Live Blog: EU won't reach ammo supply target for Ukraine — Germany

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

1814 GMT —

Germany has deepened the despondency around Western efforts to back Ukraine by saying the EU would not reach a target to supply Kiev with a million artillery shells by March.

The pessimistic assessment came at a bleak time for Ukraine after its counter-offensive failed to regain territory and as Israel's war with Hamas distracts its key allies.

The European Union pledged last year to deliver one million desperately needed howitzer rounds to Ukraine by March 2024 to help Kiev battle against Russia's invading forces.

So far, EU nations have only managed to provide 300,000 rounds from their existing stocks.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said countries have placed joint orders for 180,000 more 155-millimetre shells, but that figure is due only by the end of next year.

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1905 — Ukrainian troops have secured foothold in the south

Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff said.

Andriy Yermak's remarks were the first official acknowledgement that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro's east bank in Kherson region. "Against all odds, Ukraine's Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dniepro," Andriy Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute think tank in the United States.

"Step by step, they are demilitarising Crimea. We have covered 70 percent of the distance. And our counteroffensive is developing."

The remarks were posted on Zelenskyy's website.

1900 GMT — Moscow court fines Google $165,000

A Moscow court fined US tech giant Google 15 million Russian rubles ($165,000) for violating laws on data localisation.

Under the law on localization, IT companies are required to store Russian users’ data on servers inside Russia.

Google was also fined $3m rubles in August 2021 under the same offence.​​​​​​​

Employment-focused US social network LinkedIn was blocked in Russia in August 2016 after failing to transfer Russian user data to servers located in the country. Twitter and Facebook also remain banned.

1855 GMT — Russia pardons ex-policeman convicted of journalist's murder

Russian authorities have pardoned a former policeman jailed over the 2006 killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya after he fought in Ukraine, his lawyer said.

Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was one of five people jailed in connection with the murder of Politkovskaya, who worked for the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper. She was shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment block aged 48.

1850 GMT — Putin tightens media rules ahead of 2024 election

President Vladimir Putin has tightened media conditions for election coverage in Russia, ahead of a March 2024 presidential vote expected to prolong his rule until 2030.

According to a government decree, journalists who are not employed by media outlets registered with the authorities will be barred from taking part in electoral commission meetings.

Only reporters who "have the right in accordance with federal law" to work will be able to take photographs and videos inside polling stations, the decree said.

The measures thereby bar bloggers and reporters working for exiled independent media from accessing voting stations.

1845 GMT — Ukraine agrees export insurance 'mechanism' with UK, British insurers

Ukraine has agreed to a "special mechanism" with Britain and a group of British insurance companies to offer discounted war insurance on the country's exports, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest agricultural producers, but its exports have been hampered since Russia invaded last February, limiting its ability to ship goods via its Black Sea ports.

Shmygal said that Ukraine and a group of unnamed British insurance firms had created a mechanism for a "discount on the cost of war risk insurance for exporters of all products from Ukraine."

1820 GMT — Russian man gets six years for damaging army posters

Russia has sentenced a man to six years in prison for vandalising posters of Russian soldiers decorated as "heroes" for fighting in Ukraine.

Moscow has banned criticism of the Ukraine offensive and punished thousands of citizens for denouncing the dragging military campaign.

Russia's Investigative Committee said the man's sentence had come into force after he was found guilty of "discrediting" the Russian army under a law used to stifle criticism and vandalism.

It did not name him, saying he is a 46-year-old "local" to the central city of Tolyatti, where the posters were damaged.

0536 GMT — Russia 'destroys' Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow region

Russian air defences destroyed four Ukrainian drones over four Russian regions including the Moscow region overnight, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.

The drones were destroyed in Moscow, Tambov, Orlov and Bryansk regions, the ministry said.

0456 GMT — Ukrainian politician suspected of treason says he has been detained

A Ukrainian lawmaker who was formally notified this week that he was suspected of treason for allegedly cooperating with Russia's military intelligence said a Kiev court had ordered him detained for 60 days.

Oleksandr Dubinsky, who is on a US sanctions list, was told on Monday he was also suspected of spreading misinformation about Ukraine's political leadership, officials said.

Dubinsky called the notice of suspicion fabricated and "based on the absolute lies of top state officials".

0123 GMT — Ukraine: Russians intensify bombardment of Avdiivka

Fighting gripped the area around the shattered eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, Ukraine's military said, with Moscow's forces intensifying air bombardments and trying to move forward with ground forces.

Officials said Russian forces had suffered heavy losses around the city. They also said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in other areas of the 1,000-km front line.

And with Ukraine engaged in a counteroffensive making only incremental gains in the east and south, its commander in chief spoke to the new US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Fighting is still going on. Over the last two days, the occupiers have increased the number of air strikes using guided bombs from Su-35 aircraft," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told national television.

"The enemy is also bringing in more and more infantry. But when they tried to deploy armoured vehicles the day before yesterday two tanks and 14 other vehicles were burned out."

For our live updates from Monday (November 13), click here.