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Russia is taking advantage of bad weather to advance in small groups, moving on foot or motorcycles
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Ukrainian forces have pulled back from several positions in the southern Zaporizhzhia region amid heavy fighting and adverse weather.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine‘s Southern Defense Forces, told public broadcaster Suspilne that troops had “completely withdrawn” from the villages of Uspenivka and Novomykolaivka.
“Very fierce fighting continues for Yablukove and several other locations,” he said. “The defensive operation is ongoing, and the contact line remains dynamic.”
Russia is taking advantage of the weather to advance in small groups, moving on foot or motorcycles, with the adverse weather preventing Ukrainian forces from deploying drones against them.
It comes as Ukraine’s government suspended its justice minister on Wednesday, amid an investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Prime minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said the decision to suspend German Galushchenko was taken after an “extraordinary session of the government”.
Galushchenko, who previously served as energy minister, was the subject of investigative actions, his ministry said on Tuesday, without specifying whether this was in relation to the energy corruption case.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has uncovered an alleged Russian FSB agent from Crimea who was reportedly planning a series of terrorist attacks in Kyiv, the agency announced.
Investigators said the plot targeted major shopping and entertainment centres, as well as one of the capital’s metro stations.
The suspect, a Crimean resident, allegedly began working with the FSB after Russia’s 2014 occupation of the peninsula and sought to recruit “like-minded” individuals, including Ukrainian citizens from occupied territories exempt from mobilisation due to age.
Ukraine is facing intensified Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure, while civilian casualties remain high, according to a UN report released today.
Three major attacks on 10, 22 and 30 October targeted energy facilities, causing widespread emergency power outages across the country.
In October, Russian assaults killed at least 148 civilians and injured 929, with about 65% of casualties occurring in frontline regions such as Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk.
From January to October 2025, civilian casualties rose 27% compared to the same period last year, and total deaths and injuries have already surpassed those recorded in all of 2024.
Ukraine’s prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has said that she has submitted a request to parliament to dismiss the justice and energy ministers, following an investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
The move follows president Volodymyr Zelensky’s request earlier today.
Energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk’s resignation was announced shortly after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said “breaking the law means you will be held accountable”.
In another X post today, he said: “There must be maximum integrity in the energy sector, in absolutely all processes. I support – and the Prime Minister supports – every investigation carried out by law enforcement and anti-corruption officials.
“This is an absolutely clear and consistent position for everyone. Right now it is extremely difficult for everyone in Ukraine – enduring power outages, Russian strikes, and losses. It is absolutely unacceptable that, amid all this, there are also some schemes in the energy sector.”
He added: “Right now we all must protect Ukraine. Undermining the state means you will be held accountable. Breaking the law means you will be held accountable.”
Ukraine’s energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk says she has submitted her resignation following a major anti-corruption investigation in the energy sector.
She denied any wrongdoing “in her professional activities” in a handwritten statement on Facebook.
Hrynchuk added that she was thankful to Zelensky and the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed he met with the head of the foreign intelligence service, Oleh Ivashchenko, earlier today.
In a post on X, he said:
“There are important results from our joint efforts with partners to put pressure on Russia.
“For the first time since the beginning of the war, a noticeable decline has been recorded this year in Russia’s oil production and refining. The oil and gas revenues of the Russian budget are decreasing, and by the end of this year, Russia will have lost at least 37 billion dollars in budget oil and gas income.
“In addition, Russian oil companies and the entire energy sector are losing tens of billions more. All this curbs Russia’s war machine.
“Both conventional sanctions against Russia and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions are working effectively. Further directions for our sanctions pressure have also been identified. I thank all our partners who are also delivering entirely justified legal blows against the vessels of Russia’s oil fleet – the Russians are now using fewer tankers.”
Zelensky added that the pair discussed “bringing home Ukrainian children abducted by Russians, as well as other operations abroad.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for the dismissal of Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers, saying that he supported anti-graft agencies in their investigation into energy sector corruption.
“First of all, there should be maximum transparency in the energy sector, in all processes absolutely,” Zelensky said in a video address.
“It is very difficult for everyone in Ukraine now. It is absolutely abnormal that there are still some schemes in the energy sector.”
Justice minister German Galushchenko earlier said on Facebook he supported his suspension as “a civilised and appropriate scenario” and vowed to defend himself, without sharing more details of the probe.
Ukrainian intelligence claims to have exposed an alleged FSB agent from Crimea planning terror attacks in Kyiv.
The suspect was planning explosions in Kyiv’s large shopping and entertainment centres, and in a metro station, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Wednesday.
“Each explosive device was to be equipped with a mobile phone for remote detonation during rush hour, when people would be most concentrated at the locations,” the SBU said in a statement.
They had sought to recruit co-conspirators in Crimea, having allegedly started working for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) after the 2014 occupation, it added.
The suspect was charged in absentia, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office said.
After nearly four years of bitter war, Ukraine’s defence industry has more understanding than most of the demands of the modern battlefield.
The latest innovation is a cruise missile with a range of 3,000km and a payload of over a tonne, used in strikes deep into Russian territory.
Where weapons from allies come with conditions, Kyiv can fire the FP-5 Flamingo missile at any target it wants.
With arms supplies from the West so uncertain, Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine now makes about 60 per cent of its own weapons.
World affairs editor Sam Kiley reports from Kyiv:
Russian president Vladimir Putin will inform president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev about tests of Russia’s Burevestnik and Poseidon missiles, should the Kazakh leader be interested, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
The comment was reported by state news agency RIA.
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