Russia-Ukraine war: Big explosions heard in first major Russian attack on Kyiv in months

Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don as he assessed the state of his country’s forces in Ukraine.

It was his second public visit to the headquarters in less than a month.

Video shared by a Russian state news agency showed MrPutin being greeted late Thursday by defence minister Minister Sergey Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff.

Almost 21 months of war have significantly eroded both Russia’s and Ukraine’s military resources. As winter comes, the fighting is likely to further settle into attritional warfare and analysts expect little change to the more than 1,000km front line.

In Rostov-on-Don, less than 100km from Ukraine’s southeastern border, Mr Putin was “introduced to new types of military equipment” and was informed about the progress of the war, his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Ukraine on Friday said its naval drones have destroyed two small Russian landing boats in Crimea, in an embarrassment for president Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian military intelligence said two amphibious Russian ships loaded with armoured vehicles had been hit by naval drones overnight.

One of the boats has been identified as an Akula class vessel, while the other landing vessel was a Serna class.

“The results of intelligence conducted on 10 November 2023 near Vuzka Bay in temporarily occupied Crimea show that after an attack by naval drones, two small Russian landing ships have been destroyed,” a Ukraine military report said.

Russian air strikes targeted Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Saturday, in a first attack since September, the city mayor said.

There was no immediate information on if there were any casualties.“Strong explosions were heard on the left bank of the capital,” mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

“Preliminary, air defence was working against ballistic (missiles).”

Air alerts for Kyiv and a nearby region were announced just minutes before the explosions were heard as city authorities urged residents to stay in shelters.

Russian forces were failing to advance against Ukrainian troops as they scaled up their attacks on the eastern town of Avdiivka, senior military officials said on Friday.

They said Moscow wanted to advance while attention remained on Israel.

My colleague Arpan Rai has more here:

Vladimir Putin visited the Southern Military District headquarters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don – mutinously seized by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin in June – as he assessed the state of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, in his second public visit to the headquarters in less than a month.

Footage shared by a Russian state news agency showed the Russian president being greeted late on Thursday by defence minister Sergey Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff.

Mr Putin was “introduced to new types of military equipment” and was informed about the progress of the war, his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

He made the visit on the way back from a trip to Kazakhstan, where he aimed to cement ties with Russia’s ex-Soviet neighbour and major economic partner.

Ukraine’s global “peace summit” is likely to take place next year, amid concerns over diplomatic rallying for the end of war in Europe with a simultaneous war raging in Gaza.

The war-hit country is arranging a fourth meeting of national security advisers in late November or early December, said Ihor Zhovka, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s top diplomatic adviser. “And the Global Summit might take place in February 2024,” he said in a statement.

He added that the summit will “definitely” take place “as it will mark both the symbolic beginning of the practical implementation of the Ukraine ‘peace formula’ and summarise all the results that have already been achieved on this track”.

Kyiv is looking to build a global coalition to come together and endorse a 10-point “formula” for peace in the region drafted by Volodymyr Zelensky. My colleague Arpan Rai has more details:

Ukrainian and Russian officials say they have reached an agreement to bring home a Ukrainian teenager taken to Russia from Mariupol by Moscow’s forces as they devastated the city last year.

Bohdan Yermokhin, a 17-year-old whose parents passed away years ago, will be reunited with a cousin “in a third country” on his 18th birthday later this month, with a view to then return to Ukraine, Russian children’s rights official Maria Lvova-Belova said. Ukraine’s human rights official Dmytro Lubinets also confirmed on Friday that Mr Yermokhin “will soon be in Ukraine.”

Mr Yermokhin is one of thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Russia from Ukraine since the invasion began, which has seen the International Criminal Court issue war crime arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova.

Mr Yermokhin was taken to Russia from the port city of Mariupol, seized by Moscow’s forces early on in the war. He was placed in a foster family in the Moscow region and given Russian citizenship, but repeatedly expressed the desire to return to Ukraine, his lawyer and family say.

The teenager appears to have already tried to escape Russia. In April, Lvova-Belova admitted Russian authorities had caught Mr Yerkmohin near Russia’s border with Belarus, as he was heading to Ukraine. The children’s rights ombudswoman argued that he was being taken there “under false pretenses”.

Lvova-Belova said on Friday that in August, her office offered Yermokhin the option of returning to Ukraine, but he “clearly stated that he doesn’t plan to move to Ukraine before turning 18 and confirmed it in writing.” He later changed his mind, she claimed, and an agreement with Ukraine regarding his return was reached.

Viktor Orban has said he does not support moving forward on negotiations on Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union, indicating once again that Hungary could pose a major roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc.

EU leaders are to decide next month whether Ukraine should be formally invited to begin talks to join the union. Unanimity among all member states is required to admit a new country into the bloc, giving Mr Orban a powerful veto.

The EU’s executive branch on Wednesday recommended that Ukraine should be permitted to open membership talks once it has addressed some shortfalls.

But in an interview with state radio on Friday, Mr Orban said: “Ukraine is in no way ready to negotiate on its ambitions to join the European Union. The clear Hungarian position is that the negotiations must not begin.”

Justin Spike has the full report: