WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday accused Russian soldiers of committing war crimes and killing civilians in Kherson, parts of which were retaken by Ukraine's army last week after Russia pulled out.

KHERSON RECAPTURE

* Zelenskiy said investigators had uncovered more than 400 Russian war crimesand found the bodies of servicemen and civilians in areas of Kherson region freed from Russian occupation.

* Reuters was unable to verify his allegations. Russia denies its troops intentionally target civilians.

* Utility companies were working to restore critical infrastructure mined by fleeing Russian forces, with most homes in Kherson still without electricity and water, regional officials said.

* Residents held flowers and kissed Ukrainian soldiers who were moving into the right bank of the Dnipro River.

* Ukrainian railways offered symbolic tickets to the cities that remain under Russian control, promising that tickets can be used after they are liberated.

DONETSK REGION

* Zelenskiy said that fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region was "just as intense as they have been in previous days".

DIPLOMACY

* Russia on Sunday called for the G20 to stop talking about security and focus on the world's most pressing socio-economic problems, ahead of a summit set to be dominated by Western criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi emphasised "further enhancing cooperation in the political, trade and economic fields, including the transport and logistics sector" during a phone call, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

* Ukraine will decide the timing and contents of any negotiation framework with Russia, according to a readout of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

* U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said some sanctions on Russia could remain in place even after any eventual peace agreement with Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.

* Russia said there was no agreement yet to extend a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea.

ART

* Renowned graffiti artist Banksy unveiled a work in Ukraine's Borodyanka, which had been occupied by Russia until April and heavily damaged by fighting in the early days of Moscow's invasion.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

The UK economy is sinking into a recession due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Britain’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt claimed in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper.

“Stability is what has been missing – mainly thanks to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a ‘made in Russia’ recession and we need to restore that stability as the first step to growth,” Hunt said.

The cabinet minister believes a recession is now unavoidable, after the economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, with a further shrinking expected due to inflation. Recession is traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. Last week the Bank of England predicted that the UK could be stuck in a recession for two years.

Hunt is not alone in blaming Russia for global and local crises. Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting earlier on similar statements voiced by Washington, said Western countries are using the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a “lifeline” that allows them to “blame their own miscalculations on others, in this case Russia,” but that Moscow has “absolutely nothing to do with it.”

An unprecedented number of economic restrictions have been imposed on Russia since the start of its military offensive in late February. Moscow has described the measures as backfiring on the on the West, causing soaring inflation due to the rise in energy prices as a result of oil and gas restrictions. In the UK, for instance, inflation is forecast to reach a 40-year high of about 11% this quarter.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to make his first fiscal statement as finance chief next week, where he will present measures intended to stabilize the UK economy. They will reportedly include large spending cuts, new taxes, and hikes of existing taxes.

“The number one thing that I can do is help the Bank of England bring down inflation. Because the things… destabilizing the economy are businesses worried about whether it’s wise to invest and families wondering whether it’s wise to spend… It’s very likely… the question is not really whether we’re in recession, but what we can do to make it shorter and shallower,” Hunt said.

*Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo calls on Western leaders to tone down their rhetoric in respect of Russia at the Group of Twenty summit in Bali, the Politico newspaper said on Sunday, citing its sources.

According to the Politico, Indonesian officials, including President Widodo, are pressing Western colleagues to be more flexible and look at a possibility of using less tough rhetoric concerning Moscow. It is done to make Russia, which is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, agree the summit’s final resolution, it said, adding that Widodo would see it as his personal success if the resolution is passed.

The Politico notes that Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, and China won’t want to condemn Russia in the final declaration.

The G20 summit will be held in Bali on November 15-16. Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Reuters/RT/TASS