Sharing an update from Ukraine\u2019s <\/a>commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv<\/a>\u2019s \u201cmain focus right now is on the Pokrovsk <\/a>direction and the Zaporizhzhia<\/a> region, where the Russians are increasing the number and scale of assaults\u201d.<\/p>\n Ukrainian forces face a difficult situation in Pokrovsk \u201cin part because of weather conditions that favour the attacks\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n Russia<\/a> deployed about 150,000 troops to drive towards the city in Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s eastern Donetsk<\/a> region, Syrskyi said.<\/p>\n Kyiv\u2019s military said on Tuesday morning that there were believed to be around 300 Russian troops inside the town, which Moscow<\/a> has been trying to capture for more than a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe situation in Kupyansk is somewhat easier \u2013 our forces have achieved results there, and this has been the pattern for the past few weeks,\u201d Mr Zelensky added, referring to the northern city which Moscow on Wednesday claimed to have partial control over.<\/p>\n His comments came after Ukraine\u2019s military struck Russia’s Saratov oil refinery overnight<\/a>, causing explosions and a large fire in the area around the site in the latest attack on Russian energy facilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a>Russia stands to gain very little from the bloody battle for Pokrovsk<\/p>\n Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, told the New York Post that Russia was concentrating some 150,000 troops on a drive to capture the town, which is much prized by Russia.<\/p>\n Kupiansk is on Russia\u2019s<\/a> route towards Kharkiv. The other two control the eastern and southern routes to the last remaining Ukrainian<\/a> redoubts in Donetsk \u2013 Kramatorsk and Slaviansk.<\/p>\n Vladimir Putin<\/a> has thrown a massive effort into the fight for Donetsk, which Moscow<\/a> has already illegally \u201cannexed\u201d.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 06:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Russia says it foiled Ukrainian-British plot to steal a MiG-31 jet<\/p>\n Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a plot by Ukrainian and British spies to tempt Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile for $3m , state media reported.<\/p>\n The RIA news agency cited the FSB as saying that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a Nato air base in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences, the agency reported.<\/p>\n The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Ukraine and Britain had planned a large-scale “provocation” using the hijacked aircraft, and that Ukrainian military intelligence had sought to recruit Russian pilots for $3m to steal the fighter.<\/p>\n “The measures taken have thwarted the Ukrainian and British intelligence services plans for a large-scale provocation,” RIA cited the FSB as saying.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 05:45<\/p>\n <\/a>Tokyo protests Russia’s wider entry ban over Ukraine sanctions<\/p>\n Japan decried as “absolutely unacceptable” Russia’s extension of an entry ban to 30 more citizens, among them a foreign ministry spokesperson, after Tokyo’s sanctions over Moscow’s nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Following similar moves by Western nations, Japan had placed additional sanctions on Russian companies, individuals and other entities in September, while lowering its cap on Russian seaborne crude.<\/p>\n Russia’s foreign ministry issued yesterday a list of Japanese added to those facing “indefinite” prohibition. The new names included the spokesperson, Toshihiro Kitamura, as well as journalists and academics.<\/p>\n Japan has protested against the “regrettable” move, chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara told a briefing today, adding that people-to-people exchanges between the two countries remain important.<\/p>\n He accused Moscow of shifting the blame for its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 05:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Putin briefed on Moscow’s economic issues by Sberbank chief<\/p>\n The head of Russia\u2019s Sberbank German Gref spoke to Russia\u2019s economic problems in a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Institute for the Study of War said. <\/p>\n His bank was experiencing only \u201cvery modest\u201d growth due to \u201cchallenging macroeconomic conditions\u201d including a shrinkage of its consumer loan portfolio, while 2025 growth was worse than the bank expected, the US-based think tank said.<\/p>\n \u201cGref\u2019s statements are notable,\u201d the ISW assessed, \u201cas Russian officials have largely refrained from admitting to any weakness in Russia\u2019s economy and as the Kremlin has undertaken an information campaign to portray the Russian economy as stable and strong\u201d.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 05:12<\/p>\n <\/a>Watch: Huge explosion erupts at Russia’s major oil port after Ukraine strikes with new Flamingo missileHuge explosion erupts at Russia’s major oil port after Ukraine strikes with new Flamingo missile<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 04:44<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukrainian drone attack sparks industrial fire in Russia’s Stavropol<\/p>\n A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire in an industrial zone in the Stavropol region, Vladimir Vladimirov, regional governor of the area in southern Russia, said this morning.<\/p>\n There were no casualties, Vladimirov said on the Telegram messaging app, without revealing further detail on what industrial facility was on fire.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 04:12<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukraine charges seven in $100m energy graft scandal<\/p>\n Ukrainian authorities charged seven individuals yesterday in relation to an alleged $100m kickback scheme involving senior energy officials that has caused public angernd focused attention on Kyiv’s battle against corruption.<\/p>\n The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said in a statement that it had detained five suspects and identified two others in a plot to control procurement at state enterprises, particularly nuclear agency Energoatom. None were named.<\/p>\n A source familiar with the matter said the suspect described by NABU as the chief organiser is Timur Mindich, a former business associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.<\/p>\n Mindich did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to Kvartal 95, a production studio he co-owns where Zelenskiy built his comedy career before his election in 2019.<\/p>\n Others charged in the probe include a former adviser to the energy minister, Energoatom’s head of security and four so-called back office workers. NABU later identified an ex-deputy prime minister as another suspect.<\/p>\n Ukraine is under pressure to crack down on graft as it seeks European Union membership and courts critical financial support from Western partners while fending off massive Russian attacks on its energy system.<\/p>\n Accusations of kickbacks in the energy sector are particularly sensitive with the broader public, which is facing lengthy daily blackouts across much of the country even before cold winter temperatures set in.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 04:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Russia says it foiled Ukrainian-British plot to steal a MiG-31 jet<\/p>\n Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a plot by Ukrainian and British spies to tempt Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile for $3m , state media reported.<\/p>\n The RIA news agency cited the FSB as saying that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a Nato air base in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences, the agency reported.<\/p>\n The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Ukraine and Britain had planned a large-scale “provocation” using the hijacked aircraft, and that Ukrainian military intelligence had sought to recruit Russian pilots for $3m to steal the fighter.<\/p>\n “The measures taken have thwarted the Ukrainian and British intelligence services plans for a large-scale provocation,” RIA cited the FSB as saying.<\/p>\n State TV showed pictures of messages and recordings of a man who they said was working for Ukrainian and British intelligence and had offered $3m to a Russian pilot to fly a MiG to Europe and that the pilot had also been offered citizenship.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Kinzhal is an air-launched ballistic missile that Moscow calls hypersonic, capable of very high speeds and manoeuvring flight paths intended to make it difficult for air defences to track and intercept.<\/p>\n Arpan Rai12 November 2025 03:46<\/p>\n![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Russia-Putin-q4tvvo44.jpeg\")
Russian president Vladimir Putin speaks to Sberbank CEO German Gref during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow (AP)<\/p>\n