Russia again unleashed missiles against Ukrainian energy facilities, while its forces stepped up attacks in eastern Ukraine, reinforced by troops pulled from Kherson city in the south which Kyiv recaptured last week.
EXPLOSION IN POLAND
* Ukraine is likely to get access to the site in southeastern Poland where a missile killed two people, the Polish president’s top foreign policy advisor said. Ukrainian defence official Oleg Danilov said Ukraine had evidence of a “Russian trace” in the incident, without giving any details.
* NATO’s secretary-general said Tuesday’s blast was probably caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile but that Russia was ultimately responsible because it started the war.
MH17
* Dutch judges convicted three men of murder for their role in the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, and sentenced them to life in prison. A fourth man was acquitted.
* Ukraine’s president welcomed the Dutch court’s ruling that said Flight MH17 was shot down with a Russian-made missile, but said “those who ordered” the attack must now face trial.
* Russia’s foreign ministry it would “examine” the opinion.
FIGHTING
* Russia pounded gas production facilities and a major missile factory in new missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
* Ukrainian forces control around 1% of territory in the eastern region of Luhansk, the RIA Novosti news agency cited the Russian-installed head of the area as saying.
* Investigators in Ukraine’s recently liberated southern region of Kherson have uncovered 63 bodies with signs of torture after Russian forces left, Ukraine’s interior minister was quoted as saying.
* The top U.S. general said Ukraine’s chances of any near-term, outright military victory were not high, cautioning that Russia still had significant combat power inside Ukraine.
GRAIN DEAL
* A deal aimed at easing global food shortages by facilitating Ukraine’s agricultural exports from its southern Black Sea ports and due to expire on Nov. 19 was extended for 120 days. The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected sea transit corridor and was designed to alleviate global food shortages by allowing exports to resume from three ports in Ukraine, a major producer of grains and oilseeds.
* The Kremlin said it had been given assurances by the United Nations that work will be finalised on removing barriers to Russia’s exports of agricultural products and fertilisers.
* A senior U.N. official involved in the Black Sea grain initiative negotiations welcomed an agreement to extend the deal, adding that work needed to continue on easing fertiliser exports.
DIPLOMACY
* Russia is not considering using nuclear weapons, the Kremlin said. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will defend its territory with all available means, including its nuclear weapons, if attacked. Russian officials say the West has repeatedly misinterpreted Kremlin statements.
* U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and President Vladimir Putin’s spy chief discussed “sensitive” questions when they met this week in Turkey, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
Compiled by Philippa Fletcher and Grant McCool; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
