Live blog: EU to unveil Ukraine training mission, weapons fund support

Friday, October 14, 2022

EU to unveil Ukraine training mission, weapons fund support

The European Union is set to announce next week that it’s setting up a military training mission in Europe for thousands of Ukrainian troops and will provide around half a billion more dollars to help buy weapons for the war-torn country, diplomats and officials said.

The aim is to train almost 15,000 Ukrainian troops in a number of EU countries, chiefly Poland and Germany, the officials said on Friday. 

It would range from standard military training to specialised instruction, based on Ukraine’s needs. The EU hopes to have it operational by mid-November.

Ukraine strike destroys Russian electrical substation

An electric substation in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, was set on fire by a Ukrainian strike, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"An electric substation... caught fire after a strike on Belgorod," Gladkov said on Telegram, adding that it would take "up to four hours" to activate a backup system and restore power.

He did not specify how many people had lost power in the city of 330,000, which until now has rarely been hit by Ukrainian fire, unlike the surrounding Belgorod region.

US to send munitions, Humvees to Ukraine in $725M aid package -officials

The Biden administration's next security assistance package for Ukraine is expected to include munitions and vehicles but not significant new capabilities or counter-air defences, two US officials briefed on the $725 million package told Reuters news agency. 

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity on Friday, said that the timing of the announcement of the weapons package as well as its contents and value could change until the last minute.

The package, that could come as soon as Friday, is the first aid package since Russia's barrage of rocket attacks on Ukraine in recent days.

War in Ukraine: NGOs file complaint against TotalEnergies

A French and a Ukrainian nongovernmental organisation have filed a complaint for “complicity in war crimes” against TotalEnergies, which they accuse of having operated a gas field that allegedly produces kerosene used by Russian warplanes in Ukraine. 

The Paris counterterrorism prosecutor's office confirmed on Friday that it formally received the complaint and is going to examine it.

A statement from TotalEnergies denounced “outrageous and defamatory” accusations which “are an insult to the integrity of our teams and go against our values.”

Official: Musk seeks US funding of Ukraine satellite network

The Defense Department has gotten a request from SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk to take over funding for his satellite network that has provided crucial battlefield communications for Ukrainian military forces during the war with Russia, a US official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday to discuss a sensitive matter not yet made public, said the issue has been discussed in meetings and senior leaders are weighing the matter. There have been no decisions.

Musk's Starlink system of more than 2,200 low-orbiting satellites has provided broadband internet to more than 150,000 Ukrainian ground stations. Early Friday, Musk tweeted that it was costing SpaceX $20 million a month to support Ukraine’s communications needs.

Putin says Russia 'doing everything right' in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was "doing everything right" in its nearly eight-month military campaign in Ukraine despite a string of defeats, as Kiev said it was "stronger than ever" and would emerge victorious.

Putin's comments came hours after Kremlin-supported officials in the southern region of Kherson urged residents to leave after Kiev said its forces were advancing on the region's eponymous main city.

Moscow also hinted at the potentially wide extent of the damage dealt to the Crimea bridge - the sole connecting its mainland to the annexed Ukrainian peninsula - following a blast, saying it could take many months to complete repairs.

US 'disappointed' with EU Commission on Ukraine debt

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told EU counterparts she was disappointed that the European Commission has not joined a group of creditors providing debt relief to Ukraine.

"I will say honestly that I remain disappointed that the European Commission has not joined the group of creditors to offer debt service relief to Ukraine," Yellen said on Friday at a meeting with European Union finance ministers and EU commissioners in Washington.

"Ukraine as you know faces an immense financing gap and needs our full support," she said.

Ukraine wants global financial crime watchdog to expel Russia

Ukraine's central bank chief said he plans to ask the global financial crime watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to expel Russia over its offensives on Ukraine.

Newly appointed central bank governor Andriy Pyshnyi said on Friday that he would make the request on behalf of the bank in a letter to the FATF before the organisation's plenary session on October 18-21.

Pyshnyi accused Russia of "creating serious threats to the security and integrity of the world's financial system" and demanded that Moscow be made to "feel the price" for its attacks on Ukraine.

Ukraine says over 1,600 settlements liberated since start of war

Ukrainian forces have liberated a total of 1,620 settlements since the start of Russia's war, the presidential office said as the country marked Defenders Day.

In a post on Telegram on Friday, Kiril Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said "heroic resistance" to reclaim occupied Ukrainian lands from Russian forces still continues.

"I congratulate everyone who defends Ukraine, and we remember everyone who gave their lives for Ukraine. Thanks to you, 1,620 settlements have already been liberated from the Russian invaders," Tymoshenko said.

Zelenskyy promises victory as Ukraine marks Defenders Day

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Ukraine's Defenders Day holiday by promising victory over Russia and freedom for Ukraine.

In a video address delivered on hills outside the capital Kiev, Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine's armed forces for defending their country. He said everything that had been taken away from Ukraine would be returned, and no soldier left in captivity.

"It seems that the current enemy in its evil unites all the enemies of our statehood that we faced before," Zelenskyy said on the wooded hills outside the village of Vitachyv, site of an historic military outpost overlooking the Dnipro River.

Trains suspended in parts of Russia's Belgorod region

Train operations were suspended near Novyi Oskol, a town in Russia's Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, after remains of a missile fell near the railway, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Anti-craft defences shot down missiles near Novyi Oskol, a town of about 18,000 people which lies about 90 kilometres north of the border with Ukraine, Gladkov said.

"Power lines are damaged. Trains are temporarily suspended," Gladkov said, adding that there were no casualties.

Russia says there were deaths in alleged Ukrainian shelling of border region

Russia said it had opened a criminal investigation into alleged Ukrainian shelling of a Russian border region in which it said people had been killed and wounded.

The state Investigative Committee did not specify the number of casualties in Thursday's incident, in which it said shells fired from Ukraine had destroyed an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region.

Russian officials also accused Ukraine on Thursday of strikes on border regions that hit a school, an apartment block and an electricity substation.

Crimea bridge repairs to be finished by July 2023

Repairs to the bridge between the annexed Crimean peninsula and southern Russia, which was damaged in an explosion last Saturday, are to be finished by July 2023, a document published on the Russian government's website said.

The Crimea bridge, a showcase project of Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule, was damaged in a blast that Russia has blamed on Ukraine. 

Some Ukrainian officials celebrated the incident but Kiev has not claimed responsibility.

US pushes allies to assemble patchwork air defences for Ukraine

The US is pressing allies to hastily build for Ukraine a patchwork air defence network using NATO-compatible equipment – some ultra-modern, others older – to protect strategic targets from Russian strikes.

The effort was given added urgency after Moscow pummeled Ukraine with missiles this week, damaging energy facilities nationwide and leaving at least 20 people dead.

In order to protect Ukraine from Russia's varied threats, it will be necessary to build air defences made up of multiple layers, says the top US military officer, General Mark Milley.

Ireland examines neutrality stance after Ukraine war: minister

Russia's attack against Ukraine is forcing Ireland to rethink its long tradition of military neutrality, the country's European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said.

Public opinion may not be ready for membership of the US-led NATO alliance yet, Byrne said, even though there is no doubt as to where Irish sympathies lie.

"Russia invading Ukraine, totally against the UN charter, against the basic principles of territorial integrity, put the Irish people very firmly, instinctively on the side of right there," he said.

Danone plans to withdraw from most of its business in Russia

French agribusiness Danone said it planned to transfer control of its essential dairy and plant-based business in Russia, retaining only its infant nutrition branch.

One of the few multinationals to have remained in Russia since the Ukraine war, Danone said the move to "transfer the effective control" of the dairy business could result in a write off of up to one billion euros ($980 million).

The arm represented five percent of Danone's net sales in 2022 so far.

Ukrainian advance forces civilians in 'annexed' Kherson to flee to Russia

Evacuees from Ukraine's southern Kherson region are expected to begin arriving in Russia after a Moscow-installed official suggested residents should leave for safety, a sign of Moscow's weakening hold on territory it claims to have annexed.

"We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, ... go to other regions," Russian-installed Kherson administration chief Vladimir Saldo said in a video message. People should "leave with their children".

The offer applied foremost to residents on the west bank of the Dnipro River, he said. That includes the regional capital, the only major Ukrainian city Russia has captured intact since its offensives began in February.

The first civilians fleeing from Kherson were due to arrive in Russia's Rostov region on Friday, the TASS news agency reported.

Ukraine claims to have liberated hundreds of settlements 

Ukraine's armed forces have recaptured more than 600 settlements from the Russian occupation in the past month, including 75 in the highly strategic Kherson region, Ukraine's Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories said.

Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region where Ukrainian forces last month advanced deep into Russian lines, the ministry said.

The ministry said 43 settlements were liberated in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region. Reuters news agency was not able to independently verify the battlefield reports and there was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine's military or President Zelenskyy's office.

For live updates from Thursday (October 13), click here