War in Ukraine: Moscow continues to bomb Ukrainian cities, leaving millions without electricity

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Rescue workers at a house badly damaged by a Russian missile attack

Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS

What has happened in the past few hours

At least 13 people have apparently been injured in renewed Russian rocket attacks on the area around the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipro.

This was announced by the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Resnichenko, on Saturday.

The area has been hit by five Russian attacks using multiple rocket launchers and heavy artillery.

In addition to Dnipro, the small town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk was also hit on Saturday.

On the other hand, the pro-Moscow militias complained that one person was killed and one injured in the Ukrainian shelling of the city of Donetsk.

Meanwhile, fierce Russian attacks left millions of people in and around Kyiv without electricity - and heavy snowfall is expected in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, with temperatures plummeting below freezing.

Grid operator Ukrenergo said generators are only able to meet three quarters of demand, causing restrictions and blackouts across the country.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war for the third time within a week.

"We managed to free twelve of our people," said the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, on Saturday.

Moscow confirmed the exchange of nine soldiers with Russian nationality.

That says Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine are not only wrestling with each other on the battlefield.

It is also a matter of asserting one's own interpretation of the conflict internationally.

This is also evident when looking at the global food crisis.

Both countries are increasingly targeting the poor countries in Africa and Asia, which have not yet positioned themselves clearly.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine wants to deliver grain to those countries with the help of the western industrialized countries for 150 million dollars.

"Food security is one of the key elements of global stability," said the 44-year-old on Saturday evening in his daily video address.

He presented the "Grain from Ukraine" program - marketed in English under the name "Grain from Ukraine" - as an important step in combating the global food crisis.

After the end of the Russian naval blockade, Ukraine had already shipped twelve million tons of food to 40 countries via its Black Sea ports.

According to Zelenskyy, the country is preparing 60 grain ships for poor countries.

More than 20 countries are supporting Kyiv with 150 million dollars.

Moscow says so

Russia recently blamed the West for the global food crisis.

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin portrayed his war of aggression against Ukraine as a defense against Western claims to hegemony.

International Reactions

Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur does not see Russia as significantly weakened even after nine months of war.

"We have to be honest and clear: the Russian Navy and the Russian Air Force are more or less as big as they were before the war," Pevkur told the dpa news agency.

Although the Russian land forces would have clearly lost strength, "sooner rather than later" they would reach the pre-February 24 size or even exceed it.

He also expects that Russia will learn from the course of the war.

"That means they will invest more in the skills that they believe have been successful in Ukraine in the years to come," Pevkur said.

"We have no reason to believe that the threat from Russia is any less, or the threat to NATO is reduced."

Pevkur warned of "war fatigue" in western countries.

“That's exactly what Russia wants to achieve, and that's why we say they're in no hurry.

Russia is definitely ready to suffer longer.” He assumes that Russia “mentally is ready for a long war”.

However, in view of the heavy losses in the land forces - possibly now 50 percent - the leadership in Moscow wanted "a kind of break" to gather strength again.

Only in the spring does it become clearer how long the war could last.

Pevkur: "Will it be years?

Hard to say."

Meanwhile, NATO explicitly praised Germany's role in supporting Ukraine.

"Germany's strong support makes a decisive difference," NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg told the "Welt am Sonntag".

“The arms deliveries from Germany save lives.

We all need to maintain and increase our support for Ukraine.” If Putin won the war, he and other despots would continue to use violence to achieve their goals, Stoltenberg said.

“It may mean more war and more suffering.

That would make our world even more dangerous.

It is in our own interest that Ukraine prevails.” The best way to support peace is to support Ukraine.

The head of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, is calling for more European solidarity in the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees in view of the increasing number of Russian attacks on Ukraine's life-support infrastructure.

"If more Ukrainians are forced to flee by Russian bombardments and attacks over the winter, then Western Europe will have to take more responsibility," said the CSU leader of the "Bild am Sonntag".

»This unprecedented challenge must be borne by all EU countries in solidarity.«

According to UNHCR, around 7.9 million people (as of November 22) from Ukraine have sought protection abroad because of the war since February 24.

According to the Interior Ministry, 1,027,789 people are registered in Germany.

According to the UNHCR, significantly fewer people have been counted in France (around 119,000), Italy (around 173,000) and Spain (around 154,000), while Poland has taken in the most with more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.

sak/dpa/Reuters