Andrei Belousov has arrived in Pyongyang for talks with military and political leaders, the Russian defence ministry said. It comes after thousands of North Korean troops were dispatched to join Russian forces in combat against Ukraine. Send us your war questions for our experts below.
Friday 29 November 2024 07:26, UK
We’ve spoken to Oleksii Riabchyn, former adviser to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, from Kyiv this morning about the electricity supply across Ukraine in light of repeated blackouts.
He describes it as “stably critical” at the moment.
Mr Riabchyn says the focus on damaged power sites is to rebuild in a “sustainable and decentralised way”, building more smaller stations instead of larger ones, to ensure Ukraine has the “fastest way” to EU membership.
Asked about the day-to-day electricity supply, he says: “When Russian strikes hit the energy generation systems – you don’t have enough to feed the needs of the people.”
He says when Russia “very cruelly” hits the transmission systems at substations, it is “very hard to manage” and results in “two to four to six hours” of no electricity at a time.
But he says the situation in larger cities is manageable – compared to elsewhere.
“When you think of our soldiers on the frontline. It’s not very pleasant. The trenches, the cold,” he says.
“So to sit in Kyiv or Kharkiv for a couple of hours where you can’t have yourself a cup of coffee… I can speak to you now on my iPad, but maybe in a few hours I can’t”.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has called for British troops to be stationed on Ukraine’s border as part of any peace deal.
Johnson told the Telegraph that responsibility for guarding possible future ceasefire lines should be a European effort involving peacekeeping forces from several nations.
“I don’t think we should be sending in combat troops to take on the Russians,” he told the newspaper’s Ukraine podcast.
“But I think as part of the solution, as part of the end state, you’re going to want to have multinational European peacekeeping forces monitoring the border [and] helping the Ukrainians.
“I cannot see that such a European operation could possibly happen without the British.”
He also said NATO countries should be “spelling out what kind of security guarantees” are appropriate for Ukraine as part of peace negotiations.
“The only thing that really works is a NATO Article 5 guarantee that has kept the peace in Europe for 80 years,” he said.
Article 5 is a political commitment by NATO members to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory is attacked.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for Ukraine’s quick accession into NATO shortly after the Russian invasion in 2022 – but key alliance members fear such a move could involve them in the war with Russia.
Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov has arrived in North Korea for talks with military and political leaders, the Russian defence ministry has said.
He was greeted by his North Korean counterpart No Kwang Chol as he arrived to a red carpet at Pyongyang International Airport
Russian media, which reported Belousov’s visit, did not specify the purpose of the talks, and North Korean state media did not immediately confirm the visit.
It comes two days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov in Seoul, with the two countries agreeing to share intelligence on military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
The US and its allies say Pyongyang has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to join Russian forces in combat in recent weeks.
North Korea has also been accused of supplying military aid to Moscow to support Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
A “major fire” has erupted at an industrial facility in Russia’s Rostov border region, a Kremlin-appointed official has said.
Acting governor Yuriy Slyusar said last night that Ukrainian forces had launched a “massive attack” and that at least 30 drones had been downed or destroyed by Russian air defences.
He later reported a “major fire at an industrial facility” in the region’s Kamensky district, with more than 100 emergency workers at the scene.
Slyusar, writing on Telegram, also said some private homes in two villages had sustained some damage in the apparent Ukrainian drone attack, but there were no casualties.
Welcome back to our coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Before we bring you the latest, here is an overview of what has happened over the past day:
The map below shows the latest territorial picture in Ukraine…
We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more updates on the Ukraine war.
Here are the key lines from today:
Russia’s ambassador to the UK says the war in Ukraine is dragging on mainly because countries like the US and UK are supplying Kyiv with weapons and money.
Speaking with Turkish broadcaster TRT World, Andrei Kelin also accused Joe Biden of contributing to the expansion of the war by sending military support to Ukraine and leading sanctions against Moscow.
The diplomat said that Moscow will start talking about peace in Ukraine when Kyiv withdraws its troops from the regions currently held by Russian troops.
“We do not need a temporary cessation of hostilities, we need a comprehensive settlement, a lasting, long-term and reliable one,” he says.
“We do not want Ukraine to be rearmed by the West to resume the fighting at a new level.”
On US president-elect Donald Trump, he said: “We will judge Mr Trump’s future presidency by his actions, not by what he said during his election campaign.”
Last week, Mr Kenin told Sky News Britain is now “directly involved” in the Ukraine war after its Storm Shadow missiles were used to strike targets inside Russia.
The difficult part of Keith Kellogg’s job as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia won’t be getting the two countries to the negotiating table, says international correspondent Diana Magnay.
Instead, she says the real challenge will be ensuring that Kyiv is given sufficient security guarantees that will deter Vladimir Putin from rearming and returning to Ukraine.
Speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World, Magnay says that would seem to depend on the “long-held Republican strategy” of having “peace and deterrence through strength”.
“It would require the US to guarantee sufficient security and weaponry to Kyiv that if Putin decided to go further, they would come down really, really hard on Ukraine’s side.”
Mr Kellogg has previously published his ideas for a peace plan in Ukraine and will likely play a key role in any potential negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow (see last post).
He thinks Ukraine should not give up its territory as part of a peace deal, but it must understand a diplomatic resolution “probably will not occur before Putin leaves office”.
Magnay says Mr Kellogg is “very experienced in matters of defence”, citing his time spent working as chief of staff to the national security council in the previous Trump administration.
“He’s also experienced in dealing with Donald Trump. And that matters here.”
A fire broke out in a medical facility in Kyiv and one person was injured after a Russian drone attack this evening, the head of the city’s military administration has said.
In a post on Telegram, Serhiy Popko said the fire broke out in the city’s Dniprovskyi district, on the east bank of the Dnipro River.
Mr Popko warned residents to remain in shelters with an air raid alert still in effect.
Joe Biden has called Russia’s overnight aerial attack against Ukraine “horrific” and “outrageous”.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden said the attacks should serve as a reminder of the urgency and importance of supporting the Ukrainian people.
“On this day, my message to the Ukrainian people is clear: the United States stands with you,” he said.
“Russia continues to underestimate the bravery, resilience, and determination of the Ukrainian people. The United States stands with more than 50 countries in support of Ukraine and its fight for freedom.”
Biden added that his administration has been working to help Ukraine increase the resilience of its energy grid in preparation for the winter.
Vladimir Putin said Russia’s overnight attacks were in response to Ukraine’s use of long-range US and UK weapons inside Russia.
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