Vladimir Putin has issued his latest threat following US media reports that the Biden administration had discussed returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine. Meanwhile, around 24,000 mortar shells being used by Ukraine have been withdrawn. Listen to The World podcast while you scroll.
Thursday 28 November 2024 20:40, UK
By Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent
There’s a veneer of normality to life in Ukraine’s major cities if you ignore the air raid sirens, the booming sounds of anti-aircraft fire, the threatening buzz of drones passing overhead, and the darkened streets of neighbourhoods taking their turn as part of rolling power cuts affecting all of Ukraine.
As I say, if you ignore all of the above it’s fine, and many people do.
Kyiv appears particularly normal. Shops and restaurants are open, I’m told theatre performances are sometimes sold out, and at times you can still see families taking photos in front of the capital’s exquisite churches and cathedrals.
Late at night though, the city starts to change.
In the past few days, mostly throughout the night, air raid apps have been lighting up with warnings to “seek shelter”, while the sound of the sirens pierces the still and freezing air of the city.
From different directions I watched the anti-aircraft batteries tracking and following Russian drones swarming over Kyiv in unprecedented numbers – the tracers from their machine guns shooting into the night skies and ominous orange glows in the distance from possible missile strikes.
The capital is being targeted as never before, so much so that the military has assigned special anti-air units particularly for the defence of Kyiv.
Attacking this city is partly a Russian tactic to wear its population down and create fear and uncertainty.
But many of its drones and missiles are targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. Russia wants to switch the lights out here and, if possible, literally freeze this people’s resistance.
A necessity, rolling blackouts are the norm now while engineers repair power stations and supply lines. Power producing capacity is already limited after years of targeting, and as the temperature drops the authorities must save wherever they can.
Read Stuart’s full eyewitness account here:
Ukraine has developed and maintained a “good dialogue” with the man Donald Trump has picked to be his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s foreign ministry says.
Keith Kellogg, a retired general and former national security adviser, was nominated by Trump this week to be America’s special envoy to the two countries,
Heorhii Tykhyi said Ukraine welcomes Mr Kellogg’s nomination for his “important mission”.
“Keith Kellogg is not a new person for Ukraine,” he said.
“The embassy of Ukraine in the US has maintained close ties with him, in particular within the framework of expert diplomacy in recent years, and has developed and maintained a good dialogue with him during this time.”
Mr Kellogg has previously presented Trump with a plan to end the Ukraine war in July, which says that future US military aid for Kyiv would be contingent on it participating in peace talks with Russia.
Around 24,000 mortar shells being used by Ukraine in its war with Russia have been withdrawn from the frontline due to suspected defects.
Ukraine’s defence ministry announced on Tuesday it had been investigating the causes of the abnormal malfunction of the 120mm shells, with battlefield reports of them not exploding or failing to hit their targets
Kyiv’s strategic industries minister, Herman Smetanin, said the mortar shells withdrawn from use constituted less than 1% of Ukraine’s defence production in 2024.
The shells have been seized for investigation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says threats made against Ukraine today by Vladimir Putin are intended to frustrate Donald Trump’s attempts at negotiating peace.
Speaking in Kazakhstan today, Putin said Moscow could target “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s firing of Western missiles at Russian territory (see 10.36am post).
Putin also said he was ready to begin dialogue with the US – and described Trump as a “smart politician who is capable of finding a solution”.
In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy said Putin “wants to add thousands more to the thousands of missiles that have already hit Ukraine”.
“Putin wants to escalate the situation now so that President Trump cannot succeed – so that he cannot end the war,” he added.
“Putin is the only culprit of this war and the only one who believes in the war. And that is why Putin’s escalation now is a pressure to later force the president of America to agree to Russia’s terms.”
Donald Trump won’t want to start his second term as US president by failing in a major foreign policy moment, says Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko.
For this reason, the president-elect will try to “win” with his attempts at solving the war in Ukraine rather than suffer a “failure” like Joe Biden had in Afghanistan, Mr Goncharenko tells our chief presenter Mark Austin.
The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan under the Biden administration in 2021 led to desperate scenes and violence, including suicide attacks at Kabul’s airport which killed 170 Afghans and 13 US soldiers.
Trump has said previously he will end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” of taking office. He hasn’t yet explained how he will do it, but Mr Goncharenko says his fear of failure can only be a good thing for Kyiv.
Asked if he was fearful the US would limit aid to Ukraine when Trump becomes president, Mr Goncharenko says: “We are concerned. But at the same time, I’m sure that President Trump will act in the best interest of the USA and I hope he will realise that Ukraine is a very important ally.
“I am sure that he doesn’t want to have a failure in the beginning of his administration, like Biden had with Afghanistan.
“Trump doesn’t want his Afghanistan, I’m sure about this. Trump likes to win, and he can win in Ukraine, and I hope he will.”
Asked if Ukraine would be willing to negotiate peace on the basis of possibly giving up some of its territory, Mr Goncharenko says Kyiv will “never accept” that its land belongs to Russia.
“We will reclaim them in this case some other way,” he says. “But these territories were Ukrainian, they are Ukrainian, and they definitely will be Ukrainian again.”
The Russian army has employed the increased use of motorcycles in its war in Ukraine to help it conduct swift assaults and capture land.
Compared to large-sized tanks or armoured vehicles, motorcycles are speedy, agile and stealthy – even more so if they are electric.
Their size means they’re manoeuvrable too, unlike larger vehicles, which can be easy targets for hovering Ukrainian drones.
According to the Russian defence ministry, off-road motorcycles have become “standard equipment” in Ukraine, where they have been used to help capture positions at speed.
“Such a small and extremely manoeuvrable target, unlike heavy equipment, it is very hard to hit,” the ministry said in June.
“The fighters roll into Ukrainian trenches at speed and immediately engage in combat, while our drone operators guide them from the air.”
There are some disadvantages that motorcycle assault units suffer from however, including a lack of protection and poor handling in slushy conditions brought on by rain or snow.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Ukraine’s first wartime tax increase into law as the war with Russia reaches its third year.
The changes will take effect from 1 December and will see the war tax for residents raised to 5% from the 1.5% paid currently on personal income.
The government is also introducing the war tax for tens of thousands of individual entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The new budget also increases some rental payments, taxes commercial banks’ profits at 50%, and raises taxes on the profits of other financial institutions to 25%.
It’s hoped the tax rises will raise around $3.4bn (£2.68bn) in additional revenues next year to fund Ukraine’s defence efforts.
Vladimir Putin has denied that he deliberately used his black Labrador Konni to intimidate Angela Merkel at a meeting in 2007.
The former German chancellor has written about the incident in her new memoir, recalling how she had asked an aide to request Putin’s team not to bring out Konni in her presence because she was afraid of dogs.
The Russian leader respected the request in 2006, presenting her with a large stuffed dog as a joke, but a year later in Sochi, Konni wandered around the room and left Merkel visibly uncomfortable.
Addressing the issue today, Putin said: “Frankly – I’ve already told Merkel, I didn’t know she was afraid of dogs. If I’d known, I would never have done it. On the contrary, I wanted to create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere.”
He added that, in the unlikely event she were to pay another visit, he “absolutely won’t do it again”.
“I appeal to her again and say: ‘Angela, please forgive me. I didn’t want to cause you any distress’,” he said.
Reminiscing on the ordeal in her book, Merkel wrote: “I tried to ignore the dog, even though he was moving more or less right next to me. I interpreted Putin’s facial expressions as him enjoying the situation.
“Did he just want to see how a person reacts in distress? Was it a small demonstration of power? I just thought: stay calm, concentrate on the photographers, it will pass.”
Ukraine is urging the international community to react to Vladimir Putin’s threats to strike government targets in Kyiv.
The Russian leader said today that Moscow is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s firing of Western missiles at Russian territory (see 10.36am post).
Attacks launched by Moscow have not so far struck government buildings in the Ukrainian capital, which are heavily protected by air defences.
“We expect those countries that have urged everyone to avert the expansion of the war to react to the statements voiced by Putin today,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.
He called Putin’s rhetoric “blackmail” aimed at discouraging Kyiv’s partners and testing US president-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to seek a swift end to the conflict without specifying how.
“Putin obviously tries to influence the new US administration by those statements, and he tries to basically show that this new administration is weak,” added Mr Tykhyi.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free