According to the Élysée, Emmanuel Macron will receive Volodymyr Zelensky at the presidential palace on Thursday.The French president “will reaffirm France’s determination to continue to provide, over the long term and with all of its partners, unfailing support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people”, the French president’s services said.Follow the latest information.
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ZELENSKY WILL MEET STARMER AND MELONI
Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would meet in the coming days the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, in the United Kingdom and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, in Italy, during a European tour marked by the postponement of a meeting of Kiev allies initially planned in Germany on Saturday.
“I will meet separately in each country with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany,” declared the Ukrainian president during a press conference in Dubrovnik in Croatia, without specifying the dates exact. Mr. Zelensky is expected in Paris on Thursday to meet with Emmanuel Macron, according to the French presidency, and in Germany on Friday to speak with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to Berlin.
ZELENSKY RECEIVED BY MACRON THURSDAY
In the evening, the Élysée announced that Emmanuel will receive Volodymyr Zelensky at the presidential palace on Thursday, “the fifth visit” of the Ukrainian head of state.
“This meeting will be an opportunity for the President of the Republic to reaffirm France’s determination to continue to provide, over the long term and with all of its partners, unfailing support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. “, inform the services of the French president.
ZELENSKY IN BERLIN FRIDAY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be received in Berlin on Friday by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a German government spokeswoman said.
A meeting on Ukraine’s defense scheduled for Saturday at a U.S. base in Germany was postponed after U.S. President Joe Biden canceled a state visit due to Hurricane Milton.
A DESERTER IN DETENTION
The Ukrainian authorities announced the detention of a soldier who had publicly announced that he was leaving his unit without permission to call for the demobilization of soldiers exhausted by almost three years of Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian Investigative Bureau (DBR) announced on Telegram that it had detained Serguiï Gnezdilov, a soldier from the 56th brigade of the Ukrainian army who confirmed this information on Facebook without further comment. The man is under investigation for desertion and risks up to 12 years in prison, the DBR said.
MACRON ALONGSIDE UKRAINIANS TRAINED IN FRANCE
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Ukrainian soldiers who are training in conditions close to the Ukrainian front in eastern France, an AFP journalist noted.
“The Anne brigade of kyiv will be trained and equipped thanks to the solidarity of France,” he wrote on X upon his arrival in a “military camp in the Grand Est” whose location remains confidential for security reasons.
EU MUST “UNIT THE WHOLE CONTINENT”, PLEADS ZELENSKY
The European Union must “unite the entire continent, all the democratic nations of Europe, including all yours,” argued Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Croatia.
“While there may be political tensions, we must ensure that our union within Europe remains as stable as possible. If Europe is not united today, it will not be at peace. The accession processes must therefore be completed,” added Mr. Zelensky in front of the leaders of 13 South-Eastern European countries, many of which have been waiting for years to join the EU, which officially opened accession negotiations with kyiv in June.
ZELENSKY-PLENKOVIC MEETING
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Croatia on Wednesday, announced the signing of a “long-term” cooperation agreement and the strengthening of ties between the defense industries of the two countries, just before the opening of a Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit intended to show “the region’s support for the Ukrainian people”.
Mr. Zelensky met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at midday. They discussed “cooperation in defense, demining”, the care to be given “to wounded soldiers”, and signed “a long-term cooperation and support agreement”, Mr. Zelensky said on X. Together, we will develop cooperation between our defense industries,” said the Ukrainian president, whose troops are facing the Russian advance on the eastern front, lacking men and weapons.
ZELENSKY RECEIVED BY THE POPE
Pope Francis will receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday morning, the Vatican announced.
The Pope will receive Mr. Zelensky at the Apostolic Palace from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. local time, according to the brief Vatican press release announcing the inclusion of this meeting on the official agenda of the sovereign pontiff.
TAKEN OF TWO RUSSIAN VILLAGES
The Russian army claims the recapture from the Ukrainians of two villages in the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian forces rushed in at the beginning of August, occupying hundreds of km² and dozens of localities.
Russian forces “continued to carry out offensive operations, during which they liberated the localities of Novaya Sorotchina and Pokrovsky,” said the Russian army, cited by Russian news agencies.
MEETING POSTPONED IN GERMANY
A meeting on Ukraine’s defense scheduled for Saturday at a U.S. base in Germany was postponed after President Joe Biden canceled a state visit due to Hurricane Milton, the U.S. military said Wednesday. “Announcements regarding future meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will be made soon.”
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, had indicated that he wanted to go to this summit on the American base of Ramstein (west of Germany) at a time when his country is encountering great difficulties facing Russian troops on the eastern front, two years and half after Vladimir Putin launched the war.
STRIKE AGAINST WEAPONS DEPOT IN RUSSIA
The Ukrainian army has claimed responsibility for a strike against a depot containing munitions supplied by North Korea in the Russian region of Bryansk, bordering Ukraine, after another night of drone attacks between the two warring countries.
The Ukrainian General Staff affirmed that kyiv forces struck a depot in the Bryansk region (west) where “munitions for missile systems, artillery, notably delivered by North Korea, and guided aerial bombs.
ZELENSKY IN CROATIA
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Croatia today to attend a Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit intended to show “the region’s support for the Ukrainian people” and provide military aid to troops facing the Russian advance on the eastern front. Mr. Zelensky posted a photo of his arrival on Telegram shortly before noon.
The Dubrovnik summit brings together the heads of state, prime ministers or foreign ministers of 12 countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) .
AMERICAN CONVICTED IN RUSSIA
Russian authorities announced on Wednesday the sentencing in absentia to 14.5 years in prison of the American Trevor Reed for “mercenarism”, this ex-Marine, released by Russia during a prisoner exchange in 2022, having joined the Ukraine to fight the Russian army.
Trevor Reed was sentenced in July 2020 to nine years in prison in Russia for drunkenly attacking two Russian police officers a year earlier. In April 2022, already in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine, Washington obtained his release in exchange for that of a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yarochenko, imprisoned in the United States since 2010 for drug trafficking linked to the FARC.
MACRON MEETS UKRAINIANS IN TRAINING
The Élysée announced this Wednesday that Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Grand Est region today, “in order to discuss with the Ukrainian brigade currently being trained in a military camp of the Army as well as with the soldiers French in charge of training.” The president will be accompanied by Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, and Rustem Umerov, Ukrainian Minister of Defense.
The presidential services recall that the head of state announced last June “the support of the training and equipment of a complete Ukrainian infantry brigade composed of 4,500 soldiers.”
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION
- ANTI-AIR DEFENSE – The Russian army announces that it shot down 47 Ukrainian drones overnight, almost half of which were over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.
- RUSSIAN STRIKES – A Russian attack yesterday on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, left two dead and more than 30 injured, according to regional authorities.
- DISCORD MESSAGING – Russia announced yesterday that it was banning the discussion platform Discord for breaching the law, a new example of the strengthening of control over the Internet, particularly since the start of the assault in Ukraine.
GOOD MORNING
Welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the war between Ukraine and Russia. Find here the latest news and powerful images on this conflict.
A Russian attack Tuesday on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, left two dead and more than thirty injured, regional authorities announced. “Two dead and more than thirty injured following the day’s strikes”declared on social networks the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleg Synegoubov, specifying that the clearance of the rubble was underway.
Kharkiv (north-eastern Ukraine), close to the Russian border, has suffered incessant attacks for months. The victims were a man and a woman aged over 70. The head of the Zaporizhia region, Ivan Fedorov, also indicated that a 71-year-old man who was driving in the village of Prymorske, on the Dnipro River, south of the regional capital and near the line of front, had also been killed by Russian drone fire.
A woman who was with him in the vehicle was injured and hospitalized, he said. In the east of the country, where heavy fighting is underway, authorities said a Russian attack left one dead and six injured in the town of Kostiantynivka.