Ukraine-Russia news - live: New Putin missile attacks prompt fresh power outage fears

Ukraine’s electricity grid operator has warned of hours-long power cuts as Russia zeroed in on energy infrastructure with renewed artillery and missile attacks that have interrupted supply to 40% of the population at the onset of winter.

Ukrenergo said outages could last for several hours with lower temperatures putting additional pressure on networks.

“You always need to prepare for the worst. We understand the enemy wants to destroy our power system in general, to cause long outages,” chief executive Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said.

In the northeast Kharkiv region, overnight shelling and missile strikes on critical infrastructure damaged energy equipment, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Moscow’s attacks on in the past weeks have left millions without heating and electricity.

Meanwhile, Kyiv said Mr Putin has lost another 350 troops, bringing the tally to more than 83,400.

UK intelligence suggests Russian forces are reorganising defences against more major Ukrainian breakthroughs, suggesting Moscow fears more losses.

Separately, the top Ukrainian human-rights investigator released a video of an alleged torture chamber used by Russian forces in Kherson, where captured locals were given electric shocks.

Key Points

• More than 83,400 Russian soldiers killed so far, Ukraine claims

• Video of Russian ‘torture chamber’ in Kherson released by Ukraine

• 10 million without power in Ukraine as Russia launches new airstrikes

• Russia refitting troops, preparing defences to stop more Ukrainian breakthroughs - MoD

Ukraine strikes aimed at military and energy infrastructure. Russia says

13:16 , Zoe Tidman

Russia’s defence ministry says its strikes in Ukraine today were aimed at military and energy infrastructure, according to Russian news agencies.

It also said missile manufacturing facilities had been hit.

Reuters

EU trade commissioner in Ukraine

12:45 , Zoe Tidman

European Union trade commissioner is visiting Kyiv for talks with Ukraine’s president on EU support for the country:

No talk of US and Russia president summit, Kremlin says

12:14 , Zoe Tidman

There is no talk of a summit between President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Reuters

Putin and Erdogan have phone call

11:46 , Zoe Tidman

Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that an announcement would be published shortly, without providing details.

The Turksih presidency said Mr Erdogan repeated diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war must be revived.

Reuters

Russian activist dedicates award to anti-war protesters

11:20 , Zoe Tidman

An imprisoned Russian opposition activist who was honored by a human rights advocacy group dedicated his award to the thousands of people arrested or detained in Russia for protesting Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine.

UN Watch has given Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed in April, its highest human rights award.

His wife accepted the award and read a letter from her husband that hailed the journalists, lawyers, artists, priests, politicians, military officers and others “who have refused to say silent in front of this atrocity, even at the cost of personal freedom”.

Full story:

Imprisoned Russian activist honored with human rights award

Images from Kherson

10:54 , Zoe Tidman

Here are some images from the southern city of Kherson since Russian troops’ retreat:

Putin to attend Armenia summit

10:14 , Zoe Tidman

Vladimir Putin will visit a summit of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation next week in Armenia, the Kremlin has said.

Russia ready for high-level talks with US, foreign minister says

09:54 , Zoe Tidman

Russia is ready for high-level meetings with the US regarding strategic stability if Washington is ready, its deputy foreign minister has been quoted as saying by state media.

Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was not ruling out new contracts with the US after upcoming talks in Cairo on the New START nuclear arms treaty.

Reuters

More than 83,400 Russian soldiers killed, Ukraine claims

09:44 , Zoe Tidman

Ukraine’s army claims more than 83,400 Russian troops have been killed in the war so far.

It gives a daily tally on this. Here is the one from this morning:

Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what could happen next?

09:20 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s “special military operation” has now been raging for nine months, the conflict continuing to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Ukraine needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, an entirely baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against a sovereign neighbour state that happens to have a Jewish president.

Ukraine has fought back courageously ever since and continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more about the war here:

Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what could happen next?

Russian attacks kill one in Donetsk

08:59 , Arpan Rai

At least one person was killed and eight others have been injured in twin attacks in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts respectively, officials said.

The regional governor of Donetsk oblast said today that the Russian attacks in the past 24 hours killed one civilian in Bakhmut and wounded four in Chasiv Yar, reported The Kyiv Independent.

Traces of explosives found at Nord Stream pipelines - Sweden

08:41 , Zoe Tidman

Traces of explosives have been found at the site of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, confirming that sabotage had taken place, a Swedish prosecutor said today.

This comes after a preliminary investigation by Danish investigators found that the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines were caused by “powerful explosions”.

Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks in the pipelines which have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis.

Read the full story here:

Nord Stream blast was sabotage with remains of explosives found, Sweden says

Where’s Putin? Russian president missing from room when Kherson exit announced

08:31 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin was reportedly absent from the room when his top military officials announced on television that Russia was withdrawing from the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

Only defence minister Sergei Shoigu and general Sergei Surovikin, Russia’s chief commander in Ukraine, stiffly recited the reasons for the retreat in front of the cameras on 9 November. Mr Putin was touring a neurological hospital in Moscow, watching a doctor perform brain surgery.

Read the full story here:

Where's Putin? Leader leaves bad news on Ukraine to others

Vatican ready to mediate Ukraine war, says Pope

07:09 , Arpan Rai

The Vatican is yet again ready to do anything possible to mediate and put an end to the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa.

He also called on everyone not to give up, on being asked whether he believed reconciliation between Moscow and Kyiv was possible.

“But everyone must commit to demilitarising hearts, starting with their own, and then defusing, disarming violence. We must all be pacifists. Wanting peace, not just a truce that may only serve to rearm. Real peace, which is the fruit of dialogue,” the pontiff told the paper.

Russia refitting troops, preparing defences to stop more Ukrainian breakthroughs - MoD

06:53 , Arpan Rai

After losing Kherson, Russia’s forces are reorganising and preparing defences in the event of more major Ukrainian breakthroughs, the British defence ministry said today.

“Following the withdrawal of its forces from west of the Dnipro River, Russian forces continue to prioritise refitting, reorganisation and the preparation of defences across most sectors in Ukraine,” the ministry said today.

It added that these Russian units have constructed new trench systems near the border of Crimea, as well as near the Siversky-Donetsk River between Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

“Some of these locations are up to 60km behind the current front line, suggesting that Russian planners are making preparations in case of further major Ukrainian breakthroughs,” the British MoD said.

Now it is likely that Russia will attempt to eventually redeploy some of the forces recovered from Kherson to reinforce and expand its offensive operations near the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk oblast, the update said.

Grim scenes show Ukraine reclaiming Kherson

06:48 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian forces are slowly reviving Kherson city after taking control of it last week, as well as swathes of its surrounding region. In a major setback for Moscow, Russia pulled its forces back to the other side of the Dnipro river.

Kherson was the only regional capital to be captured by Russia following its invasion on 24 February.

10 million without power in Ukraine as Russia launches new airstrikes

05:50 , Arpan Rai

Ten million people are without power in Ukraine after Russian airstrikes inflicted more damage on Thursday with the latest barrage smashing into energy infrastructure, apartment buildings and an industrial site.

In his nightly video address, Volodymyr Zelensky said the widespread outages were affecting people in the Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Vinnytsia regions.

At least four people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in drone and missile strikes around the country, authorities said.

Read the full story here:

10 million without power in Ukraine as Russia launches new airstrikes

Two fighter jets escort Qatar-bound Poland football team close to Ukraine border

05:15 , Arpan Rai

The Poland football team were escorted to the southern border by two fighter jets on Thursday, as they flew to Qatar for the World Cup.

Extra care was taken and two F16 planes can be seen flying alongside the squad, given the nation shares a border with war-torn Ukraine.

The footage was posted by the official Twitter account of the Polish team and has already been viewed over 1.6 million times.

Poland begin their World Cup campaign against Mexico on Tuesday 22 November.

Watch the video here:

Two fighter jets escort Qatar-bound Poland football team close to Ukraine border

Heavy fighting continues in Ukraine’s east

04:54 , Arpan Rai

Intense fighting and Russian missile attacks continue to rain on Ukrainian positions in several regions with no visible let up in heavy fighting in Donetsk in the east, the Ukrainian military said last night as Moscow’s occupying forces appeared more active.

Elsewhere, Russian attacks struck gas production facilities and a major missile factory in new missile strikes on critical infrastructure in the country, Ukrainian officials said.

Video of Russian ‘torture chamber’ in Kherson released by Ukraine

04:40 , Arpan Rai

A top Ukrainian human rights official shared a video of a room allegedly used by Russian forces for torturing people in Kherson region, stating that the place could keep 25 people at a time who were not allowed to use the toilet.

The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets showed a series of bare underground rooms with grimy walls and floors that he said were used for detentions, interrogations and torture.

Russian forces used electric shocks to secure confessions, the top official said.

“They asked the questions they wanted and obtained the answers they wanted,” a man who said he had been kept in one of the rooms for 24 days said.

The man said he was tied to a chair and subjected to recurring electric shocks “until losing consciousness” and, after a break, the process resumed.

“One after the other. They prepared a bunch of questions and wrote down everything they wanted,” he said in the video.

03:30 , Arpan Rai

Good morning, welcome to our coverage of the Ukraine war on Friday, 18 November.