? Live: Zelensky accuses Russia of supporting Hamas operations in Israel

9:14pm: Kyiv ‘certain’ Russia supporting Hamas operations, says Zelensky

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday accused Russia of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas in its conflict against Israel. “We are certain that Russia is supporting, in one way or another, Hamas operations”, Zelensky said in an interview with the France 2 television channel.

“Russia is really trying to carry out destabilising actions all over the world,” he added.

9:12pm: Israel-Hamas war risks ‘distracting’ from Ukraine, says Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that the violence engulfing Israel and Gaza risked distracting international attention from the war in his own country.

“There is a risk that international attention will turn away from Ukraine, and that will have consequences”, he said in an interview with French broadcaster France 2.

The tragedies affecting his Ukraine and Israel “are different, but both are immense”, he said.

9:08pm: EU’s von der Leyen says she spoke to PMs of Estonia and Finland over damaged gas pipeline

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken to Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas regarding damage to a gas pipeline and telecoms cable between the two countries.

“I held calls with Prime Ministers @kajakallas and @PetteriOrpo on the on-going investigations into the damage on the gas pipeline and data cable connecting Estonia and Finland. I strongly condemn any act of destruction of critical infrastructure,” she wrote on social media platform X on Tuesday.

8:22pm: ‘Probable blast’ detected before Baltic gas pipeline leak, says Norwegian seismological institute

The Norwegian seismological institute NORSAR detected a “probable blast” Saturday night in the Baltic sea between Finland and Estonia where a gas pipeline leak was later detected, it announced Tuesday.

“NORSAR has detected a probable blast along the Finnish coast of the Baltic Sea at 1:20 (22:20 GMT) on the 8th October 2023,” the independent institute wrote on its website.

Balticconnector pipeline operations were interrupted Sunday due to a leak, rendering country’s the last gas pipeline inoperable after Russian imports were halted following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Finnish president said in a statement it was “likely” that the incident was “the result of an outside cause”.

Head of the investigation department at the National Bureau of Investigation, Timo Kilpelainen, said at the same press conference that there was “no indications that explosives were used in the act”.

The incident comes a year after the Nord Stream pipelines, a major conduit for Russian natural gas exports to Western Europe, were hit by a series of underwater blasts.

6:15pm: Bulgaria arrests 12 people for violating EU sanctions on exports to Russia

Bulgarian police have arrested 12 people accused of illegally exporting dual-use goods to Russia that can be used by the Russian military in the war in Ukraine.

The Interior Ministry chief secretary, Zhivko Kotsev, told reporters Tuesday the suspects included citizens of Bulgaria, Russia and Belarus.

The operation to arrest the suspects was carried out by several agencies after the State Agency for National Security received information about the illegal transfer of goods with possible dual use, the agency head Plamen Tonchev said. Such exports to Russia are banned under EU sanctions imposed on Russia after it launched its war in Ukraine.

5:55pm: Germany announces new defense aid package for Ukraine worth $1.1 billion

Germany on Tuesday unveiled a fresh support package for Ukraine worth around EUR1 billion ($1.1 billion), its defence ministry said, adding the programme covered air defense, weapons and ground vehicles.

“Germany will continue to support Ukraine with what it needs most urgently – air defence, ammunition and tanks,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

“With this new ‘winter package’ we are further increasing the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces in the coming months.”

5:52pm: Russia fails to win seat on UN human rights council

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday rejected a bid by Russia to regain a seat on the Human Rights Council, from which it was ousted after invading Ukraine.

Russia, which was competing with Bulgaria and Albania for two open spots allocated to the Eastern Europe regional group, received only 83 votes in a UN General Assembly vote.

4:12pm: UEFA says abandoning plans to re-admit Russian under-17 teams

European football‘s governing body said Tuesday it had abandoned plans to re-admit Russian under-17 teams into the youth European Championship next year.

“No technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found,” UEFA said.

Ukraine later thanked UEFA for their decision.

3:56pm: ‘External activity’ probably behind Finland-Estonia gaspipe leak

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Tuesday a leak leading to the shutdown of a natural gas pipeline from Estonia to Finland this weekend was probably caused by an “external” element.

“It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the telecommunications cable is the result of external activity,” Niinisto said.

He did not elaborate.

The head of state said the cause of the damage was not yet clear and both countries were cooperating in an ongoing investigation.

Niinisto said he had been in touch with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and NATO was ready to assist in the investigation.

3:15pm: Ukrainian shelling kills two in Russian border region, says governor

Ukrainian shelling killed two civilians Tuesday in the Russian region of Belgorod which borders Ukraine, its governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

“One civilian was killed” on the spot in the village of Popovka while “an elderly woman died of serious shrapnel wounds in the ambulance,” he said on Telegram.

2:46pm: Zelensky says ‘good news’ on air defence after talks in Romania

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had “good news” on artillery and air defence supplies after talks with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, but gave no details.

“My main accent today was air defence. And I’m glad that Ukraine was heard by the Romanian side,” Zelensky, who has been seeking more arms to defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, told a joint press conference in the Romanian capital.

Zelensky also said everything possible should be done to prevent Russia turning part of the Black Sea or the Danube region into what he described as a maritime “dead zone”.

Russia pulled out of a deal that guaranteed safe shipments of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, and has been attacking Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River.

2:25pm: Ukraine says Russia trying to besiege eastern town

Russian forces were Tuesday trying to encircle the eastern frontline Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, an official said, adding it was being heavily bombed.

Kyiv’s forces have managed to cling on to Avdiivka despite repeated Russian strikes. The town lies just north of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, which was captured by separatist forces in 2014.

“For over a year, there has been the danger that (Avdiivka) can be occupied, but now the situation has worsened rapidly,” said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the town’s administration.

Russian troops launched an artillery attack in the morning and were firing incessantly, he said.

2:23pm: Two Ukrainian defence ministry officials held for ’embezzlement’

Ukraine said Tuesday that it was holding two senior defence ministry officials on suspicion of embezzling $7 million earmarked for buying bulletproof vests.

The announcements came as President Volodymyr Zelensky intensifies his anti-corruption drive, firing officials accused of graft in a bid to reassure Western allies sending wartime aid.

The State Bureau of Investigation said the two officials, which it did not name, ordered “low-quality body armour” from abroad.

“This led not only to the loss of 250 million hryvnia of budget funds, but also to the undermining of the country’s defence capability and a threat to the lives and health of army personnel,” it said.

Both were currently in custody, it added.

11:55am: Kremlin rejects Zelensky’s claim that Russia wants to inflame Middle East war

The Kremlin has rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s suggestion that it was in Russia‘s interests to stoke war in the Middle East to weaken global unity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was long-standing, with very deep roots, adding that Russia was in contact with both Israel and the Palestinians.

Russia has long-standing ties with the Palestinians and much in common with Israel, including the fact that many Israelis are former Russian citizens, Peskov told a regular news briefing.

Moscow intends to keep up its diplomatic efforts and play a role in seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he added.

10:25am: Zelensky arrives in Romania for talks with president

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he was in Bucharest for security talks with his Romanian counterpart after a series of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Danube River ports near the Romanian border.

“I arrived in Bucharest, Romania, for talks with (President) Klaus Iohannis and to strengthen our good-neighbourly relations,” Zelensky said on social media.

He said they would discuss “further security cooperation”.

Last month, NATO member Romania found drone debris several times near its border with Ukraine.

Since exiting a deal allowing safe grain shipments via the Black Sea, Moscow has ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s southern regions, home to vital grain exporting infrastructure.

This is the first time Zelensky has visited neighbouring Romania – which has become essential to Kyiv’s grain exports – since the start of the war.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)

(C) France Medias Monde graphic studio