Russia releases video of Black Sea fleet commander Ukraine claimed to have killed; new details revealed about Nord Stream pipeline explosions
Russia’s defence ministry released footage showing Viktor Sokolov, the commander of the Black Sea fleet, attending a defence board meeting via video call, a day after Ukraine claimed that Sokolov was killed in an attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reported that Ukraine’s special forces were “currently clarifying information regarding the possible death” of Sokolov.
Scientists investigating the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have revealed key new details of explosions linked to the event, which remains unsolved on its first anniversary. Researchers in Norway shared with the Guardian seismic evidence of the four explosions, becoming the first national body to publicly confirm the second two detonations, as well as revealing a detailed timeline of events.
The European Union must begin a major wave of change to prepare for the arrival of Ukraine as a member state, the leader of its parliament has said. Roberta Metsola told the Guardian said she expected member states to begin formal negotiations with Ukraine as soon as December.
Turkey’s parliament will keep its promise to ratify Sweden’s Nato bid if US president Joe Biden’s administration paves the way for F-16 jet sales to Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, according to Turkish media.
An overnight Russian airstrike on the key Ukrainian grain exporting port of Izmail injured two people and damaged infrastructure, the governor of the Odesa region said on Tuesday. A port building, storage facilities and more than 30 trucks and cars were damaged in the attack, which lasted more than two hours, Oleh Kiper said, while the ferry service with Romania was also closed.
The Ukrainian military reported shooting down 26 of the 38 Iranian-made attack drones it said were launched by Russia. Separately on Tuesday, a Russian missile strike also damaged a local enterprise in the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, its mayor, Oleksandr Vilkul, said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Ukrainian troops have “enjoyed success” by villages near Bakhmut, a key city seized by Russian forces in May, Ilia Yevlash, spokesperson for forces in the east, told national television. A spokesperson for troops in the south, Oleksandr Shtupun, meanwhile told the news site Espreso TV that Ukrainian troops were digging in and poised to move on the village of Verbove as part of their advance to the Sea of Azov. Russian troops were bringing in reserves. “I believe we will soon have good news,” Shtupun said.
A cargo vessel left a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Tuesday, an industry source told Reuters, without giving any further details. Kyiv has tried to establish a temporary “humanitarian corridor” hugging the coastline, and two bulk carriers left the port of Chornomorsk last week using it. In July the UN and Turkey-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea collapsed after Russia withdrew.
