Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy says war harms climate efforts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has posthumously awarded the highest state decoration to pro-Kremlin senior priest Mikhail Vasilyev, who died in Ukraine over the weekend.

Vasilyev previously said women should have more children to ease the pain of sending their sons to the military operation in Ukraine.

He received the Hero of the Russian Federation medal for “the courage and heroism shown in the performance of his civic duty”, according to a decree on the presidential website.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara conveyed its expectation to see concrete steps from Sweden to fulfil “anti-terrorism” obligations under a deal clearing its bids to join NATO.

Speaking following his meeting with Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Erdogan also said recent resumption of arms exports to Turkey was a positive step.

A fast-heating world “cannot afford a single gunshot”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the UN climate summit on, arguing that Russia’s invasion threatened international efforts to tackle global warming.

Speaking by video-link to the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, Zelenskyy itemised the environmental fallout from the Russian assault on his country – from compelling countries to increase their use of coal to the disruption of grain supplies, worsening food crises stoked by drought.

“We must stop those who, with their insane and illegal war, are destroying the world’s ability to work united for a common goal,” he said.

Poland’s Border Guard rescued 10 people from a swamp on the border with Belarus, it has said, as Warsaw warns that a new refugee crisis could erupt on its borders.

With security concerns rising due to the war in Ukraine, Warsaw says it has noted increased refugee activity on the Belarus border and Polish officials suspect Minsk could again be involved.

Poland has also started building a razor-wire fence on its border with Kaliningrad as it believes the Russian exclave could be used as an undocumented migration route.

Turkey’s Erdogan says Ankara has conveyed its expectation to see concrete steps from Sweden to fulfil anti-terrorism obligations under a deal to clear bids by the Nordic country and neighbouring Finland to join NATO.

In a joint news conference after a meeting in Ankara, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he understood Turkey’s fight against “terrorism” and promised to satisfy security commitments the Nordic country made to get Ankara’s backing for its entry into NATO.

“In our meeting, we have openly shared our expectations for concrete steps regarding the implementation of the provisions in the memorandum,” Erdogan said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, Zelenskyy said in a video at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

“There can be no effective climate policy without the peace,” he said.

The Italian government is preparing a new arms package for Ukraine, including air defence systems.

An Italian coalition official, who declined to be named, told Reuter’s news agency that Rome was ready to provide Ukraine with various air-defence systems, including the medium-range Franco-Italian SAMP/T, Italian Aspide, and portable Stinger missiles.

However, it is unclear how many of these it could offer or when any shipment might be delivered.

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto spoke by phone on Monday with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and pledged to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion for “as long as necessary”, a statement said.

Giorgia Meloni’s newly installed right-wing coalition government is preparing the sixth round of supplies to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US ambassador to the United Nations that the Black Sea grain export deal must be extended.

“[We] spoke about the situation at the front and Russian missile terror. Almost 40 percent of our energy infrastructure facilities were damaged by targeted attacks,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

“Therefore, the first priority is the urgent creation of an air shield over Ukraine. Separately, they talked about global food security. Thanks to the implementation of the grain initiative, millions of people in Africa, Asia and Europe are provided with food. It is necessary that the grain agreement continues in the future.

“Ukraine is ready to remain the guarantor of world food security,” he said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he saw no need at present to evacuate Kyiv or any other cities that are not near the front lines in the war against Russia.

Shmyhal spoke at a cabinet meeting following Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and after Kyiv’s mayor told residents everything, including a worst-case scenario where Kyiv loses power and water thoroughly, must be considered.

“Right now, the situation is far from [needing to] announce an evacuation,” Shmyhal said.

“We must say that to announce the evacuation of any city not near the front lines, especially the capital, would not make any sense at present.”

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Russia must be held “accountable” during her visit to Kyiv.

Thomas-Greenfield tweeted, “In Kyiv, I met with victims of Russia’s war crimes.

“A mother told me about holding her dying child after an attack on her home.

“A civilian medical worker told me about being detained and tortured by Russian forces for weeks. We must hold Russia accountable for these atrocities.”

In Kyiv, I met with victims of Russia’s war crimes.

A mother told me about holding her dying child after an attack on her home. A civilian medical worker told me about being detained and tortured by Russian forces for weeks.

We must hold Russia accountable for these atrocities. pic.twitter.com/S6RMtiwNuI

— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) November 8, 2022

The US ambassador to the United Nations reassured Ukrainian farmers that extending the Black Sea grain deal is a priority for the UN.

The agreement, set to expire on November 19, has already been strained after Russia briefly suspended its participation last week after a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrey Rudenko, said that the Kremlin has not yet decided whether to extend its agreement with Turkey and the UN.

“We still have time. We are looking at how this deal is being implemented following the restoration of our participation,” Rudenko said.

“We are very dissatisfied with how the Russian part is being implemented, where the UN has taken responsibility for solving problems.”

Ukraine and Russia are major global exporters of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other products.

German officials searched UBS bank branches in Frankfurt and Munich as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering by a Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

The suspected money laundering is in the double-digit million euros, a spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said.

A Usmanov spokesperson categorically denied the allegations, describing them as unfounded, false and defamatory.

“The businessman is a law-abiding and conscientious taxpayer who has paid taxes in Russia,” the spokesperson said and declined to comment on whether the searches were related to Usmanov.

A spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said, “The subject of the investigation into suspected money laundering is a businessman from the Russian Federation.”

“The investigations are not directed against the banking institution concerned or its employees. The search measures are taking place in the same preliminary proceedings in which searches have already been carried out at the defendant’s residence in the district of Miesbach and at his yacht.”

Al Jazeera updates these four maps daily, charting the latest war developments.

Ukraine says the only way they will enter into negotiations with Russia is if Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” is maintained.

While President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously said that there would be no negotiations with Russia while Putin was still in power, in his overnight video address on Monday, he said he was open to “genuine” talks with Russia that would restore Ukraine’s borders.

Zelenskyy also called for reparations and consequences for those guilty of war crimes in Ukraine.

Read more on Ukraine’s requirements for future negotiations. 

According to the state-owned TASS news agency, Russia’s Ministry of Education is creating a curriculum for basic military training in schools and colleges.

In a document from the Deputy Minister of Education Tatyana Vasilyeva, the training will consist of basic defence knowledge and the basics of military service for five days.

“Currently, the development of an NVP training course (initial military training – TASS note) has been organised within the time allotted by the instruction for teaching citizens basic knowledge in the field of defence in educational organisations,” the document says.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges the United States to remain united as questions hover over American support for his country following midterm elections to determine control of the US Congress.

“I call on you to maintain unwavering unity, as it is now, until that very day when we all hear those important words we have been dreaming of … Until we hear that peace has finally been restored. Democracies must not stop on their way to the victory,” he said in a recorded address, receiving the US Liberty Medal.

As inflation rates rise for American voters, partially due to the war, support for aid to Ukraine and its continuing war efforts could be in jeopardy.

Buying Russian oil works to India’s advantage, and India will continue doing that, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said after meeting his Russian counterpart.

India has faced backlash for continuing to buy Russian oil as Western leaders urged countries to stop to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will participate in the Group of 20 (G20) summit for significant economies next week, most likely attending virtually, his spokesperson told the Ukrainian Suspilne public broadcaster.

Previously, Zelenskyy said he would not participate if President Vladimir Putin attended Indonesia’s November 15 summit, but Serhiy Nykyforov, the spokesperson, did not say whether Zelenskyy had changed his position.

President Vladimir Putin is still expected to attend the summit. Still, the Indonesian president has said that a recent call with the Russian leader gave him the “strong impression” Putin will skip the event.

German investigators are searching branches of Swiss bank UBS in Frankfurt and Munich in connection with a case involving Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported.

The searches were focused on gathering evidence related to a money-laundering case; the newspaper cited a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office as saying.

Kremlin-installed authorities in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson say power has been fully restored to its central city after blaming Kyiv for attacks that disrupted water and electricity supplies.

Kirill Stremousov said: “Electricity and communication in Kherson restored. Preparations for the heating season continue.

“The mass evacuation of residents of the right-bank part of the Kherson region has been completed. Residents of Kherson can privately evacuate freely. Evacuation is not compulsory. Already in the coming days in Kherson, expect a denouement of events. We are ready for any decisions, even the most difficult ones.

“The main priority of Russia is the preservation and saving the lives of the inhabitants of the Kherson region,” he added.

Kherson city was the first area to be captured by Russia after Moscow announced its “special military operation” in February. It has suffered outages after Sunday attacks, in which Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged blame.