Live blog: Power restored to almost 6 million in last 24 hours: Zelenskyy

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Power restored to almost 6 million in last 24 hours: Zelenskyy

Ukraine has managed to restore power to almost 6 million people in the last 24 hours after massive Russian strikes against the electricity generating system, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.

"Repair work continues without a break after yesterday's terrorist attack," he said in a video address. 

Air raid alerts sound across Ukraine

Air raid sirens have wailed across Ukraine a day after Russia carried out a massive missile strike on critical infrastructure, officials said.

"Please go to the shelters!" Kiev's military administration said on Telegram.

As the Ukraine conflict nears its 10th month, air raid alerts go off almost every day due to Moscow picking up missile and drone strikes after an explosion on October 8 damaged Russia's key Kerch Bridge connecting the country with the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia: Targets were Ukraine's energy infrastructure, military

Russia's defence ministry has said its "high-precision" weapons hit parts of Ukraine's military-industrial complex and energy and military administrative facilities on Friday.

"As a result of the strike, the transportation of weapons and ammunition of foreign production has been thwarted," it said, adding that Ukraine's plants producing weapons, military equipment, and ammunition had been disabled.

Dead boy pulled from rubble of latest Russian hit on Ukraine

Emergency crews have pulled the body of a toddler from the rubble in a pre-dawn search for survivors of a Russian missile strike that tore through an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

The missile was one of what Ukrainian authorities said were 16 that eluded air defences among the 76 missiles fired yesterday in the latest Russian attack targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Governor Valentyn Reznichenko of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Kryvyi Rih is located, wrote on Telegram that "rescuers retrieved the body of a 1-1/2-year-old boy from under the rubble of a house destroyed by a Russian rocket.”

In all, four people were killed in the strike, and 13 injured — four of them children — authorities said.

Over 14M tonnes of grain exported from Ukraine: Türkiye

More than 14 million tonnes of grain have been carried by 556 ships via the Black Sea grain corridor, which Türkiye helped broker earlier this year in a bid to avert a potential food crisis amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The shipment of grain from Ukrainian ports continues. Up until today, 556 grain-loaded ships left Ukrainian ports. 560 ships went to Ukrainian ports for shipment," the Turkish National Defence Ministry said in a statement.

This July, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February.

Read more here.

Russia's Putin, military brass discuss Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin held extensive meetings with the military top brass overseeing Russia's campaign in Ukraine, where Moscow has stepped up bombardments, the Kremlin has said.

"On Friday, the president spent the whole day at the army staff involved in the special military operation in Ukraine," a statement said on Saturday.

He held a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and held "separate discussions with commanders" from different defence branches, it said.

"I would like to hear your proposals on our actions in the short- and medium-term," Putin was shown as saying in the meeting by Russia's state television.

Metro service, water supply back after Russian strikes - Kiev mayor 

The mayor of Ukraine's capital said the city's metro system was back in service and that all residents had been reconnected to water supply a day after the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure. 

Ukrainian officials said Russia fired more than 70 missiles on Friday in one of its biggest attacks since the Kremlin's February 24 military incursion, forcing emergency blackouts nationwide. 

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko also said heating had been restored to half the city and electricity had been returned to two-thirds.

Kiev warns of long cuts after Russian missiles batter grid 

Ukraine was working to restore electricity to hospitals, heating systems and other critical infrastructure in major cities after Russia's latest wave of attacks on its power grid. 

The volley of missiles pitched multiple cities into darkness, cutting water and heat and forcing people to endure below-freezing temperatures. 

In the capital, where the mayor said only a third of residents had heat or water, people wrapped in winter coats crammed into underground metro stations after air raid sirens rang out in the morning.

Zelenskyy seeks better air defence systems from allies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia still had enough missiles for several more massive strikes and he again urged western allies to supply Kiev with more and better air defence systems.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was strong enough to bounce back. 

"Whatever the rocket worshippers from Moscow are counting on, it still won't change the balance of power in this war," he said.

Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the fighting, knocking out power in the second-biggest city and forcing Kiev to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, Ukrainian officials said.

For live updates from Friday (December 16), click here