​Ukrainian troops are resisting repeated attacks by Russian forces in two eastern cities, while forces on the southern front are poised to fight for the strategic Kherson region, which Russia appears to be strengthening.

The main thing for Thursday, the 246th day of the war in Ukraine, TEXT OF THE LIVE MODE:

07:38 On Thursday, Australia announced that it would send 70 soldiers to Britain to train the Ukrainian military and deliver another 30 armored vehicles to Kyiv.

“We expect this to be a protracted conflict now,” Defense Minister Richard Marles said. This latest package brings Australia’s total support to Ukraine to approximately $425 million.

“We realize that Ukraine needs to be helped in the long term if we want to put it in a position where it can resolve this conflict on its own terms,” ​​he said (Reuters).

07:31 Last night, Russian troops attacked the Kyiv region. Governor Oleksiy Kuleba reported that Russian troops shelled one of the communities of the Kyiv region.

Kuleba did not specify the location of the attack, but noted that response teams had arrived. According to preliminary information, there are no victims, Kuleba said.

07:09France will supply the Crotale short-range anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine. French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne said that Russia “will have to answer” for “barbaric violations of the laws of war” in Ukraine.

A brief summary of recent events:

• Ukrainian troops are resisting repeated attacks near the two eastern cities of Avdiyivka and Bakhmut in Donbas, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said, calling Russia’s tactics crazy.
• The official representative of the separatists of the Luhansk region, which is supported by Russia, said that there are fierce battles in the regions of Kreminny and Svatovo.
• Due to the rainy weather and the nature of the terrain, Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kherson region is more difficult than in the northeast, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine said. Russia strengthens Kherson with new recruits as “cannon fodder”, – Kyiv.
• Russian authorities in the city of Kherson urged residents to flee, but Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Zelenskyi, said there were no signs that Russian troops were preparing to withdraw.
• Russia continues to claim that Ukraine plans to detonate a “dirty bomb” containing radioactive contaminants. Moscow has used a photo from Slovenia dating back to 2010 to back up its “dirty bomb” claims on Twitter, the Slovenian government said on Wednesday.
• The Prime Minister of Italy stated that the only way to promote peace between Russia and Ukraine is military assistance to Kyiv.
• Vladimir Putin has observed exercises of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces and told the intelligence chiefs of several former Soviet countries that the risk of conflict in the region and the world is high.
• Members of the Afghan army, trained by Britain and the USA, received offers to join Russian troops in Ukraine
• UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “relatively optimistic” that a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports would be extended beyond mid-November.
• Putin is likely to use a possible extension of the grain deal as a way to gain influence and dominate the G20 summit in Indonesia next month, a European diplomat familiar with the grain talks told Reuters.
• US and Western officials are close to finalizing a plan to cap the price of Russian oil, as the World Bank warned that any move would require active participation from emerging economies to be effective.
• The European Union could introduce gas price caps this winter to limit excessive price increases if countries give Brussels a mandate to propose the measure.

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• Wednesday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro