Russian forces seize Donetsk village

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Russian forces have seized the settlement of Komyshivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Moscow’s TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.
The state-owned news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry in its report, but The Telegraph could not independently verify the claim. 
It comes as Russian forces close in on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, 35km away from Komyshivka.
Regional authorities recently ordered large-scale evacuations from the city amid fears it will fall in the coming weeks.
Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub and a city with a pre-war population of 60,000 people.
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Ukrainian troops are intent on retaining the Russian territory they have seized for “some period of time”, the deputy director of the CIA said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the intelligence and national security summit in Washington, David Cohen said the significance of the Kursk invasion “remains to be seen”.
“They are remaining in Russia,” he said. “They are building defences and seem to be intent on retaining some of that territory for some amount of time.”
It comes as Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month, where it claims to now control more than 1,200 square km (463 square miles) of the region, while Russian forces continue to creep forward in the eastern Donetsk region.
Mr Cohen said he believed Putin would mount a counteroffensive, but expected it to be a difficult fight for the Russians.
Moscow has rejected Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Kyiv will submit a plan to Washington on how to “end the war” in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president said on Tuesday that the invasion would end with dialogue, but that Kyiv needed to be in a strong position for this.
He added that Kyiv’s three week long incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was part of the plan, as well as further steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts.
Mr Zelensky said he would present a plan to Joe Biden and his two potential successors, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Responding to this, the Kremlin said Moscow vowed to continue what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“This is not the first time that we have heard such statements from representatives of the Kyiv regime,” Dmitry Peskov said.
“We are aware of the nature of this Kyiv regime. We are continuing our special military operation and will achieve all of our goals.”
Images taken from video released by the Russian defence ministry on Monday show a Russian assault unit preparing to leave an armoured personal carrier in the direction of Konstantinovka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Ukrainian drones attacked a second oil depot in Russia’s Rostov region overnight, causing a huge blaze, Russian Telegram channels claimed on Wednesday.
Four Ukrainian drones were destroyed over Russia’s southern region overnight, Vasily Golubev, Rostov’s governor said, though he made no mention of the reported oil depot attack.
The Baza Telegram channel, which is linked to Russia’s security service, claimed several tanks were on fire in the Kamensky district of Rostov.
Footage posted on social media showed at least three large tanks burning through the night and into the morning. Ukraine has not commented on the claims.
It comes as a fire at another oil depot in Proletarsk, Rostov, continues to burn 10 days after a Ukrainian attack. 
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have said there are “no new decisions” from either the UK or Germany on Ukraine’s use of weaponry donated by both countries.
We reported earlier that Sir Keir is in Berlin to set out plans for a new treaty with the nation as part of a wider “reset” of relations with Europe (see post at 11:40 am).
Sir Keir said: “I’m not going to get into tactical questions about the use of weapons for very obvious reasons, but no new decisions have been taken.”
Mr Scholz also said that there are “no new decisions from Germany” on the topic and that the country is “going to continue” its support for Ukraine.
“Germany is one of the very large supporters of Ukraine in Europe, within Europe, we are the largest contributor. We are going to continue this support,” he said.
“As far as weapon supplies are concerned, there are no new decisions from Germany.”
Russia has reopened two airports in the cities of Kazan and Nizhnekamsk.
We reported earlier that Moscow had suspended flights amid concerns over fears of a Ukrainian drone attack (see post at 8:41 am).
The affected airports have now resumed operations.
A Russian missile has hit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town of Kryvyi Rih as it was observing an official day of mourning for an attack the previous day that killed four civilians at a hotel.
The latest attack struck civilian infrastructure and wounded four people, local administration head Oleksandr Vilkul said on social media.
“When Kryvyi Rih is in mourning, the enemy attacks again. And it once again aims at civilians,” regional head Serhii Lysak said Wednesday.
The previous strike on Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday was part of a bombardment of dozens of missiles and drones launched by Russia for a second consecutive day.
Five people were wounded, in addition to the four already pronounced dead.
European consumers will face higher prices unless Kyiv agrees to extend a deal on Russian gas transit via Ukraine once it expires at the end of the year, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it has no plans to strike a new gas transit deal with Russia when it expires on 31 December.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Kyiv did not extend the deal, Russia could find alternative routes, such as the planned Turkish gas hub.
“There are (other) routes, but, of course, such decisions by the Ukrainian side will cause serious damage to the interests of European consumers, those who still want to buy more guaranteed, more affordable… Russian gas,” Mr Peskov told reporters.
He added that Europe will have to pay more for gas from other sellers, including liquefied natural gas supplied by the United States.
Sir Keir Starmer and Olaf Scholz have said the UK and German continue to have “unyielding” support for Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin, the PM said Ukraine is not just fighting to defend itself from Russian aggression but also “for all the people across Europe”.
Mr Scholz, the German chancellor, said both countries would continue to lend “financial, economic, political and military support” for “as long as this is necessary”.
Russian bombardment on the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk killed six people on Wednesday, according to the governor of the region.
It comes as Moscow announced it had taken another village in the area.
“In the morning the Russians killed four people and destroyed a house in Izmailivka,” Vadym Filashkin, the governor, said on social media.
He added that two more people were killed in separate attacks near Chasiv Yar that damaged more than a dozen homes.
Donetsk has suffered crippling attacks during Russia’s invasion, with the Kremlin claiming to have annexed it alongside three other territories in 2022.
Ukraine’s Kharkiv region will suffer power shutdown today following the shelling of some energy facilities, Kharkiv Energy said on Telegram.
Hourly and emergency shutdown schedules have been applied simultaneously in the Kharkiv oblast that could lead to an increases in the duration of the outages, the utility warned.
Ukraine has been racing to restore a severely damaged energy system that has come under scores of Russian attacks since March. 
It has continued to implement regular scheduled blackouts to reduce demand on its energy infrastructure.
Russia wants the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take a “more objective and clearer” stance on nuclear safety, it said on Wednesday.
It comes a day after the head of the agency visited a Russian nuclear plant close to where Ukraine has mounted an incursion into the country.
IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, visited the Kursk plant on Tuesday and warned of the risks of a perilous nuclear accident there. 
He said he had inspected damage from a drone strike, which Russia had blamed on Ukraine, but did not say who was responsible.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said that Moscow wanted the IAEA to have “a more objective and clearer” position on nuclear security.
Although she denied it was demanding that the agency should take a pro-Russian stance.
“Not in favour of confirming Moscow’s position, but in favour of facts with one specific goal: ensuring safety and preventing the development of a scenario along a catastrophic path, to which the Kyiv regime is pushing everyone,” said Ms Zakharova.
Moscow redeployed 30,000 troops to Kursk after Ukraine launched its cross-border assault, Kyiv has said.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Kyiv’s top general, claimed on Wednesday that Ukraine now controls 1,294 sq km of land across more than 100 settlements in the Russian border region.
Russian troops defused a US-made Himars which was found just miles from the nuclear power plant in Kursk, Moscow claimed on Wednesday. 
The Russian national guard’s press service said the rocket launcher was found 5km (three miles) from the nuclear facility. 
Moscow has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine has attempted to attack the nuclear power plant during its Kursk incursion.
Temporary restrictions were imposed at two Russian airports on Tuesday morning over fears of a Ukrainian drone attack.
Kazan airport suspended operations, delaying and cancelling the departure and arrival of several flights, from around 7am local time (5am UK time).
Planes heading to Kazan were instead diverted to an airfield in Samara.
A second airport in Nizhnekamsk also suspended operations, Russian Telegram channels reported on Wednesday.
A Ukraine drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in the Kamensky district of Russia’s southern region of Rostov, its governor has confirmed.
“There are no casualties,” the governor, Vasily Golubev, said on Telegram. “Firefighters are extinguishing the fire.”
Russia said on Wednesday it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency to take a “more objective and clearer” stance on nuclear safety. 
Moscow’s comments came a day after the head of the agency visited a Russian nuclear plant close to where Ukraine has mounted an invasion into the country.
Rafael Grossi, the UN’s watchdog chief, visited the Kursk plant on Tuesday and warned there was a “serious danger” of a serious nuclear accident occurring. 
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