Ukraine war live: Russia sees record losses as baby amongst injured in missile strike

In November, the Ukrainian government said it had registered 3,574 Ukrainian military and 763 civilians taken into Russian or Moscow-backed separatists’ captivity since 2014.

The figure included those who have already returned to Ukraine, it said. However, it said the numbers did not show all the current prisoners.

Ukraine has already brought back 2,598 people from Russian captivity during 48 swaps, the Strategic Communications Department of the Armed Forces said on Tuesday.

Reuters could not independently verify the figures.

Ukraine‘s human rights commissioner accused Russia on Thursday of refusing to agree new exchanges of prisoners of war after a stretch of three months in which no swaps have been reported.

Kyiv and Moscow have held many prisoner swaps since the early months of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. But their intensity dropped in 2023 and the last one took place in early August.

“Exchanges don’t happen because Russia doesn’t want them to,” said Dmytro Lubinets, the human rights ombudsman who has regularly had a role in prisoner exchanges in the past.

“All the initiatives, desires and actions of Ukraine regarding the return of our defenders from captivity are met by a Russian unwillingness to return its citizens,” he said on Telegram messenger.

He added that Russian prisoners held in Ukraine had expressed a wish to be exchanged.

“No one from the Russian side wants to take them back,” he said.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Michelle del Rey reports:

The incident happened while Mr Whelan was working at a sewing table at around 1.30pm, his brother, David Whelan, said in an emailed statement provided to The Independent.

Paul Whelan had asked a new prisoner to move because he was blocking part of the production line he was working on. After several requests, the prisoner did not budge but instead allegedly hit Mr Whelan in the face, breaking his glasses.

The prisoner reportedly then tried to strike the American a second time, but he blocked the attempt.

Other prisoners intervened to stop the attack from continuing, the statement said. Paul Whelan later reported the attack to prison camp’s deputy warden. It is now being investigated by the prosecutor’s office.

The Ukraininan military intelligence service (HUR) orchestrated a hacking of broadcast channels in Crimea to deliver an ardent message by President Zelensky to the people of Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Independent.

“All of you feel that the Russian presence on our land is not permanent. I know this. Ukraine will reclaim its territory and its people. We will not leave anyone to the occupiers.

“Ukraine will soon have fire control capabilities over Russian-occupied Crimea,” Zelensky said.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Zelensky emphasised the importance of “ensuring unity within the European Union in the issue of endorsement of Ukraine’s accession negotiations and in the allocation of €50 billion in aid for the coming years.”

President Zelensky thanked Sunak for his “continued support”.

In a statement on X, formelry known as Twitter, he said:

“I spoke with Rishi Sunak to thank him for the UK’s continued defense and political support. Following my visits to the frontlines, I briefed the Prime Minister on Ukraine’s priority defense needs for strengthening our warriors and our sky shield.

“We discussed further macro-financial support for Ukraine and coordinated steps in the run-up to important international events.

“We specifically addressed Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration, highlighted the significance of the October Peace Formula talks in Malta, and discussed further steps to put the Formula into action.”

“Today, Thursday, November 30, 2023, the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, received the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Slovak Republic, Gautam Rana, and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Slovak Republic, Igor Bratčikov, at the Slovak Government Office in Bratislava. ‘I presented them with my view on the development of Slovak-American and Slovak-Russian relations. The Slovak Republic is a member state of the EU and NATO, which naturally affects our foreign policy priorities. On the other hand, it cannot limit us in sovereign positions, which are not always in line with the policy of one single correct opinion promoted in the European Union. The priority of the foreign policy that I intend to implement is the protection and promotion of Slovak national-state interests, which include the support of peace initiatives and not war in Ukraine,’ said the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister explained Slovak national priorities to both ambassadors, as well as his view of the war in Ukraine, where the EU and US strategy set so far is clearly failing. ‘Slovakia also has an obligation to prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and for the standardization of Slovak-Russian relations,’ added Robert Fico.”

Russia may have lost as many as six high-ranking officers in Ukraine in just one week following reports a senior general was killed by a landmine placed by his own side.

Major general Vladimir Zavadsky, 45, the deputy commander of the 14th Army Corps, died in occupied Ukraine on Tuesday, reported pro-Kremlin newspaper Lenta.

The elite military academy where Zavadsky studied, the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School, also announced his death in a social media post, although that has now been deleted.

Russia’s defence ministry has not officially commented on the reports.

Zavadsky was not reported to have been killed in action. According to the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which claims to have ties to Russian security services, the general died in a blast on a landmine placed by Vladimir Putin’s own forces to target Ukrainian reconnaissance groups.

Funerals have continued for Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed fighting Russian forces. Serhiy Pavlichenko

Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at least two person and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons.

You can read The Independent’s full report here: