Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces suffer ‘second day of record casualties’ as Kursk fight intensifies
Ukraine’s military claims Russia suffered nearly 2,000 casualties in past 24 hours as fighting rages on
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia has suffered record losses for a second consecutive day, Ukraine has claimed, as Vladimir Putin’s forces seek to advance in Donbas and repel Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk.
Just 24 hours after Ukraine claimed Russia had suffered a record 1,770 losses, Kyiv’s military claimed this grim total had been surpassed by 1,950 casualties on Monday – which would mark Russia’s worst single day since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The totals given by Ukraine’s military do not specify between troops killed, wounded or captured. Ukraine now claims to have inflicted a total of 712,610 casualties upon Russia – which is broadly in line with estimates given by Ukraine’s Western allies. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv provide statistics on their own losses.
Russia appears to be stepping up its efforts to claw back territory in Kursk, after Ukraine’s daring cross-border raid in August. With reports of North Korean troops also being deployed to the Russian region, war monitors said on Monday that both Kyiv and Moscow appeared to have made recent gains in the region.
Trump may look to rekindle dialogue with North Korea ‘sooner rather than later’, analyst says
Donald Trump may look to rekindle a conversation with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “sooner rather than later”, an analyst has suggested.
With reports of 10,000 North Korean troops being deployed to Russia, as both nations ratified a new military pact, Bulent Gokay, professor of international relations at Keele University, suggested the US president-elect could also soon look to reopen a dialogue with the pariah state.
Professor Gokay said: “Since Trump last met with Kim, the North has greatly expanded its military arsenal, in particular massive intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic and short-range weapons that could deliver nuclear warheads against the US mainland or military bases in the region.
“Despite this, Trump may feel that his engagement worked well during his first presidency in that he feels that he can ‘solve’ the North Korean nuclear issue without any violent encounter. So, he may look to rekindle a conversation with Kim sooner or later.”
Russian doctor jailed over alleged comments about war in Ukraine
A Russian court has sentenced a Moscow paediatrician to five and a half years in a penal colony, after the mother of one of her patients made a video criticising comments the doctor allegedly made about Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
In line with Russia’s crackdown on discussion of the war since it began in full in February 2022, Nadezhda Buyanova, aged 68, was charged with spreading “fake” information about the Russian army, over remarks that she has denied making.
Ms Boyanova’s supporters, some wearing T-shirts carrying prints of her face printed on, packed the courtroom to hear the sentencing, erupting in protest and crying “shame” as she was handed the lengthy term, Russian media reported. “The sentence is monstrously cruel,” Buyanova’s lawyer told Mediazona.
“I can’t get my head around it,” Buyanova, her grey hair closely cropped, told reporters before the verdict.
As Judge Olga Fedina pronounced her guilty, the courtroom erupted in protest. Several cried “Shame!”, Russian media said.
The legal action came after Anastasia Akinshina recorded a video in which she said Ms Buyanova had referred to her child’s father as a “legitimate target of Ukraine” – comments she denies. The clip was picked up by Telegram channels with millions of subscribers.
A group of Russian doctors previously wrote an open letter in Buyanova’s defence, calling the denunciation a “disgrace”, while a petition for her release has garnered over 6,000 signatures.
Starmer says Ukraine must be put in ‘strongest position’ possible, ahead of Trump presidency
Sir Keir Starmer is pushing Western allies to step up support to put Ukraine in the “strongest position” possible before Donald Trump takes office.
Asked what his message to Mr Trump was, the prime minister told reporters at the Cop29 climate summit: “I’m not going to start sending messages to the president-elect but I’m very happy to be very clear about what my own position is, because it’s been my position since the very start, which is that we strongly support Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
“I’m very proud of the fact that the UK has stood firm in that commitment throughout the duration of this conflict. I now think that we need to put Ukraine in the best possible position as we go forward.
“That has been the centre of the discussions that I’ve been having with other leaders in recent weeks. So, strong support for Ukraine, we want to put Ukraine in the best possible, strongest position as we go forward.
“And I’m not going to be drawn into discussions about capabilities as we go forward but that is the strong and in principle position that I take.”
US secretary of state to attend Ukraine meetings in Brussels this week
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will travel to Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine in meetings with Nato and European Union counterparts this week, the State Department has said.
Following meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr Blinken with then travel to Peru and Brazil for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week and the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the department said in a statement.
Russia's Duma adopts bill banning 'child-free ideology'
Russia's lower house of parliament has voted to adopt new legislation that would outlaw "propaganda" discouraging Russians from having children, Reuters reports.
In a move chiming with Vladimir Putin’s war-motiviated push to encourage procreation as a nationalistic duty, the legislation would ban materials on the internet, in the media and in advertising that are deemed to portray a child-free lifestyle as attractive, and subject the authors to fines.
Zelensky expresses gratitude to Ukrainian rescue officials
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his gratitude to rescue officials in Ukraine responding to daily Russian attacks.
In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said: “No rescue service has ever faced challenges like those our rescuers, police, medics, and everyone helping them tackle every day—often under fire or under threat of renewed Russian attacks. Every day, there is a necessary and immediate response, no matter the challenges.
“I thank everyone who saves lives after Russian strikes, clears rubble, provides first aid, extinguishes fires, and eliminates the consequences to save people’s lives.”
EU top diplomat nominee strongly backs Ukraine and underlines China's links to the war
The European Union must back Ukraine against Russia for as a long as it takes and persuade the United States that its strategic interests in China are tied up in the outcome of the war, the nominee to become the bloc’s top diplomat for the next five years has warned.
“Ukraine’s victory is a priority for us all. The situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” Estonia’s ex-prime Minister Kaja Kallas told EU politicians, during a hearing she must pass to be appointed as the bloc’s foreign policy chief.
“That is why we must keep on working every day. Today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes and with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as needed,” she said, adding that “this must be underpinned by a clear path for Ukraine to join the European Union”.
Lorne Cook has more in this report:
EU top diplomat nominee strongly backs Ukraine and underlines China's links to the war
The nominee for the European Union's next top diplomat says the bloc must commit to Ukraine for the long-haul even as the war's costs mount
Moldova condemns Russia over alleged interference in presidential elections
Moldova has handed Russia’s ambassador to Chisinau a protest note over alleged interference by Moscow in its presidential elections and a referendum on joining the European Union.
The Moldovan foreign ministry accused Russia of seeking to delegitimise the democratic process of the country’s presidential election, won by pro-Western president Maia Sandu, and a referendum on inserting a clause in the constitution defining EU membership as a goal. Moscow has denied the allegations.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented today to the Ambassador ... a note of protest in connection with the illegal and deliberate interference of the Russian Federation in the electoral process of the Republic of Moldova,” Moldova’s foreign ministry said.
Russian ambassador Oleg Ozerov said of the meeting: “The conversation made it possible to clarify issues related to our acute and complex bilateral relations.” Russia has claimed the election – voting in which concluded on 3 November – was unfair and that it does not see Ms Sandu as the legitimate president.
Moldova’s foreign ministry also used Tuesday’s meeting with Russia’s ambassador to condemn a violation of its airspace by two drones which it said crashed on its territory on Sunday.
Full report: Liz Truss spent final days in office ‘preparing for Putin to fire nuclear weapons’
Vladimir Putin was so close to using nuclear weapons in October 2022 that Liz Truss spent the dying days of her premiership preparing for the potential fallout, an updated version of her biography has claimed.
The former prime minister reportedly spent her last days in office studying weather maps and preparing for cases of radiation poisoning in the UK amid US intelligence that a strike was imminent.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full report:
Liz Truss spent final days in office ‘preparing for Putin to fire nuclear weapons’
Truss spent hours studying weather data and wind directions amid fears the wrong weather conditions could have a ‘direct fall-out effect on Britain’, book claims
Liz Truss ‘held crisis meetings in 2022 over fears Putin could launch nuclear weapon'
Liz Truss held crisis meetings in her final days as prime minister after US intelligence suggested there was a 50 per cent chance Vladimir Putin could deploy a tactical nuclear weapon on the battlefield in Ukraine or test a larger bomb over the Black Sea, it has been reported.
Citing the biography of Ms Truss’s brief premiership, Out of The Blue, The Sun reports that Ms Truss spent “numerous hours studying satellite weather data and wind directions” over fears the “wrong weather patterns” could have a “direct fall-out effect on Britain”.
Earlier this month, it was also reported that the new book War by US journalist Bob Woodward claimed US intelligence in September 2022 had revised the prospect of Mr Putin using nuclear weapons, up from between 5 and 10 per cent, to 50 per cent.
Responding to the latest report, Phillips O’Brien of St Andrew’s University said the stories about the Biden Administration believing there was a 50 per cent chance of Mr Putin using nuclear “proves a few things – none of which is that he was ever close to actually doing it”.
Professor O’Brien said: “They had bad intelligence analysis, like they did when they were told Kyiv would fall in a week”, adding: “They didnt have the capacity to learn from this mistake, and realise that Putin’s nuclear sabre rattling was a sham.
“It’s a sign of failure that is being dressed up to scare people. Plus you can be sure it will be based on intelligence that can never be released.”
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