Ukraine news – live: Putin’s troops ‘dumped remains of fellow countrymen’ in Kherson landfill

Russian soldiers dumped and burned the bodies of their countrymen in a local landfill in Kherson, residents in the area told The Guardian.

A 40-year-old resident said that the remains of fallen Russian soldiers were moved to the landfill and burned each time the Ukrainian army shelled Moscow’s troops there.

This is believed to have occurred over the summer when the Russian soldiers were struggling to keep control of the territory.

Some discarded Russian helmets were also found in the landfill after Ukraine recaptured the area last week.

It comes amid warnings that the besieged country, battered by nine months of war, will struggle to see out the coming winter.

Civilians are being evacuated from recently liberated areas of the Kherson region and neighbouring Mykolaiv, fearing that damage to the infrastructure is too severe for people to endure the colder months there.

Ukrainian state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo reported that 40 per cent of Ukrainians were experiencing difficulties with power.

The situation is particularly bad in Kyiv and nearby regions, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Key Points

• Ukrainians evacuated from Kherson ahead of winter

• Putin’s troops ‘likely struggling to maintain credible defence’ on Luhansk flank

• Attacks on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant must stop immediately – IAEA

• Ukraine holding battle frontlines in south, fierce fighting in east

• Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ under pressure to deliver after Russia’s retreat in Kherson

Ukraine prepares for ‘worst winter’ as Zelensky says country will prevail

09:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Ukraine will prevail in the war against Russia as he marked the annual Day of Dignity and Freedom.

Praising the resilience and contributions of ordinary citizens to the war effort, the Ukrainian leader said his country would continue to stand firm.

“We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom,” Mr Zelensky said in a video address.

His words came as Ukrainians prepared for the “worst winter” of their lives, according to residents affected by power cuts as Russia continues to concentrate its attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure.

David Harding reports:

Ukraine prepares for ‘worst winter’ as Zelensky says country will prevail

Ukraine's security service raids Kyiv monastery, suspects Russian sabotage

08:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine‘s SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU said.

The sprawling Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex that was raided is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church known as the Moscow Patriarchate.

“These measures are being taken ... as part of the systemic work of the SBU to counter the destructive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine,” the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement.

It said the search was aimed at preventing the use of the cave monastery as “the centre of the Russian world” and carried out to look into suspicions “about the use of the premises ... for sheltering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign citizens, weapons storage”.

The SBU did not say what the result of the raid was. The Moscow Patriarchate did not immediately comment.

In May, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate ended its ties with the Russian church over Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine and condemned the support of Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia‘s church, for what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.

Ukraine says the full-scale invasion began an unprovoked war of aggression.

A 2020 survey by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Centre found that 34% of Ukrainians identified as members of the main Orthodox Church of Ukraine, while 14% were members of Ukraine‘s Moscow Patriarchate Church.

In 2019, Ukraine was given permission by the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide to form a church independent of Moscow, largely ending centuries of religious ties between the two countries.

‘Close call’: UN claims nuclear disaster narrowly avoided by fighting around Zaporizhzhia

08:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine narrowly escaped disaster during fighting at the weekend around Europe’s largest atomic power plant with a barrage of shells, some falling near reactors and damaging a radioactive waste storage building, the UN nuclear watchdog claimed.

Russia and Ukraine on Monday traded blame for at least a dozen explosions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian control since soon after it invaded but is across the Dnipro river from areas controlled by Kyiv.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Nato members to guarantee protection from “Russian sabotage” at nuclear facilities.

The head of Russia’s state-run nuclear energy agency, Rosatom, said it had discussed Sunday’s shelling with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and said there was a risk of a nuclear accident.

Pavel Polityuk reports:

UN claims nuclear disaster narrowly avoided by fighting around Zaporizhzhia

Ukrainians to suffer ‘blackouts until March'

07:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Millions of Ukrainians are most likely to live with blackouts - a daily occurrence across the country - at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said on Monday.

Sergey Kovalenko, the head of YASNO, which provides energy for Kyiv, said workers are rushing to complete repairs before the winter cold arrives.

“Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about options that will help you wait a long outage,” Kovalenko said. “It’s better to do it now than to be miserable.”

Citizens in the recently liberated southern city of Kherson, where Kyiv says Russian troops destroyed critical infrastructure before leaving earlier this month, can apply to be relocated to areas where security and heating issues are less acute.

In a Telegram message for Kherson residents - especially the elderly, women with children and those who are ill or disabled - deputy prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted a number of ways residents can express interest in leaving. “You can be evacuated for the winter period to safer regions of the country,” she wrote, citing both security and infrastructure problems.

Ukraine braces for harsh winter as Russian strikes cripple power facilities

07:52 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainians braced for a winter with little or no power in several areas including Kyiv where temperatures have already dropped below freezing as relentless Russian strikes crippled half of the country’s energy capacity.

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged people to conserve power, particularly in hard-hit areas such as Kyiv, Vinnytsia in the southwest, Sumy in the north and Odesa on the Black Sea.

“The systematic damage to our energy system from strikes by the Russian terrorists is so considerable that all our people and businesses should be mindful and redistribute their consumption throughout the day,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “Try to limit your personal consumption of electricity.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the blackouts and Russia‘s strikes on energy infrastructure are the consequences of Kyiv being unwilling to negotiate, the state TASS news agency reported late last week. On Monday evening, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia was bombarding Kherson from across the Dnipro River, now that its troops had fled.

“There is no military logic: they just want to take revenge on the locals,” he tweeted.

Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

Kyiv and the West describe Russia‘s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.

Putin to meet soldiers’ mothers - Vedomosti newspaper

07:38 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian president Vladimir Putin will in coming days meet the mothers of soldiers amid fierce fighting in Ukraine, the Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing three unidentified sources in the presidential administration.

Russia celebrates Mother’s Day on Nov. 27. The Kremlin has not officially announced any Putin meeting with soldiers’ mothers.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to deny or confirm the meeting, Vedomosti said.

Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: Kyiv faces lengthy power outages as winter sets in

07:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainians braced for a winter with little or no power in several areas including Kyiv where temperatures have already dropped below freezing as relentless Russian strikes crippled half of the country’s energy capacity.

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged residents of Kyiv and several other areas to limit electricity use.

Ukrainians are most likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said. As they head into a cold winter, residents of a bombed-out Ukrainian village say they appreciate a warm bath in a mural painted by graffiti artist Banksy. The mural shows a man scrubbing his back in a bathtub.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what could happen next?

06:52 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s “special military operation” has now been raging for nine months, the conflict continuing to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Ukraine needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, an entirely baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against a sovereign neighbour state that happens to have a Jewish president.

Ukraine has fought back courageously ever since and continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what could happen next?

Potential Ukraine threat a challenge to Russia’s Black Sea fleet - MoD

06:37 , Arpan Rai

Any demonstration of a Ukrainian capability to threaten Novorssiysk would highly likely represent a further strategic challenge for the Russian Black Sea fleet, the British defence ministry said today.

The ministry was refering to multiple reports of an attack that took place at an oil terminal in Novorssiysk port on Russia’s Black Sea coast which is close to a major base of the BSF.

“The BSF relocated many of its submarine operations to Novorssiysk after its Sevastopol base in occupied Crimea was struck by Ukraine over the summer. Russian commanders will likely be concerned about threats to the Novorssiysk-based amphibious landing ship flotilla,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

It noted that these vessels are “relatively vulnerable without escorts and have assumed a more important role in supplying Russian forces in Ukraine since the Kerch Bridge was damaged in October.”

The prevailing threat would also further undermine Russia’s already reduced maritime influence in the Black Sea, the MoD said.

Desperate residents flee inhabitable Kherson as evacuation train arrives

06:12 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted a number of ways for residents in Kherson to express interest in leaving as the city, recently reclaimed by Kyiv, has been battered to the limit of habitability.

The politician shared a Telegram message for Kherson residents - especially the elderly, women with children and those who are ill or disabled.

“You can be evacuated for the winter period to safer regions of the country,” she wrote, citing both security and infrastructure problems.

Nuclear disaster narrowly avoided amid fighting around Zaporizhzhia

05:50 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine managed to narrowly escape a nuclear disaster during fighting at the weekend, the UN nuclear watchdog claimed, as it confirmed that Europe’s largest atomic power plant saw a barrage of shells, some falling near reactors and damaging a radioactive waste storage building.

On Monday, Russia and Ukraine traded blame for at least a dozen explosions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian control since soon after it invaded but is across the Dnipro river from areas controlled by Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky urged Nato members to guarantee protection from “Russian sabotage” at nuclear facilities but did not state the details of the military counterattack by his troops in the area.

UN claims nuclear disaster narrowly avoided by fighting around Zaporizhzhia

Zelensky says Ukraine will prevail as country braces for ‘worst winter’

05:22 , Arpan Rai

President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Ukraine will prevail in the war against Russia as he marked the annual Day of Dignity and Freedom.

Praising the resilience and contributions of ordinary citizens to the war effort, the Ukrainian leader said his country would continue to stand firm.

“We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom,” Mr Zelensky said in a video address.

In a separate address to the Nato parliamentary assembly, Mr Zelensky said: “Russia has bet on a genocidal policy, and that is why it is destroying our energy infrastructure.”

“To ‘kill’ electricity, water and heat supply in winter - and this is Russia’s goal - is to put the lives of millions of people in direct danger. This is equivalent to the use of weapons of mass destruction - an absolute crime,” he said.

Another conflict preoccupies Putin even as war in Ukraine goes on

05:06 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin stayed away from the G20 summit in Bali to avoid the opprobrium he would have faced over his invasion of Ukraine.

But this week he is going to be in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, as another conflict threatens to spread on Russia’s borders.

While international focus has been on Ukraine, the violent confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh – a disputed region which has led to two wars – is threatening to erupt once again.

A brief conflict two years ago has been followed by several large-scale clashes, with hundreds reported killed. Civilians have been forced to flee their homes, and there has been widespread destruction of cultural heritage. More than 120 square kilometres of its territory, says Armenia, is now occupied.

Kim Sengupta reports here:

While all eyes are on Ukraine, there’s another conflict to worry about | Kim Sengupta

Military offensive continues to bomb Ukraine: ‘Revenge on locals’

04:49 , Arpan Rai

Russia is now bombarding Kherson from across the Dnipro river after its troops made a hurried exit from the captured territory last week, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said yesterday evening.

“RF [Russian federation] began to systematically shell Kherson from the left bank. There is no military logic: they just want to take revenge on the locals. This is a huge war crime live. Has anyone seen the @UNHumanRights statements yet? Or the routine of Russian atrocities is no longer interesting?” he said on Twitter.

Elsewhere, fierce fighting has been concentrated in Ukraine’s east where Russian troop movements have been confirmed into the industrial Donbas region from around Kherson in the south — a strategic territorial target for Moscow in the invasion.

Russian forces had tried to make advances around Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donetsk, and bombarded nearby towns, Ukraine’s military said late last night.

Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilians in what Vladimir Putin has called a “special military operation”.

Russian missile installed next to New York’s Charging Bull

04:46 , Arpan Rai

Activists have placed a sculpture of a Russian missile next to the Charging Bull statue on Wall Street in New York, accusing Russia of ecocide on Ukrainian land in the course of its invasion.

Photos shared by Oleksandr Todorchuk, founder of UAnimals showed the Russian missile installation partially burried in the ground immediately next to the bull and read #StopEcocideUkraine and ‘Bull fleeing the war’

The installation focusing on the war’s impact on land and environment has been placed at the landmark location in New York for a day.

“The pop-up installation aims to draw attention to the ecocide that Russia commits during the war in Ukraine. In this action, we reimagine the essence of the popular statue and show that an angry bull may be just a frightened animal fleeing war,” read an Instagram post by Mr Todorchuk.

It added: “During a full-scale invasion, Russia kills not only people, but also millions of animals. And destroys the ecosystem in general. To fight this crime uanimals launched an international campaign #StopEcocideUkraine. I remind you that due to Russian aggression millions of animals died.”

The soil is contaminated with harmful substances, and there are 8 reserves and 12 national parks under occupation, Mr Todorchuk said in the post.

Kremlin not looking for second wave of mobilisation for Ukraine, says Russia

04:33 , Arpan Rai

Russia is not considering a second round of mobilisation to aid its war effort in Ukraine, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

There are no discussions about that, the top Moscow official said yesterday.

However, he did not refuse the possibility of Russia calling up additional men to fight against Ukrainian forces in what is now nearly a nine-month long invasion.

“I cannot speak for the ministry of defence. There are no discussions on this matter in the Kremlin,” Mr Peskov said, reported The Moscow Times.

Intelligence reports from as early as March claimed that the Russian forces are short of personnel and resources to fight a prolonged battle in Ukraine.

Russia has destroyed ‘800 cultural objects in Ukraine’

04:00 , Liam James

Russian forces have destroyed or damged around 800 cultural objects in Ukraine, Kyiv’s culture minister claimed.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV, Oleksandr Tkachenko said: “We are currently working actively, in particular with Unesco, to strengthen these facilities ahead of winter, to obtain, in particular, generators.

“It is important for us now to get through the winter so that the museums are warm and have electricity. And that, as a result, cultural life in the country continues.”

He added that Russia’s war was waged on the very right to be Ukrainian and the existence of Ukrainian culture.

“This war is against our very identity, against our people. We see not only Bucha, but also in many other liberated areas of Kharkiv and Kherson regions, Ukrainians were killed just for the right to be Ukrainians,” he said.

Power outage situation difficult in Kyiv, says Zelensky

03:38 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation with electricity outages was particularly difficult yesterday evening in Kyiv city and region, along with other districts and cities like Vinnytsia, Sumy, Ternopil, Cherkasy and Odessa.

“Please try to limit your personal use of electricity in areas where there is the most difficulty on a daily basis, and especially during peak consumption hours. Of course, there should be a very frugal approach in public places as well,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

He added that the country’s energy workers, utility workers, rescuers and everyone involved were working at their maximum.

“But the systemic damage to our energy sphere by the attacks of Russian terrorists is so significant that all our people and businesses should be very frugal and spread consumption by hours of the day,” he said.

Russians burned and dumped the bodies of their soldiers in Kherson - report

03:34 , Arpan Rai

Residents in reclaimed Kherson have accused Russian forces of dumping and burning the bodies of their soldiers in a local landfill, reported The Guardian.

The remains of fallen Russian soldiers were moved to the landfill and burned each time the Ukrainian army shelled Moscow’s troops there, 40-year-old Kherson resident Iryna told the newspaper.

For this purpose, the Russian forces had locked and sealed off the landfill where they were dumping the remains of neutralised troops, locals have said.

This is believed to have occurred over the summer when the Russian soldiers were facing visible trouble to keep their control on the territory.

The site, earlier used by locals to dispose of their rubbish, swiftly turned to a no-go area after the Russian forces took it over.

Moldova warns of harsh winter as Russian energy supplies slashed

03:00 , Liam James

Moldova warned its people to brace for a harsh winter as it was facing an “acute” energy crisis which risked stoking popular unrest with Russia’s war in Ukraine threatening its energy supplies and prices surging.

“This war is endangering the supply of electricity and gas. We are not certain we can find enough ... to heat and light our homes, and even if we do, the prices are unaffordable for our people and economy. This could jeopardise our social peace and security,” President Maia Sandu told delegates at a meeting in Paris of representatives from 50 countries and institutions to pledge aid to Ukraine’s smaller neighbour.

Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, has felt the effects of rising food and energy prices and thousands of refugees arriving in the country of about 2.5 million people, which has taken more Ukrainian refugees per head than any other country.

Although it has strong historical and linguistic ties to neighbouring European Union member Romania, Moldova relies exclusively on Russia‘s Gazprom for gas imports and is largely depended on Russian energy.

With winter arriving and Moscow slashing natural gas supplies by about 40 per cent, its ability to supply enough electricity to its population is in doubt.

Ukraine’s alleged war crimes under observation, says US #ICYMI

02:00 , Liam James

The United States is monitoring allegations that Ukraine executed Russian prisoners of war, Washington’s war crime envoy said after videos circulating on social media that Moscow claimed as evidence that Ukrainian troops had shot a group of Russians who had surrendered.

“We are obviously tracking that quite closely,” Beth Van Schaack, the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, told reporters during a telephone briefing after the UN said it was investigating the footage.

“It’s really important to emphasise that the laws of war apply to all parties equally: both the aggressor state and the defender state and this is in equal measure,” she said, adding that “all parties to the conflict must abide by international law or face the consequences.”

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has reportedly said Ukraine will investigate the incident. The country’s commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said the videos appeared to show “a staged capture” where Russian forces were not truly surrendering.

Ms Van Schaack said the scale of criminality exhibited by Russian forces was “enormous” compared to the allegations against Ukrainian troops, and noted that the two sides responded differently when allegations of atrocities surface.

“Russia inevitably responds with propaganda, denial, mis- and dis-information, whereas Ukrainian authorities have generally acknowledged abuses and have denounced them and have pledged to investigate them,” she said.

Ukraine on edge of disaster at nuclear plant, says UN

01:00 , Liam James

Ukraine narrowly escaped disaster during fighting at the weekend that rocked Europe’s largest atomic power plant with a barrage of shells, some falling near reactors and damaging a radioactive waste storage building, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said.

Russia and Ukraine traded blame for at least a dozen explosions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian control since soon after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February.

IAEA experts toured the site on Monday, and the agency said they found widespread damage but nothing that compromised the plant’s essential systems.

“They were able to confirm that despite the severity of the shelling key equipment remained intact and there were no immediate nuclear safety or security concerns,” a spokesperson said.

But, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said, “we were fortunate a potentially serious nuclear incident did not happen. Next time, we may not be so lucky.

“We are talking metres, not kilometres.”

Ukraine prepares for ‘worst winter’ as Zelensky says country will prevail

00:01 , Liam James

President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Ukraine will prevail in the war against Russia as he marked the annual Day of Dignity and Freedom.

Praising the resilience and contributions of ordinary citizens to the war effort, the Ukrainian leader said his country would continue to stand firm.

“We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom,” Mr Zelensky said in a video address.

His words came as Ukrainians prepared for the “worst winter” of their lives, according to residents affected by power cuts as Russia continues to concentrate its attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine prepares for ‘worst winter’ as Zelensky says country will prevail

Russia fired 400 times on Donbas, says Zelensky #ICYMI

Monday 21 November 2022 23:04 , Liam James

Russian forces launched almost 400 artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night in a video address.

“The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high,” Mr Zelensky said.

“In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day,” he continued.

Mr Zelensky also said troops in the south were “consistently and very calculatedly destroying the potential of the occupiers” but gave no details.

Russia withdrew its forces from the southern city of Kherson this month and moved some of them to reinforce positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, an industrial area known as the Donbas.

Four suspected Russian torture sites found in Kherson, says Ukraine prosecutor

Monday 21 November 2022 22:15 , Liam James

Ukrainian police and prosecutors have identified four places in Kherson where they suspect Russian forces tortured people before abandoning the city, the prosecutor general’s office said on Monday.

In a statement on Telegram, a spokesperson said the Russian forces had set up “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in detention centres and a police building in the southern Ukrainian city.

The police, prosecutors and experts based their findings on documents signed by the Russian forces that occupied Kherson soon after invading Ukraine in February until pulling out this month, the statement said.

They also discovered objects in the buildings including parts of rubber batons, a wooden bat, handcuffs and an incandescent lamp, and bullets were found in walls, it said.

“Various methods of torture, physical and psychological violence were applied to people in cells and basements,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Ukrainians evacuated from Kherson ahead of winter

Monday 21 November 2022 21:44 , Liam James

Ukrainian authorities are evacuating civilians from Kherson and the neighbouring Mykolaiv region, fearing that a lack of heat, power and water due to Russian shelling will make living conditions too difficult this winter.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said residents of the two southern regions, regularly shelled in the past months by Russian forces, would be provided with ““transportation, accommodation” and “medical care”.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned today about the energy crisis’s human impact on Ukraine.

“This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine,” said the WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri Kluge. “Attacks on health and energy infrastructure mean hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities are no longer fully operational, lacking fuel, water and electricity.”

He warned of health risks such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems from people trying to warm themselves by burning charcoal or wood and using diesel generators and electric heaters.

Ukraine could face blackouts until late March, says energy official

Monday 21 November 2022 20:55 , Aisha Rimi

Ukraine could face rolling blackouts throughout winter and until at least late March, said the CEO of Yasno, a Ukrainian energy supply company.

“Today we again have various outages: we started with a stabilisation schedule, but in the afternoon we received new restrictions from Ukrenergo and we are also shutting power down urgently,” Serhiy Kovalenko wrote on Facebook.

“Despite the bad weather, energy companies are now trying their best to complete the restoration before the even greater cold. And although there have been fewer power outages now, I’d like everyone to understand: most likely, Ukrainians will have to live in the mode of power outages at least until the end of March.”

According to the CEO, if there are no new attacks on the power grid, under the current conditions of power generation, the deficit can be evenly distributed throughout the country, which means that blackouts will be everywhere, but less long.

Ukrainian people’s health cannot be held hostage, says WHO

Monday 21 November 2022 20:25 , Aisha Rimi

The World Health Organisation has called for the creation of a “humanitarian health corridor” in Ukraine.

Speaking at a WHO press briefing in Kyiv, the regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, reported on the continuing health and energy impacts brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He called for the corridor to allow Ukrainians access to healthcare and humanitarian aid, adding that “access to health care cannot be held hostage”.

Dr Kluge expressed particular concern for the 17,000 HIV patients in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region who could soon run out of critical antiretroviral drugs.

He said: “This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine.

“The devastating energy crisis, the deepening mental health emergency, constraints on humanitarian access and the risk of viral infections will make this winter a formidable test for the Ukrainian health system and the Ukrainian people, but also for the world and its commitment to support Ukraine.

“The country is facing a therma-crisis on top of a perma-crisis brought on by the war and the pandemic.

“Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is either damaged or destroyed. This is already having knock-on effects on the health system and on people’s health.”

Cold and dark: Kyiv readies for 'worst winter of our lives'

Monday 21 November 2022 20:08 , Aisha Rimi

When the power is out, as it so often is, the high-rise apartment overlooking Ukraine’s war-torn capital feels like a deathtrap. No lights, no water, no way to cook food. And no elevator by which to escape from the 21st floor should a Russian missile strike. Even when electricity comes back, it’s never on for long.

“Russian strikes are plunging Ukraine into the Stone Age,” says Anastasia Pyrozhenko. In a recent 24-hour spell, her 26-story high-rise only had power for half an hour. She says the “military living conditions” have driven her and husband from their apartment.

“Our building is the highest in the area and is a great target for Russian missiles, so we left our apartment for our parents’ place and are preparing for the worst winter of our lives,” said the 25-year-old.

Read the full story:

Cold and dark: Kyiv readies for 'worst winter of our lives'

No nuclear safety concerns at Zaporizhzhia after shelling, IAEA confirms

Monday 21 November 2022 19:34 , Aisha Rimi

There are no immediate nuclear safety or security concerns at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine despite shelling at the weekend that caused widespread damage, the UN atomic watchdog said after its experts toured the site.

“They were able to confirm that “despite the severity of the shelling” key equipment remained intact and there were no immediate nuclear safety or security concerns,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement issued on Monday evening.

Ukraine’s alleged war crimes under observation, says US

Monday 21 November 2022 19:11 , Liam James

The United States is monitoring allegations that Ukraine executed Russian prisoners of war, Washington’s war crime envoy said after videos circulating on social media that Moscow claimed as evidence that Ukrainian troops had shot a group of Russians who had surrendered.

“We are obviously tracking that quite closely,” Beth Van Schaack, the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, told reporters during a telephone briefing after the UN said it was investigating the footage.

“It’s really important to emphasise that the laws of war apply to all parties equally: both the aggressor state and the defender state and this is in equal measure,” she said, adding that “all parties to the conflict must abide by international law or face the consequences.”

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has reportedly said Ukraine will investigate the incident. The country’s commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said the videos appeared to show “a staged capture” where Russian forces were not truly surrendering.

Ms Van Schaack said the scale of criminality exhibited by Russian forces was “enormous” compared to the allegations against Ukrainian troops, and noted that the two sides responded differently when allegations of atrocities surface.

“Russia inevitably responds with propaganda, denial, mis- and dis-information, whereas Ukrainian authorities have generally acknowledged abuses and have denounced them and have pledged to investigate them,” she said.

Russia will refuse oil shipments to price cap countries, says deputy PM

Monday 21 November 2022 18:41 , Liam James

Russia will not ship oil or oil products to countries imposing a price cap on its oil exports and may also cut crude production, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Monday.

He reiterated that Russia remained a reliable oil supplier and that the introduction of a price cap on Russian oil would trigger lower supply.

The G7 and Australia have agreed to ban imports of Russian oil. However, the group will allow domestic companies to facilitate shipments of Russian oil to other countries if sold under a certain price, in a measure set to take effect on 5 December.

France condemns shelling of Ukraine nuclear plants

Monday 21 November 2022 18:15 , Aisha Rimi

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine and said other nuclear plants at Rovno and Khmelnitski, as well as the Nova Kakhovka dam had also been targeted.

Mr Macron, in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also said Mr Zelensky had thanked France for its continuous support for the Ukrainian army via the delivery of supplies, a €200 million purchasing fund for Ukraine and the French contribution to European peace efforts.

Russia has destroyed 800 cultural objects, says Ukraine’s culture minister

Monday 21 November 2022 17:45 , Aisha Rimi

Russian forces have completely destroyed or partially destroyed about 800 cultural objects, said the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV he said: “We are currently working actively, in particular with UNESCO, to strengthen these facilities ahead of winter, to obtain, in particular, generators.

“It is important for us now to get through the winter so that the museums are warm and have electricity. And that, as a result, cultural life in the country continues.”

He added that Russia’s war is also a war for the very right to be Ukrainian and the existence of Ukrainian culture.

“This war is against our very identity, against our people. We see not only Bucha, but also in many other liberated areas of Kharkiv and Kherson regions, Ukrainians were killed just for the right to be Ukrainians,” he said.

One person killed after Russian shelling in Kherson

Monday 21 November 2022 17:07 , Aisha Rimi

Four people have been injured as a result of Russian shelling in Kherson.

They were taken to a regional hospital where one person died, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, wrote on Telegram.

He added that Russian shelling of the village of Antonivka injured a woman who was also taken to the Kherson regional hospital.

Luxembourg to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine

Monday 21 November 2022 16:43 , Aisha Rimi

Luxembourg has said it will send additional high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) to Ukraine.

The Minister of Defense of Luxembourg François Bausch wrote this on Twitter:“The Army of Luxembourg and the Defense Forces of Luxembourg support the Armed Forces of Ukraine by sending additional High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV). These will strengthen Ukraine’s in exercising its right to self-defence.

“Luxembourg will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

France announces €100m aid package for Moldova

Monday 21 November 2022 16:16 , Aisha Rimi

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced an additional international aid package worth more than €100m for Moldova.

The eastern European country has suffered from massive blackouts, heavy refugee flows, and security threats as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a donor conference for Moldova in Paris, he said much of that aid would have to be focused on helping Moldova deal with an energy crisis that is the consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Several countries seek aid for Moldova as it feels impact of the war in Ukraine

Monday 21 November 2022 15:33 , Aisha Rimi

Diplomats are raising money and other support for Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, as it braces the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Moldova has suffered from massive blackouts, heavy refugee flows and security threats from the war.

Monday’s international aid conference in Paris is aimed at “concrete and immediate assistance” for the land-locked former Soviet republic, according to the French foreign ministry.

Two previous conferences for Moldova this year raised hundreds of millions of euros, but as the war drags on, its needs are growing.

The ministry said: “This international support is all the more important as Moldova is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis which, with the approach of winter, poses a risk of a humanitarian crisis for the Moldovan population.”

Broad blackouts temporarily hit more than half a dozen Moldovan cities last week as the Russian military pounded infrastructure targets across Ukraine.

Moldova’s Soviet-era energy systems remain interconnected with Ukraine, which is why the Russian missile barrage triggered the automatic shutdown of a supply line.

Nicu Popescu, Moldova’s foreign minister and minister for European integration, said at the Paris conference on Monday that “the objective of today is to continue moving forward with ensuring peace, stability in our part of Europe”.

“Ukraine is facing this brutal Russian aggression but this aggression is posing a problem for everyone in Europe and that of course applies (to) Moldova,” he added.

“Moldova is severely affected by this war economically, when it comes to the security of energy supplies.”

Earlier this month, the European Union pledged 250 million euro (around £217 million) to help Moldova after Russia halved its natural gas supply.

Moldova relied heavily on Russian energy before the war, and has increasingly been looking to forge closer ties with the West.

President Zelensky and wife attend ‘Heavenly Hundred’ commemoration ceremony in Kyiv

Monday 21 November 2022 15:09 , Aisha Rimi

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena attended a commemoration ceremony in Kyiv earlier today.

They laid candles at a monument to the so-called “Heavenly Hundred” for the people killed during the Ukrainian pro-EU mass demonstrations in 2014, marking the ninth anniversary of the start of the uprising.

Four ‘torture sites' discovered in Kherson city

Monday 21 November 2022 14:46 , Aisha Rimi

Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has said its officers have found torture chambers in four buildings in the city of Kherson.

In a post on Facebook, the Prosecutor General’s Office said they had “Inspected four premises” where Russian troops “unlawfully detained people” and “brutally tortured them”.

The investigation found that Russian forces had set up “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in pre-trial detention centres and a police station while they occupied the city.

The statement continued: “Parts of rubber batons, a wooden bat, a device used by the Russians to torture civilians with electric shocks, an incandescent lamp, and bullets from the walls were recovered.

“People in cells and basements were subjected to various methods of torture, physical and psychological violence.”

All the torture victims are being identified and a pre-trial investigation is ongoing as part of the criminal proceedings over the violation of the laws and customs of war, the Prosecutor General’s Office the statement added.

Nuclear plants need protection from Russian sabotage, says Zelensky

Monday 21 November 2022 13:51 , Aisha Rimi

President Zelensky has urged NATO members to guarantee the protection of Ukraine’s nuclear plants from Russian sabotage, a day after the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant was rocked by heavy shelling.

“All our nations are interested in not having any dangerous incidents at our nuclear facilities,” President Zelensky said in a video address to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid.

“We all need guaranteed protection from Russian sabotage at nuclear facilities,” he added.

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was shelled on Saturday and Sunday, raising concern about the potential for a serious accident just 500 km (300 miles) from Chornobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

President Zelensky also called for new EU sanctions against Moscow over what he said was its “policy of genocide” as Russian forces bomb crucial civil infrastructure. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in Ukraine but acknowledges a campaign of strikes against electric power and other infrastructure.

Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ under pressure to deliver after Russia’s retreat in Kherson

Monday 21 November 2022 13:18 , Aisha Rimi

A Russian commander who argued in favour of Moscow’s forces to retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson this month is now under growing pressure to prove it was worth it.

Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness, on 9 November recommended Moscow’s troops leave Kherson and the west bank of the River Dnipro where they were dangerously exposed.

He argued the withdrawal, completed two days later, would allow Moscow to save equipment and redeploy forces there – estimated by the United States at 30,000 strong – to offensives elsewhere.

Some of those troops have since been moved from southern to eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting is raging, and the Hero of Russia recipient is under pressure on the cusp of winter to show his bet was the right one.

Vladimir Solovyov, one of Russia’s most famous ultra-nationalist political TV talk show hosts, said last week: “I appeal to the Hero of Russia Army General Surovikin: Comrade Army General, I ask you to complete the total destruction of energy infrastructure of the Nazi Ukrainian junta.”

The appointment of Surovikin on 8 October was the first time Russia had publicly named an overall commander for its forces in Ukraine.

In some Russian circles, his appointment was seen as setting up a potential fall guy while insulating Putin and, to a lesser extent, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, from direct criticism.

Russian shelling on civilian infrastructure in Kherson leaves people injured

Monday 21 November 2022 12:47 , Aisha Rimi

“Kherson city is shelled again, civilian infrastructure is struck again,” posted Yuriy Sobolevskyi, the first deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council on Facebook.

He added the civilians are receiving medical help.

Top Russian official warns of possible nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia

Monday 21 November 2022 12:25 , Aisha Rimi

The head of Russia’s state-run atomic energy agency, Rosatom, has warned there was a risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, following renewed shelling over the weekend.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling the facility for months since Russian forces took control of it in March, shortly after invading Ukraine. Renewed shelling on Sunday triggered fresh fears of a possible disaster at the site.

“The plant is at risk of a nuclear accident. We were in negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) all night,” Interfax quoted Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev as saying.

Rosatom has controlled the facility through a subsidiary since October when President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia to formally seize the plant and transfer Ukrainian staff to a Russian entity. Kyiv says the transfer of assets amounts to theft.

The IAEA has called for the creation of a security zone around the plant, something Mr Likhachev said would only be possible if it was approved by the United States.

“I think the large distance between Washington and Zaporizhzhia should not be an argument for the United States to delay the decision on a security zone,” Interfax quoted him as saying.

The Rosatom head also said it appeared Kyiv was willing to “accept” a “small nuclear accident” at the nuclear power station.

“This will be a precedent that will forever change the course of history. Therefore everything must be done so that no one has in their minds to violate the security of the nuclear power plant,” TASS quoted him as saying.

Zelensky vows Ukraine ‘will endure’ in speech marking annual Maidan celebration

Monday 21 November 2022 12:07 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed that Ukraine “will endure” in a speech marking the nation’s annual Day of Dignity and Freedom, which celebrates the Maidan and Orange Revolution protests.

The president hailed the contributions made by Ukrainians - from soldiers, firefighters and medics to teachers giving online lessons, villagers cooking for the military, tailors sewing uniforms and farmers ploughing their fields despite the risk.

He hailed their defiance despite frequent missile strikes, widescale destruction, shortages and rolling blackouts as winter sets in, almost exactly nine months since Russia’s invasion.

“We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom,” Mr Zelensky said, from the presidential palace in Kyiv.

“A lot” has changed since the previous year, he said, remarking: “Craters appeared on our land. There are roadblocks and anti-tank hedgehogs in our cities and villages. It may be dark on our streets. It may be cold in our homes.

“There are many changes, but they have not changed the most important thing. Because the most important thing is not outside, but inside. And it remains unchanged. And that’s why we will hold out. We will endure.”

He said that in the future Ukrainians would gather on Kyiv’s Independence Square, which was central to the events of 2013/14 and 2004, “where we will celebrate the Victory Day of Ukraine ... in a peaceful Kyiv, in a peaceful Ukraine.”

Polish minister to propose stationing German Patriots near Ukrainian border

Monday 21 November 2022 11:25 , Andy Gregory

Warsaw could deploy additional Patriot missile launchers near its border with Ukraine, following an offer from Germany in response to the stray missile which killed two people in Poland last week.

“During today’s conversation with the German side, I will propose that the system be stationed at the border with Ukraine,” defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.

Ground-based air defence systems such as Raytheon’s Patriot are built to intercept incoming missiles.