Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin’s power grid strikes target west

Russian overseas minister Sergei Lavrov mentioned that the White House and the Kremlin had been discussing potential prisoner swaps.

Elizabeth Rood, the US cost d’affaires in Moscow, informed Russia‘s state-owned RIA news agency that talks were continuing through the “designated channel” about a deal to free jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

But she said Moscow has not provided a “serious response” to any of Washington’s proposals.

Basketball star Griner was final month taken to a penal colony within the Russian area of Mordovia to serve a nine-year drug sentence after being arrested in February with vape cartridges containing hashish oil.

Whelan, a former US Marine, is serving 16 years in the identical area on costs of espionage, which he denies.

Mr Lavrov’s deputy Sergei Ryabkov mentioned on 18 November he was hopeful of agreeing a prisoner swap that might see the discharge of Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian weapons trafficker who’s in jail within the US.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez obtained a letter bomb which the inside ministry mentioned was much like these despatched to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid earlier this week, and different websites with hyperlinks to Kyiv.

The explosive machine addressed to Mr Sanchez’s workplace was certainly one of 5 to be revealed by Spanish safety companies in lower than 24 hours, although ministers mentioned it was delivered final week on 24 November.

Officials ordered elevated safety in diplomatic and public buildings shortly earlier than the ministry’s assertion, whereas Wednesday’s embassy package deal led Kyiv to place all of its consulates across the globe on excessive alert.

Other letter bombs had been delivered to the Ministry of Defence and an air drive base in Torrejon de Ardoz exterior Madrid on Thursday and Spanish weapons producer Instalaza in Zaragoza on Wednesday.

Air raid alerts have been issued throughout all of Ukraine following warnings by Ukrainian officers that Russia was getting ready a brand new wave of missile and drone strikes.

“An overall air raid alert is in place in Ukraine. Go to shelters,” the nation’s border service wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky final evening mentioned Russia was considered “planning something in the south”, whereas Ukraine’s army mentioned Moscow was transferring troops from cities on the Dnipro river reverse the southern metropolis of Kherson.

Ukraine’s army mentioned Russia had pulled some troops from cities on the alternative financial institution of the Dnipro River from Kherson metropolis, the primary official Ukrainian report of a Russian withdrawal on what’s now the principle entrance line within the south.

The assertion gave solely restricted particulars and made no point out of any Ukrainian forces having crossed the Dnipro. Ukrainian officers additionally confused that Russia had intensified shelling throughout the river, knocking out power once more in Kherson the place electrical energy had solely begun to be restored almost three weeks after Russian troops vacated the town and fled throughout the river.

Since Russia deserted Kherson final month, 9 months into its invasion of Ukraine, the river now kinds your entire southern stretch of the entrance.

Russia has already informed civilians to go away cities inside 15 km of the river and withdrew its civilian administration from the town of Nova Kakhovska on the river financial institution. Ukrainian officers have beforehand mentioned Russia pulled again some artillery close to the river to safer positions additional away, however till now had stopped in need of saying Russian forces had been quitting cities.

Russian overseas minister Sergei Lavrov delivered a information convention earlier wherein he made a number of wild statements concerning the war in Ukraine [see 10.02 post].

One of the extra hanging was his declare that Nato, in paticular the US, was straight taking part within the war due to its help for Ukraine.

In defending Russia’s debilitating assaults on vitality infrastructure, Mr Lavrov mentioned: “We disable energy facilities that allow you [the west] to pump lethal weapons into Ukraine to kill Russians.

“So don’t say that the US and Nato are not participants in this war – you are directly participating. Including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training of personnel – you train the [Ukrainian] military on your territory.”

The Kremlin mentioned it could not recognise the legitimacy of any war crimes tribunal staged by the European Union over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

European Commision president Ursula von der Leyen mentioned yesterday the EU would attempt to arrange a specialised court docket, backed by the United Nations, to research and prosecute doable war crimes dedicated by Russian forces in Ukraine.

“As for attempts to establish some kind of tribunal: they will have no legitimacy, will not be accepted by us and we will condemn them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters this morning.

Ukraine and western allies have alleged Russia of quite a few war crimes over ten months of war, together with within the briefly-occupied city of Bucha, which was discovered strewn with civilian corpses after a rout of Russian forces.

The International Criminal Court is investigating the situiation in Ukraine because the war, whereas a number of NGOs have been gathering alleged proof of war crimes by Russian troops.

Russia’s overseas minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the Kremlin’s relentless bombing of civilian infrastructure was so as to maintain up western munitions.

The unusual declare from Vladimir Putin’s high diplomat got here after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned round six million Ukrainians had been going through winter with out power after two month of strikes on vitality infrastructure throughout the nation.

Kyiv and western allies have accused Russia of resorting to assaults on the on a regular basis lives of peculiar Ukrainians in an try to interrupt the invaded nation’s spirit.

Mr Lavrov in the present day countered these accusations, claiming: “We attack energy facilities that make it possible for west to pump weapons into Ukraine.”

The west has been feeding Ukraine weapons all through the war, currently turning in direction of the availability of air defence methods to counter the Russian strikes which have rained on cities all around the nation, removed from the entrance traces of the war within the south and east.

Spanish safety forces discovered a 3rd suspected explosive machine hidden in an envelope mailed to the Air Force base positioned in Torrejon de Ardoz exterior Madrid, the defence ministry mentioned this morning.

At the time of the ministry’s assertion, police had been nonetheless analysing the parcel, which adopted after two letter bombs on Wednesday, certainly one of which was addressed to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid.

The second was addressed to a weapons producer in Zaragoza, northern Spain.

Russia accused Germany of making an attempt to whitewash its Nazi previous after the German parliament voted to recognise the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as a genocide imposed by the Soviet Union beneath Josef Stalin.

In what got here to be generally known as the Holodomor, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians starved to dying after Stalin ordered the seizure of grain and livestock from farms just lately introduced beneath state management.

The Kremlin this morning rejected the declare that this was a genocide and mentioned hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout different components of the Soviet Union additionally suffered.

“There is another attempt to justify and push forward a campaign – being planted in Ukraine and sponsored by the west – to demonise Russia and to pit ethnic Ukrainians against Russians,” Russia’s overseas ministry mentioned in a press release.

“The Germans are trying to rewrite their history … downplay their own guilt and muddy the memory of the unprecedented nature of the countless crimes committed by Nazi Germany during World War Two,” it added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany for its recognition and, writing on Twitter in German, mentioned: “The truth always wins”.

The US Army awarded a $1.2bn (£1bn) contract to Raytheon Technologies Co for superior missile methods to be despatched to Ukraine, the Pentagon mentioned.

Raytheon will present six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (Nasams), which assist defend from missile and drone assaults, on high of two already obtained by Ukraine.

“Nasams are just the latest in the diverse set of air-defense capabilities we are delivering to Ukraine,” mentioned Bill LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.

These six Nasams methods had been a part of the fifth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package deal which was introduced on 24 Augusts and had a complete worth of $2.98bn, based on an Army Statement.