Ukraine Latest: Zelenskiy Pushes Energy Frugality After Attacks

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(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his citizens to limit energy consumption, accusing Russia of trying to “kill” power and heating for millions at the onset of winter.

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Germany agreed to send Patriot missiles to Poland as part of an air-defense deal. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the missiles would be deployed near the Ukrainian border, securing an accord less than a week after an explosion killed two people in a village near the Ukrainian border.

Powerful blasts shook the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant over the weekend, including more than a dozen on Sunday morning, the UN’s atomic agency said. Some buildings and systems have been damaged, but none critically so far.

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Key Developments

  • Russia Reiterates It Won’t Sell Oil to Nations That Cap Prices

  • Poland Floats Deploying Missiles as Germany Offers Patriots

  • Ukraine Nuclear Site Damaged by Powerful Explosions, UN Says

  • Kazakhstan Vote Sets Stage for Putin Ally to Move Past Riots

  • Europe Faces Years of LNG Insecurity and Competition

On the Ground

Ukraine’s army is advancing “little by little,” engaging with Russian troops in the eastern Luhansk region, Zelenskiy said Sunday night. While the fiercest battles remain in the Donetsk region, fighting there has ebbed because of a deterioration in the weather.

(All times CET)

Zelenskiy Urges ‘Very Frugal’ Energy Consumption (10:40 p.m.)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the damage from recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy installations “is so significant that all our people and businesses should be very frugal and spread consumption over the hours of the day.” In his nightly address on Monday, he added that the situation is particularly difficult in Kyiv and the regions of Vinnytsia, Sumy, Ternopil and Cherkasy.

“Today, our energy teams had to apply not only stabilizing electricity cuts, but also emergency ones. This is caused by a level of consumption much higher than the country can provide at this time,” Zelenskiy said.

Germany, Poland Agree on Air-Defense Deal Involving Patriot Missiles (5:22 p.m.)

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht agreed with Poland’s Blaszczak to deliver Patriot air-defense systems and deploy Eurofighter jets to help secure Polish airspace.

“Poland is our friend, ally and stands out as a neighbor of Ukraine,” Lambrecht said in a statement. Details of the agreement will be worked out by specialists.

Lambrecht, who told the Rheinische Post newspaper earlier about the offer, said in the interview that Germany plans to extend a deployment of Patriot batteries in Slovakia, a NATO member state that also borders Ukraine, through 2023 -- “and maybe even longer.”

Poland Floats Deploying Missiles as Germany Offers Patriots (2:28 p.m.)

“During today’s telephone conversation with the German side, I will propose that the system be stationed near the border with Ukraine,” Poland’s Blaszczak said in a post on Twitter.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced the Patriot offer, as well as bolstered air policing with German Eurofighters, in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper on Monday.

Zelenskiy Equates Russian Attacks with Weapons of Mass Destruction (2:20 p.m.)

Russia is targeting key energy infrastructure in Ukraine in order to “kill” electricity, heating and water supply this winter for millions of people, tantamount to using “weapons of mass destruction,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to NATO’s annual session in Madrid.

Ukraine is certain that it’ll be able to restore peace and return territory within its borders along its eastern and southern flanks, preventing “tyranny” from threatening Europe, Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine Plans to Raise Oil Transit Fee After Russian Strikes (1:41 p.m.)

Ukraine plans to raise transit fees for Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to eastern Europe next year due to Moscow’s attacks on the nation’s power supplies.

Ukrtransnafta JSC, the operator of Ukraine’s oil pipeline network, informed its Russian counterpart Transneft PJSC that “continued destruction of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure has led to a significant shortage of electricity, an increase in its costs, a shortage of fuel, spare parts,” according to a letter from the company seen by Bloomberg.

Stoltenberg Eyes More Defense Spending (12:10 p.m.)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he expected allies to agree to stronger commitments to increase defense spending at the annual leaders’ summit in Vilnius next summer.

While allies still need to agree on the next defense spending pledge to succeed the current aim to spend 2% of GDP by 2024, Stoltenberg said “I’m absolutely confident the ambitions will be increased in one way or another.” Even if allies decide to keep the 2% figure, it will likely be maintained “more as a floor than as a ceiling” for defense spending, he said, speaking before the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid.

Russia Intensifies Shelling of Kherson (12:10 p.m.)

Russian troops, which are now concentrated on the left bank of the Dnipro river, to the south of the de-occupied city of Kherson, intensified shelling of the nearby areas, deputy head of the region’s council, Serhii Khlan, said at a briefing. The situation in Kherson remains difficult, with the city lacking electricity and water due to infrastructure damaged by Russian troops before their withdrawal.

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