Ukraine-Russia latest: Brazil urged to arrest Putin as Zelensky issues new North Korea warning
Kyiv says Putin is planning to involve Pyongyang more directly in his Ukraine invasion in coming months
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Vladimir Putin must be arrested if he heads to Brazil next month, Ukraine’s top prosecutor has said, reminding the South American country of its obligation to uphold an International Criminal Court warrant.
“Due to information that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil I would like to reiterate that it’s an obligation for the Brazilian authorities as a state party of the Rome Statute to arrest him if he dares to visit,” Ukraine prosecutor general Andrii Kostin said.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March last year, accusing him of the war crime of forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia plans to involve North Korea more directly in its invasion of Ukraine in the coming months.
Ukraine has already accused Pyongyang of sending weapons and even personnel to the Ukraine frontlines, and Zelensky said Putin’s war was being prolonged by Russia’s allies.
On the frontline, Ukraine witnessed a night free from drone or missile attacks on its territory for the first time in 48 days, officials said yesterday. The last night free from any Russian air raids was on 29 August.
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Ukrainian mother’s desperate plea for children to join her in UK after Home Office refusal
Lammy to meet EU ministers to discuss UK co-operation on Ukraine and Middle East
What is the mysterious advanced Russian weapon downed by Moscow’s own forces in embarrassment for Putin?
Last week Russia’s air force was forced to shoot down one of its newest and most advanced models of attack drone, in an incident that is being seen as one of the biggest embarrassments ever suffered by the Russian Air Force.
On 5 October, videos showed a drone flying near Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine before it was shot down by another jet briefly flying alongside it. Initial reports suggested it was either a Russian jet taken down by the Ukrainian air force or a Russian jet losing control and being shot down by Moscow.
However, the drone that fell down was no ordinary weapon. It was later identified as a stealth S-70 Okhotnik-B, also known as “Hunter”, one of Russia’s most advanced stealth drones, designed to accompany an Su-57 fighter jet.
Read the full report by Stuti Mishra:
What is the mysterious Russian weapon downed by Moscow’s own forces in Ukraine?
Wreckage of one of Russia’s newest pieces of military hardware is now in hands of Ukrainian forces
EU sanctions Iranian entities linked with Russia
The EU agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on Iranian-linked people and organisations for their material support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Iran Air has been sanctioned for its links to Iranian transfers of ballistic missiles to Russia, Reuters reported.
Saha Airlines, Mahan Air and Iran’s deputy defence minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari were also on the sanctions list.
US officials said last month that Russia had received ballistic missiles for its war in Ukraine. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said no such transfer had taken place since his government took office in August.
Officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and managing directors of Aerospace Industries Organization and Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries were also sanctioned.
The sanctions include asset freezes and a travel ban to the EU.
Report: Ukrainian mother’s desperate plea for children to join her in UK after Home Office refusal
A Ukrainian refugee says she is living in a “surreal nightmare” after she was refused permission to bring her two children to the UK.
Pressure is mounting on ministers to open a family reunion pathway for Ukrainians with temporary immigration status, after the rules were changed without warning in February. Charities say that the Home Office’s “restrictive rules and poor decision-making” are “tearing families apart”.
Read Andy Gregory’s exclusive report here:
Ukrainian mother’s plea for children to join her in UK after Home Office refusal
Exclusive: Maria Kondratska has been refused permission by the Home Office to bring her children, aged 11 and 15, to the UK
In pictures: French researcher Laurent Vinatier’s trial resumes
Laurent Vinatier was arrested in June after Russia accused him of failing to register as a “foreign agent” before gathering information on the Russian army.
The 48-year-old previously admitted the charges and is appearing in court today (Monday).
Russia captures southeastern village of Levadne, its defence ministry says
Ruyssia’s Defence Ministry says its forces have taken control of the village of Levadne, around 125 kilometres west of the eastern city of Donetsk, Russian state-owned news agency Interfax reported.
The village, in the region of Zaporizhzhia, was captured early on in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, before it was retaken by Ukrainien forces during the 2023 summer counteroffensive.
The battlefield report has not been independent verified.
Pope’s envoy to Ukraine arrives in Moscow
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, an envoy to Ukraine of Pope Francis, arrived in Moscow on Monday according to the RIA state news agency.
RIA cited a source in the Holy See as saying a visit is possible between Zuppi and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of the Kremlin.
Zuppi last visited Moscow in June 2023.
One killed and two civilian vessels damaged in Russian attack on port
A Russian missile attack has damaged two civilian vessels, killed one person and injured at least eight, Ukrainian authorities said.
The attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa also damaged a grain storage, according to Reuters.
Deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba announced on Telegram that Palau-flagged bulk carrier Optima and Belize-flagged NS Moon were both damaged in the strike.
Two of the injured people were left in a serious condition, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.
Kremlin rejects German claim that Russia could attack NATO by 2030
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has refuted the claim by a German intelligence official that Russian forces “should be in a position to launch an attack on NATO by the end of this decade at the latest”.
Peskov said on Monday that it was actually NATO who threatened Russia, referring to multiple rounds of NATO expansion.
Kremlin: NATO nuclear exercise is fuelling tensions
Russia has accused NATO of fuelling tensions with their annual nuclear exercise in light of the “hot war” raging on in Ukraine.
The western military alliance kicked off the drills on Monday, which will include 2,000 troops and 60 aircraft from eight bases, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday it would not be possible to hold nuclear arms talks with the US, due to what it describes as direct and indirect involvement in Ukraine from western powers.
“In the conditions of a hot war, which is being waged within the framework of the Ukrainian conflict, of course, such exercises lead to nothing but further escalation of tension,” Peskov said according to Breaking The News.
Joe Biden said recently that he is ready to negotiate with Russia, China and North Korea on nuclear issues “without preconditions”.
Russia launches no Shahed drones overnight for first time in nearly 50 days
For the first time in 48 days, Russia did not launch any Shahed drone attacks at Ukraine overnight from Sunday going into Monday.
The Ukrainian Air Force did not comment on why there was a sudden lull in drone attacks from the Russians, who launched 1,300 Shahed kamikaze drones in September according to the Kyiv Independent.
Yurii Ihnat, acting Head of the Communications Department of the Air Force Command, said earlier this month that Russian forces were increasingly using drones of an unspecified type, which have been frequently downed by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.
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