Key facts
- Rubio said no final concrete plan on security guarantees had been settled and that concepts had been discussed.
- Rubio said guarantees would be key to ending the war and must be acceptable to Russia.
- A HUR source told the Kyiv Independent Russia plans strikes on grain, oil, dairy, meat and poultry facilities.
- Commander Yevhen Lasiychuk said Russia is bombing bridges and dams to blockade Zaporizhzhia.
- Reuters, citing two industry sources, said nine of Russia's 35 major refineries were disrupted in the past week.
- Poland and Ukraine signed drone technology working groups and are finalizing a two MiG-29 transfer, Tomczyk said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on November 9 that any post-war security guarantees for Ukraine would need to be acceptable to Russia, calling such arrangements key to ending the war. Speaking to reporters, he said no final concrete plan had been settled and that concepts had been discussed, adding that it has to be something Russia agrees to as well for it to work.
Asked whether Washington could formalize guarantees through a treaty, Rubio did not rule it out, saying it had not been discussed at that level of detail and pointing to the difficulty of securing Senate approval. The remarks came ahead of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi scheduled for November 10 to 11, to which the Kremlin has said it will send senior diplomats and military officials.
A source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent that Russia is preparing strikes on food industry facilities across Ukraine, including grain elevators, warehouses, vegetable oil plants, dairy and meat processing plants and poultry farms. The source said Moscow aims to destabilize Ukraine's food security and reduce foreign currency earnings from agricultural exports while raising Russia's share of global agricultural exports to Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In August, Russian strikes hit distribution centers belonging to supermarket chains including Silpo and Novus, leaving some Kyiv stores short of vegetables, dairy and meat.
Yevhen Lasiychuk, commander of Ukraine's 7th Air Assault Corps, said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda published on November 10 that Russian forces are striking bridges and dams with guided aerial bombs to impose a logistical blockade on Zaporizhzhia, with threats developing from the Orikhiv direction to the south and Huliaipole to the east. He said Russia may be seeking another axis of advance to draw Ukrainian troops from Donetsk Oblast. DeepState territorial data cited by Visua put Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast at around 75%.