Ukraine hits oil facility in Russia's Samara region despite pressure from Trump
Back to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army struck a Russian oil facility in the Samara region, days after US president Donald Trump sought to put pressure on Kyiv to stop hitting energy targets in Russia.
“I thank all our defenders who are working to send Russia’s sick war back to where it came from,” Zelenskyy said.
He continued:
“Today, we also have important results from our deep strikes. A target in the Black Sea was hit, as was a site in the Oryol region used to launch and store attack drones.
Sanctions were also applied to an oil facility in the Samara region and a supply depot for the occupiers in the Bryansk region.
These are exactly the kind of just responses we need right now. We will continue to deprive Russia of the ability to keep this war going.”
AFP reports that Estonia is banning the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain on its territory. Foreign minister Margus Tsahkna posted to social media to say:
I warned already in September: do not make plans to transport Russian grain through Estonia. Today, we turned that warning into law. Together with Latvia and Lithuania, we are working to ensure that Baltic ports do not become a transit route for Russia.
The move appears mostly rhetorical, as national broadcaster ERR said Russian grain transport has been “essentially nonexistent”.
Joint EU–Ukraine statement says they have 'identified means' on budget shortfall
The European Commision and Ukraine have said in a joint statement they had “identified the means” to cover Kyiv’s budget and defence needs for this year. It read:
Today through coordinated joint efforts, we have identified the means to cover Ukraine’s budget and defence needs for 2026. We have also reconfirmed the steps needed to ensure their timely release.
Finland investigates suspected break-ins at MPs homes
While that press conference was going on, AFP have reported that Finnish authorities are investigating a slew of suspected break-ins at the homes of members of parliament, which the prime minister said could “very likely” be linked to a foreign power.
Petteri Orpo said “If someone tries to destabilise Finland, our sense of security, or our support for example for Ukraine, it has the opposite effect. It strengthens our unity.”
Speaker of parliament Jussi Halla-aho confirmed that parliament had been made aware of a “significant” number of break-ins and signs of attempted intrusions at the homes of several politicians.
A determined show of unity amid growing tensions with Russia - snap analysis
It’s a determined show of unity from Nato’s Rutte, the Netherlands’s Jetten, and Germany’s Merz.
Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte meet the media during a visit to the German-Dutch Corps, in Münster. Photograph: Federico Gambarini/DPA/AP
The signal is clear and in line with the warnings of recent weeks: while there is no imminent threat of a military attack from Russia, Moscow’s “campaign of hostile actions” against allies would persist over the winter.
And the three leaders reiterated the urgency in accelerating defence planning, and the importance of supporting Ukraine as the situation there worsens.
'I hope Putin gets the message' as he is 'failing to intimidate us,' Rutte says
Nato’s Rutte thanks Germany and the Netherlands for increased defence spending.
He says:
“I hope Putin gets the message. It’s not just Ukrainians who are suffering. The whole of Russia is paying a huge price for his war of choice.
Putin is sending tens of thousands of young Russians to their death each month, and for nothing. He is failing on a battlefield and he is failing to intimidate us.”
The three leaders take no questions after their statements.
'We see Russia testing us across Europe,' and 'must be prepared for hostile actions,' Nato chief says
Nato’s Rutte is speaking now.
He says the three leaders just met the soldiers of the 1st German-Netherlands Corps, and thanks them for their service.
He also thanks for the 2026 International Westphalian Peace Prize that he will pick up later today on behalf of the alliance. He credits all soldiers and people working for Nato.
Russia 'poses rapidly increasing threat' to Nato, Dutch PM says
Dutch PM Jetten is next.
He says the message of deterrence is “more vital than ever”, as Russia “poses a rapidly increasingly threat to the Nato alliance,” whether in the Baltics or in Germany, as he points to a recent drone incident in Leipzig.
“Europe needs to show what it’s made of, show that we are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our security,” he says.
He says Europeans are “ramping up our intelligence cooperation to an unprecedented level so we can combat hybrid threats,” and “reaffirming and stepping up our support for Ukraine.”
He says the Netherlands is increasing its defence spending, too.
Germany’s Merz begins by stressing the importance of Nato, as “our continental peace order is being challenged by violent revisionism emanating from Russia.”
He says the Russian aggression on Ukraine was “unleashed by Moscow in utter disregard and contempt for law and order,” causing direct threat to Europe.
Merz says the focus remains on finding “a diplomatic solution,” even as “Moscow has so far shown no willingness to come to the negotiating table.”
He adds that Europe’s support for Ukraine will continue as “we refuse to be deterred by Moscow’s hybrid attack.”
He says the work is under way to “ensure credible deterrence” against Russia, pointing to Germany’s “determined investments” in its military and general resilience.
“We know that a good future for our country is only possible within a free, secure, and united Europe,” he says.
He also repeats his lines that Europe needs to “make Nato more European so it can remain transatlantic.”
He also stresses the importance of military cooperation between Nato member states, specifically in this context with the Netherlands.
Russian drone hits grounds of nuclear research facility in Kyiv
Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit the grounds of a nuclear research facility in Kyiv, causing a fire but leaving the facility’s test reactor undamaged, Ukraine’s nuclear safety watchdog said, and AFP reported.
The regulator did not say where the drone landed or provide imagery of the attack, which happened on Wednesday.
Several of Ukraine’s nuclear sites have come under fire since Russia invaded in February 2022, raising fears of a nuclear accident.
The research reactor at the site has the capacity to generate around 10 Megawatts, around a hundredth of the generating capacity of a conventional nuclear reactor. There are four nuclear power plants in Ukraine, the largest of which was seized by Russian forces in 2022.
Rutte, Merz, Jetten about to speak at joint press conference in Germany
Nato’s Mark Rutte, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, and the Netherlands’s Rob Jetten are about to speak on a visit to see the 1st German-Netherlands Corps in Münster, Germany.
I will bring you all the key lines here, or you can watch along:
Rutte, Merz and Jetten speak to reporters in Muenster – watch live
Germany's Jürgen Klopp disgusted by claims national team are ‘not white enough’
in Berlin
In other news, Jürgen Klopp has reacted with disgust to a social media debate questioning whether the Germany team he is in the process of forming are “white enough”.
Germany's coach Jurgen Klopp speaks during a press conference in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Photograph: Sven Hoppe/DPA/AP
Klopp said he believed there was no point in giving room to “such people and their utterances”, dismissing them as “complete nonsense”.
Asked to respond to the debate as to whether the national team were “not German enough” or “not white enough”, he said: “There is absolutely no reason to pay attention to these people. You won’t get my thoughts on this. I have little time in everyday life for idiocy – and even less on social media.”
“The great crux of our lives is that everyone is allowed to express their opinion … it’s insane when something like that exists.”
Klopp said watching sportspeople interact with each other was proof to him that mutual respect was still possible. “The world could learn a thing or two from a sports changing room … There, everyone is respected based on the facts and not discredited based on false opinions.”
Klopp, whose plans for Germany since he took over as coach in the summer have attracted huge attention, said the players he had gathered at the national team camp, including several players with a migrant background, “could not be better united than they are”.
The barrage of racist and generally offensive commentaries on social media followed Germany’s 1-0 defeat by Greece last Sunday, in the Nations League, marking the first time Greece had beaten Germany.
It is also reflective of plenty of utterances from MPs of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the largest opposition party in the Bundestag, who have repeatedly and consistently criticised the diversity and ethnic makeup of the national team, often referring to the squad in derogatory terms such as a “politically correct mercenary force”.