Live blog: Russian shelling kills one in Ukraine's Chasiv Yar  —Kiev

Saturday, December 2, 2023

1435 GMT — Russian shelling has killed one civilian and destroyed two houses in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, the interior ministry said.

Chasiv Yar is less than five kilometres west of the frontline city of Bakhmut, which Russia claimed to have captured in May after a devastating, months-long assault.

"A civilian was killed and two houses were destroyed in Chasiv Yar during the enemy shelling," Ukraine's interior ministry said on social media.

The Ukrainian army said fighting also continued around the industrial town of Avdiivka further south, where Kiev's army has been clinging on despite a renewed Russian offensive.

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0922 GMT — Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses power: Ukraine

Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its power supply after the last remaining line to it from Ukrainian-controlled territory was disrupted, but it has since been repaired, the energy ministry said.

According to a statement published by Ukraine's energy ministry on Telegram, one power line to the plant was disrupted late on Friday, while the last, 750 kW, line was broken at 2:31 am (0031 GMT) on Saturday.

"This is the eighth blackout which occurred at the (Zaporizhzhia plant) and could have led to nuclear catastrophe," the statement said.

The ministry said that after losing grid connection the plant turned on 20 backup generators to supply its own electricity needs.

0908 GMT — Russia's Lavrov rejects revision of goals in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivered a blunt message to Western leaders and declared at an international security conference that his government was not prepared to “review its goals” in Ukraine.

“We aren’t seeing any signals from Kiev or its masters about their readiness to seek any kind of political settlement,” Lavrov told reporters while attending an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference in North Macedonia on Friday.

“We see no reason to review our goals,” he said.

North Macedonia, which joined NATO in 2020, waived a flight ban on Russian officials so Lavrov could attend the two-day meeting of the OSCE's Ministerial Council, prompting the top diplomats of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to skip the event in protest.

0101 GMT — Control of Maryinka uncertain amid reports of Russian advance

Control over Maryinka, a town in eastern Ukraine all but destroyed by more than a year of fighting, remained uncertain, with unofficial reports suggesting Russian forces had registered some gains.

Most accounts of Maryinka, southwest of the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk, describe it as a ghost town amid daily reports of Ukrainian forces defending different districts. Once a city of 10,000, there are no civilians left.

Ukraine's General Staff, in its evening report, said Russian forces had been unsuccessful in attempts to advance on villages near Maryinka, but said nothing of troop movements in the town.

Russia's Defence Ministry made no mention of the town in its dispatches.

0134 GMT — Ukrainian official predicts Kiev Airport soon to reopen

Ukraine has become progressively stronger over the past year and will soon be able to reopen Kiev's international airport, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff said amid conflict with Russia.

Andriy Yermak pledged while addressing diplomats at Boryspil International Airport outside the capital.

"This return to the elements of peace is possible because Ukraine has grown stronger," Yermak told the diplomats in remarks posted on Zelenskyy's website.

"We are now capable of providing security for this site. Thanks to our defence forces and our friends, your countries.

For our live updates from Friday (December 1), click here.