Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to deliver a key annual speech in which he is expected to offer an "extensive report" on world politics, a day after he repeated unfounded claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a "dirty bomb" — an explosive containing radioactive material — on its own soil. Kyiv and Western powers have dismissed the claim and warned that Moscow could use it as a pretext for escalating the war.


Russia also began its annual nuclear exercises, which are routine but of heightened significance as Russia has repeatedly wielded the threat of nuclear weapons since invading Ukraine. In the past, similar drills have lasted several days.


Here's the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.


1. Key developments


Putin's speech will be "very important," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. It is titled "The World After Hegemony: Justice and Security for All," according to the Kremlin-linked Valdai Discussion Club. The annual speech has in previous years brought together international thinkers and analysts, but it is unclear how the global backlash over Putin's war in Ukraine will affect attendance. Putin's speech last year focused on U.S.- Russian relations, sanctions, Ukraine and the possibility of recognizing the Taliban, according to the state-run Tass news agency.


Russia's nuclear drills involved practice launches of cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles, per Russian state media. The United States said Russia had notified it of the planned exercises.


Western commercial satellites could become a "legitimate target for retaliation" if used for military purposes, a Russian official said Wednesday. In a statement to a United Nations meeting, the deputy head of Russia's delegation, Konstantin Vorontsov, accused the United States and its allies of using "civilian, including commercial, infrastructure elements in outer space for military purposes" as part of the war in Ukraine. "Apparently, these States do not realize that such actions in fact constitute indirect participation in military conflicts," he said.


Ukraine's energy system was once again targeted by Russia overnight, the country's main grid operator, Ukrenergo, said early Thursday. The damage at facilities in central Ukraine means that further disruption to the power supply is possible in a number of regions, including Kyiv, it added. In his daily speech Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said energy workers face unprecedented pressure as Russian attacks against energy infrastructure intensify ahead of winter.


2. Battleground updates


Attacks were also reported in the Kyiv region overnight, governor Oleksiy Kuleba wrote in an update on Telegram, as air raid alerts were announced. Separately, an official from the southern Zaporizhzhia region said buildings were damaged in attacks on the outskirts of the city. No casualties were reported in either location.


Ukrainian efforts to push Russian forces out of the southern Kherson region are being challenged by rainy weather and the terrain, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said this week in an interview with Fox News. Rain makes Ukraine's troops move "a little bit slowly," he said, but he emphasized that they continue to advance step by step.


The Russian government could seize assets in the four territories it illegally claimed to annex last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, including property and wealth left behind by those fleeing the fighting. Speaking to reporters, Peskov said "abandoned assets … cannot be left idle." He added, "This is completely normal, because this is the territory of the Russian Federation."


Fierce fighting continued in Donetsk around the city of Avdiyivka, Zelensky said during a speech late Wednesday. Ukraine's President also announced the release of 10 Ukrainians from Russian captivity and urged front-line units to capture more enemy soldiers as fodder for future exchanges.


3. Global impact


The body of a U.S. citizen who died fighting in Ukraine has been identified and released to Ukrainian custody, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Joshua Jones, 24, was fighting alongside Ukraine's military when he was killed in August, Ukrainian officials said. "The remains will soon be returned to the family," the State Department said.


Ford Motor Co. announced it had "finalized the exit of its previously suspended operations in Russia" by selling shares in a joint venture with Russian automaker Sollers. "The sale follows the full suspension of all operations in Russia, including manufacturing, supply of parts, IT and engineering support, in March this year," Ford said in a Wednesday statement on its website.


The Polish Senate passed a resolution recognizing Russia's government as a "terrorist regime." In the resolution, lawmakers highlighted reports of Russian forces torturing, murdering, kidnapping and deporting Ukrainian civilians. "We know all these acts of state terrorism well from the history books. Europeans believed that they would never again be threatened with genocide and war crimes," a Senate release said.


The International Energy Agency forecast that global emissions will peak in 2025, as countries pursue more sustainable energy policies in response to the war. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is prompting a wholesale reorientation of global energy trade, leaving Russia with a much-diminished position," a report from the agency said.


4. From our correspondents


WNBA star Brittney Griner may go to a penal colony: Earlier this week, a Russian court rejected an appeal of her more than nine-year prison sentence for drug charges.


Most penal colonies are prison facilities where inmates are required to perform labor during their sentence, and the conditions are known to be harsh, with some similarities to Soviet-era gulags. Past prisoners of penal colonies have reported long days, with 16 to 17 hours of labor, invasive surveillance and denial of medical care, reporters Amy Cheng, Ellen Francis, Robyn Dixon and Adam Taylor write.

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