For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.
The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EDT.
10:07 p.m.: The United States and Britain are enduring allies, and their strong bond will last, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday after British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation, Reuters reported.
"The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change. I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine. We will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face," Biden said in a statement.
In Russia, its foreign ministry welcomed the Truss' departure, saying she was a disgrace of a leader who would be remembered for her "catastrophic illiteracy."
"Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a social media post.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Twitter in English: "Bye, bye @trussliz, congrats to lettuce," referring to the British Daily Star tabloid's days-long livestream asking whether Truss' troubled premiership would outlast the shelf life of lettuce.
9:33 p.m.: Spain, Portugal and France said on Thursday they will build a sea-based pipeline to carry hydrogen and gas between Barcelona and Marseille, substituting plans to extend the so-called MidCat pipeline across the Pyrenees that France opposed, Reuters reported.
The route, dubbed BarMar, will mainly be used to pump green hydrogen and other renewable gases but will also temporarily allow for the transportation of a "limited amount" of natural gas to help alleviate Europe's energy crisis, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.
Europe is scrambling to secure alternative energy supplies in the face of a squeeze from Russia which has progressively cut gas flows after the West imposed sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February.
8:54 p.m.: Ukrainian forces are advancing on Kherson, and Russian troops are withdrawing. A ferry on the Dnieper River appears to be part of an ongoing Russian pullback of soldiers and equipment from the right bank of the river, in the southern Kherson region, where Ukrainian forces have been making gradual advances, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report.
8:06 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany will train a brigade of up to 5,000 Ukrainian troops as part of a European Union training mission approved earlier this week, The Associated Press reported.
The EU on Monday approved the mission, which will run for two years initially. Its immediate aim is to train about 15,000 troops, chiefly in Poland and Germany, and it’s hoped that the mission will be up and running by mid-November.
Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday that one of the headquarters will be in Germany and “by spring, we will train a complete brigade with up to 5,000 soldiers.”
He said that “with this, we are underlining are readiness to participate in the long-term building of strong Ukrainian armed forces, hand in hand with our partners.”
7:05 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday inspected a training ground for mobilized troops and was shown firing shots from a sniper rifle in footage apparently intended to show his personal backing for soldiers heading to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Putin was accompanied on the trip to Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who reported to him on how the men were being trained, the Kremlin said.
Footage showed a figure who appeared to be Putin lying flat on the ground and firing from a rifle. In the next frame, Putin was seen dusting down his overcoat, slapping a soldier on the shoulder and wishing him good luck.
6:21 p.m.: Ukrainian authorities say at least three civilians were killed and 14 wounded overnight in shelling across the country, The Associated Press reported.
The Russian military overnight fired drones and missiles at eight regions in the southeastern part of the country, the president's office said.
The attack on southcentral city of Kryvyi Rih damaged an energy facility and a plant, leaving the city without electricity.
“Now every illuminated business sign, billboard or washing machine can lead to serious emergency shutdowns,” regional Gov. Valentin Reznichenko said.
The city is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown and an industrial center.
Fighting continued in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions that were recently illegally annexed by Russia.
5:33 p.m.:
4:51 p.m.: The top United Nations official in Ukraine says as winter approaches, millions of people are beyond the reach of humanitarians in non-government-controlled areas and are likely in need of assistance, VOA’s Margaret Besheer reports from the United Nations.
“And it's a fact that we regularly request access across the front line from both countries and unfortunately, the Russian Federation has not yet granted us that access,” Denise Brown, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine told VOA in an interview. “It’s a purely humanitarian request, based on humanitarian imperative.”
Brown said they would continue to seek access to Russian-controlled areas in the south and east.
Ukraine’s large elderly population is also quite vulnerable, and her teams are trying to reach more communities in remote, rural areas through local organizations.
4 p.m.: The government of the United Kingdom on Thursday matched EU Sanctions on three Iranian generals and an arms firm over Russia's use of Iranian drones to bomb Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that "Iran's support for Putin's brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is deplorable."
"This is clear evidence of Iran's destabilizing role in global security," he said, after the EU earlier Thursday imposed sanctions on the same arms firm and individuals.
3:22 p.m.: The European Union has imposed sanctions on Shahed Aviation Industries in Iran and three Iranian armed forces generals for undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity by helping supply drones to Russia for use in the war, The Associated Press reported.
Russia is believed to have sent waves of Iranian-made Shahed drones over Ukraine to strike power plants and other key infrastructure.
In response, the EU imposed an asset freeze on the company, as well as an asset freeze and travel ban on the three officers who are also suspected of links to Iran’s drone program.
EU headquarters said in a statement that Thursday’s move “is a signal of the EU’s resolve to respond swiftly and decisively to Iran’s actions supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine. The EU condemns the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia and their deadly deployment in the war of aggression against Ukraine.”
2:32 p.m.: The White House said Thursday that the U.S. has evidence that Iranian troops are "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea, supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure and civilian population, The Associated Press reported.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a "relatively small number" of personnel to Crimea, a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014, to assist Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine.
"The information we have is that the Iranians have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but it's the Russians who are doing the piloting," Kirby said.
The U.S. first revealed this summer that Russia was purchasing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to launch against Ukraine. Iran has denied selling its munitions to Russia.
2:15 p.m.: National Security Council spokesman says there are no signs Belarus is getting militarily involved in Ukraine war, reports VOA’s White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara.
1:15 p.m.: The Ukrainian army general staff says there is a growing risk Russia could launch a new offensive from Belarus, aimed at strangling supply routes for Western weapons and military equipment, reports The Associated Press. A general staff representative said during a briefing Thursday that Russia is deploying aircraft and troops to Ukraine’s northern neighbor and may launch an attack “to the west of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.” The wording suggests an operation closer to Poland. Russian forces used Belarus as a launchpad at the start of the invasion in February for an offensive that targeted Kyiv.
12:35 p.m.: New bomb shelters going up in Ukraine’s second largest city, 30 kilometers from Russian border.
11:55 a.m.: Iran says allegations it supplies weapons and drones for use against Ukraine are “baseless,” reports the Associated Press. Earlier, the European Union approved new sanctions against Iran for allegedly providing Russia with drones used to attack Ukrainian cities.
11:40 a.m.: Ukrainian weather forecasters predict the coming winter will be milder than usual – a bit of welcome news as the country deals with power shortages caused by Russian attacks on energy facilities.
10:42 a.m.:
10:30 a.m.: Spain will send up to eight warplanes to Bulgaria next month to help with its air policing tasks amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Thursday, citing the Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov.
Stoyanov said the Spanish Eurofighter jets were expected to land in Bulgaria on November 1 and will perform airspace protection duties along with the Bulgarian Air Force until December 23.
"This is yet another mission on enhanced air policing. It will be a joint airspace security duty, " Stoyanov told reporters.
Spain and the Netherlands took part in similar air policing missions in the Black Sea country earlier this year.
Bulgaria, a NATO member since 2004, is hosting a NATO battlegroup of up to 1,000 troops under Italian command as the alliance seeks to bolster its eastern flank.
9:24 a.m.: As Russia's invasion force in Ukraine has been battered by Kyiv's counter-offensive, one section of front around Bakhmut is bucking the trend thanks to the Wagner mercenary group, which experts say is now a vital cog in Moscow's military machine, the French news agency AFP reported.
Deployed in recent years in Syria, Mali and the Central African Republic, "Wagner... is right now proving to be the most capable infantry that the Russian army has" in Ukraine, said Philip Wasielewski, a researcher at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute. "However, it's not a high bar because of the poor performance of the Russian army," he added.
The Kremlin has always denied any ties with private military groups, and Wagner has no legal entity in Russia, where mercenary companies are illegal.
That fiction was partly dispelled in late September, when Yevgeny Prigozhin — a businessman close to President Vladimir Putin and a fellow Saint Petersburg native — acknowledged founding the company in 2014, calling its fighters "pillars of our motherland."
8:49 a.m.: Moscow’s forces have destroyed 30% of the country’s power stations since Oct. 10, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to The Associated Press.
The latest attacks occurred overnight in the Kryvyi Rih region, Dnipropetrovsk region, inflicting damage, according to regional administrator Valentyn Reznichenko.
Russian forces also struck a school in Zaporizhzhia region early on Thursday, the deputy head of the president’s office Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Telegram.
8:16 a.m.: Russia's air force held scheduled patrol flights at the borders of its ally Belarus on Thursday, Reuters reported citing Minsk, as concerns remain that it could take a more active role in the Ukraine war.
Russia has deployed an enhanced task force of 9,000 troops and hundreds of pieces of military hardware to its neighbor after President Alexander Lukashenko said last week Belarus was at threat of attack from Ukraine.
"Right now, the Russian aviation component of the regional troop grouping is carrying out a scheduled patrol of the air borders of the Union State," Belarus' defense ministry said in a statement. The "Union State" is the name of a borderless customs-free zone between Russia and Belarus.
Russia used Belarus as a staging post for its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, deploying troops and equipment from there for its failed offensive on Kyiv in the early days of the war.
Belarus shares a 1,085-kilometer (675-mile) border with Ukraine and is less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Ukrainian capital at its closest point.
While Lukashenko has repeatedly claimed Belarus is at risk of attack by Kyiv, he has so far not sent forces to fight alongside Russia, despite Ukrainian and Western concerns it may.
Ukraine denies it is a threat to Belarus.
7:06 a.m.: Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that European Union weapons supplies to Kyiv made the bloc party to the conflict in Ukraine and that countries pumping Ukraine with weapons were "sponsors of terrorism."
In a briefing in Moscow, Reuters reported that spokeswoman Maria Zakharova repeated Moscow's aggressive criticism of the West for shipping billions of dollars worth of advanced arms to Ukraine to help Kyiv defend itself against Russia's eight-month military campaign.
6 a.m.: European Union members have agreed on new measures against Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, the Czech presidency of the EU said on Thursday.
"EU ambassadors agreed on measures against entities supplying Iranian drones that hit Ukraine," the Czech EU presidency said in a tweet.
"EU states decided to freeze the assets of three individuals and one entity responsible for drone deliveries (and) is also prepared to extend sanctions to four more Iranian entities that already featured in a previous sanctions list."
5:30 a.m.: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using energy and hunger as weapons but has failed to break the West's unity and will not achieve his war aims through scorched earth tactics, Reuters reported.
Speaking to parliament, Scholz said Germany had freed itself from dependence on Russian gas and was working to bring energy prices down but warned that the EU imposing a gas price cap risked back-firing.
Scholz also said Ukraine's financial needs have been covered to the end of the year, thanks to contributions from the EU and the G-7 club of industrialized nations, Agence France-Presse reported.
"The good news is the financial needs of Kyiv are practically covered to year's end — the EU and the G-7 are playing a decisive role," Scholz told parliament while warning that Ukraine will need much more in the coming years for reconstruction.
Germany holds the rotating presidency of the G-7 and will be hosting a reconstruction conference on Ukraine on Tuesday.
4:30 a.m.: NATO allies will act if Sweden or Finland come under pressure from Russia or another adversary before they become full members of the alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
"It is inconceivable that allies would not act should Sweden and Finland come under any form of pressure," Stoltenberg said at a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Sweden will involve itself more clearly and deeply in NATO's counter-terrorism activities, the country's recently appointed Prime Minister Kristersson said.
4:10 a.m.: A Russian airstrike that hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine on Wednesday has caused "quite serious" damage, Reuters reported Thursday, citing the region's governor.
"Unfortunately, there is destruction, and it is quite serious," Svitlana Onyshchuk, Ivano-Frankivsk's governor, said on Ukrainian television.
3:40 a.m.: The governor of Mykolaiv announced via Telegram that missiles struck the city Thursday morning, according to The Guardian. "No casualties or destruction," he wrote. "Only lawns spoil."
2:20 a.m.:
1:45 a.m.: Ukraine is restricting electricity usage nationwide for the first time on Thursday following a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed some power plants, Reuters reported.
Power supply will be restricted between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., government officials and the grid operator Ukrenergo said, and temporary blackouts are possible if people do not minimize electricity use, a presidential aide said.
While limited to Thursday, "we do not exclude that, with the onset of cold weather, we will be asking for your help even more frequently," Ukrenergo said.
Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's power and water infrastructure in recent days.
"There is new damage to critical infrastructure. Three energy facilities were destroyed by the enemy today," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his Wednesday night video address.
"We are preparing for all kinds of scenarios in view of the winter season. We assume that Russian terror will be directed at energy facilities until, with the help of partners, we are able to shoot down 100% of enemy missiles and drones," said Zelenskyy, who earlier in the week said a third of his country's power stations had been hit by Russian air strikes.
The mayor of the western city of Lviv said on television that it would take months to repair damaged power substations.
1 a.m.: The Biden administration announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complex scheme to procure military technologies from U.S. manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Justice Department said some of the equipment was recovered on battlefields in Ukraine, and other nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted in Latvia before it could be shipped to Russia, The Associated Press reported. Eleven people were charged in separate cases in New York and Connecticut. The defendants are accused of acquiring the military technology from U.S. companies and then laundering tens of millions of dollars for wealthy Russian businessmen and other sanctioned entities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken showed support for the announcement saying, the decision demonstrates "our commitment to preventing Russia’s procurement of U.S.-origin technologies," in a Twitter post.
VOA's National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin outlines the details:
12:05 a.m.: The United States, Britain and France raised the issue of Iran's alleged transfer of drones to Russia at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
"We expressed our grave concerns about Russia's acquisition of these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] from Iran," Price said in a statement, Reuters reported. "We now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure."
"We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers," Price said.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
