Russia-Ukraine war live: Melitopol resistance kills Russian FSB trio – reports | Ukraine

The Kremlin has declined to comment on reports the Ukrainian army had crossed to the occupied left bank of the Dnipro River and reinforced positions, which would be a significant breakthrough for Kyiv.

Media and social media reported over the weekend that Kyiv’s forces had crossed the river – which has long formed the frontline in the southern Kherson region – and were holding positions in the village of Krynky.

“We do not comment on the course of the special military operation itself, that is the prerogative of our specialists, our military,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“In this case we also believe that our military specialists can and should comment.”

David Cameron has returned to government as UK foreign secretary, replacing James Cleverly, who has become the new home secretary.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, the former Conservative prime minster said:

We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more important for this country to stand by our allies, strengthen our partnerships and make sure our voice is heard.

The Kremlin said on Monday that a Washington Post report that a Ukrainian military officer coordinated the attack on Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines was especially alarming given the newspaper also said Ukraine’s president had not known about it.

No one has taken responsibility for the September 2022 blasts, which occurred off the Danish island of Bornholm and ruptured three out of four lines of the system that delivers Russian gas to Europe.

The Washington Post reported that Roman Chervinsky, a senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to Ukraine’s intelligence services, was the coordinator of the attack and cited unidentified people familiar with the operation as saying President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was kept out of the loop.

Chervinsky took orders from senior Ukrainian officials who ultimately reported to the commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, the Post said.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military told Reuters on Sunday he had “no information” about the report.

“Traces of Ukraine in this sabotage, this terrorist act, are increasingly appearing in reports, investigations and media reports,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“It says that President Zelenskiy may not have been aware of such actions by his subordinates from the security agencies. This is a very alarming signal not only for us, but also for the countries of the collective west,” Peskov said.

“If the Kyiv regime is no longer in control of the situation in its own country, then this is alarming and should also be taken into account.”

A sharp pressure drop on the pipelines under the Baltic Sea was registered on 26 September and seismologists detected explosions, triggering a wave of speculation about who sabotaged the multibillion-dollar project that carried Russian gas to Germany.

Some US and European officials initially suggested, without evidence, that Russia had blown up its own pipelines, an assertion dismissed as idiotic by President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that the west was behind the Nord Stream blasts – particularly the United States and Britain, which both deny involvement.

The New York Times and the Washington Post have reported that Ukraine – which has repeatedly denied involvement – was behind the attack.

Russia’s parliament may announce on 13 December that next year’s presidential election has been preliminarily scheduled for 17 March, the state news agency RIA reported on Monday, citing a source in parliament.

President Vladimir Putin has already decided to run in the election, Reuters reported last week, citing six sources, a move that will keep him in power until at least 2030 as he seeks to steer Russia through its most uncertain period in decades.

Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine and elsewhere:

A European Union plan to spend up to €20bn ($21.4bn/£17.5bn) on military aid for Ukraine is meeting resistance from EU countries and may not survive in its current form, diplomats say.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, proposed in July that the bloc create a fund with up to €5bn a year over four years as part of broader western security commitments to bolster Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion.

But as EU defence ministers prepare to discuss the plan in Brussels on Tuesday, diplomats say several countries – including EU heavyweight Germany – have voiced reservations about committing such large sums years in advance.

The EU and its members have been among the biggest donors of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, providing arms and equipment worth some €25bn, according to the bloc’s diplomatic service.

Borrell’s proposal was an effort to put support on a longer-term footing, by creating a cash pot for Ukraine aid inside a bigger fund, the European Peace Facility, used to reimburse EU members for military assistance to other countries.

“I’m not going to declare it dead at this point yet. But of course, improvements can always be made,” a senior EU diplomat said on Friday, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“Germany has had a lot of questions … and rightfully so. We’re talking about a lot of money.”

The debate over military aid comes as EU nations are also in discussions over a proposal to give Ukraine €50bn in economic assistance.

The EU is also facing challenges over other aspects of its military aid to Ukraine. Many officials and diplomats say the bloc will struggle to meet a target of supplying Kyiv with 1m artillery shells and missiles by March next year.

Since the start of 2023, a prolonged and bloody battle has been waged for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. In May Russian forces occupied the city, and during the height of fighting, Ukraine was suffering an estimated 100-200 casualties a day.

The Guardian’s Luke Harding was granted access to one of several Ukrainian medical stabilisation points close to the frontline near Bakhmut. Inside these medical points, frequently targeted with Russian drones and missile strikes, teams of doctors work in makeshift conditions to stabilise patients before they can be evacuated via ambulance to fully equipped hospitals

Russia’s defence ministry on Monday said the publication of what it called a “false report” about a regrouping of Russian troops in Ukraine was a provocation, the RBC news outlet reported.

Two Russian state news agencies had earlier published alerts saying Moscow was moving troops to “more favourable positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later, Reuters reports.

“The transmission of a false report about the ‘regrouping’ of troops in the Dnipro area, allegedly on behalf of the Russian defence ministry’s press centre, is a provocation,” RBC quoted the ministry as saying.

Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine and elsewhere:

Two Russian state news agencies published alerts on Monday saying Moscow was moving troops to “more favourable positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later.

The highly unusual incident suggested disarray in Russia’s military establishment and state media over how to report the battlefield situation in southern Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Russia’s military said on Friday that its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to forge a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro and on nearby islands.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said last week that Ukraine appeared to have conducted assaults across the Dnipro in the Kherson region in mid-October, and noted that Russian military bloggers were reporting continued Ukrainian ground operations on the east bank.

Large elements of the Wagner mercenary group have probably been assimilated into Russia’s Rosgvardiya national guard and resumed active treatment as of late October, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.

The latest intelligence briefing said Pavel Prigozhin, the son of the Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August, is likely to be leading the Wagner arm under Rosgvardiya.

“The Russian state is now exercising more direct control of Wagner group activities and former personnel following the mutiny in July 2023 and subsequent death of Wagner’s leadership in August 2023,” according to the MoD.

The briefing said other groups of Wagner fighters have “highly likely” joined another Russian PMC, Redut, and Wagner group medics had joined Chechen Akhmat special forces, according to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

At least three Russian officers killed in Melitopol by blast

Summary