Ukraine war latest: Putin opposition billboards appear in Russian cities – as ‘attack on NATO’ warning draws Russia response
Key points
- Russian presidential election date setPutin opposition group display billboards in Russian citiesPotential Putin rival has detention increasedRussia’s FSB ‘hacked conversations of UK politicians’
Republicans block aid for Ukraine in dispute over border fundingBiden’s warning of attack on NATO ally draws response from RussiaDiana Magnay analysis:How Kremlin makes Russians ignore uncomfortable truthsYour questions answered: Major breakthrough in coming months?Live reporting by Bhvishya Patel and (earlier) Lauren Russell
17:18:35 In pictures: Aftermath of shelling in Donetsk region
We reported earlier on the shelling at an oil depot in an unspecified area of Donetsk (see post at 10.12am).
The area in eastern Ukraine has been the target of increasing Russian missile attacks as part of its slow advance through eastern Ukraine.
The images below show the aftermath of the shelling…
17:05:01 Russian embassy responds to ‘mothball myth’ hacking allegations
As we have been reporting today, the Foreign Office has accused Russia’s security service, FSB, of making sustained attempts to interfere in UK political processes.
In response, the Russian embassy in London told state news agency TASS that it does not trust what it called “insinuations”.
The embassy says UK officials are simply fighting for voters.
“The British Foreign Office is loudly voicing unfounded accusations based on mothball myths, which for the most part existed during the period of 2018-19.
“It is clear that they were put forward for purely political, opportunistic purposes – in an attempt to provide support for the Conservative government on the eve of elections, as well as to demonstrate to foreign partners the imaginary British ‘leadership’ on the anti-Russian front.”
16:41:09 87% drop in aid promised to Ukraine – and further delay could strengthen Putin’s position
Levels of aid for Ukraine have dropped to their lowest since before the war in January 2022, according to a new study.
New aid pledged between August and October dropped 87% compared with the same period the previous year.
In the last three months, only 20 of 43 tracked donors have committed new aid packages, the smallest share of active donors since the start of the war.
The study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) found there had been minimal new commitments by the European Union and the US.
The dip comes at a time when much of the world’s attention has turned to the conflict in Gaza and there has been frustration at a lack of progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
What does this mean?
With the postponement of new US aid that we’ve been reporting on today, and the stalling of approval of the EU’s €50bn aid package, the main remaining group of active donors are individual European countries, such as Croatia, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Lithuania.
“A further delay would clearly strengthen Putin’s position,” Christoph Trebesch, director of a research centre at the Kiel Institute, said.
NATO countries like the UK and Canada also remain active.
Ukraine can, for now, rely on the large previously pledged multi-year programmes, the IfW Kiel report says.
For example, Denmark, Germany and Norwa, have delivered €1.2bn, €1bn, and €662m of military assistance respectively in the past three months as part of their previously committed multi-year schemes.
16:12:16 Cameron supports using money from frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine
Lord Cameron has said there is a strong argument for seizing frozen Russian assets and spending them on rebuilding Ukraine.
The foreign secretary is currently visiting Washington DC to meet US secretary of state Antony Blinken.
Ahead of the meeting, Lord Cameron said: “Instead of just freezing that money, let’s take that money, spend it on rebuilding Ukraine and that is, if you like, a downpayment on reparations that Russia will one day have to pay for the illegal invasion that they’ve undertaken.
“I’ve looked at all the arguments and so far, I haven’t seen anything that convinces me this is a bad idea.”
He also urged politicians in the US to approve a fresh package of military aid for Ukraine after Republicans blocked the deal.
“If the US votes through the Ukraine support package, it will give enormous fillip to European countries,” he said, following calls from President Joe Biden encouraging Congress to approve the aid.
15:50:48 Poland and Ukraine agree to join efforts to end truck drivers strike
Ukraine and Poland’s largest unions have agreed to form a negotiating platform aimed at “producing mutually agreed solutions” to end a truck drivers’ protest at Polish borders.
Demonstrators are demanding an end to Ukrainian drivers’ permit-free access to the EU, claiming that they are undercutting their prices.
As we reported yesterday, the blockade means crucial military aid is getting stuck in Poland.
The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers and the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FRU) released a joint statement earlier today saying both sides are interested in “restoring the normal level of trade between Poland and Ukraine, as soon as possible”.
Ukraine aims to bypass the blockade by bringing lorries on train platforms, according to Valeriy Tkachov, deputy director of the commercial department at the railway.
“We already have 23 loaded container wagons with lorries,” he was quoted as saying by news agency Interfax.
Thousands of trucks carrying commercial goods have been backed up at the border between Ukraine and Poland after drivers began the strike on 6 November.
A meeting between the two unions is expected to take place tomorrow.
15:46:55 US imposes cyber-related sanctions on two suspected hackers named by UK
The US has imposed new cyber-related sanctions on the same individuals named by the UK as connected to a Russian security service group that is accused of selectively leaking information which attempted to undermine trust in UK politics.
The US treasury website named the two Russian individuals as Andrey Korinets and Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko.
15:18:33 Putin opposition group display billboards in Russian cities as election date confirmed
Members of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s group, The Anti-Corruption Foundation, have placed billboards in Russian cities with QR codes leading to the website of their campaign against Vladimir Putin.
The link was accompanied by the words Russia and Happy New Year.
As the date for the next Russian presidential election was confirmed, Mr Navalny urged his supporters to vote for anyone but Mr Putin.
“Putin views this election as a referendum on approval of his actions. A referendum on approval of the war,” he said in a statement.
“Let’s disrupt his plans and make it happen so that no one on 17 March is interested in the rigged result, but that all of Russia saw and understood: the will of the majority is that Putin must leave.”
It comes as a Russian court extended the custody of two of Mr Navalny’s lawyers until 13 March.
Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev have been charged with being members of an extremist group.
Mr Navalny was convicted in August of new charges relating to alleged extremist activity and sentenced to an additional 19 years on top of the 11-and-a-half years he was already serving.
14:48:27 Man accused of blowing up trains on Ukraine’s request detained
A Belarusian man who allegedly blew up two trains in Siberia on the orders of the Ukrainian intelligence services has been detained in Russia.
The two alleged attacks were carried out on trains in Siberia in the Buryatia region on 29 and 30 November. In the first attack, explosives were detonated on a cargo train that was moving through the Severomuysky Tunnel. The second hit a freight train as it crossed the Chertov Bridge on a railway line used as a backup when trains are diverted from the tunnel.
At the time, a Ukrainian source told Reuters news agency that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) wanted to disrupt railway lines that Russia uses for military supplies.
Russia’s FSB detained the suspect, who is accused of installing explosive devices on the two trains after receiving instructions from another Belarusian, based in Lithuania and working for Ukraine.
“He confessed to having retrieved eight explosive devices from a cache… delivered them by private car to Buryatia, and planted them on the trains’ fuel tank cars,” the FSB said.
14:17:01 ‘History will judge us’: Biden renews calls for Congress to back Ukraine aid
Joe Biden has once again called on Congress to stand with the people of Ukraine, adding: “We can’t let Putin win.”
In a speech at the White House last night, the US president lodged an appeal to Congress to pass his extra funding bid for Ukraine before the holiday recess begins.
As we have been discussing through today, Republicans in the US Senate later blocked the £87.3bn package, which included $61bn (£48bn) for Ukraine.
The party is insisting that any aid for Ukraine be linked to immigration and asylum reforms in the US.
Reposting a clip of the speech on X, formerly Twitter, earlier today, Mr Biden said: “I know we have our divisions at home.
“Let’s get past them, this is critical. Petty partisan – angry politics can’t get in the way of our responsibility as a leading nation in the world.
“If we walk away now, it will only embolden other world-be aggressors.”
It comes as the Kremlin accused Mr Biden of seeking to demonise Russia in order to wring more funds from Congress.
“They are engaged in an absolutely blatant demonisation of our country in order to manipulate their congressmen and senators in order to continue to burn American taxpayers’ money in the furnace of the Ukrainian war,” Russian diplomat Dmitry Peskov said.
13:52:01 Training starts for next generation of Russian military officers
A new intake of Russian officers have started studying at the Russian General Staff Academy, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.
60% of the intake already have combat experience, it said, likely gained from fighting in Ukraine.
The training of these officers is notable, as this generation is likely to “exert major influence over the future direction of Russia’s military and whether it implements lessons learned from the war in Ukraine”, it added.
Students typically rank between major and general-major – equivalent to a one-star general in the NATO system – with the potential to reach senior command positions.
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