Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘Medal ceremony’ deaths of Ukraine soldiers spark criminal inquiry; missile strike on Black Sea Fleet | World news

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered an appeal filed by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) against the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to suspend its membership, the independent judicial body said today.

The challenge arose over the IOC’s suspension of the ROC following the ROC decision to include as its members some regional sports organisations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine.

CAS said:

In its appeal to the CAS, the ROC requests that the Challenged Decision be set aside and that it be reinstated as a NOC recognised by the IOC, benefiting from all rights and prerogatives granted by the Olympic Charter.

The CAS arbitration proceedings have commenced. In accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration (the CAS Code), the arbitration rules governing CAS procedures, the parties are exchanging written submissions and the Panel of arbitrators that will decide the matter is being constituted.

The Russian Olympic Committee was banned with immediate effect on 12 Octpber for recognising regional organisations from four territories annexed from Ukraine, the IOC said.

The IOC added the ROC would not be eligible for any funding after it recognised earlier this month Olympic Councils from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia but that it would not affect any Russian athletes competing as neutrals.

An International Monetary Fund monitoring mission has started work today to review an ongoing multibillion dollar programme for Ukraine, as Kyiv seeks more than $41bn in international aid to cover its budget gap next year.

The IMF mission started policy talks with the Ukrainian officials on the $15.6bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan, the IMF said. The programme is part of a $115bn global package to support the economy as Ukraine battles Russia‘s invasion.

Ukraine’s central bank governor, Andriy Pyshnyi, said:

We are committed to a constructive analysis of the completed work and fruitful discussion on the next steps. The review will not be easy, but Ukraine’s team has been working smoothly and effectively for over 20 months of the large-scale war.

We clearly understand the critical need to maintain IMF’s support not only for further budget needs financing, but for the country’s development and its European future.

Ukraine depends heavily on international aid to cover its budget gap and finance social and humanitarian spending. The government has received $35.4bn so far this year from partners to cover its budget gap. Last year, Ukraine got $31bn, finance ministry data showed.

The finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko, told Reuters that Ukraine was finding it harder to secure financial support as the world’s attention shifts and geopolitical tensions rise.

Kyiv said today that Russia‘s armed forces mounted several “unsuccessful” attacks across the frontlines in the south and east of Ukraine over the last week.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has made any significant territorial gains for almost a year, and Kyiv’s top army commander said last week the war had ground to a stalemate. But fighting has remained intense, with both sides claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on the other.

Ukraine said 400 individual “combat clashes” took place over the last seven days, and that Russia was continuing its offensive on Avdiivka – an industrial town in the eastern region of Donetsk that Russia has been trying to surround and capture for months.

“The enemy is conducting assault actions in several directions at once,” Andriy Kovalyov, a spokesperson for the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, said on Monday in an interview on state TV.

Kovalyov also reported Russian attacks near the village of Robotyne, which Ukraine regained control of earlier this year, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. “The enemy attempted to restore its lost position near Robotyne but had no success.”

Russia‘s defence ministry said yesterday it had repelled Ukrainian attacks near Robotyne. In a briefing with top military commanders, the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said last week his forces were “continuing to conduct an active defence, inflicting effective damage on the enemy” and that Russian “units are moving forward, occupying more advantageous positions”.

Ukraine’s Kovalyov said today that Kyiv was conducting its own “offensive operations” to the south of Bakhmut – a city destroyed by months of artillery fire and urban warfare before Russia eventually captured it in May. Agence France-Presse said it could not verify either side’s claims.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has not made any announcements that he will run for another term and the campaign has not yet been announced, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

“The president has not made any statements” about this, Peksov said when asked about a Reuters report that Putin had decided to run.

“And the campaign has not been officially announced yet,” Peskov said.

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Russian drone attacks on Odesa late on Sunday evening left at least five people injured, set grain trucks on fire and damaged one of the city’s principal art galleries, Ukrainian officials in the Black Sea port said. Reuters carried the report:

“On November 6, the Odesa National Art Museum turns 124 years old,” Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, of which the Odesa city is the administrative centre, said on the Telegram messaging app. “On the eve of November 6, the Russians ‘congratulated’ our architectural monument with a missile that hit nearby.”

The walls of the building were damaged, some windows and glass were broken, he said. Kipper later said that 15 Russia-launched drones were destroyed over the city. Several high-rise residential buildings were damaged and warehouse and trucks with grain caught fire, which was promptly extinguished.

It was not clear whether the buildings and the trucks were hit by the drones or falling debris. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll reports this morning that Ukraine insists it will have completed the reforms required to get membership of the EU within two years, and its deputy prime minister has said it does not want a sympathy vote.

A review published on Wednesday is expected to reveal the European Commission position on whether negotiations should open or not with countries most advanced with their accession reforms.

“We do not want any discounts because of the war,” Olga Stefanishyna said, adding she was confident of a decision in the Ukraine’s favour.

“The two-year timeline we are talking about is just to make sure that we are prepared for membership in terms of legal approximation, of standards and rules and obligations of the directives.”

You can read Lisa O’Carroll’s full report here.

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