Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces fended off a “fierce offensive” by Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Reuters reports.
Without mentioning where the confrontation took place, Zelenskiy said the Russian troops were repelled by a military unit from Chop, a city in western Ukraine. Located in the east, Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russia proclaimed as its own territory last month.
“Today they stopped the fierce offensive actions of the enemy,” Zelenskiy said during his nightly address. “The Russian attack was repelled.”
Zelenskiy added Ukraine’s “exchange fund” was replenished, referring to the capture of Russian soldiers.
The United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine agreed on an October 31 movement plan for 14 vessels that are in Turkish waters, Reuters reports.
The Sunday announcement comes after Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative, an agreement that established a safe corridor for food exports from Ukrainian ports.
The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Centre – which includes representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN – said in a statement that the three delegations also agreed on inspections of 40 outbound vessels to be carried out on Monday.
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Summary
Today’s developments so far:
Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative drew international condemnation.
The US and Nato accused Russia of weaponising food. The European Union urged Moscow to reverse its decision.
UN secretary general António Guterres delayed his travel to the Arab League summit in Algiers by a day to focus on the issue.
Turkey’s defence minister is in talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts to try and revive the deal, the ministry said.
Russia’s move to suspend its participation in the Black Sea corridor agreement resulted in a total of 218 vessels being “effectively blocked”, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said.
Wheat futures are expected to leap on Monday as Moscow’s decision threatens Ukrainian exports, analysts said.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska made a video appearance at a demonstration in Prague, which saw tens of thousands of Czechs voicing their support for Ukraine.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov drew parallels between the Ukraine war and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, stating that Russia is now under threat from western weapons in Ukraine.
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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday expressed “hope” that the US president, Joe Biden, will recall the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when dealing with the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
In an interview for a Russian state television documentary, Lavrov said there were “similarities” between the ongoing war in Ukraine and the 1962 confrontation, primarily because Russia is now under threat from western weapons in Ukraine.
The tense cold war-era standoff unfolded when US president John F Kennedy found the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to have deployed nuclear missiles on Cuba – a defining moment widely considered to be the closest the US and the Soviet Union have come to a nuclear war.
“I hope that in today’s situation, president Joe Biden will have more opportunities to understand who gives orders and how,” Lavrov said. “This situation is very disturbing.”
“The difference is that in the distant 1962, Khrushchev and Kennedy found the strength to show responsibility and wisdom, and now we do not see such readiness on the part of Washington and its satellites,” he continued.
Lavrov added the “readiness” of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, for negotiations “remains unchanged.”
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Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska made a video appearance at a rally in Prague, Czech Republic, which on Sunday drew tens of thousands of Czechs who voiced their support for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Speaking in Ukrainian, Zelenska encouraged people not to look away from the war.
“We will not let Russia drag us or the whole world into darkness,” she said. “Darkness will never win. As long as people don’t close their eyes to war, our light will never go out.”
The Czech demonstration, which protested rising populist and extremist sentiment, was held by political organisation A Million Moments for Democracy. The group’s founders told demonstrators that, in spite of fears over the energy crisis fuelled by the war in Ukraine, democracy remains at stake.
Sunday’s protest took place in the same location where, two days prior, another rally was held by a coalition of far-right groups, fringe movements and the Communist party, during which organisers who oppose Nato and the European Union called for direct talks with Russia about gas supplies.
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Wheat futures are expected to leap on Monday as Russia’s withdrawal from a Black Sea corridor agreement puts Ukrainian exports at risk, analysts said.
Wheat markets have been very sensitive to developments in Moscow’s eight month-old invasion of Ukraine, as both countries are among the world’s largest wheat exporters, Reuters reports. Ukraine is also a major corn supplier.
The establishment of the corridor, which allowed over 9m tonnes of grain and oilseed commodities to be shipped from Ukrainian ports, helped to steady grain markets and curb global prices after they hit record levels.
That relative calm is likely to end when Chicago and Paris wheat, the world’s two most-active wheat futures contracts, start their trading week on Monday.
“Russia’s announcement is certainly bullish for prices and the start of the week is very likely to see prices climb, simply because less grain is going to come out of Ukraine,” Arthur Portier of consultancy Agritel told Reuters.
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A total of 218 vessels are “effectively blocked” due to Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in a grain export deal, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Sunday, Reuters reports.
Russia said on Saturday it suspended participation in the UN-brokered deal to export agricultural produce from Ukrainian ports following attacks on its fleet in Russian-annexed Crimea.
As Ukraine did not have permits from the scheme’s joint coordination centre to pass through the safe corridor, “218 vessels are ...blocked in their current positions,” the ministry said via the Telegram messaging app.
The ministry said 95 loaded vessels that had left Ukrainian ports were awaiting inspection for shipment to the final consumer, and 101 empty ones awaited inspection at the entrance to Ukrainian ports.
It said 22 ships with agricultural goods were waiting to leave Ukrainian ports.
Ukraine has said the deal, which unblocked three Black Sea ports, has allowed it to export around 9m tonnes of agricultural cargo so far.
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Summary
Today’s developments so far:
There has been international condemnation of Russia’s decision to suspend the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative, a move described by the US president, Joe Biden, as “purely outrageous” and which would increase starvation.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Russia was weaponising food.
The European Union called on Russia to reverse its decision. “Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risk the main export route of much needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Twitter.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, is “deeply concerned” about the Black Sea grain deal and has delayed his travel to Algiers for the Arab League summit by a day to focus on the issue. a spokesperson said.
Nato called on Moscow to urgently renew the deal. Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu said: “President Putin must stop weaponising food and end his illegal war on Ukraine.”
Turkey’s defence minister is in talks with counterparts in Moscow and Kyiv to try to revive the UN- brokered deal for exports of Ukrainian grain, the ministry said on Sunday.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had recovered and analysed the wreckage of drones used to attack ships from Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea on Saturday. It claims that the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation.
The ministry has said Ukraine attacked the Black Sea fleet near Sevastopol with 16 drones early on Saturday, and that British navy “specialists” had helped coordinate what it called a terrorist attack, a claim Britain has denied.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia itself may have been responsible for the explosions, which it has used as a pretext to pull out of the grain deal.
Poland said that together with its European Union partners it is ready to provide Ukraine with further help in the transportation of essential goods after Russia pulled out of the grain deal.
The Russian army repelled attacks by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Luhansk regions, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying on Sunday.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airways will resume using Russian airspace on some flights, the airline said on Sunday, restarting flights it had stopped after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Cathay Pacific will begin flying from New York to Hong Kong using the popular “polar route” from Tuesday.
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Turkey’s defence minister is in talks with counterparts in Moscow and Kyiv to try to revive the UN–brokered deal for exports of Ukrainian grain, the ministry said on Sunday.
Reuters reports that Hulusi Akar has asked parties to avoid any “provocation” that could affect the continuation of the deal, it said in a statement.
“The inspection of grain-laden vessels waiting in front of Bosphorus will continue today and tomorrow,” the statement said.
Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea deal on Saturday, effectively cutting shipments from Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain exporters, in response to what it called a Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet.
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The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is “deeply concerned” about the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and has delayed his travel to Algiers for the Arab League Summit by a day to focus on the issue, a UN spokesperson said on Sunday.
Reuters reports that UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement:
The secretary-general continues to engage in intense contacts aiming at the end of the Russian suspension of its participation.The same engagement also aims at the renewal and full implementation of the initiative to facilitate exports of food and fertiliser from Ukraine, as well as removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertiliser.
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The BBC has published a detailed analysis of how much food has been shipped from Ukraine since the UN deal was brokered.
The first shipment left on 1 August after Russia lifted its naval blockade of Ukraine allowing ships to use a safe corridor through the Black Sea.
Millions of tonnes of grain and foodstuffs like maize and sunflower oil had been stuck in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
As of 24 October, more than 8.6m tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs had been shipped from Ukrainian ports, according to the UN.
Although some foodstuffs have gone directly to the poorest countries in the world, UN figures show that the biggest quantities have at least been initially shipped to Spain, Turkey, Italy, China and Netherlands. The UN said in September that just under 30% had gone to lower-income countries, while 44% had been shipped to high-income countries.
But the UN notes that grain that reaches a destination may well be processed and then shipped on somewhere else.
You can find the BBC analysis here:
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Nato on Sunday called on Moscow to urgently renew the UN-brokered deal that enabled Ukraine to resume grain exports via the Black Sea amid a global food crisis.
Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu said
President Putin must stop weaponising food and end his illegal war on Ukraine.
We call on Russia to reconsider its decision and renew the deal urgently, enabling food to reach those who need it most.
All Nato allies had welcomed the agreement that came about with the help of Turkey, she noted.
These exports have helped reduce food prices the world over.
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More on Russia’s defence ministry claim on Sunday that it had recovered and analysed the wreckage of drones used to attack ships from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea on Saturday. It claims that the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation.
Reuters reports that the ministry has said Ukraine attacked the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol with 16 drones early on Saturday, and that British navy “specialists” had helped coordinate what it called a terrorist attack, a claim Britain has denied.
Russia said it had repelled the attack but that the ships targeted were involved in ensuring the grain corridor out of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia itself may have been responsible for the explosions, which it has used as a pretext to
pull out of a UN-brokered grain deal, a move that undermines efforts to ease a global food crisis, Reuters reports.
Reuters said it was not immediately able to verify either side’s claims.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement:
According to the results of the information recovered from the navigation receiver’s memory, it was established that the launch of maritime drones was carried out from the coast near the city of Odesa.
It said the drones had moved along the “grain corridor” security zone, before changing course to head for Russia’s naval base in Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The ministry said one of the maritime drones appeared to have started from within the security zone of grain corridor itself.
This may indicate the preliminary launch of this device from aboard one of the civilian vessels chartered by Kyiv or its Western patrons for the export of agricultural products from the seaports of Ukraine.
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People venture out from their underground shelters to receive aid in the eastern Donbas region of Bakhmut, Ukraine.
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Russia claims to have identified the drones used in Black Sea Fleet attack
Russia’s defence ministry said it has recovered and analysed the wreckage of drones used to attack ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea yesterday.
The ministry said its analysis showed that the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation modules for an attack that it said was carried out by Ukraine under British leadership, a claim Britain has denied.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
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Poland and its European Union partners stand ready to provide Ukraine with further help in the transportation of essential goods after Russia pulled out of a grain deal, the foreign ministry in Warsaw said.
Russia’s decision to exit the UN-brokered deal that enabled Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea offered “yet more proof that Moscow is not willing to uphold any international agreements”, the ministry added on Twitter.
Russia's decision to halt the Black Sea Grain Initiative is yet another proof that Moscow is not willing to uphold any international agreements.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) October 30, 2022
Poland, together with its EU partners, stands ready to work further to help Ukraine and those in need to transport essential goods.
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Poland said today that together with its European partners it is ready to provide Ukraine with further help in the transportation of essential goods after Russia pulled out of a grain deal, the foreign ministry in Warsaw said on Sunday.
Russia’s decision to exit the UN-brokered deal that enabled Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea offered “yet more proof that Moscow is not willing to uphold any international agreements”, the ministry added on Twitter.
Russia's decision to halt the Black Sea Grain Initiative is yet another proof that Moscow is not willing to uphold any international agreements.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) October 30, 2022
Poland, together with its EU partners, stands ready to work further to help Ukraine and those in need to transport essential goods.
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The Russian army repelled attacks by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Luhansk regions, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying on Sunday.
The ministry said Ukrainian artillery had fired near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but that the radiation situation remained normal, TASS reported.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
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Ukrainian electricity supplies were recovering after Russian attack on generating plants, but emergency blackouts may still be needed.
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Ministers need to act urgently to prevent a looming homelessness crisis among Ukrainian refugees, council leaders have warned.
More than 100,000 people have become guests of British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but many are coming to the end of their six-month stays and finding there is nowhere for them to go.
The government plan was for Ukrainians to either rent their own homes or “rematch” with other hosts. But local authorities responsible for overseeing the scheme say they are struggling to find people to take in the refugees.
The District Councils Network, which represents 183 mostly rural local authorities, said that it had received many reports of hosts deciding not to rematch.
Read the full report here:
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will resume using Russian airspace on some flights, the airline said on Sunday, restarting flights it had stopped after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.
Cathay Pacific will begin flying from New York to Hong Kong using the popular “Polar route” from Tuesday, the company told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Citing strong headwinds and payload issues affecting its flights from the East Coast of North America to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific said it will overfly the far eastern part of Russia.
“The Polar Route provides a safe, direct and the fastest flight experience to our customers travelling from the East Coast of North America to Hong Kong,” the airline said, adding that there were no sanctions preventing it from doing so.
Cathay Pacific said in March that it was not routing flights through Russia’s airspace, avoiding the area after the invasion of Ukraine despite longer flight times.
Russia this year closed its airspace to European and US airlines, forcing some long-haul flights to Asia to take longer routes.
Bloomberg News was first to report the resumption.
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More on the reported Russia-Ukraine exchange of prisoners of war on Saturday: officials in Moscow and Kyiv said both sides had returned about 50 people each.
Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate reported the return of 52 detainees, among them soldiers, sailors, border guards, national guard members and doctors.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that since March, Russia had freed a total of 1,031 prisoners.
Reuters reported the Ukrainian president said in a video address:
We remember all those who are held captive in Russia and on occupied territory and will do everything to ensure that each and every one is returned.
Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine handed over 50 prisoners of war after talks.
Earlier on Saturday, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed head of the Donetsk region – one of four Ukraine regions that Russia proclaimed as its territory last month – also said a prisoner swap with Ukraine was taking place.
He said 50 people from each side were being exchanged.
Michael Gove, the UK’s levelling up secretary, has pointedly declined to deny a report that former prime minister Liz Truss’s personal phone was potentially hacked by Russian agents, as Labour accused the government of “not taking national security seriously enough”, the Guardian’s Peter Walker reports.
You can read Peter’s report here
Russian accusations that Britain participated in attacks against the Nord Stream gas pipeline and Russian navy ships in Crimea are without foundation, France’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The accusations formed part of Moscow’s strategy “to turn attention away from its sole responsibility in the war of aggression that it is conducting against Ukraine,” the ministry’s deputy spokesperson said in a statement.
EU calls on Russia to reverse suspension of grain deal
The European Union on Sunday called on Russia to reverse its decision to pull out of a U.N.-brokered deal that enabled Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea amid a global food crisis.
“Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risk the main export route of much needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter.
“The EU urges Russia to (reverse) its decision.”
Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risks the main export route of much needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 30, 2022
The EU urges Russia to revert its decision.
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The UK government has been urged to launch an urgent investigation after reports that former prime minister Liz Truss’s phone was hacked.
The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that while Truss was foreign secretary private messages between her and foreign officials, including about the Ukraine war, were hacked.
The paper reported agents suspected of working for Russia had been responsible for the alleged hacking, citing unnamed sources. The BBC and Sky both reported they had not been able to verify this.
The breach was said to have been discovered when then-foreign secretary Truss was running for the Tory leadership in the summer, but details were suppressed by then-prime minister Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, The Mail on Sunday claimed.
Opposition parties are demanding a probe into the alleged attack.
A UK government spokesperson told PA Media:
We do not comment on individuals’ security arrangements. The government has robust systems in place to protect against cyber threats. That includes regular security briefings for ministers, and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats.”
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Russia’s ambassador to Washington scolded the United States on Sunday for making what he said were false assertions about Moscow’s decision to suspend its participation in a UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal. He repeated claims of British military specialists alleged involvement in a drone attack in Sevastopol.
“Washington’s reaction to the terrorist attack on the port of Sevastopol is truly outrageous,” ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on Telegram. “We have not seen any signs of condemnation of the reckless actions by the Kyiv regime,” Reuters reports.
“All the indications that the British military specialists were involved in organising the massive strike with the use of drones, are disregarded,” Antonov said. Moscow has coffered no evidence for its claim.
Britain has dismissed Russia’s claims as false. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russia’s defence ministry was “peddling false claims of an epic scale” after Moscow accused the British Navy of a “terrorist attack” on Nord Stream gas pipelines and claimed British “specialists” aided a drone attack in Sevastopol. Britain’s MoD said: “This latest invented story says more about the arguments going on inside the Russian government than it does about the west.”
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Russia has said its decision to pull out of the UN-brokered grain export deal comes after a dramatic attack by Ukrainian airborne and underwater drones on its Black Sea naval base of Sevastopol in the early hours of Saturday.
Social media showed footage of explosions near and in the Crimean harbour, and Russia’s defence ministry said there had been an attack by “nine unmanned aerial vehicles and seven autonomous sea drones” that began at 4.20am.
A ministry spokesperson initially said the Ivan Golubets minesweeper had suffered minor damage, but there was speculation by Russian and Ukrainian sources that the flagship Admiral Makarov may have been hit.
Ukraine has been subject to months of deadly long-range missile strikes, but the attacks have stepped up in the past month as Russia has fired hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones into cities and at Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Dan Sabbagh in Odesa has the full story:
United Nations officials have been in touch with Russian authorities over Moscow’s announced suspension of the UN-brokered deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian ports.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN chief, António Guterres, urged the deal be continued.
He said:
It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea grain initiative, which is a critical humanitarian effort that is clearly having a positive impact on access to food for millions of people.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called the Russian move “predictable” and accused Moscow of “blockading” ships carrying grain since September. He said 176 vessels were currently backed up at sea, carrying more than 2m tonnes of food.
Zelenskiy called for a tough response against Russia from international bodies such as the UN and the G20.
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US accuses Russia of ‘weaponising food’ after Moscow suspends grain export deal
The United States has accused Russia of ‘weaponising food’ after Moscow announced it was immediately suspending its implementation of a UN-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 8m tonnes of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and brought down soaring global food prices.
Associated Press reported that the Russian defence ministry cited an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea as the reason for the move.
Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that the Russians mishandled their own weapon.
The US president, Joe Biden, called Russia’s suspension of the grain deal “purely outrageous” while the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Moscow was “weaponising food”.
Blinken said in Washington that the suspension was regrettable and urged “all parties to keep this essential, life-saving initiative functioning”.
He said in a statement Saturday night:
Any act by Russia to disrupt these critical grain exports is essentially a statement that people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry. In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponising food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity.
Ukraine accused Russia of creating a world “hunger games.”
Moscow’s declaration came a day after the United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the grain export deal, which was scheduled to expire on 19 November.
Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Summary
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. Here’s a rundown on the latest developments.
The Russian government has written to the United Nations saying it is indefinitely suspending the Black Sea grain deal that allowed vital exports of Ukrainian food supplies. Moscow also requested a related meeting of the UN security council in New York on Monday. The US president, Joe Biden, said Russia’s actions were outrageous.
The UN secretary general urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the grain deal that has seen more than 8m tonnes of grain exported from Ukraine and brought down global food prices. The agreement between Ukraine and Russia was due to expire on 19 November.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russia’s defence ministry was “peddling false claims of an epic scale” after Moscow accused the British navy of a “terrorist attack” on Nord Stream gas pipelines and claimed British “specialists” aided a drone attack in Sevastopol. Britain’s MoD said: “This latest invented story says more about the arguments going on inside the Russian government than it does about the west.”
Ukrainian electricity supplies were recovering after concerted Russian attacks on generating plants but emergency blackouts may still be needed, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. “Today there are already significantly fewer stabilisation [measures] and emergency blackouts … but restrictions are still possible in some cities and districts.”
The European Union has frozen Russian assets worth about €17bn (£14.6bn or $17bn) since Moscow invaded Ukraine, according to the EU justice commissioner, Didier Reynders.
Up to 100 prisoners of war have reportedly been exchanged between Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that Ukraine handed over 50 prisoners of war after talks. The Ukrainian armed forces account posted on Telegram that “52 Ukrainians returned home” during another “exchange of prisoners”.
The Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak has expressed scepticism about the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. The billionaire and Tesla boss drew fury from Kyiv and praise from Moscow this month when he posted a Twitter poll proposing Ukraine permanently cede Crimea to Russia, that referendums be held under UN auspices on the fate of Russian-controlled territory, and that Ukraine agree to neutrality.
Russian-backed forces say they have finished a pull-out of civilians from the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. The city had a population of about 288,000 people before the war and was one of the first to fall to Moscow’s troops after the February invasion. A Russian-installed official in Kherson said at least 70,000 people had left their homes in the space of a week.
A mobile phone app has been developed by Ukrainian volunteers to allow civilians to report sightings of incoming Russian drones and missiles – and, it is hoped, increase the proportion shot down before they hit the ground. The app, ePPO, relies on a phone’s GPS and compass, and a user only has to point their device in the direction of the incoming object and press a button for it to send a location report to the military.
