Ukraine war latest: Russia warns surrounded Ukrainian troops should surrender as situation in key city said to be 'critical'

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued his diplomatic push to secure more support and backing for Ukraine from its allies.

Addressing the European Parliament virtually from near the frontline, he said the US needed to be more open to supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons.

His comments came as the EU praised Ukraine's "advances" towards possibly joining the bloc.

But despite developments off the battlefield, on the frontline, Ukraine is fighting to hold on to the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.

The transport and logistics hub, if taken, could provide Russia with the foundation to push onwards towards other cities.

In recent days, there have been claims and counterclaims from Kyiv and Moscow over victories on the ground.

Elsewhere, in recent weeks Ukraine has been targeting Russia's oil refinery capabilities and vital infrastructures supporting its war effort. We saw this continue overnight.

At the same time, Russia has been hitting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, repeatedly plunging parts of the country into darkness.

Stick with us for all the latest updates throughout the day.

We're ending our live updates of the Ukraine war for the day.

Before we go, here's a round-up of the top lines we brought you today:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Washington needs to be open to supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons;
• Ukraine's president also hailed what he described as the "best assessment to date" on chances of Ukraine joining the EU;
• It comes after the EU said the bloc's expansion is "realistic" and it praised Ukraine's "advances";
• Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence said its special forces continue "fierce battles" with Russian soldiers in the city of Pokrovsk;
• Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones damaged the Sterlitamak petrochemical plant deep inside the country, almost 1,000 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Our international correspondent John Sparks has been in Ukraine to see how troops run an operation from an underground cellar to intercept as many Russian drones as they can.

You can watch his report at the top of the page, or read more below.

Our military analyst Michael Clarke also answered our questions on the war in his weekly Q&A.

Among the topics Clarke covered today were:

• The Russian campaign for the city of Pokrovsk - and what chance Ukraine has of holding the enemy off;
• Why China is benefitting from the war;
• How Ukraine could combine energy war and battlefield gains to force Putin to negotiate; and
• Donald Trump's flipflopping on Tomahawk missiles - and why he is convinced he isn't making a mistake.

Watch the full Q&A...

We brought you news earlier of Ukraine's efforts to join the EU, and the bloc's enlargement commission's response (see our 12.36 and 12.42 posts).

But Ukraine wasn't the only country that Marta Kos, the EU's enlargement commissioner, mentioned when speaking in front of the EU's parliament.

She highlighted other nations that were progressing as well, and some that weren't doing as well.

Montenegro was "most advanced" in its efforts, Kos said and the best prepared country.

Albania, the EU parliament heard, had made "unprecedented progress" since October last year, while Moldova has been working well to deepen ties with the EU despite "continued hybrid threats to destabilise the country and the EU course".

Russia has been accused of trying to interfere in its most recent election.

However, not all countries were progressing as well. Kos highlighted some nations that were failing to meet their targets.

"In Serbia, authorities continue to declare EU membership as their strategic goal, but the actual pace of implementation of reforms has slowed down significantly," she said.

Kos acknowledged some "recent positive developments" but said it must avoid "anti-EU rhetoric" and avoid "backsliding" on freedom of expression in academia.

Macedonia, Kos said, had not taken "decisive steps" to advance negotiations with the EU, including amending its constitution.

In Kosovo, domestic politics led to its EU path being "stalled", she said, while negotiations with Turkey hadn't moved "since 2018".

However, the worst situation was in Georgia, where efforts had "sharply deteriorated with serious democratic backsliding".

So much so, Kos said it was now considered an EU candidate in "name only".

In Dobropillia, a body has been found under the rubble after a Russian airstrike.

It's the area where Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting soldiers today - and also where he addressed the EU Parliament from.

NATO jets were scrambled overnight in Romania after drone activity near the shared border with Ukraine.

Germany at NATO said that the jets had been scrambled - weeks after a series of Russian violations of NATO airspace.

This time, Berlin's mission said: "No airspace violation occurred - but our crews, as always, were ready to protect!"

A Ukrainian man accused of the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline has begun a hunger strike, according to his lawyer.

Last month, a judge ordered that the suspect, identified only as Serhii K under German privacy laws, should be transferred to a German prison.

He is currently still in a high-security Italian prison, where he has been refusing to eat.

"Since October 31, SK has been refusing food to demand respect for his fundamental rights," his lawyer Nicola Canestrini said in a statement.

She added he was demanding "equal treatment" with other inmates.

Serhii K was arrested in August near the Italian town of Rimini in connection with the sabotage - which he denies.

The explosions largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. 

No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role.

Reuters news agency reports that Germany is planning to increase its financial aid for Ukraine by about €3bn (£2.6bn).

It cites a government source, and follows on from a report in Handelsblatt.

The 2026 budget had previously allocated €8.5bn (£7.47bn) to Ukraine, including military support.

A government source tells Reuters that the defence ministry would raise it in the final parliamentary meeting on the budge next week.

It is also reported that Chancellor Friedrich Merz supports the plans.

The number of Russian drone launches against Ukraine in the first 10 months of this year was 303% higher than in the whole of 2024, according to data from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Russia's use of Shahed-type suicide drones in Ukraine has surged this year.

Russia has launched over 44,000 Shahed and Shahed variant drones, which is more than quadruple 2024's launches, according to CSIS data.

Around 64% of those were destroyed, down from 68% in 2024 - as the scale of attacks stretches Ukraine's air defences.

Despite an exponential increase in launches, Ukraine is managing to intercept a large proportion of the Shahed-type drones.

Paste BN international correspondent John Sparks went to eastern Ukraine to see Ukrainian soldiers fight drones with drones, intercepting Russian Shaheds before they could attack.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with troops near the frontline in Dobropillia.

It's from here he made his comments to the EU earlier (see our 13.34 post for more).

The Ukrainian leader met with brigades who were "leading the defence" along that part of the frontline, just north of Pokrovsk (see our 7.10 post for more on that).

In a post on his Telegram, Zelenskyy says:

"I listened to the reports of the military, discussed the situation on the front line and the most urgent needs, paid much attention to the issues of weapons, scaling up drone production, the needs of brigades, the experience of the 1st Corps of the National Guard "Azov" and others."

He also thanks the soldiers and adds: "This is our state, this is our East, and we will definitely do our best to keep it Ukrainian."

 Ukraine is employing a computer game-style reward system for its troops.

The country's first deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, spearheads the project in which soldiers are given "e-Points" for killing Russian soldiers.

Those points can then are exchanged on the "Amazon for war" online market for more weapons and equipment.

Fedorov says the programme has improved the effectiveness of UAV units. 

"In September, units reported more than 18,000 enemy personnel engaged or destroyed," he said.

"Units are using the points they earn to order additional drones and equipment through the Brave1 market." 

The 3rd Assault Brigade was the first unit to exchange the reward points for equipment, receiving it in six days, Fedorov adds.

This exchange was done on what Fedorov describes as the "Amazon for warfare".

He  told The Guardian that the system had helped in part to lead to Ukrainian soldiers killing double the number of Russian soldiers in September, when compared to last October.

International correspondent John Sparks recently spent a night with Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade, observing how they work to protect their homeland - you can read that here.