Ukraine updates: Russia may attack power grids in winter

Russia on Saturday denied its forces had been pushed out of the frontline village of Andriivka, near Bakhmut, a day after Ukraine said it had "liberated" it, inflicting heavy losses.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Friday that the village was back under Ukrainian control. The commander of Ukraine's land forces posted a video purporting to show the capture of Andriivka amid a landscape of scorched territory and desolation.

But Russia's Defense Ministry dismissed a Ukrainian claim to have recaptured Andriivka and said that "the enemy... continues to carry out assaults... trying in vain to dislodge Russian troops in the localities of Andriivka and Klishchiivka."

Andriivka is around 14 kilometers (nine miles) south of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, where Kyiv has been pushing back against Moscow's forces since June.

Two cargo vessels arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian port authorities said, the first ships to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets. 

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, in a post on Facebook, said the bulk carriers "Resilient Africa" and "Aroyat" had arrived in the port of Chernomorsk.

They were due to load almost 20,000 tons of wheat for Africa and Asia, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said earlier. According to Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry, the wheat would be shipped to Egypt and Israel.

The cargo deliveries are a test of Ukraine's ability to reopen shipping lanes at a time when Russia is trying to reimpose its de facto blockade, having abandoned the Black Sea grain deal in July.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his thanks to Germany and other states for their continued support in helping his country fight off Russia's full-scale invasion. 

"This week we have made significant progress in implementing existing defense agreements and other support packages," Zelenskyy said in his evening video address on Saturday. 

"Denmark — thank you for the new defense package, which is already the 12th package. Equipment, ammunition, and missiles for our air defense," he said. 

"Germany — thank you for the new batch of military aid. Belgium — your participation in our pilot training is approved. Thank you! Norway — your decision to provide additional funding for Ukraine's recovery. It's crucial. Thank you!"

Zelenskyy also thanked South Korea for "the new financial support agreement" and the United States for "the new sanctions" against Russia.

Russia is becoming more dependent on "unreliable actors" because of battlefield failures, Western sanctions and diplomatic isolation, according to a top NATO admiral.

"Russia is forced to cooperate with unreliable actors and is growing ever more dependent," Admiral Robert Bauer said at the annual conference of the NATO military committee in Oslo, Norway. Bauer is the chair of the NATO military committee.

Bauer did not mention any specific country, but his remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in eastern Russia earlier this week.

"Russia has been preparing for a confrontation for years and they are willing for their population and economy to endure unending hardships in order to regain military capability," Bauer added.

Putin and Kim Jong Un held private talks for more than five hours, but neither released details of any agreements reached between the two.

Poland will ban the entry of passenger cars registered in Russia from Sunday, Polish state media PAP reported.

"This is a further element of sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian state today constitutes a threat to international security," Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said at a news conference, according to PAP.

Kyiv's partners imposed heavy sanctions on Russia, from targeting oligarchs to banning imports of Russian oil. Kaminski said the decision was made following the release of European Commission guidelines last week on banning the entry of cars with Russian license plates in the EU.

The EU has already refused access to EU airports for Russian carriers of all kinds and banned them from flying over EU airspace. 

Ukrainian drones will attack more Russian warships in the future, Ukrainian Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters news agency.

"There will be more drones, more attacks, and fewer Russian ships. That’s for sure," Fedorov told the news agency, answering a question about a recent attack against a Russian naval base in occupied Crimea. Ukraine said the vessels were damaged beyond repair.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

In a sign of growing confidence, Ukraine has recently claimed responsibility for attacks on Crimea, having previously not directly confirmed involvement in blasts at military targets there.

Russia has acknowledged a Ukrainian missile attack damaged a warship and a submarine this week but says it has repelled all sea drone attacks.

Two cargo ships were headed to a Ukrainian port to collect wheat that would ultimately be shipped to African and Asian countries, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

The ships would be the first to use a key temporary shipping corridor in the Black Sea following the Russian withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal. That deal allowed for the safe movement of grain from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world amid the war.

Ukraine last month said it was setting up "humanitarian corridors" so ships could leave its ports to carry goods to the rest of the world once again. 

Five vessels have so far left the port of Odesa using the corridors set up after the collapse of the primary deal in July. 

The Resilient Africa vessel appeared off the Ukrainian coast on Saturday afternoon and appeared to be heading to the nearby port of Chornomorsk, while the Aroyat vessel appeared to be close to the port itself, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking website.    

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered last year by Turkey and the United States. The deal was renewed three times before Russia exited the initiative, saying the agreement was hampering the export of its own products. 

There is a "realistic possibility" that Russia will launch missile strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure this winter as it did last year, the UK Ministry of Defense said in its daily briefing.

"Between October 2022 and March 2023, Russia focused long-range strikes against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure," the Defense Ministry said in the statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to open source reports, the UK ministry said, Russian leaders have again emphasized efforts to step up the pace of production of air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs).

The expenditure rates on the weapons have fallen since April 2023 in the country, the ministry said. That means Russia is "likely able to generate a significant stockpile" of air-launched cruise missiles to attack Ukraine this winter, it said.

Russian forces launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Ukraine's energy infrastructure last winter, temporarily cutting off electricity, water and heat to millions.

The Human Rights Watch said last year the Russian tacticto repeatedly target Ukraine energy infrastructure appeared primarily designed to instill terror among the population in violation of the laws of war.

rm/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)