Russia-Ukraine war live: one killed in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Belgorod region
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering the Russia-Ukraine war as it’s just reported that one civilian was killed and another two were injured in Ukrainian shelling of the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Thursday. More details on that soon.
Meanwhile EU foreign ministers are gathering in Brussels for an informal meeting with Ukraine and the Middle East dominating the agenda.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is expected to attend in person to press for his country to be allowed to use western-supplied weapons on Russian territory.
In other developments:
Ukraine’s military has said it carried out attacks on two oil storage facilities, causing a fire on Wednesday at the Atlas oil depot in the southern Rostov region and the Zenit oil facility in Russia’s Kirov region, some 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of the border with Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry announced 92 additions on Wednesday to its list of Americans banned from entering the country. They include 11 current or former staff members of the Wall Street Journal — including its Editor in Chief, Emma Tucker. She had repeatedly criticised Russia for the arrest and conviction on espionage charges of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who spent 16 months behind bars before being released in August in a prisoner exchange.
The Ukrainian air force has said it downed two missiles and 60 drones during an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the third attack in four days.
Top US and Chinese officials will wrap up talks in Beijing after a third day of meetings on Thursday that were intended to ease simmering tensions between the two superpowers ahead of the US election in November. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and their teams gathered behind closed doors at a lush resort on the outskirts of the Chinese capital. One item on the agenda was their contrasting views over Ukraine amid China’s friendly relations with Russia.