We can now bring you a response from the Ukrainian foreign ministry, which comes after some countries announced earlier today they would temporarily be closing their embassies in Kyiv.

For the US embassy, it cited "specific information of a potential significant air attack" in the capital for its temporary closure.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry says that attack threats like these are "unfortunately" a daily reality for the country, adding the threat today is "as relevant as on the previous thousand days".

Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi says: "We believe that it would be right for partners to react on the 1001st day in the same way as on the previous thousand days, without any additional information pressure."

Ukrainian citizens should "remain vigilant" and not ignore air raid sirens, he says, adding "as always with the threat of Russian missile attack".

The US, Spain, Italy and Greece all announced temporary closures today, but Spain's embassy has since reopened.

Ukrainian officials claim Russia has attacked a humanitarian aid delivery point in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Kherson's military administration says an enemy projectile hit the roof of a building where volunteers were distributing bread.

It also says a unmanned aerial Russian vehicle targeted and hit a nearby vehicle. There were no causalities, the officials said.

Russia has not commented.

The Ukrainian government is accusing Russia of spreading fake messages about a large attack on Kyiv and others cities today.

Russia is carrying out a "massive informational and psychological attack against Ukraine," the country's military intelligence agency says in a post on Telegram.

The agency, which is part of the Ministry of Defence, adds that messages about "the threat of a particularly massive rocket-bomb attack on Ukrainian cities" are being spread on social networks.

"We urge you to trust information only from official resources," the agency says, adding Russia is resorting to "measures of intimidation and psychological pressure on society".

It further urges people to not panic, but also stresses people should not ignore the air raids.

The Spanish embassy in Kyiv has reopened after a temporary closure this morning, Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

In a statement, they say the embassy has "reopened after the temporary evacuation. The consular section continues to carry out its functions, on a limited basis, in Warsaw".

Image source, Reuters

• The US, Spain, Italy and Greece are temporarily closing their embassies in Kyiv. The US said it was acting "out of an abundance of caution", but cited "specific information of a potential significant air attack".
• US President Joe Biden has agreed to give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines, following his decision days earlier to allow Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike inside Russian territory
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News he thought Ukraine would lose if the US decides to cut its military aid
• The Kremlin said "freezing the conflict will not work in any way", but added President Vladimir Putin is open to negotiations

The air raid alert in Kyiv is now over, the city's military administration says on its Telegram channel.

As we've mentioned, there can be several such air raid alerts a day and the government advice is always to take shelter.

An air raid alert has been declared in Kyiv and several other regions, which the Ukrainian air force has described as a missile threat.

The air raid comes hours after the US closed its Kyiv embassy due to "specific information of a potential significant air attack".

Air raid alerts in the Ukrainian capital have become an almost common occurrence since the beginning of the war, but the head of Ukraine's presidential administration has urged citizens not to ignore this one.

We've been reporting that several Western embassies in Kyiv have said they would close today:

• The US embassy in Kyiv has temporarily closed after receiving "specific information of a potential significant air attack on 20 November". "Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place," it said in a statement, external
• Following the temporary closure of the US embassy in Kyiv, Spain has also announced that it will shut its own embassy over a "possible major airstrike" in the capital
• More recently, Italy and Greece embassies in Kyiv have also announced they will be temporarily closed for today
• The British embassy in Ukraine remains open, with the government saying it will continue to monitor the situation in Kyiv

Returning from the G20 Summit in Brazil, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters: "We have believed from the beginning that the Ukraine-Russia war could not be ended with more weapons, more blood, more tears, but with more peace efforts, more goodwill and diplomacy."

Reactions come following US President Joe Biden's approval to providing Ukraine anti-personnel land mines, and Russia's change to its nuclear doctrine.

US officials also confirmed that Ukraine had used US-made longer-range missiles to strike Russian territory, after Biden's administration granted Kyiv permission to do so.

Erdogan has criticised this decision from Biden, saying it is a "big mistake" and will "fuel the war".

Beijing called for a cooling of tensions on Wednesday, with the foreign ministry spokesperson saying "all parties should remain calm and exercise restraint," AFP reports.

We'll continue to bring you reactions as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday ambitions to produce at least 30,000 long-range drones and 3,000 cruise missiles and missile-drones next year.

Increasing arms production is part of Zelensky's 10-point "internal resilience plan".

In a speech to the Ukrainian parliament yesterday, he said Ukraine produced more than 2.5 million rounds this year, according to the country's public broadcaster.

He added: "We made long-range Neptune missiles. And the first hits are already done. I set the task of making 3,000 cruise missiles.

"Our weapons will always be our first guarantor of security. We are preparing a reliable financial basis for this. We are directing our own investments in the production of weapons and attracting partners."

Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe Correspondent, in Warsaw

The decision to send anti-personnel mines to Ukraine will be welcomed by its troops but is highly controversial elsewhere. It’s also a big shift in policy for Joe Biden himself, who previously called Donald Trump “reckless” for lifting long-standing US restrictions on the use of mines when he was last in the White House.

The problem is the danger these weapons present to civilians, killing and maiming indiscriminately as they are buried underground or scattered on the surface. Critics – and there are very many - call them inhumane.

The other key issue is the extraordinary length of time required once a war is over, to clear land that has been mined.

Image source, Reuters

That’s why more than 160 countries have banned their use, including Ukraine – which before this full-scale invasion had been busy destroying its stockpiles. Right now, though, Kyiv believes it needs all the help it can get against a larger, advancing Russian army.

The US says the anti-personnel mines it will supply are what it calls "non-persistent", meaning that after some days they lose charge and can no longer detonate. Human rights and anti-mine groups say that’s not always the case. The US also says Ukraine has agreed to use them away from densely populated areas, though it’s unclear how that can be regulated.

Russian forces, meanwhile, have been using landmines widely in Ukraine from the very start: another significant advantage on the battlefield.

But there are signs of the danger all over Ukraine: from the former soldiers with missing limbs and life-changing injuries, to the liberated villages with painted gates daubed with warning signs. The mines all have to be cleared before civilians can return to their homes.

Image source, Getty Images

Nearly 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk, a South Korean lawmaker said today, citing the country's National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Parliament intelligence committee member Lee Seong-Kweun said that troops were moved to the region in late October after completing on-site adaptation training in north eastern Russia.

He added that North Korea has also shipped additional military supplies, including multiple rocket launchers and long-range artillery.

Rumours first emerged in October that North Korean troops were about to start supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, though it didn't seem immediately clear what role they would be fulfilling.

US officials said that North Korean soldiers had clashed with Ukrainian troops on 4 November.

Seoul, however, said at this point that it did not believe troops on either side had engaged in direct combat, and that there had been an incident involving a small number of North Korean soldiers near the frontline.

Moscow and Pyongyang have not responded directly to these reports.

• You can read more on what we know about North Korean troops in Ukraine in this detailed explainer from the BBC's Kelly Ng.

Following the temporary closure of the US embassy in Kyiv, Spain has announced that it will shut its own embassy over a "possible major airstrike" in the capital.

The Spanish embassy announced that it would not be providing services during the day due to “increased risk of air strikes throughout Ukraine", news agency Efe reports.

The outlet says that in an email sent to Spanish residents in the country, the embassy recommends that they "take extreme security measures, comply with all recommendations from local authorities, and always locate a shelter".

Italy and Greece have also announced their embassies in Kyiv would stay shut for the day.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency has said that a Russian command post was "successfully struck" in the town of Gubkin, in Russia's Belgorod region, around 170 km (105 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

The statement, which was posted on the agency's Telegram channel, came a day after Ukraine used US Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) missiles to strike Russian territory.

The statement did not specify exactly when the attack took place or the type of weapon used.

The Russian defence ministry said today that it had intercepted 44 drones launched by Ukraine's armed forces overnight, including three over the Belgorod region.

The Kremlin says that "freezing the conflict will not work in any way", but spokesman Dmitry Peskov adds that President Vladimir Putin is open to negotiations, according to the Reuters news agency.

Peskov also says Joe Biden's outgoing US administration is doing "everything it can to continue the war in Ukraine".

It follows recent decisions by the US to allow Kyiv to use long-range missiles to strike targets in Russia and to use short-life anti-personnel landmines on Ukrainian territory.

"If you look at the trends of the outgoing US administration, they are fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and are doing everything they can to do so," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters.

He also declines to comment on the US decision to temporarily close its embassy in the Ukrainian capital and describes the US authorisation for Ukraine to use long-range missiles as "a very dangerous escalation on the part of the United States".

James FitzGerald
North America reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The news that US President Joe Biden has - according to a US defence official - agreed to provide Ukraine with landmines comes after a recent US decision to give Kyiv a broader license to use American missiles.

In recent days, it was confirmed that US-made long-range missiles had been used by Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia. Previously the US insisted that the missiles should only be used in Ukrainian territory.

The steady ratcheting up of support comes with just two months left in office for Biden before his successor, Donald Trump, is inaugurated as the next US president on 20 January 2025.

Support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion has been one of the defining features of Biden's time in office, and he has signed off tens of billions of dollars in military assistance for Kyiv.

Trump has been more sceptical of aid for Ukraine. He has vowed to end the war "in a day" - without saying how - and reportedly spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after his US election win on 5 November. Russia denied that happened - and Trump's team declined to comment.

Image source, White Sands Missile Range

As we've been reporting, it has been confirmed that the US-made long-range Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) have been used by Ukraine to strike Russian territory - prior to Biden's approval of landmines.

Ukraine already had the US-supplied weaponry, but in recent days US President Joe Biden's administration gave Kyiv permission to use them against targets inside Russia.

After reports emerged of the US's decision, Russia warned of an "appropriate" and "tangible" response if the missiles were against is territory.

"Kyiv's use of long-range missiles to attack our territory would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia, as well as a radical change in the essence and nature of the conflict," Russia's foreign ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has since approved changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine which now states that an attack from a non-nuclear state, if backed by a nuclear power, will be treated as a joint assault on Russia.

Why Ukraine needs landminespublished at 09:31 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November

09:31 GMT 20 November

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Dnipro, Ukraine

For Ukraine’s beleaguered forces trying to halt Russian advances up and down the long front line in the east, mines are vital.

Human rights groups may not like them, but faced with Russia’s overwhelming might, in terms of manpower and artillery, there are no comfortable choices.

Russia’s tactics currently involve sending small groups of soldiers – sometimes no more than 3 to 5 men – to walk or ride motorbikes behind Ukrainian positions.

These are effectively suicide missions – the men are invariably killed or captured.

But in besieged towns like Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove, Ukrainian analysts say squads will sometimes be sent out every 20 minutes for hours at a time, creating major headaches for Ukraine’s exhausted front-line troops.

“It’s very difficult to deal with,” Serhiy Kuzan from the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre told us.

“We need more anti-personnel mines.”

Much of the fighting is taking place out in the vast rural expanses of the Donbas. Wooded areas between huge open areas of farmland.

With much of the civilian population already evacuated, Ukraine argues that the tactical use of “non-persistent” mines poses minimal risk to civilians and is absolutely essential to stem Russia’s advance.

Two people were killed in the Kherson region of Ukraine over the past day, regional officials say.

Kherson's military administration also said 15 were injured and homes and "critical" infrastructure were hit.

Another 15 injuries were also reported across Ukraine, according to local media reports.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, put into place in 1997, is one of the major humanitarian initiatives of the last three decades to be adopted by the international community.

The convention prohibits the "use, production, stockpiling and transfer of these weapons" and requires action be taken to address their long-term effects.

But why - out of all the weapons used in wars - was there such a drive to ban anti-personnel mines?

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which played a major part in driving the campaign, writes that the mines "leave a long-lasting legacy of death, injury and suffering. Stepping on a mine will often injure or kill one or more people – frequently children – with lifelong consequences for the victims and their families".

Neither the US nor Russia are part of the 164 signatories of the ban. Ukraine, on the other hand, did sign on.

Ukraine has reportedly pledged to only use mines that remain active for a limited period of time, which means they become inert after a pre-set period of time - anywhere from four hours to two weeks.