Deaths and damage to ship reported in attack in Rostov-on-Don; Zelenskyy to reportedly push EU plan to use frozen Russian assets. What we know on day 1,394

Ukrainian forces have struck a tanker in a southern Russian port and caused deaths, the regional governor said early on Thursday. The strike in the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don damaged the vessel and, according to preliminary information, crew members had died, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram. Mayor Alexander Skriabin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying: “Emergency teams are extinguishing the fire on the tanker that was struck while docked in a drone attack … A leak of oil products was avoided. Unfortunately, there are dead and injured.” Slyusar also said parts of a high-rise apartment block under construction were damaged in the city and two private homes burned in a nearby town.

Russian air strikes on and around the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia wounded at least 32 people , local authorities said. All the wounded came from the city and its surroundings, the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram. Rescue services earlier said five children were among the casualties in a provisional toll of 30 after the Russian strikes on a block of flats, a house and an educational establishment on Wednesday. Firefighters were seen battling a blaze in a multi-storey housing block. Fedorov said two people were also wounded in a Russian drone strike on a civilian car in Kushuhum, south of Zaporizhzhia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Brussels on Thursday to convince European partners to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, despite Washington “pressuring” EU countries against the plan , Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed Ukrainian official as saying. The European Union has laid out a plan to use the frozen assets to harness €90bn ($105bn) for a loan to help Ukraine repel Moscow’s forces, with the money to be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.

Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn ($217bn) assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies. Dan Sabbagh and Jennifer Rankin report that security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday are debating whether to approve the lending of urgently needed funds for Ukraine secured on Russian central bank assets.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing to wage a new “year of war” on his country in 2026 , after Vladimir Putin said Moscow would “certainly” achieve its objectives. “Today, we heard yet another signal from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war,” the Ukrainian president said in his evening address on Wednesday. The statement was a reaction to the Russian president, who earlier said Moscow would “certainly” achieve its goals in its Ukraine offensive, including seizing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own, amid the flurry of international diplomacy to end the war. Putin warned that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its allies rejected the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

The UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn ($3.3bn) from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine , telling the billionaire to release the funds within 90 days or face court action, reports Jessica Elgot. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, told the House of Commons the funds from Abramovich, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted into a new foundation for humanitarian causes in Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply.