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15m ago
(13:58 GMT)At least 70,000 people fled Kherson: Moscow-installed official
At least 70,000 people have left Kherson in the space of a week, a Moscow-installed regional official said.
“I’m sure that more than 70,000 people left in a week since the crossings were organised,” Vladimir Saldo told a regional TV channel after efforts to move residents to the Russian-controlled areas on the left bank of the Dnipro river.
He added that this number might be more extensive as people could have used their own boats to cross the river instead of organised ferries.
Residents were urged to leave areas of the right bank, including the region’s central city Kherson, as Moscow troops face an advancing counteroffensive from Ukraine’s forces.
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32m ago
(13:41 GMT)Kherson counteroffensive more difficult due to weather: Ukraine
Ukraine’s counter-offensive against Russian forces in the Kherson region is proving more difficult than in the northeast due to wet weather and the nature of the terrain, Ukraine’s defence minister said.
Oleksii Reznikov told a news conference that Russian forces were using water supply channels as trenches in the occupied Kherson region.
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59m ago
(13:14 GMT)Attacks on critical infrastructure will cost $4bn to repair: IMF
Russia’s air strikes on civilian infrastructure raise the cost of Ukraine’s recovery and will need close to $4 billion a month to keep power and water supplies going, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the institution was focused on helping Ukraine keep afloat while working on a longer-term programme.
“We still hope that we can stay within these parameters of 3-4 billion, but what changed since we had this discussion is Russia’s terrible bombing of civilian infrastructure,” she said.
“Just to get electricity back and water supply back we are moving towards the upper range of 4 billion…Just imagine a worst case scenario.”
Georgieva also signalled that China should be allowed to join an international platform that the European Commission wants to set up this year for Ukraine.
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1h ago
(12:43 GMT)Prisoner swap talks must be confidential: Kremlin
The Kremlin says it keeps the door open for talks on a possible prisoner swap with US basketball star Brittney Griner but reiterated that discussions must be kept strictly confidential.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked if Griner could be freed as part of a prisoners swap with Washington and said, “We always say that any contacts about possible exchanges can only be conducted in silence under a tight lid on any information.”
On Tuesday, Russian courts rejected Griner’s appeal against her nine-year sentence for drug possession.
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2h ago
(12:13 GMT)Russia is aware of Ukraine’s plans to use a ‘dirty bomb’: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is aware of Ukraine’s plans to use a “dirty bomb”, echoing a recently unsubstantiated allegation made by Moscow.
At a meeting with the intelligence chiefs of several former Soviet countries, Putin said that the risk of conflict in the world and region was high and that security should be heightened around crucial infrastructure sites.
2h ago
(12:04 GMT)Heavy fighting in Luhansk, says Russian separatist official
A Russia-backed separatist official in the Luhansk region says heavy fighting is taking place in the region’s Kreminna and Svatove districts.
The two districts have been at the front line since Ukrainian soldiers began their rapid counteroffensive which routed Russian troops in the Kharkiv region in September.
Luhansk was also part of the regions where Putin announced martial law after an Illegal “annexation”.
(Al Jazeer -
2h ago
(11:49 GMT)Putin observes exercises by Russia’s strategic nuclear forces
According to the RIA news agency, Putin observed exercises by Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.
“Under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
State television showed Putin overseeing the drills from a control room.
Putin observes exercises by Russia’s strategic nuclear forces via a video link in Moscow [Sputnik/Alexei Babushkin/Kremlin via Reuters] -
2h ago
(11:34 GMT)Who controls what?
With Russia continuing its allegations against Ukraine plotting to use a “dirty bomb” and both sides eyeing Kherson, what is the situation like on the ground?
Al Jazeera has four maps, which it updates daily, tracking the latest developments in the war.
(Al Jazeera) 
(Al Jazeera) 
(Al Jazeera) -
3h ago
(11:09 GMT)Attacks on Ukraine a ‘genocide’, says Kyiv mayor
The mayor of Kyiv has accused Russia of attempting to destroy all of Ukraine’s infrastructure before winter, calling the attacks on the country “simple genocide of the people”.
In an interview with Sky News, Vitali Klitschko said Putin’s goal was to rebuild the Soviet Union, warning the Russian leader that Ukraine would “never come back to the USSR”.
He added, “We see our future as part of the European family.”
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3h ago
(10:57 GMT)Assets in ‘annexed’ regions may be transferred to Russia: Kremlin
The Kremlin says assets in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia “annexed” last month may be transferred to Russian companies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was obvious that “abandoned assets” could not be left inactive, and the government would deal with the issue.
Ukraine and its Western allies have condemned Russia’s declared annexation of the four regions as illegal.
Interactive: UN votes to condemn Russia’s annexations 3h ago
(10:42 GMT)Prospect of nuclear weapons ‘goes against basic tenets of humanity’: India
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that nuclear weapons should not be used by any side in the Ukraine war, according to an Indian government statement.
“The prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity,” Singh told Shoigu while reiterating the need for a resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
Shoigu spoke to China and India’s defence ministers over allegations that Ukraine is creating “dirty bombs” to be used in the conflict
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3h ago
(10:27 GMT)Kremlin to ‘vigorously’ convince nations of Ukraine’s ‘dirty bombs’
The Kremlin says it will “vigorously” continue to make the case to the international community that it believes Ukraine intended to detonate a “dirty bomb” with radioactive contaminants.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow wanted to prompt an active response from the international community.
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu also spoke to his Indian and Chinese counterparts to convey Moscow’s warning following a series of calls with NATO defence ministers.
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4h ago
(10:00 GMT)Russian anti-war group responsible for railway damage: UK
According to the latest British Ministry of Defence update, the Russian governor of Belgorod has said an explosive device damaged a railway network about 15km from the Russian-Belarus border, which connects the two countries.
The Russian anti-war group “stop the wagons” claimed responsibility for the incident.
“This is at least the sixth incident of sabotage against Russian railway infrastructure claimed by STW since June.
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4h ago
(09:48 GMT)Biden and Sunak agree to support Ukraine
US President Joe Biden and the UK’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have agreed to work together to support Ukraine, the White House said.
They spoke for the first time hours after Sunak became Britain’s third prime minister this year.
The two leaders also reaffirmed the “special relationship” between the US and the UK, and said they would work together to advance global security and prosperity, the White House said in a read-out of the conversation.
“The leaders agreed on the importance of working together to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its aggression,” the statement said.
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4h ago
(09:23 GMT)Russian court rejects US basketball player’s appeal
A Russian court has upheld the prison sentence of WNBA star Brittney Griner, rejecting her appeal of the August 4 verdict.
Griner was informed she would receive credit for time served in pre-trial detention, reducing the nine-year sentence to eight years. For each day in pre-trial detention, Griner has been given 1.5 days served.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the decision was unfortunate but expected.
“Brittney Griner remains wrongly detained,” she said. “We greatly appreciate the ongoing efforts of the Administration and US Department of State in leading the negotiations. It is time to bring this case to an end and bring BG home.”
4h ago
(09:21 GMT)Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘dirty bomb’ plans at UN
Russia has told the United Nations Security Council that Ukraine is creating a “dirty bomb”.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters: “We’re quite satisfied because we raised the awareness.
“I don’t mind people saying that Russia is crying wolf if this doesn’t happen because this is a terrible, terrible disaster that threatens potentially the whole of the Earth.”
Russia has alleged – without providing any evidence – that Kyiv has ordered two organisations to create a dirty bomb.
“We’ve seen and heard no new evidence,” UK’s Deputy UN Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters, referring to Russia’s “transparently false allegations”.
He added: “This is pure Russian misinformation of the kind of we’ve seen many times before and it should stop.
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4h ago
(09:19 GMT)Russia preparing for ‘heaviest of battles’ in Kherson, says Ukraine
Russian forces are digging in for the “heaviest of battles” in the strategic southern region of Kherson, a senior Ukrainian official said.
Russian forces in the region have been driven back in recent weeks and risk being trapped on the west bank of the Dnieper River.
Moscow’s troops occupied the capital of Kherson in the early stages of the invasion.
“With Kherson everything is clear. The Russians are replenishing, strengthening their grouping there,” Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said in an online video.
“It means that nobody is preparing to withdraw. On the contrary, the heaviest of battles is going to take place for Kherson.”
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4h ago
(09:15 GMT)Mercedes-Benz becomes latest carmaker to abandon Russian market
Mercedes-Benz says it will withdraw from the Russian market and sell shares in its industrial and financial services subsidiaries to a local investor, becoming the latest carmaker to exit the country.
Japan’s Nissan this month took a $687m loss in handing over its business in Russia to a state-owned entity for 1 euro, mirroring an earlier move by Renault, which sold its majority stake in Russia’s Avtovaz for 1 rouble.
Now shares in Mercedes’s local subsidiaries are expected to be sold to the car dealer chain Avtodom.
Mercedes stopped manufacturing in Russia in early March.
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