake occupied land in the south and east, including the town.
“In the Bakhmut area, the enemy has significantly strengthened its grouping and switched from defence to active actions,” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the ground forces, wrote on Telegram.
He described the situation in the east as difficult, with Russian forces particularly active near the north-eastern Ukrainian-held town of Kupiansk, where he said Moscow’s troops were trying to advance simultaneously in several directions.
He said that Russian troops have suffered heavy losses, Reuters reports. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Mitch McConnell, the powerful Republican leader in the US Senate, is going “all out” in support of Kyiv despite a rift on the issue within his party, Politico reports.
McConnell is at odds with new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, who wants to split off Israel aid from Ukraine funding rather than pass a sweeping national security package.
And the Senate GOP leader faces brewing discontent within his own conference, which is buzzing over whether to stick with McConnell or side with conservatives who want a strategy change on Ukraine.
McConnell’s public and private lobbying efforts to greenlight tens of billions of dollars in Ukraine assistance is a sharp deviation from his usual more reserved, consensus-building approach.
He’s going to significant lengths to win over reluctant GOP senators and is on a collision course with the new speaker.
On Monday, McConnell will appear alongside Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, at the University of Louisville to again publicly commit the United States to Kyiv’s defence against Russia, a striking move amid the intraparty tension.
Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling killed a 91-year-old woman in Kherson
Russian shells struck residential areas of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, killing a 91-year-old woman in what a local official described on Monday as a “terrifying night”, the Associated Press reports.
The overnight shelling set fire to a high-rise apartment building and reduced some apartments to rubble, according to footage posted by the Kherson governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.
The woman died when an apartment wall fell on her, according to her daughter, who lived with her on the ninth floor.
The victim was one of three Ukrainian civilians killed in the east and south of the country over the previous 24 hours, with at least five people injured, Ukraine’s presidential office reported on Monday.
These claims are yet to be independently verified.
The UK government said it had re-examined the “extent and scale” of its intelligence work on the Wagner group, after a critical report by MPs, PA media reports.
The Foreign Office also said the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin may offer “new opportunities” to tackle the group.
The private military firm, whose former leader was killed in a plane crash over the summer, was proscribed as a terrorist group in September after the Commons foreign affairs committee said ministers were not doing enough to counter the threat it posed.
In a response to the committee’s report, published on Monday, ministers backed or partially agreed with the vast majority of MPs’ recommendations. It confirmed that a cross-government taskforce on the group had been created and told MPs:
We agree with the committee that intelligence gathering on Wagner’s activities is a priority and have re-examined the extent and scale of our effort.
We believe that we have sufficient resources in place to track Wagner. Wagner is multilayered, complex and dynamic. We regularly assess the group and its impact.
The Foreign Office also said it had “dedicated new resource to containing and countering Wagner” and other Russian private military companies, while also working with allies to “maximise our collective impact”.
Ukraine says it ‘successfully hit’ part of Russia’s air defence system in Crimea
Ukraine’s army said it had overnight “successfully hit” part of Russia’s air defence system located in annexed Crimea, Agence France-Presse reports.
“The armed forces successfully hit a strategic object of the air defence system on the western coast of occupied Crimea,” the army’s strategic communications unit said on social media. It gave no further details and Russia gave no official comment.
But the influential Rybar Telegram channel – which is close to the Russian army – alleged Ukraine had launched two US ATACMS missiles that fell near the village of Olenivka, on the western coast of Crimea.
Rybar said Russian forces were not able to down the missiles “but thanks to measures taken earlier there was no serious damage”.
The social media account alleged that “half an hour later” Black Sea fleet sailors found three Ukrainian naval drones near Sevastopol.
Rybar said one of them was “destroyed”, while another two tried to enter the Bay of Khersones before being shot at and sunk by Russian forces.
These claims are yet to be independently verified.
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