Russian Su-25 attack aircraft strikes Ukrainian military positions on the frontlines in the Donetsk direction in Ukraine in undated footage. The footage was released by the Russian MoD on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.
Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense/Newsflash
Russians who defected to side with Ukraine should be charged with treason and sent to work in mines if they dare to return home, the chairman of the country’s parliament said.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and a subsequent mobilisation campaign prompted several hundred thousand people to leave the country, though it is unclear exactly how many.
”If they start returning now but have made statements against the country and financed the armed forces of Ukraine then of course we must choose a place to send them immediately,” Vyacheslav Volodin told parliament.
“Such actions relate to article 275 of the criminal code – state treason. We’re probably… talking about mines and we need to find territories where the weather is more constant, where there’s no summer.”
The Kremlin later addressed the comments saying that it was not “on the same path” as Russians who had fled, but said that the “vast majority”, those who have not taken strongly anti-Russian stances, would be welcomed back.
Moscow has tried to encourage some specialists, such as IT workers, to return and says some Russians have come back.
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11 October 2023 • 2:43pm
2:43PM
Russia is ‘counting on’ Israel dividing Western support
Asked about concerns that Ukraine could get less military support because of Israel’s war against Hamas, Zelensky said there is a “very understandable volume” that the US and Europe can provide. He said he has asked that question himself, and added he thinks nobody really knows, but that he is still assuming US and Europe will support.
“Of course, everybody’s afraid, and I think also Russia’s counting on it, on dividing support,” he added, in remarks at a press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.”
2:14PM
Russia claims to have improved positions around Avdiivka
Russia on Wednesday said its forces had strengthened their position on the frontline near Avdiivka, a day after Kyiv warned Moscow that it was stepping up strikes to encircle the eastern town.
“Actions from the southern group of forces supported by aviation, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems, improved the situation along the front line in the vicinity of Avdiivka,” the Russian defence ministry said.
The Institute for the Study of War has suggested that while Russian forces are concentrating their attacks in the eastern Avdiivka area, a successful encirclement of the city “would very likely require more forces.”
2:11PM
Funeral bombing spies named by Ukraine
Ukraine has identified suspects that they believe fed Russia intelligence that led to a strike on a wake last week, the security service has said.
The SBU named the suspects as 30-year-old Volodymyr Mamon and his 23-year-old brother Dmytro Mamon, who they said have both now fled to Russia.
The missile strike last week killed 55 people as they gathered at a cafe for the wake of a fallen Ukrainian soldier. The SBU said the suspects handed over details knowing that local civilians would “surely die” in an attack.
The security service posted phone messages from Volodymyr, a police escort driver under the occupying authorities, asking about the wake’s location and the dead man’s military service. “Having learned the exact address and time of the peaceful event, Volodymyr Mamon gave this information to the Russian occupiers,” it said.
After moving to Russia, the brothers had continued communicating with a “network of informants” in Ukraine-controlled territory, the security service said, addinf that they are accused of plotting high treason and deliberately collaborating with an aggressor state.
The SBU said they are attempting to locate the men and bring them to justice.
1:44PM
Russian campaigner defends right to disagree with Putin at trial
Russian rights campaigner Oleg Orlov urged a Moscow court on Wednesday to acquit him of discrediting the armed forces by speaking out against the war in Ukraine, saying Russians had the right to disagree with their president.
Moscow is seeking to fine the 70-year-old £2,000 over a Facebook post denouncing the invasion.
Russian veteran human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, accused of discrediting Russia’s armed forces, sits in a courtroom before a hearing in Moscow, Russia October 11, 2023.
Credit: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
“Where is it defined that our commander-in-chief (Putin) always rightly understands not only the interests of Russia, but the interests of its citizens?” Orlov asked in his closing speech today, at a trial which began in June.
“And if the ideas of a part of Russia’s citizens about their own interests don’t match those of the commander-in-chief, don’t they have the right to talk about this?”
“But in that case, the president is no longer a president, but a spiritual and secular leader… Or are Russia’s top officials now infallible, like the Pope?”
1:26PM
Ukraine calls for demining help
Ukraine on Wednesday called for greater global support to help with demining the country, warning that up to a third of its territory could be contaminated with ordnance.
“Russian mines and shells in Ukraine are a problem that must be solved together,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said via video link during a donors’ conference on demining in the Croatian capital Zagreb.
Shmyhal said up to six million people were actively at risk from extensive mining across Ukraine that has accelerated since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
If demining efforts are not increased “it will take many decades to clear Ukraine of mines”, Shmyhal added.
1:09PM
Two civilians injured in Kharkiv
Two civilians have been injured in Russian shelling on Kharkiv, Oleh Synyehubov the governor of Kharkiv has said.
“One of the enemy shells hit a residential building. Two civilians were injured – a 72-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man. Currently doctors are helping them. Emergency services are on site.”
The shelling hit the village of Kup’yansk-Vuzlovy in the Kupyan district, he added.
12:57PM
Zelensky in Brussels
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he attends a press conference, in Brussels, Belgium October 11, 2023.
Credit: REUTERS/Yves Herman
12:12PM
Russian military facing a mental health crisis, MoD says
11:34AM
Denmark will deliver its first F-16s to Ukraine next year
Denmark expects to make its first delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in March or April next year, national broadcaster TV2 reported, citing defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
11:33AM
‘Democracy can win this battle,’ Zelensky says
“Next Monday, we will mark the 600th day of our resistance to Russia’s full scale aggression against our people, against Ukraine. And today, no one can say for sure how many more days we will have to defend our independence and to defend our identity,” Zelensky told the meeting of more than 50 defence leaders from around the world.
“But we can already say several things which I think are important. First, Putin will not achieve Ukraine. Second, Russia cannot afford a new arms race. And third, democracy can win this battle.”
11:17AM
US announces new $200m military package for Ukraine
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has announced a new military assistance packaging amounting to $200m in Brussels today.
The package includes air defence munitions, artillery and rocket ammunition and anti-tank weapons, among other items, the US defence chief said.
It is the first package announced since Congress dropped new funding for Kyiv earlier this month from a bill to avert a US government shutdown.
“We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he said.
11:13AM
NATO vows ‘determined response’ if Baltic pipeline sabotage confirmed
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has pledged a strong response from the military alliance if it turns out damage to a pipeline between Finland and Estonia was a “deliberate attack”.
“The important thing now is to establish what happened and how this could happen,” Stoltenberg said, at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.
“If it is proven to be a deliberate attack on NATO critical infrastructure, then this will be of course serious, but it will also be met by a united and determined response from NATO.”
Finland has said that the cause is not yet clear and that an investigation is ongoing.
11:04AM
Kremlin says damage to Baltic pipeline is ‘disturbing’
The Kremlin has described the news of damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland as disturbing and said that the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline last year was a dangerous precedent.
“I do not have technical information, I do not know if our special services have such information, but of course, this is quite disturbing news,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the pipeline.
Unnamed sources in local Finnish media suggested Russian sabotage was to blame for the damage, which caused gas prices to rise sharply.
“We know that dangerous precedents for carrying out terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure facilities in the Baltic have already been created, I mean the attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines,” Peskov said.
10:23AM
U.S. will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, Pentagon chief says
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said today that the United States would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, amid political chaos in Congress and the crisis in the Middle East.
“The United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Austin said at the start of a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Brussels.
“Were here to dig deep to meet Ukraine’s most urgent needs, especially for air defense and ammunition,” Austin said, sitting alongside Zelensky.
9:04AM
US support for Israel won’t come at expense of Ukraine, Germany says
The United States’ decision to step up military support for Israel after a surprise assault by Hamas is not likely to cause material shortages for Ukraine, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said this morning.
Pistorius said Berlin would do “everything we can to ensure support for Ukraine does not crumble” in light of the recent escalation in the Middle East conflict.
8:42AM
Zelensky arrives at NATO HQ for first time since war started
“A visit to NATO headquarters that will be critical to our resilience this winter,” Zelensky posted on Telegram.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (R) is welcomed by Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the start of his first visit to NATO’s headquarters since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, in Brussels, on October 11, 2023.
Credit: SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (L) is welcomed by Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the start of his first visit to NATO’s headquarters since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, in Brussels, on October 11, 2023.
Credit: SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images
8:25AM
One injured in Kherson
One person has been injured in Russian shelling on in Kherson, local authorities said.
“In the morning, the Russian army attacked the village [Mykhailivka, Beyslav district]. At that time, a 76-year-old woman was in her own yard. She was taken to the hospital in a moderate condition,” they said in a statement on Telegram.
“The victim has an explosive injury, shrapnel wounds to the chest and leg.”
8:18AM
Putin to travel to Kyrgyzstan in first known trip abroad since ICC arrest warrant
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Kyrgyzstan on Thursday it has been announced, in what is believed to be his first known trip abroad since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March.
“At the invitation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Japarov, on October 12 of this year, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will make an official visit to the country,” the Kyrgyz presidential administration said in a statement on its website.
There has been no confirmation of the trip from Russia.
Putin is to take part in ceremonies dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the opening of an air base in Kant, which is home to the Russian Aerospace Forces’ 999th Air Base, the Kyrgyz presidential office added.
8:08AM
Pictured: The cost of war in Ukraine
31 year-old Ukrainian soldier, Vadim suffering shrapnel wounds to his face lays in a hospital bed on October 09, 2023 in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
8:03AM
Brussels to send F-16s to Ukraine from 2025
Belgium will send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from 2025, the country’s defence minister Ludivine Dedonder said on local radio this morning.
He did not say how many they would send.
His announcement came as Zelesnsky was making his first visit to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels since the start of Russia’s war in February 2022. He is reported to have arrived at the headquarters about five minutes ago, we will bring you more as we have it.
7:57AM
Zelensky says war between Israel and Hamas could distract from Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that the devastating war between Israel and Hamas risked distracting international attention from the war in his own country.
“There is a risk that international attention will turn away from Ukraine, and that will have consequences”, he said in an interview with France 2.
The tragedies affecting Ukraine and Israel “are different, but both are immense,” he said.
7:55AM
Good morning
Hello and welcome to The Telegraph’s daily live blog of the war in Ukraine, with me, Abbie Cheeseman.
First up this morning:
UK to help Finland investigate suspected gas pipeline sabotage
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has offered Finland the UK’s support as it investigates damage to a pipeline that authorities now believe was likely deliberate.
Extensive damage to an undersea gas pipeline and communications cable connecting Finland and Estonia “could not have occurred by accident” and appears to be the result of a “deliberate … external act”, Finnish authorities said yesterday.
Unnamed sources in local media suggested Russian sabotage was to blame for the damage, which caused gas prices to rise sharply.
Mr Sunak on Tuesday night offered British support for the investigation.
“As Nato allies and friends, we are committed to the security of the Baltic Sea,” he said. “The UK stands ready to support you with your investigation.”
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