Ukraine: nearly half of the national energy system is “out of order”, warns kyiv

As the snow begins to fall on the country, Ukraine on Friday asked for “additional support” from the EU to deal with this energy crisis.

A person walks on a snowy street in Lviv, western Ukraine, on November 18, 2022. (AFP)

Winter is approaching and Ukrainian energy capacities are melting. “Nearly half of our energy system has been put out of order,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal lamented on Friday, November 18, during a press conference in kyiv. He asked for “additional support” from the European Union to deal with this situation, in particular caused by Russian strikes against Ukrainian installations. This live is over.

Moscow accuses kyiv of a “war crime”. Russia’s Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine of ‘brutally’ executing more than 10 ‘immobilized’ servicemen after two videos were posted on social media, presented as images of the execution of Russian servicemen who had just to surrender to Ukrainian forces. Moscow thus denounces a “deliberate and methodical murder”, “with direct shots in the head”.

More than ten million Ukrainians without electricity. In the aftermath of new Russian strikes in several cities, including kyiv, millions of people no longer have power. These repetitive bombardments occurred during the first snowfalls, when the mercury could drop to -10°C in the coming days.

Ukrainian experts at the site of the explosion. The day after their arrival in Poland, the Ukrainian experts were able to access, on Friday, the area destroyed by a missile on Tuesday. They “have started their work”, announced Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. According to Warsaw, it is “highly probable” that the missile came from the Ukrainian air defense.

Russian fortification works in Crimea. Russia has announced that it is carrying out “fortification works” in the annexed Crimean peninsula, after the withdrawal of its soldiers in the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kherson. This is to “guarantee the safety of Crimeans”, according to the governor installed by Moscow, after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.