Airstrikes, snowfall besiege Ukraine
Another blistering round of Russian airstrikes ripped across Ukraine on Thursday, further damaging already battered energy infrastructure as Kyiv saw its first snow of the season.
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine and authorities said at least four people were killed in drone and missile strikes as air defense teams scrambled to shoot down Russia’s aerial weaponry.
“Stay in shelters and safe places,” Kyiv regional military leader Oleksiy Kuleba warned on Telegram. “Do not photograph the place, arrival and the work of air defense.”
Thursday’s attack fell short of the nationwide barrage of more than 100 missiles and drones that knocked out power to 10 million people Tuesday – described by Ukraine’s energy minister as the biggest blitz of the nearly 9month-old war.
The latest assault added strain to a power system already dealing with rolling outages as winter conditions roll into the nation of more than 40 million people. Thursday’s light snow dusted the capital, where the temperature has been lingering at or below freezing.
“Russia is fighting against electricity and heat for people, blowing up power plants and other energy facilities,” said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is everyday life in Ukraine now because of Russian terror.”
Latest developments:
⬤ WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been jailed in Russia since February on charges of possessing a small amount of cannabis, has been transferred to a penal colony about 200 miles southeast of Moscow in the western Mordovia region, her lawyers said Thursday in a statement, adding that they visited her this week.
⬤ The EU has provided about $1 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, with more on the way, crisis management Minister Janez Lenarčič said: “Right now, our main priority is to address the needs as winter approaches.”
⬤ Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, imprisoned since February 2021 on charges the West considers politically motivated, has been permanently moved to a cramped “cell-type room,” he said on Twitter. “They’re doing it to shut me up. So what’s my first duty? That’s right, to not be afraid and not shut up,” he tweeted.
⬤ After the restoration of peace, Ukraine will be able to replace dirty fossil fuels from Russia with clean energy and supply “green electricity” to EU countries, Zelenskyy said.
⬤ A McDonald’s restaurant in the western Ukraine city of Khmelnytski reopened, but warned that it would close when air raid sirens blare so employees can flee to shelters, European Pravda reported.