Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch ‘largest missile attack’ in months on vital energy supplies
Putin’s forces have targeted Ukraine’s energy supplies for months as a difficult winter approaches for Kyiv
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Your support makes all the difference.Russian forces have unleashed the “largest air attack” on Ukraine in months, targeting vital energy infrastructure as temperatures hit sub-zero in the war-torn country.
Blasts were heard across Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities early on Sunday morning, in what Ukrainian officials have described as the biggest missile attack since August.
"Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure," foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Putin’s forces have inflicted repeated and sustained attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, in an attempt to cripple key infrastructure and cause long blackouts.
It comes as temperatures in Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine reach below freezing, as the winter months begin to take hold.
"Another massive attack on the power system is under way. The enemy is attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine," Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.
The scale of the damage across Ukrainian cities is not immediately clear, but power supplies were cut by officials in multiple city districts to prevent a surge in case of damage. Officials often remain tight-lipped on the state of power infrastructure due to the war.
At least two people were killed overnight.
Ukraine has not received half of aid allocated by US, Zelensky says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine hasn’t received even half of the weapons allocated to it by the US.
Speaking on Ukrainian Radio, he said according to Ukrainska Pravda: “Now, regarding the huge assistance [from the US – ed.]. Look, that money still needs to be delivered. If you asked me how much we have received from this, I wouldn’t go into the details because there are various reports from different institutions, such as the Ministry of Defence, intelligence agencies, and so on.
“I would only say that we haven’t received half.
“When I talk about half, I actually mean less, and I’m talking about weapons. I negotiated for weapons. Of course, there is humanitarian aid, financial aid, targeted financial aid to the budget, as well as specific humanitarian programmes directed to the regions.”
Russia is secretly developing a petrifying new weapon
In a secret factory in central Russia, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defences as they try to protect against a horrific new weapon.
The plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone recently started churning out thermobaric drones alongside the decoys, an Associated Press investigation has found.
The thermobaric warheads create a vortex of high pressure and heat that can penetrate thick walls. They suck out all the oxygen in their path, and have a fearsome reputation because of the injuries inflicted even outside the initial blast site: Collapsed lungs, crushed eyeballs, brain damage.
More here.
Russia is secretly developing a petrifying new weapon
The thermobaric warheads have a fearsome reputation due to the injuries inflicted, including collapsed lungs and crushed eyeballs
Russian forces capture two villages in Ukraine, defence ministry claims
Russian forces have captured two villages in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying on Saturday.
The villages of Makarivka, just over 100km west of Donetsk city, and Hryhorivka, which is is situated to the west of the town of Selydove, captured by Russia last month, the ministry claims according to Reuters.
It comes as Russia continues to progress in its offensive on the eastern Ukrainian front.
Biden urges Xi to dissuade North Korea from supporting Russia’s war
US president Joe Biden urged his Chinese counterpart to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The leaders, with top aides surrounding them, met at a Lima hotel on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Mr Biden wants Mr Xi to step up Chinese engagement to prevent an already dangerous moment with North Korea from further escalating, officials said.
White House officials have expressed frustration with Beijing, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade, for not doing more to rein in Pyongyang.
The North Koreans also have provided Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to US and South Korean intelligence officials.
In pics: Fighting intensifies in Russian border region of Kursk
Zelensky claims Iran oversaw Russia’s first Shahed drone attack
on UkrainePresident Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that representatives from Iran were present during Russia’s launch of the Shahed kamikaze drone targetting Ukrainian cities.
“As per Ukrainian intelligence, representatives from Iran were present during the first, murderous, Shahed attacks on Ukrainian cities, because at first, almost none of the Russians could operate these weapons,” he was quoted by Ukrinform as saying.
“They claim they only sell, that this is just business, but this isn’t just business, because licenses for these drones were handed over to Russia, factories were set up. Moveover, they trained Russian troops,” he added.
ICYMI: Ukraine war justifies financial emergency – and more spending, says Scholz
Germany’s Scholz: Ukraine war justifies financial emergency – and more spending
Embattled chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted that the war in Ukraine constitutes a financial emergency for Germany – which would open up the possibility of more spending.
In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Mr Scholz said that, at the start of the war in February 2022, Germany had no idea how long the conflict would last or how long over 1 million Ukrainian refugees would need protection in the country.
“The misjudgement we made back then does not prevent us from doing the right thing today. Russia’s war is an extraordinary event that justifies a financial emergency – and therefore higher spending,” said Scholz, while also calling for a moderate change in the debt rule that currently limits public spending.
“A reform will not solve all of our financial problems, but it will make our path a little easier,” he added.
Why are North Koreans troops in Ukraine?
Why are North Koreans soldiers fighting in Ukraine war? Here’s what we know
US warns Pyongyang’s troops fighting inside Putin’s ‘meat grinder’ war would be legitimate targets
Ukraine claims North Korea is supplying long-range missiles to Russia
North Korea has supplied Russia with long-range rockets and artillery systems, Ukrainian intelligence assessment has found, amid reports of Pyongyang deploying 12,000 of its soldiers to Moscow to fight against Ukraine.
Pyongyang has provided 50 domestically produced 170mm M1989 self-propelled howitzers and 20 updated 240mm multiple launch rocket systems, Financial Times reported citing the assessment.
Some of the weapons have been moved to the border region of Kursk where Moscow has deployed 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers to retake the territory from Ukrainian troops. The Russian forces are facing difficulty in pushing back Ukraine’s cross-border incursion launched on 6 August.
North Korean troops in Ukraine ‘grave escalation’, Scholz says
Deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s war against Ukraine is a “grave escalation” of the conflict, German chancellor Olaf Scholz told Vladimir Putin during their first phone call in nearly two years.
German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Mr Scholz urged Mr Putin in the hour-long call to withdraw his troops and end the full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.
The Kremlin said the conversation between the two leaders was “detailed and frank” on the situation in Ukraine.
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