Ukraine Russia war latest: EU agrees indefinite freeze on €210bn of Russian assets – UK Times

Two people were killed overnight in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Saratov, regional governor Roman Busargin said on Saturday.

In a statement on Telegram, Busargin said that the two people had been killed, along with an unspecified number of injured, in an attack on a residential building in the city.

Saratov, which is located on the Volga river around 625 km (388 miles) from the Ukrainian border, has come under repeated attack in recent years by drones targeting its local oil refinery and a major nearby airbase.

Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has praised the decision of European Union’s indefinite freeze on Russian central bank assets held in Europe as a “landmark step toward justice and accountability”.

“This decision strengthens the foundation for the reparations loan mechanism and brings us closer to a future in which Russia pays for its crimes and destruction caused,” she wrote.

EU leaders – the European Council – are to meet on 18 December to finalise details of the reparations loan and resolve remaining problems, which include guarantees from all EU governments for Belgium that it would not be left alone to foot the bill should a potential Moscow lawsuit prove successful.

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe, removing a big obstacle to using the cash to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

A first big step, which EU governments agreed yesterday, is to immobilise €210bn ($246bn) worth of Russian sovereign assets for as long as needed instead of voting every six months on extending the asset freeze.

This removes the risk that Hungary and Slovakia, which have better relations with Moscow than other EU states, could refuse to roll over the freeze at some point, forcing the EU to return the money to Russia.

The EU wants to keep Ukraine financed and fighting as it sees Russia’s invasion as a threat to its own security. To do so, EU states aim to put to work some of the Russian sovereign assets they immobilised after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones have struck two Russian oil rigs in the Caspian Sea, according to a Ukrainian Security Service official.

The SBU drones reportedly hit the Filanovsky and Korchagin oil rigs, which both belong to Russia’s Lukoil.

Earlier this week, part of Russia’s largest Caspian oil field, the Filanovsky rig came under attack. This was the first attack during the war as Ukraine escalates its efforts to disrupt Russian oil and gas output.

The drones damaged critical equipment and suspended production, according to preliminary information from the source.

Kim Jong Un said nine North Korean soldiers were killed during a mission in Russia, describing their deaths as a “heartrending loss,” and announced that the regiment would be awarded the Order of Freedom and Independence.

The North Korean dictator said the unit had been dispatched in early August and carried out combat and engineering tasks in the Kursk region of Russia during Moscow’s war with Ukraine.

The nine fallen soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, along with other state honours, KCNA said.

The welcoming ceremony was held in Pyongyang yesterday and was attended by senior military officials, ruling party leaders, families of the soldiers and large crowds, according to the report.

In his speech, Kim said the regiment had cleared dangerous areas under combat conditions and demonstrated “absolute loyalty” to the party and the state. He also praised political indoctrination, discipline and unity among the troops, calling their performance a model for the armed forces.

Armed forces minister Al Carns said countries need to “increase our lethality” and stop outsourcing it to others.

His warning comes after Nato secretary general Mark Rutte called Europe “Russia’s next target” and said countries must prepare for a “scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”.

A senior Kremlin official says that the Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas to oversee the prized industrial region, even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four-year war — a possibility that is likely to be rejected by Ukrainian officials as US-led negotiations drag on.

Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the front line, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said in comments published Friday in Russian business daily Kommersant.

Ushakov told Kommersant “it’s entirely possible that there won’t be any troops (in the Donbas), either Russian or Ukrainian” in a postwar scenario.

Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said.

“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official told reporters in a briefing.

“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.

“The official said there was no joint document yet, but all sides would carry on negotiations in the coming days through various calls and meetings. He did not say whether Washington had set a deadline.