It’s the 269th day of war in Ukraine. Power outages could be prolonged due to Russian missile attacks on energy facilities. Zelensky said that more than 10 million Ukrainians are now without electricity after the new bombings in several cities, including the capital Kiev, while the temperature is expected to be 10 degrees below zero in the next few days. Russia has launched new attacks against Ukrainian frontline positions in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kiev’s army confirms. In particular, the Russians are launching assaults in the direction of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka. Just Bakhmut and Avdiivka have been fiercely contested for several months, but remain in Ukrainian hands. Several other Ukrainian positions in Donbass have also been targeted during these hours.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the war could end before Ukraine liberates all territories by military means. Podolyak commented on US Chief of Staff Mark Milley’s statement that the likelihood of military liberation of all Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea, is very low. According to the presidential adviser, if the Russian army loses a large city, for example, Lugansk, which has been occupied for eight years and is also a symbol for Moscow, this will lead to irreversible processes between the political elite of the Russian Federation and society : «And in this way, the war can end even before liberating all the territories occupied by military means. Because if a big city is liberated, Russia will have lost the war,” Podolyak said.
“Ten Russian prisoners killed”, exchange of accusations between Moscow and Kiev
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Reportage – Winter in Kiev, ten million without electricity and heating: “By now it’s also difficult to cook”
Analysis – Peace is still far away, Putin rejects his defeat
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11.30 pm – Ukraine, Oxfam: with the winter, millions of refugees in emergency
With the arrival of winter, the conditions of over 6.2 million internally displaced persons risk becoming even more critical due to the lack of shelter and basic necessities such as food, water and electricity. An additional 13 million people are also estimated to be stranded in areas where key infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and water systems have been destroyed. The needs of over 1.5 million refugees who are still in Poland, Romania and Moldova remain enormous, countries that are taking on a large part of the reception of those who have left the country. This was revealed today by Oxfam, which is working with 23 local organizations to respond to the emergency.