Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that civilians in Ukraine’s Kherson region should be evacuated from the conflict zone, the Kremlin chief’s first acknowledgement of a deteriorating situation in a region he claims to have annexed. Read FRANCE 24’s liveblog below to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris local time (GMT+1).
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8:49pm: Turkey warns Finland, Sweden must ‘take steps’ before NATO approval
Turkey will not formally approve Finland and Sweden’s membership of NATO until the two countries take the necessary “steps”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg Friday.
Ankara has accused the two Nordic nations of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish militants it deems “terrorists” and held back on ratifying their NATO membership despite an agreement in June.
“President Erdogan noted that the steps to be taken by Sweden and Finland would determine how fast the approval process… would go and when it would be concluded,” the Turkish presidency said.
>>To read further: Turkey warns Finland, Sweden must ‘take steps’ before joining NATO
8:14pm: Ukraine has ‘acute need for air defence in this critical moment’, US’s Sullivan says
Ukraine has an “acute need for air defence in this critical moment”, a top advisor to the US president said on a visit to the country which has been hit by Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
“We recognise the acute need for air defence in this critical moment when Russia and Russian forces are raining missiles and Iranian drones down on the civilian infrastructure of this country,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a press conference in Kyiv.
7:28pm: Wagner group opens first official HQ in Russia
The previously secretive private military group Wagner on Friday opened its first official headquarters in Russia in the city of Saint Petersburg, AFP journalists said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who recently confirmed he founded the group whose fighters have been deployed to Ukraine as well as countries in Latin America and Africa, last week announced the opening of the office on his company Concord’s social media page.
7:11pm: Kyiv residents snap up new stamp celebrating Crimean bridge blast
Residents in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Friday snapped up a new postage stamp commemorating a blast that damaged a major bridge linking Russia to Crimea in a blow to the prestige of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There isn’t a corner of the world which hasn’t asked us to send them (the stamp),” said Liudmyla Samoilova, among dozens of people who lined up to get the stamps when they went on sale at Kyiv’s post office.
“We’ve sent them to America, Australia,” she said as she stuck the stamps to envelopes. “People are excited about these events and wait for the good news.”
>> Crimean bridge attack highlights Russian setbacks in Ukraine
7pm: US’s Sullivan visits Kyiv, says ‘unwavering’ support to continue
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that US support to Ukraine would remain “unwavering and unflinching” following Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.
“We fully intend to ensure that the resources are there as necessary and that we’ll get votes from both sides of the isle to make that happen,” he told reporters during a briefing at the Ukrainian presidential administration.
6:30pm: Putin trying to ‘freeze Ukraine into submission’, Blinken says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday accused Russia of trying to make up for defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine by targeting the country’s infrastructure, leaving civilians without vital services.
“President (Vladimir) Putin seems to have decided that if he can’t seize Ukraine by force, he will try to freeze it into submission,” Blinken said after a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Germany.
5:57pm: Ukraine has enough gas for winter, prime minister says
Ukraine has sufficient gas supplies for this winter when planned imports are taken into account, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday, as the country prepares for further Russian strikes targeting its energy systems.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Shmyhal said Ukraine now had 14.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in its underground storages.
“Taking into account expected deliveries from abroad, this amount is sufficient for the heating season,” Shmyhal said, referring to the October-April period when Ukraine switches on centrally supplied heating in homes.
5:41pm: Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson backtrack on curfew announcement
Moscow-installed authorities in occupied Kherson on Friday backtracked shortly after declaring a “round-the-clock curfew” as a Ukrainian counter-offensive nears the southern city.
“In the city of Kherson there are absolutely no restrictions that would limit the life of the city,” Moscow-installed official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram, after a first message announcing a curfew on the same channel was edited out.
In a first video message, Stremousov said: “A curfew has been declared in the city of Kherson, which will last 24 hours, round the clock, so that we can defend our city.”
He then posted a second video, in which he edited out any mention of a curfew, followed by a third video denying any restriction.
“At the moment everything is fully under the control of the military and law enforcement forces in Kherson,” Stremousov wrote under his latest Telegram message. Stremousov nevertheless reiterated calls on residents to leave the city.
5:21pm: G7 foreign ministers unveil new Ukraine aid mechanism
The G7 foreign ministers on Friday vowed to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia and urged caution towards China after two days of talks in Germany.
The Group of Seven club of rich countries has agreed a new structure to funnel aid to Ukraine to help rebuild infrastructure targeted by Russia, the foreign ministers said in a statement.
“Today we establish a G7 coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure,” they said in the western city of Muenster.
The ministers said Russia was trying to “terrorise the civilian population” of Ukraine with attacks against people and infrastructure, in particular energy and water facilities.
“Indiscriminate attacks against civilian population and infrastructure constitute war crimes and we reiterate our determination to ensure full accountability for these and crimes against humanity,” the ministers said.
5:18pm: Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson backtrack on curfew announcement
Moscow-installed authorities in occupied Kherson on Friday backtracked shortly after declaring a “round-the-clock curfew” as a Ukrainian counter-offensive nears the southern city.
“In the city of Kherson there are absolutely no restrictions that would limit the life of the city,” Moscow-installed official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram, after a first message announcing a curfew on the same channel was edited out.
5:04pm: US to send $400 million more to Ukraine in military aid
The US is sending Ukraine $400 million more in military aid and establishing a security assistance headquarters in Germany that will oversee all weapons transfers and military training for Ukraine, the Pentagon announced Friday.
The new command post, called the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, signals a more permanent, long-term program to continue to aid Kyiv in its fight against Russia, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters at the Pentagon.
>> Replenishing US arms supplies a matter of ‘urgency’ amid huge shipments to Ukraine
The $400 million includes contracts for 1,100 Phoenix Ghost drones, funding to refurbish 45 tanks and an additional 40 riverine boats, among other systems, the Pentagon said.
4:56pm: Netherlands to supply Ukraine with tanks and other weapons
The Netherlands will supply Ukraine with tanks and other heavy military equipment with a total worth of 120 million euros ($119 million), the Dutch defence ministry said on Friday.
The Netherlands said it would spend 45 million euros on T-72 tanks, as it cooperates with the United States and the Czech Republic on a shipment of 90 modernised Czech tanks.
4:17pm: Round-the-clock curfew imposed in Ukraine’s Kherson, Russian-installed official says
A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson, the Russian-installed deputy governor of the region said on Friday, amid what he said was a likely Ukrainian offensive.
In video message posted on Telegram, Kirill Stremousov said that the curfew was necessary “in order to defend our city of Kherson” from what he referred to as “terrorist attacks”.
Stremousov repeated earlier calls for civilians to leave Kherson city, saying that columns of Ukrainian vehicles had been spotted on areas of the frontline and that an attack was possible.
3:45pm: World on ‘precipice’, Pope says on Bahrain trip
Pope Francis warned the world is on the edge of a “delicate precipice” and buffeted by “winds of war” as he held inter-faith talks with one of Sunni Islam’s top leaders in Bahrain on Friday.
The 85-year-old Argentine decried the “opposing blocs” of East and West, a veiled reference to the standoff over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a speech to religious leaders in the tiny Gulf state.
“We continue to find ourselves on the brink of a delicate precipice and we do not want to fall,” he told an audience including Bahrain’s king and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar mosque.
2:42pm: Russians ‘reinforcing defensive positions’ near Kherson
“First of all, there were these pictures of the main regional administration building in Kherson without the Russian flag flying over it, so apparently they took the flag down, although I’m told they didn’t take the flag down off other administrative buildings in Kherson,” FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reported from Kyiv.
“There were also rumours of Russian checkpoints in Kherson and just outside the city no longer being manned. […] But Ukrainian military and international observers, the Institute for the Study of War think-tank in particular, say that that’s not the only thing they’re seeing. They’re also seeing Russians reinforcing defensive positions to the northwest of Kherson city,” Cragg continued.
“So people are wondering how to interpret what the Russians are exactly doing. The Ukrainians certainly don’t think ‘oh look they’re leaving, let’s march on in and everything will be fine’. There are a lot of people saying this must be some kind of trap.”
2:28pm: G7 ministers warn of severe consequences if Russia uses nuclear or chemical weapons
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven economic powers said on Friday any use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences, and renewed their call on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable,” the ministers said in a joint statement. “Today we establish a G7 coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure,” they added.
2:17pm: Russia seeks sanctions exemptions for state bank in Ukraine grain deal talks
Russia wants the West to ease restrictions on state agriculture lender Rosselkhozbank to facilitate Russian grain exports, four sources familiar with the request told Reuters, made during talks to extend a deal on food shipments from Ukraine.
Moscow suspended its participation in the secure Black Sea grain corridor in late October but rejoined after four days, easing fears of further disruptions to grain exports from key supplier Ukraine at a time of rampant global food inflation.
President Vladimir Putin has reserved Russia’s right to halt the United Nations-brokered agreement again, while UN chief Antonio Guterres is pushing Moscow to agree to extend the pact beyond its scheduled expiry on November 19.
Russia has not detailed its demands publicly beyond calls to unblock Russian fertiliser stuck in European ports and warehouses and resume exports of ammonia, an important ingredient in fertiliser, through a Russia-Ukraine pipeline.
The four sources, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, told Reuters that Russia was asking Western countries to allow state lender Rosselkhozbank to restore its relations with correspondent banks despite Western sanctions.
1:37pm ‘More than 5,000’ civilians evacuated ‘every day’ from Kherson region
“More than 5,000” civilians are leaving their homes “every day” since evacuations resumed Tuesday in the Kherson region, the Russian Defence Ministry said Friday, as Moscow faces a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the annexed territory in southern Ukraine.
“Military engineers are transporting up to 1,200 civilian vehicles, trucks and cars, as well as more than 5,000 civilians to the left bank of the Dnieper River on a daily basis,” the Russian Defence Ministry said on Telegram.
1:10pm: Ukraine’s president accuses Russia of ‘energy terrorism’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of engaging in “energy terrorism” after Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy network left millions of residents without power.
About 4.5 million people were without electricity across the country, Zelensky said in his nightly address Thursday. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 450,000 apartments in the capital alone did not have electricity on Friday.
“I appeal to all residents of the capital: save electricity as much as possible, because the situation remains difficult!” the mayor wrote on Telegram. State-owned grid operator Ukrenergo reported on Friday that emergency blackouts would be taking place across Kyiv.
Russia has repeatedly carried out missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian power facilities, particularly in recent weeks. In his address, Zelensky described the targeting of energy infrastructure as a sign of weakness.
“The very fact that Russia is resorting to energy terrorism shows the weakness of our enemy,” he said. “They cannot beat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they try to break our people this way.”
1:00pm: Putin says civilians ‘need to be removed’ from Kherson
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that civilians in Ukraine’s Kherson region should be evacuated from the conflict zone, the Kremlin chief’s first acknowledgement of a deteriorating situation in a region he claims to have annexed.
“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Putin told pro-Kremlin activists as he marked Russia’s Day of National Unity.
12:00pm: Russia’s Putin needs to know intimidation will not work, say UK and Polish leaders
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday discussed the situation in Belarus and agreed the need to keep sending a strong message to Russia that intimidation would not work, Sunak’s office said.
The statement said Sunak told Morawiecki on a call: “As part of deterrence efforts across the eastern flank, the UK was increasing the capability of its forces, and had increased activity with the Joint Expeditionary Force in the Baltic region.”
“Both agreed on the need to send a continued strong signal to Putin that intimidation would not work.”
11:32am: G7 calls on Russia to extend grain deal, says US official
The G7 has urged Russia to prolong a deal allowing safe passage of grain shipments from Ukraine at a meeting in western Germany, a senior US State Department official said on Friday.
“Everyone agreed on the need to extend the Black Sea grain initiative,” the official said.
11:18am: Russian families bemoan Ukraine military draft ‘chaos’
Seething with anger, Russian beautician Tatyana describes the Kremlin’s military mobilisation as “complete horror.”
In early October her young nephew was called up in the town of Krasnogorsk northwest of Moscow as part of the Kremlin’s drive to prop up Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. The family, she said, had to buy everything from clothing to a first aid kit for him at its own expense.
“They had to purchase everything themselves, they bought a uniform, thermal underwear, medicines, and food,” 40-year-old Tatyana, who refused to give her last name for fear of reprisals, told AFP.
“When they arrived, no one was waiting for them, and nothing was organised.”
On September 21, Putin announced the start of a “partial” military mobilisation, the country’s first enlistment since World War II.
In late October, the defence ministry announced the draft’s completion, saying that 300,000 reservists had been called up.
11:05am: G7 agreed on need for coordination mechanism to repair Ukraine infrastructure
Group of Seven foreign ministers agreed on the need for a coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure, a senior State Department official said on Friday.
“That’s something that will be a core focus of this group in the days and weeks ahead,” the official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said.
He added that there was “remarkable alignment” across the G7 countries on the views and approaches towards China and the need for the G7 to strengthen coordination on strategy towards Beijing.
10:38am: China’s Xi calls for Ukraine peace talks with Germany’s Scholz
“At present, the international situation is complex and changeable,” Xi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV. “As influential powers, China and Germany should work together in times of change and chaos to make more contributions to world peace and development.”
On Ukraine, Xi “pointed out that China supports Germany and the EU in playing an important role in promoting peace talks and promoting the building of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework”, CCTV reported
The international community should “call on all parties concerned to exercise rationality and restraint, conduct direct contacts as soon as possible, and create conditions for the resumption of negotiations (and) jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons”, Xi said.
10:26am: Germany’s Scholz urges Putin to extend grain export deal
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to prolong a deal allowing safe passage of grain shipments from Ukraine to avert a hunger crisis.
“I urge the Russian president not to refuse to extend the grain agreement which ends in a few days,” he told reporters on a visit to Beijing. “Hunger must not be used as a weapon.”
10:24am: Pope blasts ‘childlike’ wars at Bahrain interfaith summit
With Russia’s war in Ukraine raging, Pope Francis joined Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders Friday in calling for the world’s great religions work together for peace, telling an interfaith summit that religion must never be used to justify violence and that faith leaders must counter the “childlike” whims of the powerful to make war.
On his second day in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, Francis closed out a conference on East-West dialogue sponsored by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. It was his second such conference in as many months, following one in Kazakhstan, evidence of Francis’ core belief that moments of encounter among people of different faiths can help heal today’s conflicts and promote a more just and sustainable world.
10:11am: Germany’s Scholz calls on China to use ‘influence’ on Russia
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he told Chinese President Xi Jinping in talks on Friday that he wanted Beijing to use its “influence” on Moscow to stop the war in Ukraine.
“I told President (Xi) that it is important for China to use its influence on Russia,” Scholz said. “Russia must immediately stop the attacks under which the civilian population is suffering daily and withdraw from Ukraine.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
Originally published on France24
Source: sn.dk