A new exchange of prisoners of war between Moscow and Kyiv

• 23:48: water and electricity supply problems in about fifteen districts

According to the President of Ukraine, there are problems with water and electricity in about fifteen regions. “The situation with electricity remains difficult in almost all regions. However, we are gradually moving away from outages and connecting electricity to new consumers every hour,” Vladimir Zelensky assured.

“We have endured a nine-month general war, and Russia has not found a way to break us. And it will not happen. We must continue to hold our position,” he said in his evening speech.

• 19:45: The International Council of Museums has published a list of Ukrainian cultural treasures “at risk”.

Ancient manuscripts, century-old icons or crafts… The International Council of Museums (Icom) has published an “emergency Red List of Cultural Assets at Risk” to combat illegal trade in Ukraine “enhanced by Russian occupation”.

With this list, Icom hopes to serve as an effective reference for “identifying looted and stolen cultural objects in Ukraine as they begin to circulate in weeks, months and years.”

Its initiative “comes at the right moment in the fight against the illegal circulation of Ukrainian cultural heritage – a phenomenon that has existed for a long time in the region and has been intensified by the Russian occupation”, emphasizes this international network of museum experts. It covers about 140 countries.

• 19:39: According to the governor, at least four people died as a result of the Russian bombing in Kherson

The governor said that two weeks ago, at least four people were killed and ten were injured as a result of Russian shelling of the city of Kherson, located in the south of Ukraine, where the Moscow troops retreated.

Yarovslav Yanushevich, the head of the military administration of Kherson, said in Telegram that “Russian invaders fired multiple rocket launchers at the residential area. A large building burned down.”

• 16:56: Hungary is still delaying the ratification of the membership of Sweden and Finland

Turkey and Hungary, the only NATO countries that have not ratified the membership of Sweden and Finland, have postponed it until next year.

Hungary’s parliament will vote in the “first session” in 2023, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on the eve of the Visegrad group summit in Košice, Slovakia, and assured the two countries of “support”.

• 16.20: New prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv

According to the information provided by Kyiv and Moscow, Russia and Ukraine exchanged new prisoners of war and freed 50 people each.

Ukraine received 48 soldiers and two officers, including marines, infantry, border guards and territorial defense personnel, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, said on Telegram.

“We were able to return 19 defenders from Mariupol […] as well as 15 (war) prisoners from Chernobyl NPP and 7 people from Snake Island”, he said.

Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, which is under the control of Russia, said some time ago that there is a prisoner exchange with Kiev, involving 50 prisoners from each side.

• 15:11: Volodymyr Zelensky objected to the inclusion of Russia in the OSCE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy questioned Russia’s membership in the OSCE during a televised address to the Parliamentary Assembly of this international organization in Warsaw.

“We see that various international platforms have found the necessary solutions to prevent Russian terrorism, to isolate this terrorist state as much as possible and to help find a way out of the merciless global crisis created by Russia,” the head of state of Ukraine said in a press release. From the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“Why is there still no OSCE among these platforms? Why is a terrorist state, even after nine months of crimes, still a member of your Parliamentary Assembly?” Vladimir Zelensky asked.

• 13:37: Russia and Ukraine discussed ammonia and prisoner exchange in the Emirates

Russian and Ukrainian officials met last week in the United Arab Emirates and discussed the possibility of a prisoner exchange that would allow the resumption of ammonia exports from Russia to Asia and Africa through a gas pipeline in Ukraine. meeting

These negotiations took place without the mediation of the Emirates and the participation of the United Nations, despite the organization’s central role in creating sea corridors that allow the export of agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.

• 13:25: European Parliament approves 18 billion euro aid blocked by Hungary

The European Parliament on Thursday backed a proposal for 18 billion euros of new European financial aid to Ukraine for 2023 – aid that Hungary has blocked in a row with Brussels.

By 507 votes (38 against, 26 abstentions), MEPs gathered in Strasbourg overwhelmingly supported this new financial support for Kiev to address the economic consequences of Russia’s occupation.

“This vote is important not only for the much-needed funding it provides to the people of Ukraine, but also for democracy,” said conservative European Parliament President Roberta Metsola after announcing the vote “was carried out in record speed.” “.

• 12:31: Russia says the latest damage in Kiev was caused by Ukraine’s “air defenses”.

The Russian military denied that it struck Kiev a day ago, saying that the damage to the capital of Ukraine was caused by “Ukrainian and foreign” anti-aircraft missile systems.

“Kiev was not hit. According to the Kyiv regime, all the damage to the city was the result of foreign and Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile systems installed in residential areas of the Ukrainian capital,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Spokesman of the Ministry Igor Konashenkov.

According to him, the Russian army launched “massive strikes” on the “military command system of Ukraine and its related energy infrastructure” a day ago.

• 12:25 p.m.: Paris accuses Russia of committing “war crimes”.

The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday again accused Russia of “manifest war crimes” in Ukraine, stressing that Wednesday’s mass bombings “did not target any military targets”.

“France strongly condemns the mass bombings that Russia launched on November 23 against Kyiv, Lviv and several other cities of Ukraine,” the Quai d’Orsay spokesman said in a statement.

“This systematic targeting of the population as winter approaches clearly reflects Russia’s desire to deprive the Ukrainian people of water, heat and electricity in order to make them suffer and weaken their resilience,” he added, adding that “these actions it seems obvious. constitute war crimes”.

• 11:45: Moscow distributed 80,000 Russian passports after the “annexations”.

Russia announced on Thursday that it has distributed Russian passports to more than 80,000 residents of four regions of Ukraine.

• 10:24 a.m.: three nuclear power plants reconnected to the power grid

“After yesterday’s massive explosions, energy workers managed to do it […] Connect three nuclear power plants to the power grid in the morning,” Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said on Telegram, adding that these facilities should start delivering electricity “this evening.”

“The situation is difficult all over the country,” Minister German Galushenko said in a televised statement, adding that the national power grid had “reunited” after damage from Russian strikes and output should gradually increase throughout the day.

These are the Khmelnytsky and Rivne (West) and Pivdenne (South) power plants, which were disconnected from the automatic protection system after Russian strikes that affected a number of Ukrainian power plants.

• 10:18: Poland wants Germany to hand over Patriot missiles to Ukraine

Poland’s defense minister has offered Germany to give Ukraine the Patriot air defense system it gave to Warsaw after a deadly missile landed in Poland last week.

“After new Russian missile attacks, I requested that the Patriot batteries offered by Germany to Poland be transferred to Ukraine and installed on the western border,” Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter on Tuesday. “This will protect Ukraine from future losses and power outages and strengthen security on our eastern border,” he added.

• 9:50 am: Russia welcomes ‘constructive’ contacts with IAEA on Zaporozhye power plant

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that relations with the UN nuclear watchdog are “constructive” and promising regarding the safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant controlled by Russia.

The Zaporozhye power plant, which was seized by Russia shortly after its February 24 invasion, was rocked again last weekend by bombings, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded the creation of a containment zone around it to prevent a nuclear disaster.

• 09:04: Race to provide electricity to cities without electricity in Ukraine

More than two-thirds of Kyiv was still without electricity and a large proportion of residents were without running water on Thursday morning after Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Energy Minister German Galushenko hopes that the three nuclear power plants that were shut down on Wednesday because of the attacks should have been restarted on Thursday, which would help ease supply problems.

• 8:35: Hungary will provide $195 million in financial aid to Ukraine

Hungary will provide Ukraine with 187 million euros ($195 million) in financial aid – a contribution to the EU’s 18 billion euro aid package in 2023, according to a government decree published late Wednesday.

• 2:58: Paris says Russian strikes are ‘clear violation of international humanitarian law’

Nicolas Rivière, France’s ambassador to the UN, described the Russian strikes as “a clear violation of international humanitarian law” and reaffirmed France’s support for Ukraine during this Security Council meeting.

With AFP and Reuters