US strikes have destroyed at least 18 vessels, but Washington has yet to make public any concrete evidence that its targets posed a threat to America
US forces struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, defense secretary Pete Hegseth has said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s controversial campaign to at least 70.
The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The soldier is the first to be jailed for such a crime after being found guilty of shooting dead a Ukrainian soldier who had surrendered in Zaporizhzhia region. What we know on day 1,353
A Ukrainian court has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison after finding him guilty of killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war – the first time Ukraine has jailed a suspect on such charges. The court in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia found Dmitry Kurashov, 27, guilty of shooting dead Vitalii Hodniuk, a Ukrainian soldier who had surrendered in January 2024 when his dugout was captured by Russian forces. Kurashov, who was taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces along with other Russian troops soon after and pleaded guilty in court, although he later told reporters he was innocent and wanted to be exchanged in a prisoner swap. He told Reuters after the ruling on Thursday that he did not plan to appeal. The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said criminal investigations were under way into the murder of 322 Ukrainian servicemen who had unconditionally laid down their arms and/or surrendered since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd region for the second time in almost three months, Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday. Russian officials did not confirm the attack, although the local governor said drones started a fire at an unspecified industrial facility in the region. The refinery is the largest producer of fuel and lubricants in Russia’s southern federal district, processing more than 15m tons of crude annually, according to Ukrainian officials.
Saboteurs inside Russia burned dozens of locomotives in a bid to hamper the logistics of Russia’s armed forces, Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence said. The Freedom of Russia group used molotov cocktails to set fire to the control and power supply systems of dozens of locomotives that transported military cargo, according to a GUR statement on Thursday. It was not possible to independently verify the claim and Russian officials had no immediate comment.
Sweden and Ukraine said they had signed a letter of intent to establish a hub in Ukraine to develop new weapons technologies. The plans would see Swedish personnel working on site in Ukraine, said the Swedish defence minister, Pal Jonson. The announcement on Thursday comes after the two countries in October signed another letter of intent on aviation cooperation, which the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said could lead to Ukraine buying up to 150 of Sweden’s Gripen E fighter jets.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said foreign countries were helping Kyiv in its efforts to keep the power grid operating amid Russia’s onslaught on its energy infrastructure. “Practically every day, our power engineers, repair brigades and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine are carrying out restorations on-site after attacks,” the Ukrainian president said. “Hits keep occurring across various points, especially in our communities, and especially near the Russian border and close to the front.”
Swiss commodity trader Gunvor said it had withdrawn its proposal to buy foreign assets of Russian energy company Lukoil after the US Treasury called it Russia’s “puppet” and signalled Washington opposed the deal. The move on Thursday scuttles what would have been Gunvor’s largest acquisition and underscores Washington’s attempt to use sanctions to isolate Russia and choke revenues it uses to fight the war in Ukraine.
A Moscow-backed court in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region has jailed two Colombians for 13 years each for fighting for Kyiv. The pair had fought for Ukraine in 2023 and 2024 and then vanished in July while on a stopover in Russia’s ally Venezuela en route back home after their deployment. Colombian daily El Tiempo reported in July 2024 that police arrested them in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, still wearing their Ukrainian army uniforms. The pair were next seen in a video published by Russia’s FSB security service, handcuffed, wearing Russian prison clothing and being walked through a court building by masked officers.
Deep Ukrainian drone strikes hit petrochemical plant 1,300km inside Russia and Lukoil refinery east of Moscow. What we know on day 1,351
Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops in the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk oblast on Tuesday. “I met with our warriors at the command post of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine Azov, which is conducting a defensive operation in the Dobropillya sector,” said the Ukrainian president, referring to a town about 20km (12 miles) from Pokrovsk.
Russian forces had pushed further into Pokrovsk and its environs, though much of it remained beyond firm control of either side, mapping by the Ukrainian project DeepState indicated on Tuesday. “The situation remains critical,” said Deepstate, adding that in some districts Russian forces were digging in and building up positions.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its most recent assessment at time of writing, posted on 3 November: “Russian forces continue to advance in the Pokrovsk direction and appear to be operating with increasing comfort within Pokrovsk itself.” The ISW added that Ukrainian forces had liberated a significant portion of a Russian penetration in the Dobropillya direction, on the eastern flank of the Pokrovsk effort.
Ukrainian long-range drones attacked an industrial plant about 1,300km inside Russia at Sterlitamak, local officials said on Tuesday. The city administration reported an explosion at the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant that caused its water treatment facility to partially collapse, adding that the cause of the explosion was not known. The Ukrainian military general staff said there was “considerable damage” to the plant.
Ukraine’s military said it struck a Lukoil oil refinery at Kstovo in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow. The extent of the damage was being assessed, it said. The Russian regional governor confirmed an attack by 20 drones near Kstovo.
Russian military reservists will now have to guard oil refineries against Ukrainian drone strikes after Vladimir Putin signed a law on Tuesday extending their entanglement in the war effort. The Russian ruler also signed a law allowing military conscription all year round whereas previously it was possible only during limited periods in autumn and spring. Moscow legally bars conscripts from being deployed to combat, but after their military they enter Russia’s reserves, put them at risk of being sent to war. Heavy military spending has also started to strain the Russian state budget, with Moscow raising taxes to plug a rising deficit.
Zelenskyy urged the US to remain open to supplying Kyiv with long-range weapons. Addressing a European Union summit from the Pokrovsk area, the Ukrainian president also called for more western sanctions on Russia – including on Russia’s gas and nuclear sectors – and said he wanted Ukraine to join the EU before 2030.
Germany plans to raise its military aid to Ukraine by €3bn next year to about €11.5bn, the finance ministry in Berlin said on Tuesday. “This includes, among other things, artillery, drones, armoured vehicles and the replacement of two Patriot systems,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Norwegian munitions maker Nammo has signed a letter of intent with a Ukrainian industrial partner to produce, develop and sell ammunition in Ukraine, Norway’s government said.
Italy summoned Russia’s deputy ambassador on Tuesday to protest at what it said were “vulgar”, “disturbing” and “unacceptable” remarks by Moscow’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who linked the deadly collapse of a tower in Rome to Italy’s military support for Ukraine. The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said: “Italy will not alter its foreign policy stance or its principles in response to reckless verbal attacks”. The Russian embassy in Rome later posted condolences for the death of Romanian worker Octav Stroici in the collapse but took the opportunity to complain that the angry response to Zakharova’s comments was anti-Russian.
Zelenskyy says the air defence systems being put into action while in embattled eastern city Russian troops haven’t advanced over past day. What we know on day 1,350
Ukraine has received more US-made Patriot air defence systems from Germany to help it counter Russia’s daily barrages, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.“More Patriots are now in Ukraine and being put into operation,” the Ukrainian president said on social media. “Of course, more systems are needed to protect key infrastructure sites and our cities across the entire territory of our state.” The Patriot systems are the most effective weapon against Russian missiles and Zelenskyy has pleaded with western partners to provide more of them. He thanked Germany and its chancellor Friedrich Merz for the Patriots.
Russian drones hit a house and killed a man as well as injuring five members of his family in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, authorities said. Two women were also injured in a separate Sumy attack overnight to Monday. “The Russians cynically targeted people – deliberately, at night, while they were sleeping,” regional head Oleh Hryhorov said. Russian missiles started a fire at a business in the central city of Dnipro, injuring one man, and also struck energy infrastructure in the southern Mykolaiv region.
Russia said on Monday its troops had advanced in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk but Ukraine said its forces were holding on. The Russian defence ministry said its soldiers were destroying what it described as surrounded Ukrainian formations near the railway station and industrial zone of Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk” – and had entered the city’s Prigorodny area and dug in there.
Zelenskyy said Russia was massing troops by the nearby town of Dobropillia, where Kyiv’s forces advanced earlier this year in a counteroffensive. Describing the situation in Dobropillia as complicated, he said Russian forces had lost the initiative in the area but were bringing in more troops. He said Pokrovsk remained under severe pressure but Russian troops had made no gains in the past day. Up to 300 Russian servicemen were still in the city, he said. “About 30% of all combat actions on the front take place in Pokrovsk.” Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces had stepped up pressure on Dobropillia with the aim of forcing Russia to divert its focus away from Pokrovsk. The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.
The Russian army made steady gains in Ukraine in October as it focused attacks on the eastern Donetsk region, an AFP analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War showed. Russia took 461 sq km (286 sq miles) from Ukraine in the month, the data showed. That pace was in line with the average monthly gain this year, down from a surge in July when Russia seized 634 sq km. Russia now controls 81% of the Donetsk region, while controlling – or claiming to control – 19.2% of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula.
A computer game-style drone attack system has gone “viral” among Ukrainian military units and is being extended to reconnaissance, artillery and logistics operations. Rob Booth has the story.
Ukraine will set up offices for arms exports and joint weapons production in Berlin and Copenhagen this year, Zelenskyy said on Monday. He said naval drones and artillery systems were among the weapons that Kyiv would be able to export, he said. “This is [about] co-production and export … of the weapons that we can allow ourselves to sell, in order to have more money for our internal production of deficit items for which we don’t have the money.”
Zelenskyy said he discussed additional support for Ukraine’s energy sector in a call with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, amid ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy supply as winter approaches. “We are working to cover the amount needed for gas imports,” Zelenskyy said, adding that von der Leyen promised additional assistance.
Ukraine is showing “remarkable commitment” to joining the EU but must reverse recent negative trends in the fight against corruption and accelerate rule of law reforms, the European Commission has said in a draft text. The text – seen by Reuters on Monday and part of an EU enlargement report expected to be adopted on Tuesday – said that “despite the very difficult circumstances the country finds itself in on account of Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment to the EU accession path over the past year”. Ukraine has been pushing to make progress on its 2022 application to join the EU, despite the challenges of Russia’s war and EU member Hungary blocking Kyiv from formally moving to the next phase of negotiations.
President’s remarks, made during CBS interview released on Sunday, come as the US amasses military units in Caribbean
Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about potential US intervention in Venezuela, playing down concerns of imminent war against the South American nation but saying its leader Nicolás Maduro’s days were numbered.
The president’s remarks, made during a CBS interview released on Sunday, come as the US amasses military units in the Caribbean and has conducted multiple strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels, killing dozens.
Former president also praises Mamdani’s campaign against rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa
Zohran Mamdani, who holds a lead in polling ahead of New York City’s mayoral election on Tuesday, reportedly received a call Saturday from his fellow Democrat Barack Obama – and the former president offered to be a “sounding board” if his advantage turns into victory.
Obama also praised the campaign Mamdani had run against his main independent rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
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