TOP HEADLINES

• Poland is no longer arming Ukraine as it is focusing on building up its own stocks of weapons, the prime minister said, as Warsaw's stance towards Kyiv shifts just weeks before an election. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine's farm minister, in a phone call with his Polish counterpart, has agreed to work out a solution to a trade dispute that is in the interests of both countries, the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said.

• Russia carried out its biggest missile attack in weeks across Ukraine on Thursday, pounding energy facilities in what officials said appeared to be the first salvo in a new air campaign against the Ukrainian power grid. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine warned that difficult winter months lay ahead after a "massive" Russian missile barrage targeted civilian infrastructure, leaving several dead and wounded in towns across the country. 

• Slovakia and Ukraine's farm ministers have agreed to set up a licensing system for trading in grains, which would allow a ban on imports of four Ukrainian commodities to Slovakia to be lifted once the system is set up, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry said.

• The cargo ship 'Resilient Africa' has arrived off Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, the first vessel loaded with grain from Ukraine to sail in and out of the Black Sea using a temporary corridor.

• Ukrainian forces struck the Saky air base in Crimea overnight, according to Ukraine's military command.

• Russian anti-aircraft units destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula and three more over other parts of Russia, the Defense Ministry said.

• Ukrainian air defenses shot down 36 out of 43 missiles launched by Russia in attacks on Ukraine on Thursday, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces said.

• Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy's peace plan has no chance of succeeding, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said, according to the Swiss Telegraphic Agency. (TASS)

• Belgium is considering whether to supply its F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

• A UN expert has urged the U.S. to reconsider its decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, saying these could harm civilians even decades after the end of the conflict there.

IN DETAIL

Poland stops arming Ukraine 

The Polish prime minister says it will no longer arm Ukraine and instead focus on building up its own stocks of weapons. The shift of stance by Mateusz Morawiecki comes weeks before an election.

Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies over the conflict, but the countries have fallen out over Ukrainian grain exports after Warsaw extended a ban on them.

"We are no longer transferring any weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming ourselves with the most modern weapons," Morawiecki told Polsat News. Poland is not currently supplying arms to Ukraine and "will see" about future deliveries, the state assets minister added. 

Morawiecki's words came after Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to the foreign ministry to protest against comments made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following Poland's decision to extend the grain ban.

The ban was introduced to protect Polish farmers from a surge of grain and food imports from Ukraine, with the consequences of the conflict blocking Ukraine's routes via Black Sea ports.

Zelenskyy had told the UN General Assembly Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but added that the "political theatre" around grain imports was only helping Moscow. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced curbs on grain imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into five EU states, including Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukraine's foreign ministry called for calm in the dispute, with a foreign ministry spokesman urging the Poles to "put aside their emotions."

Ukraine's energy facilities attacked

Russia carried out its biggest missile attack in weeks across Ukraine on Thursday, pounding energy facilities in what officials said appeared to be the first salvo in a new air campaign against the Ukrainian power grid.

Power cuts were reported in five Ukrainian regions in the west, center and east, reviving memories of multiple air strikes on critical infrastructure last winter that caused sweeping outages for millions of Ukrainians during the bitter cold.

Officials said at least 18 people were wounded in the air strikes. "Winter is coming. Tonight Russia renews missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure," lawmaker Andrii Osadchuk said.

Grid operator Ukrenergo said it was the first Russian attack on power infrastructure in six months.

Ukraine has been racing for months to repair infrastructure after attacks last winter damaged nearly half of the country's energy system and forced grid operators to impose regular rolling power cuts.

This year, Ukraine has better, Western-supplied air defenses, but still has the huge challenge of defending against attacks in such a big country.

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