November 30, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

European energy companies are being urged to donate essential equipment to Ukraine to help repair the grid that has been damaged by Russia’s invasion, the leading international energy organization coordinating efforts told CNN on Wednesday.?

In a statement, Energy Community said it has been assisting Ukraine by coordinating donations of specialized equipment to repair the infrastructure damaged in attacks by Russia.?

Since the start of the war, 37 shipments from 20 countries have been delivered to Ukraine, the statement said and 47 more deliveries are underway.?

The international energy organization said its primary mandate is to help Ukraine and other countries in the European Union’s region to reform their energy sectors.?

Ukrainian artillerymen load an M109 self-propelled howitzer during training exercises with US and Norwegian at Grafenwoehr Training Area on May 12.

The Biden administration is considering a dramatic expansion in the training the US military provides to Ukrainian forces, including instructing as many as 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers a month at a US base in Germany, according to multiple US officials.?

If adopted, the proposal would mark a significant increase not just in the number of Ukrainians the US trains but also in the type of training they receive. Since the start of the conflict in February, the US has trained only a few thousand Ukrainian soldiers, mostly in small groups, on specific weapons systems.?

Under the new program, the US would begin training much larger groups of Ukrainian soldiers in more sophisticated battlefield tactics, including how to coordinate infantry maneuvers with artillery support — “much more intense and comprehensive” training than Ukraine has been receiving in Poland or the UK, according to one source briefed on the proposal.??

The proposal, which was made at the behest of Ukraine, is still under inter-agency review by the administration. News of its existence comes more than nine months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as the onset of winter is expected to slow military operations.?

A grinding war of attrition: How decisive so-called “combined arms training” is likely to be on the battlefield remains an open question because the war has primarily been fought as a grinding war of attrition between two artillery armies, said Mike Kofman, an expert on the Russian and Ukrainian militaries at the Center for Naval Analyses.?

“It’s a good idea because they [Ukraine] need all the training they can get,” Kofman said. But the primary variable on the battlefield right now is the availability of ammunition on both sides, he said. “The Ukrainians aren’t going to be as effective at combined arms maneuvers if they don’t have enough artillery ammunition.”?

US European Command declined to comment.??

To read more, click here

CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group has played a prominent role in the conflict in Ukraine, has demanded that Russian businesses allow employees time to train at the private Russia military group’s camps.

In a statement from his Concord Group, Prigozhin — who is also known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “chef” — said that “many volunteer militiamen, especially from the Belgorod and Kursk regions, are currently receiving military training at Wagner PMC bases.”

“Unfortunately, some businesses where these volunteer militia members work are preventing them from taking short-term leave for training purposes,” he continued.

Again going on the offensive against parts of the Russian state, Prigozhin said these companies were “state-owned, owned by big business players who live far from the Kursk and Belgorod Regions (usually somewhere in Moscow.)”

Prigozhin has adopted an increasingly populist tone as the conflict has worn on, accusing parts of the Russian establishment of insufficient support for the Russian military and criticizing the defense ministry for poor organization.?

Earlier on Wednesday, CNN reported that US President Joe Biden’s administration?is considering designating the Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization amid ongoing efforts to impose costs on Russia for the?Ukraine war, according to a US official.

More about the Wagner Group: The mercenary firm has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The group is often described as Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014. The group has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister?Dmytro?Kuleba?attends a UN Security Council meeting in New York City on September 22.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it’s imperative that NATO supply Ukraine quickly as the war continues.

“You need to be with us not just as long as it takes, but also supply us with everything required as fast as it is required,” Kuleba said.

Kuleba has been attending the NATO and G7 meetings in Bucharest.

“I’ve thanked all the states here, who said they will stand with Ukraine as long as needed. It is a very significant sign for us, as we did not have such unanimous support on this point before,” he said.

Kuleba also welcomed new equipment.

Speaking about the US Patriot air defense system, Kuleba said, “Until now nobody would talk about this issue, except us. We were the only one to raise it. But now this issue is being discussed. This is a very serious and substantive discussion.”

On Tuesday, CNN reported that the US is considering sending the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine to support their air defense capabilities against incoming Russian attacks, according to a senior US defense official.

Kuleba said he had urged a change of approach by Ukraine’s western donors, which was now paying off.

On infrastructure: Kuleba also met with G7 foreign ministers about aid for restoring Ukraine’s heavily damaged infrastructure, as some 30% of power capacity currently disabled.?

“The first option is to buy electricity in the EU.?But prices on the EU market are much higher than in Ukraine, so additional financial support will be needed,” he said. Another option is to source?the necessary energy equipment, transformers and generators that will help alleviate energy shortfalls, he said.

The United States is among several countries pledging fresh aid to assist with repairing power infrastructure damaged by Russian missile attacks.

The Ukrainian President’s Office has welcomed a proposal by the president of the European Commission to establish a specialized court to prosecute Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

“This is exactly what we have been offering for a long time. Russia will pay for crimes and destruction,” he said.

In a statement Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “while continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialized court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression.”

The recently liberated southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the surrounding towns continue to be shelled, according to the city’s regional military administration.

The administration and its head, Yarsolav Yanushevych named the towns struck — Beryslav, Naftohavan, Kizomys, Antonivka, Dariivka, Sadove and Zelenivka – which are all along the western bank of the Dnipro River.?

The Ukrainians said Russian forces are targeting Naftohavan in particular to “hit power lines and gas distribution station.” The town has an oil loading terminal that can clearly be seen on maps.

Yanushevych added that three residents were injured and a 70-year-old woman was killed.

Despite the continuing hardships for residents, some basic services are coming back online more regularly, including water. The administration described the power supply as “intermittent.” Mobile communications are available with “interruptions,” but the internet is working.?

Water is also appearing around the city “due to the supply of power to pumping stations” but the water is being supplied with a reduced pressure.?

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces have made a breakthrough in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. It comes after at least five civilians were killed by strikes there on Tuesday, according to officials.

Catch up on the top headlines you might have missed:

National security adviser?Jake Sullivan?speaks during a press briefing at the White House on July 11.

US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan briefed key bipartisan senators on the Ukraine war effort in a secure room in the US Capitol Visitors Center on Wednesday.?

The briefing was for the top four senate leaders as well as chairs and ranking members of Armed Services, Intelligence, Foreign Relations?committees and an appropriations subcommittee.?

Departing the meeting, senators said it was a detailed briefing on all aspects on the war effort.?

Republican Sen. Jim Risch, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee said of?the administration’s approach to the war that “I?would do things a little differently… but they are committed deeply, they’re working closely with our allies and they’ve got contingency plans for things that might go awry.”

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on the American people getting tired of the war and “if we don’t sustain, that would not be in the interest of America or the world.

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said it was “in depth” briefing on the war effort but there was not any discussion on additional funding needs.?

Spanish policemen secure the area after a letter bomb explosion at the Ukraine's embassy in Madrid, Spain, on November 30.

The envelope that exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid Wednesday was addressed to Ambassador?Serhii Pohoreltsev, according to a statement released by Spain’s Foreign Ministry.?

Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares spoke to Pohoreltsev after the incident. The person injured was a Ukrainian worker, according to the same statement.?

Albares, who is visiting Spanish troops at a NATO mission in Romania, extended his support and solidarity after the incident.?

A truck displaying the symbols "Z" in support of the Russian armed forces involved in a military conflict in Ukraine is parked outside PMC?Wagner?Centre during the official opening of the office block in Saint?Petersburg, Russia, on November 4.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering designating the Wagner Group, a Russian private military group, as a foreign terrorist organization amid ongoing efforts to impose costs on Russia for the?Ukraine war, a US official said.

No final decision has been made, and it is unclear how far out the administration is from potentially making this designation given the laborious legal process in making this determination, the official explained.

The Wagner Group is a mercenary firm that has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The group is often described as?President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014. The group has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

The group was founded by a Russian oligarch,?Yevgeny Prigozhin, which he admitted to earlier this year. Prigozhin is so close to the Kremlin that he is known as?Putin’s “chef.”

The group is already sanctioned by the US, but the Biden administration has its sights on labeling it a terrorist organization amid pressure – both from the Ukrainians and from Congress – to declare Russia as a state sponsor of terror due to the invasion of Ukraine and the constant attacks on the civilian population.

More background: The Biden administration has so far resisted efforts to label Russia as a state sponsor of terror, making the case that it would be a largely symbolic designation that could create obstacles when it comes to getting support into Ukraine, particularly through the Black Sea.

“We have to take into account the consequences, both the intended and the unintended. And that has led us to the approach we’ve taken here,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said earlier this year.

The conversations regarding Wagner are currently happening within a small group of US officials, and no final decision has been made.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces have made a breakthrough in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

“As a result of offensive actions by Russian troops, Andriivka (Donetsk People’s Republic) has been completely liberated from the Ukrainian armed forces,” it announced on Tuesday in a Telegram post.

Andriivka is a small settlement south of the city of Bakhmut, in a region that has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the conflict.

The ministry said that Russian troops continued “successful offensive operations to liberate Vodiane,” a nearby settlement.

Russian forces have focused considerable effort on taking villages around Bakhmut in an effort to encircle and take the city.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have not confirmed the loss of any territory. The General Staff said Monday that Russian troops continued their main offensive actions on places east and south of Bakhmut, mentioning both Andriivka and Vodiane.?

A Christmas tree of “invincibility” will be installed in the Ukrainian capital ok Kyiv, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.

The tree will be 12 meters high and “decorated with energy-saving lights” that will be generator powered.

A charging point will be installed near the generator for people to charge their phones and once Christmas passes, the company that provided the generator will donate it to the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Klitschko’s social media post.

The tree itself will be placed on St. Sophia Square and the decorations will be funded 100% from local businesses.

The spruce will be decorated with a nod to the international assistance that Ukraine has received. Flags of countries “that help Kyiv cope with the challenges and consequences” of the war will be placed around the base.?

On Tuesday, Klitschko announced that trees will be installed across the city but didn’t offer many details saying, “we cannot let Putin steal Christmas!”

It was confirmed that any tree installations would not have mains powered lights given the pressure on the Ukrainian grid. The use of the generator appears to be an alternative.?

NATO is looking to invest in Soviet-era weapon systems used in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Wednesday.?

“We’re looking at every option to make sure that, again, [the Ukrainians] get what they need and what can be most effective for them. Some of that does go to Soviet-era systems that they’ve had in their inventory for decades and, for example, making sure that the ammunition is there for those systems. And in some cases, that may require producing things that haven’t been produced for some time. So we are looking across the board at all of that,” Blinken told CNN in Bucharest, Romania, where he is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that NATO was discussing investing in old factories in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria to restart the manufacturing of Soviet-era shells for Ukraine’s still largely Soviet-era artillery armory.

A combat-ready Patriot anti-aircraft missile system of the Bundeswehr's anti-aircraft missile squadron 1 stands on the airfield of Schwesing military airport in Germany on March 17.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday asked Germany to provide Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine as soon as possible.

“The message is simple: give Patriots as soon as you can,” Kuleba said while speaking at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, “because this is the system that Ukraine needs to protect its civilian population and critical infrastructure.”

Kuleba’s remarks come after Poland’s Defense Minister?Mariusz B?aszczak?said last week that Berlin should send Patriot missile air defense systems directly to Ukraine rather than Poland. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht responded by stressing that the use of NATO defense systems outside its territory needs to be agreed by all member states.?

Berlin had initially offered the Patriot systems to Poland after a likely Ukrainian stray missile crashed and killed two people in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine earlier this month.

“We are ready to accept them; we are ready to operate them in the safest and most efficient way. And once again, I would like to reiterate that this is a purely defensive weapon. We will be working with the German government on this particular issue,” Kuleba said.

Two police officers at the Ukrainian embassy where an explosion occurred, on November 30, in Madrid, Spain.

An explosion has occurred at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, according to a Spanish Ministry of Interior statement. One person is slightly injured after handling a letter and is being treated at hospital, the ministry said.?

The Spanish National Police said an explosive device has gone off at the embassy and they are investigating.?

Police said it is too early to know if the explosion took place when an embassy worker tried to open an envelope or simply move the envelope.

“Minister Dmytro Kuleba (Ukrainian Foreign minister) has issued an urgent instruction to step up security at all Ukrainian embassies abroad,” said the Ukrainian foreign minister’s spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko.

“Whoever is behind this explosion they will not succeed in intimidating Ukrainian diplomats or stopping their daily work to strengthen Ukraine and to counter Russian aggression,” Nikolenko quotes Kuleba as saying.

The United States is “very focused” on providing air defense systems to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Wednesday.

“We’re now very focused on air defense systems and not just us, many other countries,” Blinken told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Blinken was speaking from Bucharest, Romania, where he is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

While Blinken would not elaborate on whether the Pentagon would provide the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, he told Amanpour that the United States had been working on making sure that “at any given time, [the Ukrainians] have the most effective systems possible to deal with the threat they are facing.”

“We just recently, for example, provided them with a very effective system called NASAMS that they are using very effectively. Before that of course, we had the HIMARS, which they used to great effect both in southern and eastern Ukraine,” Blinken said.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures during a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, on November 30.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly condemned the targeting of Ukrainian civilians by Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it “barbaric.” He also promised that the United States and NATO allies would continue to support Kyiv in the face of Russian efforts to “splinter our coalition.”

“As Ukraine continues to seize momentum on the battlefield, President Putin has focused his ire and his fire on Ukraine’s civilian population,” Blinken said at a news conference Wednesday at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest. “Over the past several weeks, Russia has bombed out more than a third of Ukraine’s energy system, plunging millions into cold, into darkness, as frigid temperatures set in.”

On Tuesday, the United States government pledged more than $50 million dollars in equipment to support Ukraine’s electrical system. Blinken said Wednesday that the equipment – generators, transformers, spare parts – would be arriving in Ukraine “not in a matter of months, but in a matter of days, or weeks.”

Blinken said the attacks on civilian infrastructure were part of Putin’s “playbook” to “freeze and starve Ukrainians, force them from their homes,” drive up costs for energy and food around the world, “and then try to splinter our coalition.”

Allies are aware that “standing up for Ukraine means accepting difficult costs,” Blinken said, “but the cost of inaction would be far higher.”

Blinken said that diplomacy would be necessary to fully end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but noted that “Russia’s savage attacks on Ukrainian civilians are the latest demonstration that President Putin currently has no interest in meaningful diplomacy.”

“The best way to actually hasten the prospects for real diplomacy is to sustain our support to Ukraine and continue to tilt the battlefield in its favor,” Blinken said. “That will also help ensure that Ukraine has the strongest possible negotiating position and hand to play when a negotiating table emerges.”

“Short of Russia ending the aggression had started that is the only path to a peace that is both just and durable,” Blinken said.

A resident boards an evacuation train on November 21, in Kherson, Ukraine.

The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories has said that 2,500 civilians have left Kherson to other safe regions around Ukraine.

People are moved through “proven routes” to Lviv and Khmelnytskyi, a statement said.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, added that people leaving will receive “cash payments” when they arrive at train station: 2,000 UAH ($53) per adult and 3,000 UAH ($80) per child or person with disabilities.?

“People count on cash support. Therefore, they receive it immediately upon arrival. This gives confidence that the state will take care of them in the new place,” Vereshchuk said.

Those leaving are also issued IDP certificates and humanitarian aid.?

Ukraine’s energy minister has said that his country’s power situation “is improving every day.” Read the latest developments below:

Energy situation: Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that without any more waves of air strikes, “in the short term we will be able to stabilize and reduce the duration of the outage.” He said that while there would still be outages, the aim was to make them as planned as possible.?Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-run energy operator, said Wednesday that the country’s energy deficit stood at 27% as of 11 a.m. local time.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that while the second winter season of the war “will be very challenging,” 70% of power needs have been met.

NATO?foreign ministers have pledged?more support for Ukraine in a meeting Tuesday, including assisting in repairs to its energy infrastructure amid Russian attacks.

EU court: The?European Union?will try to set up a specialized court that would investigate and prosecute alleged crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine,?according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.??

Zelensky warning: Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelensky?cautioned in his nightly video address Tuesday that the Russians are “planning something in the south.” The warning comes just weeks after the southern city of Kherson was liberated from Russian troops on Nov. 11, after eight months of occupation. The city has?since been rocked?by heavy Russian shelling, shattering an initial sense of calm.

Deaths in Donetsk: At least five civilians were killed in Russian strikes in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian military official. Some of the fiercest fighting in eastern Ukraine is taking place around Bakhmut, which has been besieged for months by Russian forces.

People hold a banner with the inscription 'Stop propaganda of violence' during the Gay Pride demonstration in Field of Mars, St. Petersburg, Russia, on August 12, 2017.

Russia’s upper house of parliament unanimously voted on Wednesday to toughen?a controversial law?banning what the bill describes as “LGBT propaganda,” making it apply to Russians of all ages.

The bill has to be signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin after being passed by the Federation Council. It passed the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on November 24.

The law proposes to ban all Russians from promoting or “praising” homosexual relationships or publicly suggesting that they are “normal.” It also prohibits “propaganda” of pedophilia and gender reassignment in advertising, books, films.

The original version of the law adopted in 2013 banned “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors. Now Russian lawmakers are applying it to adults as well.

The controversial law was met with criticism and ridicule in Western countries, including a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights in 2017 that stated Russia’s “gay propaganda law” is discriminatory, promotes homophobia and violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - 2017/08/12: Participants hold a rainbow flag commonly known as the LGBT pride flag during the Gay Pride demonstration in Field of Mars. Several dozens of people came to Field of Mars in St. Petersburg for participation in VIII St. Petersburg LGBT Pride. (Photo by Igor Russak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Related article Russia's upper house of parliament passes tougher ban on 'LGBT propaganda' | CNN

A tram is seen in front of apartment buildings without electricity in Kyiv,?Ukraine, on?November 23, after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko has said that his country’s energy situation “is improving every day.”

Halushchenko added that without any more waves of air strikes, “in the short term we will be able to stabilize and reduce the duration of the outage.”

He said that while there would still be outages, the aim was to make them as planned as possible.?

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Halushchenko outlined his vision for the future of the Ukrainian grid. “We do not want to restore the system as it was before. We will make it modern,” he said.?

He spoke of two paths for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, short term and long term. The short-term aim was to restore as much as possible quickly, while in the long term, the entire grid would have a “completely different look.”

Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-run energy operator, said Wednesday that the country’s energy deficit stood at 27% as of 11 a.m. local time.?

The update, posted on Facebook, said “capacity is gradually increasing, which will slightly reduce the deficit in the power system.”

It added that there are now consumptions limits for each region and that exceeding the consumption “limits leads to the need for emergency outages to avoid grid overload and ensure balance in the power system.”

Ukrenergo urged Ukrainians to continue limiting their electricity consumption so that engineers can focus on repairs.?

The European Union will try to set up a specialized court that would investigate and prosecute alleged crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine,?European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.??

“Russia must pay for its horrific crimes, including for its crime of aggression against a sovereign state. And this is why while continuing to support the International Criminal Court (ICC), we are proposing to set up a specialized court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression,”?von der Leyen?said in a video message.??

“We are ready to start working with the international community to get the broadest international support possible for this specialized court,” she said.???

“Russia must also pay financially for the devastation it has caused,” she said,?“and we have the means to make Russia pay.”???

The damage suffered by Ukraine is estimated at 600 billion euros, von der Leyen said. “Russia and its oligarchs have to compensate Ukraine for the damage and cover the cost for rebuilding the country,”?she said.?

The EU has blocked 300 billion euros of the Russian Central Bank reserves and frozen 19 billion euros of Russian oligarchs’ money,?von der Leyen said.??

“In the short term, we could create with our partners a structure to manage these funds and invest them. We would then use the proceeds for Ukraine. And once the sanctions are lifted, these funds should be used so that Russia pays full compensation for the damages caused to Ukraine,” she said.??

“We will work on an international agreement with our partners to make this possible. And together we can find legal ways to get to it,” she said.??

“Russia’s horrific crimes will not go unpunished,” von der Leyen added.??

Later on Wednesday, the European Commission said the video included an inaccurate number of Ukrainian deaths.

“The estimation used, from external sources, should have referred to casualties, i.e. both killed and injured, and was meant to show Russia‘s brutality,” according to spokesperson?Dana Spinant.?

Spinant said the initial video was replaced with a new version.?

“Many thanks to those who pointed out the inaccuracy regarding the figures in a previous version of this video,”?Spinant?tweeted.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers his nightly address on November 29.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in his nightly video address Tuesday that the Russians are “planning something in the south.”

He said that the situation on the frontline remains difficult and Russian forces are trying to advance into the Donbas region and Kharkiv.

“The situation at the front is difficult. Despite extremely big Russian losses, the occupiers are still trying to advance in the Donetsk region, gain a foothold in the Luhansk region, move in the Kharkiv region, they are planning something in the south,” he said.

“But we are holding out and – most importantly – do not allow the enemy to fulfill their intentions,” he added.

The warning comes just weeks after the southern city of Kherson was liberated from Russian troops on November 11, after eight months of occupation.

The city has since been rocked by heavy Russian shelling, shattering an initial sense of calm.

Kherson was the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russian forces had captured since February’s invasion.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, opens the meeting of the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest, Romania, on November 30.

NATO?foreign ministers pledged more support for Ukraine in a meeting in Bucharest Tuesday, including assisting in repairs to its energy infrastructure amid Russian attacks.

They said in a joint statement that they remain steadfast in the?“commitment to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

“Russia’s unacceptable actions, including hybrid activities, energy blackmail, and reckless nuclear rhetoric, undermine the rules-based international order,”?the statement read.?

Ukraine has been experiencing nationwide blackouts as Russia continues to bombard energy infrastructure.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that generators and spare parts for Ukraine’s energy grid had already been delivered.

“We have delivered generators, we have delivered spare parts, and allies are, in different ways, helping to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. We need to realize that there are enormous effects of the attacks (by Russia),” Stoltenberg said as he arrived for the meeting.

The United States announced it would provide $53 million to buy power grid equipment for Ukraine.

“This equipment will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine on an emergency basis to help Ukrainians persevere through the winter,” a State Department statement said, adding that the package would include distribution transformers, circuit breakers and surge arresters among other equipment.

Ukraine urged its Western partners to supply it with both air defense systems and transformers to blunt Russian strikes.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was discussing with?NATO?foreign ministers how to speed up the process of weapons deliveries to his country and secure the?energy infrastructure.

“We appreciate what has been done, but the war goes on,” said Kuleba?on the sidelines of the NATO meeting, speaking alongside Stoltenberg.?

“Today I have three other words, three different words, which are: faster, faster and faster,”?Kuleba?said.

Queen Consort Camilla holds an audience with Ukraine's first lady?Olena?Zelenska?at Buckingham Palace in London on November 29.

Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska has met with Queen Consort Camilla on her visit to the United Kingdom.?

Zelenska wrote on Telegram that it was an “honour” to meet Her Majesty and “tell her what has happened and is happening in our territories temporarily occupied by Russia”.?

They also talked about how the war has “divided families,” she said.

Ukrainian soldiers watch a real-time feed from a drone as they target artillery strikes on Russian positions.

In a basement in eastern?Ukraine, young men sit at a long table strewn with laptops, their eyes glued to a television screen an arm’s length away.

They watch black figures on a bleak winter hilltop, which appear to panic, then run across the frame. It’s a live video feed from a small Ukrainian drone several miles away — a spotter for artillery teams trying to kill Russian soldiers in their trenches.

Plumes of smoke rise from the near misses of Ukrainian salvos.

All along the eastern frontlines, in basement command centers hidden behind unmarked metal doors, bookish Ukrainian soldiers direct artillery fire in a desperate attempt to hold off a?Russian advance.

This is a real-life testing ground for shoestring, innovative 21st century warfare. The men use cheap, commercially available drones and consumer chat programs to identify and communicate targeting for weaponry that in many cases is multiple decades old.

Their fiercest fight is taking place for the city of Bakhmut, besieged for months by Russian forces.

Read more here.

Firefighters extinguish a fire after Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on November 29.

At least five civilians were killed in Russian strikes in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian military official.

In a statement Wednesday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said two people died in Bakhmut city, two others in Drobysheve and one in neighboring Lyman.

A total of 15 others were injured, he added.

Some of the fiercest fighting in eastern Ukraine is taking place around Bakhmut, which has been besieged for months by Russian forces.

The second winter season of the war “will be very challenging,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

He told a government meeting that Russia “will further shell the energy infrastructure; their goal is to freeze Ukraine and commit another genocide of the Ukrainian people.”

Shmyhal said that “all regions of Ukraine, except Kherson region, are supplied with power. Currently, electricity production in the country covers 70% of consumption needs.”

He said the onus was now on regional power companies not to exceed the limits provided by state electricity provider NPC Ukrenergo and to minimize uneven disconnection of consumers.

There is sufficient energy, he said, to evenly distribute the load of forced outages so that people can turn on lights for at least five to six hours a day, Shmyhal said.

Shmyhal said the situation required a strong air defense and quick repairs of damaged power equipment.

“Regarding air defense, over the past month, there has been significant progress, first of all, thanks to the supply of modern Western systems,” he said.

Obtaining additional power equipment was also a priority, he said.

Shmyhal said Ukraine’s energy resources are adequate for the winter months: “We are entering the winter with 14 billion cubic meters of gas in our storage facilities and 1.3 million tonnes of coal in storages. This resource will be quite enough to get us through the winter stably.”

He also said that the Economy Ministry foresaw no shortages of fuel and diesel, which would be required for the hundreds of generators being imported.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, speaks during the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting held at Parliament Palace in Bucharest, Romania, on November 29.

NATO foreign ministers said Tuesday in a joint statement they?remain steadfast in the?“commitment to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” and pledged allies will?assist Ukraine as it repairs its energy infrastructure?amid Russian attacks.

“Russia’s unacceptable actions, including hybrid activities, energy blackmail, and reckless nuclear rhetoric, undermine the rules-based international order,”?according to the statement.?

“We also remain resolute in supporting Ukraine’s long-term efforts on its path of post-war reconstruction and reforms, so that Ukraine can secure its free and democratic future, modernize its defense sector, strengthen long-term interoperability and deter future aggression,” according to the statement.?

Ukraine has been experiencing blackouts as Russia continues to bombard energy infrastructure.

“We will continue to strengthen our partnership with Ukraine as it advances its Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” the ministers said.

Russian forces are shelling “all settlements” along the west bank of the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region, including recently liberated territory, according to Ukrainian officials.

Serhii Khlan, a member of the Kherson regional council, told a news conference that “the occupiers continue shelling both the city of Kherson and the west-bank part of Kherson region.”

He said there had been no casualties Tuesday, but Russian forces continue to strike at vital infrastructure.

“Power company crews are working to fully restore power supply to Kherson city. Critical infrastructure is supplied, but not all of it. Hospitals have received electricity supply,” he said.

Khlan said that only a quarter of Kherson city’s pre-war population of 320,000 remains — and more were leaving every day because of the shelling and lack of utilities. Additional carriages were being added to a daily evacuation train, and evacuation by bus routes continued, he added.

Pope Francis?has described two of Russia’s ethnic minority groups, the Chechens and Buryats, as some of the “cruelest” troops fighting in?Ukraine.

The pontiff was speaking in an interview with a Jesuit magazine, America, which was published on Monday but took place on November 22, according to the outlet.

Chechens are an ethnic group originating from Chechnya in southern Russia. Ramzan Kadyrov, the pro-Kremlin leader of the region, has largely been supportive of the war in Ukraine, and has even reportedly sent his own sons to fight there.

The Buryats are an ethnic group from eastern Siberia, in an area which borders Mongolia.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, defended Russia’s ethnic makeup on her official Telegram channel.

“We are one family with Buryats, Chechens and other representatives of our multinational and multi-confessional country,” she said. “And together we will definitely pray for the Holy See, each in his own way.”

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The mayor of?Kyiv?has said the city “cannot let Putin steal our Christmas” as Ukrainians prepare to tentatively celebrate the festive season with darkened trees while?Russian airstrikes knock out power?and wreak havoc on critical infrastructure.

Christmas trees will be erected across the Ukrainian capital to mark Christmas and the New Year, Kyiv’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko told Ukrainian news outlet RBC-Ukraine, but energy company YASNO said they will not be illuminated.

Mass events will remain prohibited under martial law, but “no one is going to cancel the New Year and Christmas, and there should be an atmosphere of the New Year,” Klitschko told the network.

His call comes after weeks of?sustained aerial attacks?on Ukraine’s energy grid, which have left families across the country without electricity, light or water intermittently.

Officials are racing to restore resources quicker than Russia can knock them out. Ukraine’s electricity operator Ukrenergo said Tuesday that it was running at a 30% deficit, 3% higher than the day before, after it had implemented a series of “emergency shutdowns” across the country at “several power plants.”

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