War in Ukraine: what to remember on the 274th day of the Russian invasion


Europe 1 with AFP
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9:50 p.m., November 24, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure led to massive power and water cuts, particularly in the capital kyiv, killing at least six people, decried on Wednesday by Volodymyr Zelensky as “crimes against humanity” before the Security Council of ONU. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired around 70 cruise missiles at Ukraine, 51 of which were shot down, and sent five suicide drones. They targeted strategic infrastructure as winter temperatures set in in Ukraine.

Speaking by videoconference before the UN Security Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a “crime against humanity”. “With temperatures below zero, several million people without energy supply, without heating and without water, this is obviously a crime against humanity”, lambasted Volodymyr Zelensky during a brief statement , during an emergency meeting that he himself had called for.

The main information:

  • Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a “crime against humanity” after Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure
  • Several Ukrainian cities including kyiv without electricity
  • Three Ukrainian nuclear power plants have been reconnected to the electricity grid
  • The European Parliament has called Russia a “State promoter of terrorism”
  • Exchanges of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners took place

The French ambassador to the UN Nicolas Rivière described the Russian strikes as a “manifest violation of international humanitarian law” and reaffirmed France’s support for Ukraine during this Security Council. “Unable to win in a fair fight with the Ukrainian army, Russia is waging a cowardly war of terror against civilians,” denounced the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba. “Russian terror will fail. Ukraine will win”.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the Kremlin had no doubts about the “success” of its offensive in Ukraine, despite the setbacks of recent months on the ground. According to Ukrainian police chief Igor Klymenko, Wednesday’s Russian shelling left at least six people dead and 36 injured. In kyiv, “three people were killed. Among them is a 17-year-old girl,” said the mayor of the capital, Vitaly Klitschko.

He had announced earlier that infrastructure had been affected and that the water supply had been “suspended throughout Kyiv” because of the bombardments. Work in the evening allowed power to be restored on the right bank of kyiv, according to regional authorities.

Russia branded a ‘state promoter of terrorism’ by the European Parliament

In Lviv, in western Ukraine, electricity has partially returned, but with periodic cuts, according to the authorities. The second city of the country, Kharkiv, in the northeast, remained, for its part, without power in the evening. Another direct consequence of these Russian strikes, Moldova, already plagued by major energy problems caused by the war in Ukraine, was the victim of “massive power outages”, deplored its Deputy Prime Minister, Andrei Spinu.

On the diplomatic front, the European Parliament on Wednesday called Russia a “state promoter of terrorism”, in a vote almost nine months to the day after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This vote was quickly welcomed by President Zelensky for whom “Russia must be isolated at all levels and held responsible in order to put an end to its terrorist policy”.

The European Parliament then announced that its website had been the target of a cyberattack claimed by a “pro-Kremlin group”. The spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, for her part proposed to qualify the European Parliament as a “promoter of idiocy”.

Three nuclear power plants reconnected to the electricity grid

The three Ukrainian nuclear power plants under the control of kyiv have been able to be reconnected to the electricity network, after having been cut off the day before following massive Russian strikes, the Ministry of Energy announced on Thursday. “After yesterday’s massive bombings, energy workers were able to (…) reconnect three nuclear power plants to the electricity grid in the morning,” the ministry said on Telegram, adding that these facilities should start delivering electricity. electricity by “tonight”.

These are the Khmelnytsky and Rivne power stations (West) and that of Pivdennooukraïnsk (South), which were disconnected by the automatic protection system following the Russian strikes which hit a number of Ukrainian electrical installations. “If there are no new strikes, we will be able to considerably reduce the lack (of electricity) in the energy system by the end of the day”, estimated the minister Guerman Galouchtchenko quoted in the press release of his ministry.

Across the country, “the situation is generally difficult” but in some regions, “the supply of electricity has already increased”, assured Guerman Galouchchenko according to which “critical infrastructures throughout the country” have been able to be reconnected to the electrical network. The mayor of kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, for his part announced on Telegram that a proportion of “70% of the capital remained without electricity in the morning”.

Exchange of prisoners between Moscow and kyiv

Elsewhere in Ukraine, a baby “born two days ago” was killed overnight in a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in Vilniansk, in the Zaporizhia region (south), relief workers told AFP. Despite still violent fighting, particularly in the east, Moscow and kyiv continue to exchange prisoners of war. “Another exchange took place today with kyiv according to the formula 35 for 35,” said Wednesday a senior leader of the Russian occupation authority, Denis Pushilin.

The freed Ukrainian prisoners are “22 national guards, eight border guards, four navy soldiers, a guy from the armed forces” and also a civilian “amputated” with a leg, specified the chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, Andrii Iermak. French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he would have “direct contact” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “in the coming days”, in particular on Ukrainian civil nuclear energy, a source of concern.

But Mr Peskov said there was currently “no agreement” or “concrete proposal” on such a telephone interview. The United States meanwhile announced $400 million in new military aid to Ukraine for additional weapons, ammunition and air defense equipment. The UK has sent a first Sea King helicopter to Ukraine and plans to provide two more.

Moscow distributed 80,000 Russian passports

Russia announced Thursday that it has distributed Russian passports to more than 80,000 inhabitants of four areas of Ukraine that it claims to have attached to its territory, annexations not recognized by the international community. “Since the four regions were added to the Russian Federation, and in accordance with the law, more than 80,000 people have received passports as citizens of the Russian Federation,” the Russian Interior Ministry said. quoted by local news agencies.

In September, Russia organized “referendums”, denounced as “simulacra” by Western countries, aimed at taking over the areas it controls in Ukraine in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk (east), as well as Zaporizhia and Kherson (south). These annexations, endorsed by Moscow in early October, were strongly condemned by the international community, and are not recognized. Since the announcement of these attachments, the Russian forces have also given ground against the Ukrainian army, withdrawing for example from the regional capital of Kherson.

At the UN, Volodymyr Zelensky denounces a “crime against humanity” after Russian strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced before the United Nations Security Council a “crime against humanity” perpetrated according to him by Russia which attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure. “With temperatures below zero, several million people without energy supply, without heating and without water, this is obviously a crime against humanity”, lambasted Mr. Zelensky during a brief statement to the Security Council via video link during an emergency meeting that he himself had called for.

Nine months after the Russian invasion of his country on February 24, President Zelensky denounced the “formula of terror” imposed by the armed forces of Moscow. Faced with a powerless UN Security Council, he considered that the international community could “not be held hostage by an international terrorist (state),” alluding to Moscow’s right of veto which blocks any resolution against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

“The killing of civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure are terrorist actions. Ukraine continues to demand a determined response from the international community to these crimes,” the Ukrainian head of state wrote earlier on Twitter. calling for an emergency meeting of the 15 members of the Security Council.



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