Live blog:  Donor 'tiredness' growing as war drags on — Ukraine

Saturday, October 14, 2023

1627 GMT — Ukraine is finding it harder to secure financial support as the attention of officials in key donor countries shifts to upcoming elections and geopolitical tensions heighten, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

"I see a lot of tiredness, I see a lot of weakness among our partners, they would like to forget about the war but the war is still ongoing, full-scale," Marchenko said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Marrakech.

As the war with Russia rages on, Ukraine needs to secure Western financial support to cover a $43 billion budget gap in 2024.

The EU is working on a 50 billion-euro ($52.6 billion) Ukraine package for 2024 through 2027. Marchenko said Ukraine is seeking 18 billion euros of that in 2024, matching the package received for this year.

More updates👇

1048 GMT — Russia tries to 'surround' Ukraine's Avdiivka: official

Kiev has reported "heated" fighting around its eastern city of Avdiivka, saying Russian forces had "not stopped assaulting" the symbolic industrial hub for days in their attempt to surround it.

Ukraine last week said Russia had stepped up assaults on the frontline city, which lies just 15 kilometres from Moscow-held Donetsk.

Avdiivka has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since 2014, after it briefly fell to Russian-backed separatists. Russian forces now control territory to the east, north and south of Avdiivka.

"For the fifth day already, the enemy has not stopped either assaulting or shelling positions around the city," Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the city, said on Ukrainian television.

0931 GMT — Top Ukraine general says fighting in northeast has 'significantly worsened'

Fighting along the northern portion of Ukraine's eastern front has "significantly worsened" in recent days, the commander of Kiev's ground forces has said.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was visiting Ukrainian troops in the area, said Russian forces had regrouped after suffering losses and were attacking around the village of Makiivka and towards the city of Kupiansk.

"The main objective of the enemy is the defeat of a grouping of our troops, the encirclement of Kupiansk and to reach the Oskil River," he said in comments carried by an official military platform.

Syrskyi added that Russian forces were carrying out "dozens" of assaults each day, but that Ukrainian troops had been ready and were holding their ground.

0839 GMT — Russia says downed two drones over Black Sea near Sochi

Russia has said it shot down two attack drones over the Black Sea in the southern resort city of Sochi.

Ukraine has hit Russian cities with drones for months, but Sochi -- a mountain and sea resort -- has so far been largely spared from attacks.

"Today at about 7:10 am in Sochi (0410 GMT)... two drones were shot down over the sea," the governor of the southern Krasnodar region Alexei Kopaygorodskiy said on social media.

"There were no casualties or damage in the city," he said, adding that the airport was working "normally" and that "the situation was under control."

2203 GMT — US, UK discuss ways to deny Russia revenue amid Ukraine war

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has met with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, the US State Department said.

Yellen and Hunt discussed "joint actions to deny Russia revenue to fund its brutal war and highlighted the importance of collectively supporting Ukraine’s economic assistance needs," the State Department said.

For our live updates from Friday (October 13), click here.