Ukraine scrambles to restore power as Russia ‘weaponises winter’
Ukrainian energy workers on Thursday raced to restore power after Russian missile strikes destroyed energy infrastructure across western Ukraine, leaving more than two thirds of Kyiv without power. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has accused Moscow of “weaponising winter” and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for urgent UN action against the Russian “formula of terror”. Follow FRANCE 24's live coverage of the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
Russia caused a "real danger of a nuclear and radioactive catastrophe" by launching attacks in which all Ukraine's nuclear reactors were disconnected from the power grid for the first time in 40 years, Ukraine's nuclear energy chief said.
Petro Kotin, head of nuclear power company Energoatom, said in a statement Thursday that the vast nuclear power plant in the Zaporizhzhia region had been reconnected to the national power grid after Russian air strikes on Wednesday, and that the backup diesel generators at the site had been turned off.
Polish leaders say that an air-defense system which Germany offered Poland would be best given to Ukraine to help it protect itself against Russian strikes. Germany said earlier this week that it offered Warsaw Eurofighter planes and Patriot defense systems to help defend Poland’s airspace after two men were killed when an apparently stray Ukrainian defense projectile fell in Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak initially said he received Germany's offer with “satisfaction.”
But following Russia's heavy barrage of Ukraine on Wednesday, Polish leaders said it would be better if the defense systems were placed in western Ukraine.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Warsaw, Vasyl Zvarych, thanked Blaszczak, saying on Twitter that Ukraine needs as many air defense weapons as it can get. Poland's apparent decision not to accept the German Patriot system met with some criticism from the opposition in Poland. Marcin Kierwinski of the opposition Civic Platform party said Kaczynski “has gone mad” for “rejecting” the Patriot missiles and EU funding “during war and crisis.”
EU energy ministers met Thursday to debate measures to mitigate the energy crunch in Europe but were divided over a gas price cap proposal slammed by many as a "joke".
They were to discuss a proposal by the European Commission, unveiled just two days earlier, that would set a cap on gas prices at 275 euros per megawatt hour.
While the European Union hasn't banned Russian gas, the Kremlin has been turning off the taps in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Brussels in the wake of Moscow's invasion.
10:40am: Moscow says it has issued over 80,000 Russian passports in 'annexed' Ukraine
Moscow said on Thursday it had issued more than 80,000 Russian passports to residents of four Ukrainian territories since President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed the regions last month.
"Since the addition ... of the four regions into the Russian Federation, and in accordance with the legislation, more than 80,000 people received passports as citizens of the Russian Federation," Valentina Kazakova, a migration official with the interior ministry, said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.
In September, Russia held so-called referendums in four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - and said residents had voted in favour of becoming subjects of Russia.