TOP HEADLINES

· Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks that have crippled Ukrainian energy infrastructure. "Two cruise missiles were shot down over Kyiv. Information about any casualties and damage is being clarified," Kyiv regional officials announced. Officials in the central city of Dnipro and the Black Sea hub of Odesa also reported Russian strikes.

· Local officials said two people were killed in a missile attack overnight on the southeastern region of Zaporhizhzhia, three were wounded in an attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv and three were hurt in Odesa.

· Ukraine said Russia was ultimately responsible for a deadly missile blast in Poland this week. "We share the view that Russia bears full responsibility for its missile terror and its consequences on the territory of Ukraine, Poland and Moldova," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

· Ukraine is likely to get the access it has demanded to the site in southeastern Poland where a missile killed two people, the Polish president's top foreign policy advisor said.

· An agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea and aimed at relieving global food insecurity has been extended for 120 days, officials said. The deal had been due to expire on Saturday. READ MORE BELOW

· UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the extension of an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain. "I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the safe navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine," Guterres said in a statement.

· Western leaders moved to calm fears of a dangerous escalation in the Ukraine conflict, saying a missile blast in Poland was likely an accident, while Kyiv pushed back hard at the idea that its anti-aircraft fire was to blame. 

· President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for Ukraine's allies to share "all the data" held on the missile that landed in Poland. Zelenskyy said the missile that hit Poland was Russian. "I have no doubt that this is not our missile," Zelenskyy said in televised remarks. "I believe that this was a Russian missile, based on our military reports."

· Hungary called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's insistence a missile that landed in Poland was fired by Russia irresponsibly. "In such a situation, world leaders speak responsibly," Gergely Gulyas, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, told reporters. 

· Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was informed following the U.S. - Russia talks held earlier this week in Ankara that neither party would use nuclear weapons, according to a readout of his comments to reporters.

IN DETAIL

Black Sea grain initiative extended for 120 days
 

An agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea and aimed at relieving global food insecurity has been extended for 120 days, officials said. Ukraine is a top world exporter of grain, but Russia's military campaign, which started in late February, stopped shipments.

The deal between the two sides, brokered by Türkiye and the UN in July, has helped transport more than 11 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products from Ukrainian ports since the start of August. It had been due to expire on Saturday, November 19.

On Thursday, Ukrainian and Turkish officials announced that the agreement would be extended by four months under existing conditions.
"#BlackSeaGrainInitiative will be prolonged for 120 days," Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter, while a senior Turkish official confirmed that the deal had been extended "under current terms."

"I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the safe navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement released by the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) that has been overseeing the agreement.