Live blog: Multiple bridgeheads on eastern Dnieper River bank secured — Kiev

Friday, November 17, 2023

1900 GMT — Ukrainian marines claim multiple bridgeheads

Ukraine's military said its troops had secured multiple bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region — a small but potentially significant strategic advance in the midst of a war largely at a standstill.

The Marine Infantry Command’s claims were the first to come directly from the Ukrainian military about advances across one of Russia’s most significant barriers. Earlier this week, Andriy Yermak, the head of the president’s office, confirmed for the first time that Ukraine had established a foothold on the eastern side of the river.

The wide river is a natural dividing line along the southern battlefront, and Moscow's forces have used it since leaving the area around the city of Kherson in November 2022 to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing farther toward Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

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1915 GMT — Ukraine's power plants need missile defence ahead of winter

Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK is ready for another winter and Russian attacks, but its power plants need more missile defence systems to operate safely, Chief Executive Officer Maxim Timchenko told Reuters.

Since Russia's February 2022 military campaign, Europe, including members of the Soviet Union and the ex-Communist bloc, have supplied hundreds of transformers, miles of cables and thousands of diesel generators needed to light and heat the country in winter, when temperatures fall well below freezing.

But the experience of the past 12 months has prompted Ukraine to seek more air defence systems to protect its critical infrastructure.

"We need more Patriots, more IRIS systems. We cannot protect ourselves against ballistic missiles if we don't have air defence systems," Timchenko told Reuters in an interview in Warsaw.

1850 GMT — EU slams Russia's 'shameful' use of migrants at Finnish border

The European Union has accused Russia of making a "shameful" use of migrants to put pressure on other countries, saying it had noted an increased number of undocumented asylum seekers crossing Russia's border to Finland.

Helsinki announced that it will close four of its eight border crossings with Russia this weekend because of the increased flow of asylum seekers.

Finnish Prime Minister Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Russia was deliberately seeking to destabilise his country in response to its NATO adhesion this year.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Orpo on Thursday and said that "Russia's instrumentalisation of migrants is shameful".

1840 GMT — Russia sends shipments of free grain to Africa

Russia has sent the first of its promised free-of-charge grain shipments to Africa, the country's agriculture minister said.

"The first two ships with 25,000 tons of Russian wheat each have already left Russian ports for Somalia and Burkina Faso. We expect them to arrive in late November or early December," Dmitry Patrushev said while speaking at the Russia International Exhibition in Moscow.

He said about 200,000 tons of free grain will be sent to the continent by the end of the year.

Patrushev said ships bound for the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and Zimbabwe will also depart soon.

1835 GMT — Finland sees asylum surge before Russia border crossings shut

Dozens of asylum seekers arrived at four Finnish border crossings with Russia, just hours before they were to close, a border guard captain told AFP.

Finland is to shut half of its eight crossings along its eastern land border with Russia from midnight (2200 GMT).

Authorities have accused Russia of seeking to destabilise Finland by letting undocumented migrants -- mainly from the Middle East and Africa -- cross into the Nordic country.

The surge has grown in recent weeks. "Most of them have come with bicycles. Today we have had about 60," said Jussi Vainkka, a border guard captain at the Nuijamaa checkpoint.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, has seen increased numbers of asylum seekers since August.

1820 GMT —Russia lifts temporary ban on gasoline exports: ministry

Russia has announced it was lifting the temporary ban on gasoline that it imposed in September in response to soaring prices, against a backdrop of rising inflation in the country.

"The government made a decision to lift from November 17 the temporary ban on exports of motor gasoline that it introduced on September 21 as part of a set of measures to stabilise the price situation on the domestic market," the energy ministry said.

It had temporarily limited exports of petrol and diesel fuel to avoid shortages on the domestic market.

The ministry said it took the decision "considering stabilisation of the price situation in the domestic market."

1059 GMT — Russian strikes on energy facilities leave thousands without power: Kiev

Ukraine has said thousands of people living in towns and villages near the frontline have been left without electricity by recent Russian strikes on energy facilities.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters this week that Russian forces were likely stockpiling missiles for systemic strikes on his country's electricity grid during winter.

The energy ministry said in a statement that the frontline regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk in the east, and Kherson in the south had been hardest hit by recent outages.

1120 GMT — Ukraine says 151 ships have used Black Sea corridor

Some 151 ships have used Ukraine's new Black Sea shipping corridor since it was set up in August, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported, citing a senior government official.

A total of 4.4 million metric tonnes of cargo, including 3.2 million tonnes of grain, has been shipped via the corridor, Yuriy Vaskov, deputy minister for renovation and infrastructure, was quoted as saying.

A Türkiye-backed deal that had allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea collapsed in July after Russia withdrew.

0826 GMT –– Ukraine carries out 'successful' operations on Dnipro east bank: military

Ukraine's military has said that Kiev forces carried out a series of attacks on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River near the southern city of Kherson.

The waterway is the de facto frontline in the south of the country, and Russia conceded for the first time this week that Ukrainian forces had claimed back some territory on the opposing bank.

"The Defence Forces of Ukraine conducted a series of successful operations on the left bank of the Dnipro River, along the Kherson front," the Ukraine Marine Corps said in a statement on social media. "In cooperation with other units of the Defence Forces, managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads," the statement added.

0824 GMT –– Kremlin hopes Putin runs for another term as president

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said in an interview that he hoped President Vladimir Putin would run in the March election for another term as Russian president, a move that would keep Putin in power until at least 2030.

Putin, who was handed the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already been in power for longer than any other Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, beating even Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year tenure. Putin turned 71 on October 7.

Asked by the student television channel of Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) what the next president after Putin should be like, Peskov said: "The same."

0822 GMT –– Russia says it destroyed two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles over Black Sea

The Russian Defence Ministry has said that its forces had destroyed two Ukrainian Neptun anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.

0757 GMT –– Kremlin dismisses claims that Russia is stoking nuclear rhetoric

The Kremlin has said claims that Russia was ready to unleash nuclear war were "unacceptable madness" and part of what it cast as a quasi-war being waged by the West against Russia.

"I consider this absolutely unacceptable madness," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with a student television station, referring to what he said were "insane accusations" that Russia was ready to start a nuclear war.

Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers.

For our live updates from Thursday (November 15), click here.