Ukraine war latest: Putin pushes more Russian soldiers to Avdiivka despite failing offensive

Russian naval forces have destroyed three unmanned Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry claimed.

“Anti-sabotage missiles and bombs hit the area where the unmanned boats were detected,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

It added that an anti-mining and an “anti-sabotage” operation was being carried out off Sevastopol port, which is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The Ukrainian ministry of defence has been contacted for comment.

A Russian-American journalist who is accused of breaking Russia’s law on foreign agents has had her pre-trial detention extended until Monday 5 December according to Reuters.

Alsu Kurmasheva is a Prague-based journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) funded by the US Congress and designated as a foregn agent due to foreign funding for activity deemed to be political.

A Russian-American journalist who stands accused of breaking Russia’s law on foreign agents had her pre-trial detention extended on Monday until Dec. 5.

RFE/RL said Kurmasheva entered Russia on May 20 for a family emergency when she was detained and her passports confiscated. She was charged last week with failure to register as a foreign agent, an offence that carries up to five years in prison.

A 61 year old Russian man, Alexander Demidenko, has been arrested in Russia’s Belgorod region according to local media reported by Meduza. Demidenko is said to have been abducted on the Russia-Ukraine border on 17 October.

He is reported to be a volunteer who has helped hudnreds of Ukrainian citizens in Russia return to Ukraine. His wife Natalia says he was brought to their home briefly on 20 October and that she noticed bruises all over his body. He had reportedly been helping an elderly woman with cancer cross the border when he was arrested.

According to Meduza, a Telegram channel Astra, suggests he has been arrested for drinking alcohol in public and has been charged with a felony for arms trafficking.

A Ukrainian priest is among five arrested for the trafficking of ancient archaeological finds from Ukraine according to Sky News. Spanish police arrested three Spaniards and two Ukrainians in their operation which they say they had been working on for months.

The elevel artefacts made of Scythian gold were said to date from between the eighth and fourth centuries BC and are estimated to be worth £52 million.

President Volodmyr Zelensky has said in a recorded message to the nation: “It is important to keep Ukraine and the defense of freedom and international law in the global spotlight.”

He praised the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the said he was “especially grateful” to those fighting at the front in Avdiyivka. He cited a number of international events of importance to Ukraine in the future including the Second Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform.

“This time, almost 70 parliaments and parliamentary assemblies representing five continents are taking part in the Summit,” said Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk on the air of the national telethon United News. He said: “Everyone who comes, comes for the sake of Ukraine.”

Almost 70 parliaments and parliamentary assemblies representing five continents are taking part in the Summit.

The Moscow Times has reported that Russia is now handing out more jail sentences under war censorship laws. The Kommersant business daily reported the increase citing official Supreme Court figures.

Russia outlawed the spreading of “deliberately false information” about its military action following its invasion of Ukraine last year. Eight out of 21 convictions for “war fakes” resulted in real jail time according to the report.

Kommersant also reported that 15 people were jailed for treason in 2023, compared to three jail terms from the first half of 2022.

An investigation by the IStories outlet has revealed that the Borz Batallion of the Russian Defense Ministry-controlled “Private Military Company Redut” has been active in recruiting women into its sniper division.

“Initially, we did not have women, only men. Now, we have decided to try out a female sniper squad and a female drone operator squad because women can do it too,” the battalion’s recruiter with the call sign “Vesta” told an IStories journalist, who was posing as a potential recruit.

“My task as a detachment commander is to prove that women are created not only for soups and children.”

An advertisement for the job offered $2,300 as salary. According to the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shogu, there are 59,000 women in the Russian military.

Ukraine’s President Volodmyr Zelensky tweeted about a call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman on Monday. He reported that the two discussed developing ties between the two nations as well as the rest of the Gulf region.

President Zelensky reported that he has invited a Saudi representative to the next round of peace talks in Malta and vowed to “make the Peace Formula meeting in Jeddah a success”.

Regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Zelensky said: “I highlighted the need of preventing further escalation of the conflict and civilian casualties.”

Chevron has bought Hess for $53 billion in the second oil merger this month which The Washington Post attributes to a hike in oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Major energy players are now “flush” with cash following the run-up in oil prices following the onset of the conflict which has caused fuel and oil prices to skyrocket worldwide. Fuel prices spiked more than 40 percent following the February attack before steadying through the following months.

However they have been rising more recently due to fears of a broader Middle East war following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hungary has been refusing to allow $500 million in aid to Ukraine due to its listing of OTP bank in its international sponsors of war list. While negotiations have lasted for months, it appears that the discussions have led nowhere. The European bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, confirmed, that the ministerial negotiations in Luxembourg did not bring an agreement.

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention provisionally removed OTP and five Greek shipping companies from the list in the hope that this would “lead to Hungary’s unblocking of 500 million euros of vital EU military aid for the Ukrainian people, and will also eliminate the possibility of Greece blocking the future EU sanctions package” against Russia.

While Hungary’s foreign minister said this was a “step in the right direction”, Hungary are seeking reassurances that the institutions will not be returned to the list once aid is secured.