Ukraine-Russia war – live: Toddler’s body pulled from rubble as air strikes death toll rises
Search continues for survivors of wave of missile attacks on Friday, as Putin targets energy infrastructure
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A toddler’s body has been removed from rubble following a wave of deadly airstrikes in Ukraine on Friday.
Emergency crews are continuing to search for survivors after Russian missiles tore through an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
The missile was one of what Ukrainian authorities said were 16 that got through air defenses in the latest Russian attack targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The mayor of Kyiv announced today his city’s metro system is operational once again and residents have regained access to water.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said while heat has been restored to half the city and electricity has been restored to two-thirds, emergency outages are still being implemented due to the significant deficit of electricity.
Four people were killed in Russia’s attacks in which over 70 missiles were launched targeting key energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address that Vladimir Putin had the means to order several similar waves of attacks to drain the country’s energy system.
Poland’s top police official set off grenade launcher gift from Ukraine by accident
Poland’s top police official told a radio broadcaster that a grenade launcher that was a present from Ukrainian officials accidentally exploded while he was moving it in his office this week.
Gen. Jarosaw Szymczyk gave his first comments after the unusual incident to Poland’s Radio RMF FM.
The explosion occurred on Wednesday morning at national police headquarters in Warsaw.
Amid media speculation on the incident, the Interior Ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying that a gift from Ukraine had exploded, and that Szymczyk and another person suffered minor injuries.
But the statement left many questions unanswered, including what the present was and who triggered the explosion.
Szymczyk confirmed reports in Polish media that the gift had been a grenade launcher.
RMF FM, citing police officials, said Szymczyk received two used anti-tank grenade launchers as presents during a recent visit to Ukraine.
There were no other details, but the report suggested that neither the Ukrainians nor the Poles believed the launchers had any explosive potential. One had been transformed into a loudspeaker.
“When I was moving the used grenade launchers, which were gifts from the Ukrainians, there was an explosion,” Szymczyk told the broadcaster. He said the explosion was so powerful that the force of its impact pierced the floor and the ceiling.
Szymczyk was initially hospitalized for observation while the other person, a civilian employee, did not require hospitalization.
Poland is an ally of Ukraine and has offered the neighboring country various kinds of support, including military and humanitarian aid, since Russia’s full-scale invasion Poland also has accepted a large number of Ukrainian refugees.
Russia claims Friday assault “hit military-industrial complex and energy and military administrative facilities"
Russia’s defence ministry said its “high-precision” weapons hit parts of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy and military administrative facilities on Friday.
“As a result of the strike, the transportation of weapons and ammunition of foreign production has been thwarted,” it said on Saturday. U
Ukraine’s plants producing weapons, military equipment and ammunition had been disabled, it added.
Ukrainian officials earlier said Russia fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Friday in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the military operation, knocking out power in the second-biggest city and forcing Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide.
Russia’s foreign ministry condemns latest EU sanctions
Russia’s foreign ministry has slammed a new package of European Union sanctions approved on Friday.
Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova branded the EU’s ninth batch of sanctions in response to the war “illegitimate unilateral restrictive measures” and lashed out at a ban on broadcasts by four major Russian TV channels as “authoritarian.”
In allowing EU member states to “provide certain exemptions” for Russian food and fertilizer exporters, Zakharova contended that the EU was recognizing that its “restrictive measures have been undermining world food security.”
Targets of the latest round of sanctions include divisions of the Russian army and all of Russia’s parliamentary parties. Also included in the package are a ban on the export of aviation engines to Russia and sanctions against the energy and mining sectors.
The Kremlin on Saturday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin huddled a day earlier with armed forces commanders, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov. He also spoke with commanders from different branches.
Work begins on protective dome at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Installation of a protective dome has begun over the spent-fuel storage area at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, an official from Moscow-installed authorities said.
Vladimir Rogov said the dome would protect against fragments of shells and improvised explosive devices carried by drones.
The Russian-held plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, has been repeatedly shelled; its six reactors have been shut down for months.
The International Atomic Energy Agency recently announced plans to station nuclear safety and security experts at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to prevent any nuclear accident.
The UN nuclear watchdog has already deployed a permanent mission to the plant.
Kyiv’s Christmas Tree will wear signs of war, says mayor
The Christmas tree of Kyiv will this year be topped with the coat of arms of Ukraine as symbol of the country’s resilience in the face of the Russian invasion, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The 40ft the “tree of indomitability” in the capital’s Sofia Square will be decorated with the colours of the flags of allied nations who have helped Ukraine defend itself this year, the mayor added.
Due to the extreme pressure on Kyiv and wider Ukraine’s energy system due to a monthslong onslaught of Russian missile strikes on power stations and other infrastructure, the tree will only be lit for a few hours a day, Mr Klitschko said.
Moldova takes step away from Russian gas dependence
Moldova has reached a short-term energy deal that would help wean one of Europe’s poorest countries off its dependence on Russian natural gas, a senior official said today.
The former Soviet republic of 2.5 million, which faces soaring inflation amid Russia’s war on neighbouring Ukraine, has traditionally been heavily reliant on Russian gas.
But Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said state gas firm Moldovagaz would buy 100 million cubic metres of gas from domestic supplier Energocom this month. It would be the first time that Moldova has not consumed any of the gas it has bought from Russia, he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“Since last year, we have promised to make reserves and find an alternative to stop being dependent on a single source. I managed to do it,” Spinu wrote.
The gas bought from Russian state giant Gazprom is currently being provided to the Kremlin-loyal breakaway region of Transdniestria on the left bank of the Dniester River in exchange for electricity.
Energocom stores gas at facilities in Ukraine and Romania. It was unclear where Energocom was buying the gas.
A shield is being set up over a storage site for spent nuclear waste at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to protect it from shelling and drones, a Russian-installed official said on Saturday.
Video footage published by Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia province, showed workers mounting a screen of what appeared to be some kind of transparent sheeting on wires above dozens of concrete cylinders about 5 metres high.
“For now, it will protect from shrapnel and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) thrown from drones. But later on it will be substantial,” he said.
Fighting over Europe’s largest nuclear power station in 10 months of conflict has raised fears of a possible Chornobyl-style nuclear disaster.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of recklessly shelling the plant, whose six reactors are all off line.
Russia condemns Moldova TV ban as ‘political censorship’
Russia has denounced a decision by neighbouring Moldova to temporarily ban six television channels as “political censorship”.
The small ex-Soviet state of Moldova accused the channels of airing “incorrect information” about the country and Russia‘s military operation in Ukraine.
The channels – some of which broadcast in Moldovan and some in Russian – are closely tied to politician and businessman Ilan Shor, who fled the country in 2019 after the election of pro-Western President Maia Sandu.
Mr Shor, in exile in Israel, has backed protests in Chisinau demanding that Ms Sandu’s government resign.
“We consider this ban as an unprecedented act of political censorship, as an abuse on the principle of media pluralism and a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of access to information, to which the political leadership of the Republic regularly declares its adherence,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“In light of the unprecedented consequences of its implementation for the Russian-speaking part of the country’s population, we also qualify it as a cynical infringement of the rights of national minorities.”
Ukraine ends energy emergency after Russian strikes
Ukraine’s state energy provider has ended a state of emergency begun yesterday after a large wave of Russian strikes on the country’s infrastructure.
Ukrenergo said in a statement that Ukraine’s power system continues to recover after Friday’s attack on the country, and power deficit is “still significant,” with all regional power companies warned of consumption limits.
The company said yesterday that restoring power would take longer than usual after what officials said was one of across Ukraine.
Russia claims Ukraine killed three civilians in occupied town
Ukrainian rockets killed three civilians in the Russian-controlled town of Shchastia in Ukraine’s Luhansk province, according to Russian-appointed regional authorities.
Russian-backed Luhansk officials at what they call the Joint Centre of Control and Coordination said US-made Himars rockets had killed three people, wounded five more, and destroyed four houses.
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