Russia risked causing a ‘nuclear and radioactive disaster’ by launching attacks in which all Ukrainian nuclear power plants were disconnected from the electricity grid for the first time in 40 years, said Ukraine’s nuclear energy chief. Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that three nuclear power plants located on territory held by Ukrainian forces had been shut down after the latest wave of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy installations.
Ukraine expects all three nuclear power plants to be operational again by Thursday evening, said Energy Minister German Galushchenko.
More than 15,000 people disappeared during the war in Ukraine, said an official from the Kyiv office of the Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons. ICMP’s program director for Europe, Matthew Holliday, said it was unclear how many people had been forcibly transferred, were being held in Russia, were alive and separated from family members, or were dead and buried in makeshift graves.
European Union governments remained divided on how high to cap Russian oil prices to limit Moscow’s ability to pay for its war in Ukraine without causing a global oil supply shock, with further talks expected on Friday. Six of the 27 EU countries are said to oppose the level of price caps proposed by the G7, which will come into force on December 5.
G7 foreign ministers will discuss how to further support Ukraine to secure its energy supply at a meeting in Bucharest next week, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
The European Union is moving forward with a ninth package of sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Finland. She said that the EU was going “hitting Russia where it hurts to further blunt its ability to wage war on Ukraine”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Russia’s new strategy to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure will not weaken the country’s resolve to liberate all occupied lands.describing the conflict, in an interview with the Financial Times, as a “war of strength and resilience” and pushing back against Western fears of escalation.
In his speech on Thursday evening, Zelenskiy said: “Together we have endured nine months of full-scale war and Russia has not found a way to break us, and will not find one.”. Zelenskiy also accused Russia of incessantly bombing Kherson, the southern Ukrainian city it abandoned earlier this month. Seven people were killed and 21 injured in a Russian attack on Thursday, local authorities said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says his country’s parliament will ratify Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership early next year. Hungary and Turkey are the only members of the alliance that have not yet authorized membership.
Hungary to provide 187 million euros ($195 million) in financial aid to Ukraine such as its contribution to a planned EU support program worth up to €18 billion in 2023, according to a government decree.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK would pledge millions of pounds to further support Kyiv. to ensure that the country has the practical help it needs during the winter when visiting Ukraine. Cleverly is expected to meet Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during this trip.
Russia and Ukraine carry out the latest in a series of prisoner of war exchanges, with both sides handing over more than 50 peopleconfirmed officials in Kyiv and Moscow
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has angered Ukraine by suggesting that ending the war is Ukraine’s responsibility, and that if it does not “stop”, it will end in the “complete destruction” of the country. He said that like relations with Germany after World War II, once the war in Ukraine is over, “we will make it all up”.
Ground battles continue to rage in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is launching an offensive along a stretch of the front line west of the city of Donetsk, which has been held by its proxies since 2014.