Ukraine latest: Most of Kyiv left without power after attacks

Ukraine was still recovering from a barrage of Russian missile strikes that hit its energy facilities and prompted the grid operator to halt three nuclear power plants and enact emergency blackouts amid below-zero temperatures.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 70% of the capital is still without electricity, while water supply has been restored on the city’s left bank.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the United Nations Security Council after Russia launched its latest massive missile assault, calling it “a clear crime against humanity.”

On the ground
Ukrainian forces repelled assaults in the Donetsk region, including in Bakhmut, as the country struggled to cope with power and water outages brought on by Russian missile attacks a day earlier. On the front in the east, Ukrainian forces repelled assaults near eight settlements in the Donetsk region over the past day, including Bakhmut, the General Staff said on Facebook. Russia in total launched 78 missile strikes, 23 air strikes and more than 70 multiple rocket launcher attacks in the past 24-hour period including shelling of Ukrainian areas along the contact line.

(All times CET)
EU Working ‘Full Speed’ on 9th Sanctions Package (11:30)
The European Union will stand by Ukraine for as long as is required, and is working “full speed” on a ninth sanctions package against Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday in Espoo, Finland.

Speaking at an event hosted by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, von der Leyen said “I am confident that we will very soon approve a global price cap on Russian oil with the G-7 and other major powers.”

As winter grips Europe, my thoughts are with our Ukrainian friends.

Women, men, children are freezing in the dark because of Putin’s deliberate & barbaric targeting of the country’s civilian infrastructure. The sole purpose is to terrorise civilians.

These acts are war crimes. pic.twitter.com/xxGFQXW6A3

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 24, 2022

Poland Wants German Patriot Missiles Deployed in Ukraine (10:20 a.m.)
Germany offered to station surface-to-air Patriots in Poland less than a week after a missile strike killed two people in a village close to the border with Ukraine, raising fears of a significant escalation between NATO and Russia.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak has asked to move the weapons even further east. “That should protect Ukraine from further casualties and blackouts and will increase security at our eastern border,” he said on Twitter.

Power Partially Restored in Some Regions and Kyiv (9:20 a.m.)
Power returned to the capital Kyiv as well as 17 out of 24 Ukrainian regions, excluding Crimea, as of Thursday morning, deputy head of presidential staff, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Telegram.

Across the rest of the country, water and heating supply is also resuming gradually where power is available, but authorities are urging people to refrain from using electricity as possible.

Hungary Pledges Aid to Ukraine (8:24 a.m.)
Hungary’s government set aside funds for aid to Ukraine in a decree that still requires bilateral negotiations. The country pledged €187 million ($195 million) in funds to its neighbor, the exact share it was supposed to provide in the European Union financing package it publicly opposed.

Zelenskiy Asks UN to Condemn ‘Energy Terror’ (11:30 p.m.)
Zelenskiy addressed the Security Council after Russia launched its latest massive missile assault.

“When it is freezing temperature outside and millions of people are cut off from electricity, heating and water as a result of Russia’s missile attack on energy facilities, it is a clear crime against humanity,” Zelenskiy told the gathering by video link. “We are waiting for the world’s tough response to Russia’s terror. Ukraine proposes the UN Security Council adopt a resolution on condemning any form of energy terror.”

He invited UN experts to inspect Ukraine’s infrastructure that has been hit by Russian missiles, or could become a target. “There is a need of fair assessment of damages. We need to record that those are strikes on that infrastructure that ensures lives of tens of millions of people,” he said.

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