Ukraine war latest: Putin ‘open to resuming Russian nuclear tests’

Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it “an investment in peace.”

Vanessa Gera and Rafal Niedzielski have more details in this report:

Russia is open to resuming nuclear tests for the first time since the Soviet era, Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has suggested.

“This is a question at hand,” he told the Tass state news agency. “And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.”

Ukraine claims to have inflicted 1,740 casualties on Russia over the past 24 hours, bringing the claimed total to more than 740,000 – as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to take heavy losses in their push to seize territory in Ukraine’s east.

The fresh claim by Kyiv’s military chiefs, who said there had been nearly 200 combat clashes over the past day in locations along the vast front line, comes just a day after Ukraine said it had inflicted a record 2,030 daily casualties upon Russia.

Russia appears to be ramping up its push for territory with the Kremlin potentially anticipating that Donald Trump could seek to follow through on his presidential election campaign claim that he would rapidly end Moscow’s invasion with a peace deal once he re-enters the White House in January.

As Moscow focuses its efforts in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas – made up of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – and in trying to push Ukraine’s forces from Russia’s Kursk region, war analysts say that Russia is seizing more territory than at any point since the early days of its February 2022 invasion.

Georgia’s prime minister has claimed that unspecified “foreign entities” wish to see the “Ukrainisation” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style scenario”, in a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 uprising, as his government said more than 100 people had been arrested in protests.

It marked the second night of protests since prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union, in the wake of his Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in parliamentary elections on 26 October.

The government’s announcement that it was suspending EU negotiations came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning last month’s vote as neither free nor fair. It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible”.

In his latest remarks, Mr Kobakhidze claimed that Georgia remained committed to European integration. He has said that Georgia will reject any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.

He said: “Once again, we pledge to the Georgian public, which expressed solid trust in us during the October 26 elections, that no one will shake the peace and stability of Georgia. Despite artificial barriers, Georgia will persistently continue its progress toward European integration.”

Georgia’s interior ministry has said that more than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

It was the second straight night of protests after premier Irakli Kobakhidze announced the decision the previous day. Demonstrators faced off against police late on Friday in a number of major Georgian cities, including the capital, Tbilisi, and the Black Sea port of Batumi.

The Associated Press reported that protesters in Tbilisi were chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building. Riot police used water cannon to disperse protesters, and used heavy force against members of the media, while shouting profanities and insults at the crowds using loudspeakers.

Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the country’s parliamentary election last month, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.

The opposition has alleged that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, and Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters on Thursday, after accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In an address to the nation, she urged police not to use force against protesters.

“This is evident in every way – no one is willing to accept a Russified Georgia, a Georgia deprived of its constitution, or a Georgia in the hands of an illegitimate government and parliament,” Zourabichvili said, adding: “It is unprecedented for citizens of Georgia to rise up simultaneously and spontaneously in this way.”

Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect the construction of military fortifications there, which he called “an investment in peace”.

Poland’s government and army began building the system dubbed East Shield this year, which will eventually stretch to approximately 500 miles along Poland’s borders with Russia and Belarus.

“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Mr Tusk told reporters near the village of Dabrowka, as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.

Mr Tusk’s government estimates that the strategic military project – which he expects to eventually be expanded to protect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – will cost at least 10 billion zlotys (£1.9bn).

“Everything we are doing here – and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine – is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace,”Mr Tusk said. “We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but right now the whole of Europe is observing these investments and our actions with great satisfaction and will support them if necessary.”

Explosions were heard across the country as damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in cities in the west, south and centre of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “vile escalation”.

In this article, The Independent takes a look at why Russia is launching so many strikes and the likely impact of them on Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his need to speak to Donald Trump directly without “different voices from people around him” that could risk destroying their communication, my colleague Holly Patrick reports.

In a wide-ranging interview with Sky News, Mr Zelensky said he did not want to allow “anybody [around] to destroy our communication.”

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.