Live blog: Ukraine pushes Russian troops '3-8 kms' back from Dnipro river — Kiev's army

Sunday, November 19, 2023

0850 GMT — The Ukrainian army has said that it pushed Russian forces back "three to eight kilometres" from the banks of the Dnipro River, the first measurable advance by Kiev's forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive.

"Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape design of the left bank," army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television without specifying whether the Ukrainian military had complete control of the area or if the Russians had retreated.

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1347 GMT –– Ukrainian teen taken from Mariupol returned home

A Ukrainian orphan taken from Mariupol after Russian forces captured the Ukrainian city in the first weeks of its offensive has returned home, Kiev said.

The case of Bogdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, made international headlines after Russia issued him a draft summons to report for mandatory military conscription ahead of his 18th birthday.

Kiev said he had made it back to Ukraine after a series of negotiations involving officials in Moscow, Kiev and Belarus.

"Our team managed to bring home Bogdan Yermokhin, a Ukrainian boy who was taken by Russia from occupied Mariupol to the Moscow region," said Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff.

The Kremlin has been accused of illegally transferring thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the alleged deportations.

Yermokhin's return was brokered by Qatar and the UN children's agency UNICEF, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in a social media post.

He also published a photo of Yermokhin holding a Ukrainian flag at the border.

1205 GMT –– Pope says peace in Ukraine, Middle East possible with good will

Pope Francis renewed calls for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East during his Angelus prayer, saying it was essential to keep up efforts to stop the ongoing conflicts.

"I pray for the tormented population of Ukraine ... and the people in Palestine and Israel," he told the crowds gathered in St. Peter's square, adding he had spotted some yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

"Peace is possible, good will is needed ... we must not resign ourselves because, always, always, always war is a defeat from which only weapon manufacturers profit," he said.

1029 GMT –– Five hurt in Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine says

Five people including a 3-year-old girl were injured in Russian artillery shelling of Kherson in the morning, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said.

"All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The child and the grandmother were walking in the yard. Enemy artillery hit them near the entrance," Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian troops abandoned Kherson and the western bank of the Dnipro River in the region late last year, but now regularly shell those areas from positions on the eastern bank.

0720 GMT — Russia launches drone attack on Kiev for second night: Ukraine

Russia has launched several waves of drone attacks on Kiev for the second night in a row, stepping up its assaults on the Ukrainian capital after several weeks of pause, the city's military administration said.

"That is why the air raid alerts were announced several times in the capital."

Ukraine's Air Force said its air defence systems destroyed 15 of 20 Russia-launched Shahed kamikaze drones over Kiev, Poltava and Cherkasy regions.

There had been no initial reports of "critical damage" or casualties, Popko said earlier. He also said that close to 10 of the drones were downed over Kiev and its outskirts.

Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram that debris "slightly damaged" five houses but no people were injured. Kiev's region Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said an infrastructure object was damaged in the region. There were no casualties.

2316 GMT — Zelenskyy sanctions 108 people, including ex-PM over Russia collusion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sanctioned 37 Russian groups and 108 people, including a former prime minister and a former education minister, and said he aimed to fight wartime abductions of children from Ukraine and other "Russian terror".

"We are increasing the pressure of our state onto them, and each of them must be held responsible for what they have done," he said in his new video address after his office issued corresponding decrees with his signature.

Zelenskyy did not associate specific individuals or groups with particular wrongdoings. The decrees showed a range of 10-year penalties against individuals and five-year penalties against non-profit groups including one named in English as the "Russian Children's Foundation."

Zelenskyy said in his address that the list included "those involved in the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territory" and individuals who "in various ways help Russian terror against Ukraine."

2220 GMT — Ukrainian drone heading towards Moscow destroyed: Russia

Russia's air defence systems have destroyed a Ukraine-launched drone heading towards Moscow, the mayor of the Russian capital has said.

"Preliminarily, there is no damage or casualties as a result of falling debris," Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app.

"Emergency services are on the scene."

The drone was destroyed in Bogorodskoye, Sobyanin said, which is on the northeast outskirts of Moscow.

For our live updates from Saturday (November 18), click here.