Ukrainian troops have secured foothold in the south, says senior official Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff has been quoted as saying. Andriy Yermak’s remarks were the first official acknowledgment that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro’s east bank in Kherson region, Reuters reports. “Against all odds, Ukraine’s Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dniepro,” Andriy Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute thinktank in the US. “Step by step, they are demilitarizing Crimea. We have covered 70% of the distance. And our counteroffensive is developing.” Closing summary Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff was quoted as saying. Andriy Yermak’s remarks were the first official acknowledgment that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro’s east bank in Kherson region, Reuters reported. A top Ukrainian military official has said Russian troops have continued simultaneous assault attempts in several directions on the country’s east, and are increasing the use of kamikaze drones, Reuters reported. The head of Ukraine’s ground forces, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Russia, despite high losses, has been attacking Ukrainian positions near Kupiansk. “In addition, the enemy has increased the use of kamikaze drones,” he said on Telegram. Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said Russia had hit Nikopol region 11 times on Tuesday, using kamikaze drones and artillery. He wrote on Telegram that the district centre was most heavily targeted and that a 26-year-old man died. The former detective Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, convicted for his role in the 2006 killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, has been pardoned after fighting in Ukraine, his lawyer said. “As a special forces fighter, he was invited to sign a contract to participate in the special military operation … When the contract expired, he was pardoned by presidential decree,” lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik told AFP. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Russia is increasing its attacks across the frontline, AFP reported. “The military reported an increase in the number of enemy assaults,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram on Tuesday, saying Russian forces were attacking around Donetsk, Kupiansk and Avdiivka. Vladimir Putin has approved changes to the law that governs presidential elections by putting new restrictions on media coverage, local news agencies reported. The EU will miss its target of supplying Ukraine with 1m artillery shells and missiles by next March, the German defence minister said. Boris Pistorius’s comments, the first public admission by a senior European minister that the target would not be met, were made before a summit of EU defence ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. Ukrainian troops have secured foothold in the south, says senior official Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff has been quoted as saying. Andriy Yermak’s remarks were the first official acknowledgment that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro’s east bank in Kherson region, Reuters reports. “Against all odds, Ukraine’s Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dniepro,” Andriy Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute thinktank in the US. “Step by step, they are demilitarizing Crimea. We have covered 70% of the distance. And our counteroffensive is developing.” Russia has sentenced a man to six years in prison for vandalising posters of Russian soldiers decorated as “heroes” for fighting in Ukraine, AFP reports. Moscow has banned criticism of its war in Ukraine and punished thousands of citizens for denouncing the military campaign. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the man’s sentence had come into force after he was found guilty of “discrediting” the Russian army under a law used to stifle criticism and vandalism. It did not name him, saying he is a 46-year-old “local” to the central city of Tolyatti, where the posters were damaged. Cyprus has vowed to tighten controls on its financial sector as an investigation published by the Guardian and its reporting partners reveals oligarchs transferred hundreds of millions in assets while sanctions loomed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The role of the blue-chip accountants PwC Cyprus and other advisers in managing transactions as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched their assault has emerged from Cyprus Confidential, a cache of 3.6m files leaked by an anonymous source to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, which shared access with the Guardian and other reporting partners. Russia increasing use of kamikaze drones as it tries to push on east, says Ukrainian military official A top Ukrainian military official has said Russian troops have continued simultaneous assault attempts in several directions on the country’s east, and are increasing the use of kamikaze drones, Reuters reports. The head of Ukraine’s ground forces, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Russia, despite high losses, has been attacking Ukrainian positions near Kupiansk. “In addition, the enemy has increased the use of kamikaze drones,” he said on Telegram. “North and south of Bakhmut, Russian troops are trying to seize the initiative by conducting counterattacks. However, our defenders break all the plans and attempts of invaders to seize our land,” Syrskyi added. These claims have yet to be independently verified. Reuters has more on the week-long Polish truckers’ protest at Ukraine’s border (see earlier post at 12.54 for more details). Ukrainian border guard spokesperson, Andriy Demchenko, has said that 1,300 trucks had been in line from the Polish side at the Yahodyn checkpoint, and 500 trucks at both Krakovets and Rava-Ruska, where the blocking was occurring. Congestion by about 1,100 trucks was starting at the Shehyni checkpoint because of drives changing their routes, he said. Russia strikes Nikopol 11 times with kamikaze drones and artillery, says governor Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region,said Russia had hit Nikopol region 11 times on Tuesday, using kamikaze drones and artillery. He wrote on Telegram that the district centre was most heavily targeted and that a 26-year-old man died. “A nine-storey building, 4 private houses, 2 cars and a power line were damaged,” Lyask wrote. “The occupiers also targeted Marganetska, Myrivska and Pokrovska rural communities.” These claims have not yet been independently verified. The EU’s chief diplomat was also asked about sanctions on Hamas. He said it was raised at the meeting but “rather than sanctions it was [about] cutting off finances”. He was also asked about his proposal that the EU commit a separate €20bn facility over the next four years to Ukraine, in addition to a €50bn cash and loans facility being considered by EU member states. “Yes, that idea is still alive, but it has to be part of the overall review of the financial perspective with the ministers of finance,” he said. The EU’s chief diplomat has admitted that the bloc may not reach its target of providing 1m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by April next year. But Josep Borrell said defence ministers were strongly urged that they “have to do more and faster” to reach the target, which he said was completely viable but relied on member states putting in orders as a matter of urgency. “Time is being measured not only by the destruction of infrastructure and houses, but measured in human lives,” he told reporters after a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels. Questions over the EU’s capacity to deliver were raised on Tuesday morning after the German defence minister, Oscar Pistorius, said the target would not be met. But Borrell said EU commissioner Thierry Breton’s declaration that the target could be met was correct because there was capacity in Europe’s defence system. The target “doesn’t mean that we already have 1m shots ready by March. Maybe we will not have 1m by March. But it will depend on how quickly the call goes to the industry and how quickly the industry reacts,” he said. “If the industry has the capacity to produce it is up to the member states to make the orders in order to ask for this production to be developed.” Senior officials say that 300,000 rounds had already been delivered under track one of a framework agreed in March. A further 180,000 rounds have been ordered under a second track of joint procurement while an unspecified additional quantity was being delivered by individual states from their own stockpiles in the knowledge of replenishment under the EU scheme. Borrell also urged member states to “reroute” supplies to Ukraine, with data showing some 40% of production in the EU was going outside the bloc. The Russian army has “eliminated” almost all Ukrainian literature in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, Gyunduz Mamedov, a former deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, wrote on X. Russia claimed to have annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in September 2022. The bill approving Sweden’s Nato membership will be debated by the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission on Thursday, Sky News reports. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, submitted a bill approving Sweden’s Nato membership bid for ratification last month. Turkey had initially raised objections because of what it said was Sweden’s harbouring of groups it deems terrorist. The bill must be approved by parliament’s foreign affairs committee before a vote by the full assembly. Erdoğan would then sign it into law. The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will supply Ukraine with 25 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks as part of an order paid for by the German government, the company has said, according to the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine and Britain have agreed to a special mechanism for discounts on insurance against military risks for Ukrainian exports, including through the Black Sea corridor, the Ukrainian prime minister said on Tuesday. Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram: It will make it possible to make a discount on the cost of insurance against military risks for exporters of all products from Ukraine. This will make the Black Sea corridor more accessible to a wider range of exporters. He said the mechanism involved a pool of British insurance companies, according to Reuters.