Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv repels attacks by Putin’s forces as US funding collapses

Illia Kyva, 46, a former member of Ukraine’s parliament, was shot shot in a park in Odintsovo region, southwest of Moscow, according to Russian investigators.

A Ukrainian source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the SBU security service was responsible.

Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s GUR, another intelligence agency, said on Ukrainian television Kyva was “finished” but did not say who was behind his death.

Ukraine‘s power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Thursday that cold weather had pushed power usage 2.7% above forecast levels, causing a deficit in the power system which was being filled by imports from Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

Ukrenergo said in a statement on the Telegram app that 700 MW of power would flow into Ukraine from neighbouring countries from 11:00 to 19:00 local time (0900 to 1700 GMT) on Thursday.

A Russian schoolgirl shot several of her classmates, killing one person and injuring five others, before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities have said.

The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, in a region that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Children were reportedly among the wounded.

One of the people injured was in a serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said.

Video shared by RIA Novosti showed children cowered in a classroom behind a door barricaded with upended desks and chairs during the attack.

The Russian central election commission has said that it will make a decision by 12 December on whether the four regions of occupied Ukraine, which Vladimir Putin claimed as Russian territory last September, will take part in presidential elections next year.

Interfax quotes the head of the commission, Ella Pamfilova, saying:”Having weighed all the pros and cons, we will make such a decision.

“If we accept it, then the next step will be to adopt the procedure for holding elections there; of course, it will be somewhat different, as the law provides for this, from voting in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation.”

The Russian Federation claimed to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson from Ukraine in late 2022, despite not fully controlling the territory of any of the regions.

In September 2023, the four occupied regions held elections as part of Russia’s 2023 regional elections.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed gratitude to his Japanese counterpart for a billion-dollar pledge.

In a message on X, Mr Zelensky wrote: “I am grateful to Japan and Prime Minister

Fumio Kishida for the decision to provide an additional $1 billion in assistance to Ukraine as well as their readiness to further increase the total to $4.5 billion.

“This is significant support for the recovery of Ukraine and our economy.”

The Japanese pledge comes as the support of other countries, such as the US, has been cast in doubt.

Russia’s upper house of parliament has voted to set the date for Russia’s presidential election for 17 March , 2024.

The decision was passed unanimously by 162 votes in the Federation Council.

“With this decision, we are effectively launching the start of the election campaign,” Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Federation Council, said.

While few expected anyone but Vladimir Putin to win the election – he has held effective charge of Russia for nearly a quarter of a century – the autocrat will still have to campaign in the run-up to next March.

Ukrainian soldiers were dealt a serious blow overnight – not from the Russian forces across the field, rather from Republican Senators across the Atlantic.

Senate Republicans blocked the advance of tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine and Israel on Wednesday, remaining concerned about shoring up the border with Mexico, with President Joe Biden calling the move “stunning” and dangerous.

US military aid will run out by the end of the year if this is not unblocked. Max Bergmann, a Ukraine and Russia expert, told The Independent “many Ukrainians will die” if this is not remedied.

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Russian forces made confirmed, though marginal, gains southeast of Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine that has become a flashpoint on the frontline. Ukrainian forces made confirmed counterattack gains northwest of Avdiivka.

A driver has been killed and grain infrastructure damaged after a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian grain infrastructure near the Danube River slipped through air defences, the governor of Odessa region has said.

The governor said the drones attacked over two hours overnight, and that while most were shot down, some got through, damaging a storage building, an elevator and trucks.

A former Ukrainian lawmaker regarded by Kyiv as a traitor has been shot dead near Moscow and a Ukrainian source said he was killed by the country’s security service.

Illia Kyva was a pro-Russian member of Ukraine’s parliament before Moscow invaded in February 2022, but had been in Russia throughout the war and frequently criticised Ukrainian authorities online.

A top Ukrainian official, Andriy Yermak, has said he wants to arrange a meeting between the Ukrainian and Hungarian leaders amid Budapest’s opposition to a proposal to start talks on European Union membership for Kyiv.

Unanimous approval at an EU summit next week is needed to proceed with membership talks for Ukraine and ex-Soviet Moldova as recommended by the European Commission. Kyiv sees EU membership as a key step, 21 months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of moving closer to the West.

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in a lightning tour intended to raise Moscow’s profile as a Middle East power broker, even as his war in Ukraine grinds on. Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, that is hosting the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks. It was his first trip to the region since before the coronavirus pandemic and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the start of his talks with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Putin offered to discuss energy cooperation, the conflict in the Middle East and the “Ukrainian crisis.”

He praised the current state of Russia‘s relations with the UAE and congratulated the country for hosting the COP28 climate talks.

There will be phased-in restrictions on indirect imports of Russian gems from March, a joint statement yesterday after the G7 nations’ meeting said. The measures were announced as Joe Biden and leaders of the G7 countries met Volodymyr Zelensky virtually in a show of solidarity.

The new measures will ensure a ban on non-industrial diamonds from Russia by 1 January and on third-party nations which sell Russian diamonds from March.

The move was being mulled as a part of fresh sanctions by the European Union last month. The G7 will phase in restrictions on indirect imports from a targeted date of March and introduce a “robust traceability-based verification and certification” mechanism for rough diamonds within the G7 by 1 September 2024. The ban excludes diamonds for industrial use.