Key events
Summary
Rachel Hall
Here are all the key developments which have taken place over the past few hours:
I’m handing over to my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong who’ll be keeping you updated for the rest of the day. Thanks for following.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has delivered a statement on Russia’s missile attacks on Ukraine, condemning the “brutality” of over 80 missile strikes targeted at civilians and public infrastructure.
He said:
The aim [is] to cast the population into darkness and cold. Once again Russia has shown its barbarity and given the lie to any claim they are interested in peace.
He added that Poland’s investigation into where the missiles which landed on its soil came from “has our full support”, and the UK will help conclude it.
Addressing the suggestion that the missiles may have come from Ukraine, he said:
No blame can be placed on a country trying to defend itself from such a barrage. The blame belongs solely to Russia.
He added that he spoke with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to express both countries’ full support.
He said:
We will continue to stand with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s criminal aggression.
He said that the G20, which met in Bali earlier this week, was “created to grip challenges like this”, adding that “today’s crisis is different because it is being driven by a G20 member”.
In response to Russia’s severe disruption of global food and energy markets, he said the G20 were delivering a “decisive response”, with almost all member countries calling out Russia’s actions and “declaring today’s era must not be one of war”.
He said there was a “shared determination” among world leaders at the G20 summit to “restore stability, deliver long-term growth and drive a better future, one where no single country has the power to hold us back”.
He said the G20 had agreed to use all tools at its disposal to support the global economy and promote financial stability, including by supporting developing countries, preventing debt traps, tackling causes of inflation through fiscal sustainability, supporting the Black Sea deal to prevent famine, improving energy security to accelerate the transition to clean energy, and committing to maintaining free markets and free trade.
He said:
We will act to protect our collective economic security.
We will continue to support Ukraine. We will continue to stand up for the rule of law and the fundamental principles of sovereignty and self-determination. We will build a global economy that is more secure, more stable, more resilient. This is what the gravity of the moment demands.
Here is Guardian correspondents Isobel Koshiw and Lorenzo Tondo’s full report of the wave of missile strikes across Ukraine in the morning:
Russian official says Ukraine controls 1{a78e43caf781a4748142ac77894e52b42fd2247cba0219deedaee5032d61bfc9} of Luhansk
Ukrainian forces control about 1{a78e43caf781a4748142ac77894e52b42fd2247cba0219deedaee5032d61bfc9} of territory in the eastern region of Luhansk, the RIA Novosti news agency cited the Russian-installed head of the area as saying.
The Moscow-backed administrator Leonid Pasechnik said Ukraine controlled the village of Belogorovka and two other settlements in the region.
Russia has declared the Luhansk region its own after holding what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine. Western governments and Kyiv said the votes breached international law and were coercive and non-representative.
Isobel Koshiw
Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov says a city hall employee was caught up in this morning’s attack while out helping infirm, elderly women as part of their job. He said the employee is being operated on and published a picture of a shrapnel fragment which has pierced their coat.
He said:
This is the coat. And this is a fragment. … The coat belongs to an employee of the city hall. My employee. She is now being operated on. …
During today’s rocket (attack), she and her colleague were just doing their job. Helping infirm elderly women. …
When you (say) your prayers to heaven, please do not forget words of thanks for ordinary people: social security workers, postmen, energy workers, doctors, rescuers, utility workers. All those who fight without weapons in their hands and save our lives.
Russia is not prepared to “chop up” the Black Sea grain deal, but wants a relaxation of sanctions on its agricultural and fertiliser exports to be a vital part of the deal, the Tass news agency quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister as saying.
Lorenzo Tondo
Guardian correspondent Lorenzo Tondo, who is in Mykolaiv region in the south of Ukraine, is saying that the missile strikes appear to be continuing:
We just heard another long series of loud explosions in the regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv a few minutes ago. Russia appears to be carrying out another mass strike on Ukraine this morning.
Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro have been confirmed by the presidential administration and the respective regional heads.
Officials say two people were killed in Zaporhizhzhia
Reuters is reporting that local officials have said that two people were killed in a missile attack overnight on the southeastern region of Zaporhizhzhia, three were wounded in an attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv and three were hurt in Odesa.
Ukraine is likely to get access to the site in southeastern Poland where a missile killed two people, the Polish president’s top foreign policy advisor has said, after Kyiv demanded access to the scene of the blast.
Reuters reports that Polish President Andrzej Duda said that access to the site of the explosion would require the agreement of both countries leading the investigation, Poland and the United States.
Warsaw says the explosion was most likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray, something Kyiv denies.
Jakub Kumoch told private broadcaster TVN 24:
A Polish-American investigating team is on site. The Ukrainians asked for access to the site of the investigation. If both parties agree, and as far as I know there will be no objection from the American side, such access could be obtained soon.
There are indeed film materials, I would not like to talk about the content of the film materials that I saw in classified mode, but of course the prime minister gave such information, such materials exist.
“These are our normal photos from the border, where you can see certain things. You see shots over Ukraine, fighting over Ukraine, and at some point, in a very short time, you see a certain sequence of events.
The head of Poland’s National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, also told private broadcaster RMF FM that as far as he was aware Duda was not opposed to having Ukrainian observers at the scene.
Russia appears to be carrying out mass strike in Odesa and Dnipro
The Guardian’s Ukraine correspondent Isobel Koshiw and correspondent Lorenzo Tondo are in Mykolaiv region in the south of the country and have a report on this morning’s mass strike:
Russia appears to be carrying out another mass strike on Ukraine this morning. Strikes on critical infrastructure in Odesa and Dnipro have been confirmed by the presidential administration and the respective regional heads.
In Kyiv and Dnipro, air defence systems are working to shoot down incoming rockets, say officials. Unofficial channels are reporting the use of air defence systems in several other cities across Ukraine.
It appears to be yet another attack aimed at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram of this morning’s attack:
The enemy thinks that he will weaken our defence with energy strikes and be able to strike in the back. This is a naive tactic of cowardly losers that we are ready for.
Ukraine has already withstood extremely difficult blows of the enemy, which did not have the results that these Russian cowards were counting on. We continue to move forward. Do not ignore the air raid sirens, they will not succeed. We will crush them.
Since early October, Russia has been successfully targeting Ukraine’s energy facilities through a series of mass strikes. Earlier this month Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that about 40{a78e43caf781a4748142ac77894e52b42fd2247cba0219deedaee5032d61bfc9} of the country’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed.
On 15 November, Russia sent about 100 missiles into Ukraine, according to its authorities. Though almost three-quarters were stopped by Ukraines air defence systems, energy facilities in almost every region were targeted, according to Ukraines state energy company, Ukrenergo.
Ukrenergo have yet to make a full statement on the damage but described the situation as the worst so far. Emergency blackouts have been implemented across Ukraine’s northern and southern regions in an effort to stabilise the grid.
Two people were killed in a village on the Polish border as a result of the November 15 strike. Ukraines allies have said it was a Ukrainian air defense missile but Ukraine insists it was of Russian origin.
In his nightly address last night, Zelenskiy said:
Emergency and stabilisation shutdowns continue in 18 regions and in Kyiv. These [comprise of] millions of consumers. We are doing everything to restore electricity – both generation and supply. Another meeting of the Ramstein [talks] took place. The key issue [discussed] was the strengthening of our anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence. I held negotiations with the vice-president of the World Bank, who oversees our region.
We discussed projects for the restoration of our infrastructure and public facilities, the work of the reconstruction fund of our country. The total volume of projects which was discussed today is billions of dollars. These are things that needs to be rebuilt now in order to guarantee a normal life for people.
If we survive this winter, and we will do it, Ukraine will definitely win this war.
Kyiv city council said two rockets and two Iranian-supplied Shahid drones were shot down over the capital, according to their Telegram. The head of Kyiv region Dmytro Kuleba is calling on residents to stay in their shelters. Rockets and drones are believed to be still in transit.
Head of Mykolaiv region Vitaliy Kim said that Iranian-supplied drones are currently flying in Mykolaiv.
Three people were injured, including a teenager, in the strike on Dnipro city, according to its mayor Borys Filatov. The Dnipro regional administration has reported that a total of five people were injured.
