Ukraine-Russia war live: 1m without power after Putin’s missile attack on energy grid

A Russian court sentenced a defence lawyer who has represented critics of Moscow’s war in Ukraine to seven years in prison on Thursday under two statutes, spreading false information about the Russian army and “inciting hatred”, the court said.

Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence for Dmitry Talantov, 63, who plead not guilty, after he wrote Facebook posts which condemned the actions of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia had called on Wednesday for Talantov’s acquittal.

“Talantov must be released immediately and exonerated of all criminal responsibility, as acts such as expressing a non-violent opinion or peaceful dissent against the war are protected by international human rights law,” Mariana Katzarova said.

Russia is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory with Western weapons, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Russian attacks have not so far struck government buildings in the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv is heavily protected by air defences, but Putin says Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which it fired for the first time at a Ukrainian city last week, is incapable of being intercepted.

“Of course, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, as has already been said, including by possibly continuing to test the Oreshnik in combat conditions, as was done on 21 November,” Putin told a meeting of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries in Kazakhstan.

“At present, the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory. These could be military facilities, defence and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centres in Kyiv,” he said.

Russia says Ukraine fired US ATACMS ballistic missiles into western Russia for the first time on 19 November, prompting it to respond two days later by firing the Oreshnik, a new intermediate-range missile, at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Since then, Russia says Ukraine fired more ATACMS at its Kursk region on 23 and 25 November.

Putin said Russia’s production of advanced missile systems exceeds that of the NATO military alliance by 10 times, and that Moscow planned to ramp up production further.

The war that broke out when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 is now at a critical juncture, with Russian ground forces advancing at their fastest pace so far this year in eastern Donetsk region.

Russia fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile on Ukraine this month in response to the US and Britain allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not want peace. We must force him into peace through strength,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, reiterating Kyiv’s call for more air defence and long-range capabilities from its Western allies.

Russia launched almost 200 missiles and drones at Ukraine in its latest attack on the countrys energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

In a post on X this morning, he said: “In total, approximately 100 strike drones and over 90 missiles of various types were launched.

“Several regions reported Kalibr missile strikes with cluster munitions, deliberately aimed at civilian infrastructure.

“The use of these cluster elements significantly complicates the work of our rescuers and power engineers in mitigating the damage, marking yet another vile escalation in Russia’s terrorist tactics.”

Ukraine’s state oil and gas firm Naftogaz has said that Russian forces attacked its facilities in the morning missile strike, but it will not affect the company’s work.

“Our employees and contracted services are dealing with the consequences of the damage,” Naftogaz said on the Telegram messenger on Wednesday.

Russia unleashed its second big attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this month on Thursday, cutting power to more than 1 million people in the west, south, and center of the country, officials said.

Damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in Lviv, Volyn, Rivne and Khmelnytskyi regions in the west, the Mykolayiv and Kherson regions in the south, and Zhytomyr region in the centre.

The attack reinforced fears of long power cuts during the winter months as temperatures across Ukraine hover around zero.

“Another Russian missile and drone barrage, targeting civilians and energy grid, causing power outages across Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

Ukrainian officials said it was the 11th major strike on the Ukrainian energy system since March. Russia had knocked out about half of Ukraine’s available generating capacity, damaged the distribution system and forced long blackouts.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “despicable escalation”.

Ukrainian air defence shot down 79 out of 91 Russian missiles and downed 35 drones, the air force said.

A source in the energy sector source said Ukraine disconnected several nuclear power units from the network amid the Russian attack. Ukraine relies on nuclear generation for more than 50 per cent of its electricity supplies.

The capital Kyiv was targeted but all missiles or drones were downed, officials said.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Thursday’s attack. Russia denies targeting civilian targets.

Russia returned seven children to Ukraine following mediation efforts by Qatar, the TASS state news agency reported on Thursday.

Qatar has acted as a mediator several times between Russia and Ukraine to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children since the start of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure on Thursday, calling it a “vile escalation.”

Zelenskiy reiterated his call to Kyiv’s Western allies to provide more air defence and ensure timely deliveries, especially during critical winter months as Ukraine struggles to protect its energy infrastructure from the strikes.

Ukraine’s air force has said it shot down 79 out of 91 missiles launched by Russia during its attack targeting the country’s energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian military shot down 35 drones and lost track of 62 out of 97 drones launched by Russia in the attack, it said on Thursday.