11:22 am: Russia reports attacks on Ukrainian power plants again

According to its own statements, Russia has again attacked military targets and energy infrastructure in Ukraine in the past 24 hours. In addition, the Moscow Ministry of Defense announced the repulsion of a Ukrainian counterattack in the southern Cherson region.

11.15 am: Russia – arms shipments make the European Union a party to the conflict

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the European Union became a party to the conflict by supplying arms to Ukraine. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added that countries that supply arms to Ukraine are „sponsors of terrorism.” By doing so, it reinforces the Moscow leadership’s sharp criticism of Western support for Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression.

11:13 am: Ukraine wants to cut energy consumption by 20 percent

In response to Russian air strikes on power plants and other critical infrastructure, the Ukrainian government is aiming to cut energy consumption by 20% across the country. Energy Minister Herman Halushenko said on television that residents had already followed the call to provide electricity. A voluntary decrease in consumption is recorded. „But when that’s not enough, we have to forcibly close.” Russia has carried out more than 300 airstrikes on Ukrainian power plants since October 10.

11:11 am: EU imposes sanctions on Iran for delivery of drones

The European Union imposed sanctions on Iran for allegedly supplying Russia with so-called kamikaze drones. According to the Presidency of the Czech Council, member states agree to freeze the assets of three people and one entity responsible for the deliveries. Iran has officially denied supplying Russia with drones.

10.02 am: LONDON – Damaged bridges likely to complicate Russian withdrawal

British military experts have reported that the Russian leadership is considering a major withdrawal of its forces from the area around the Ukrainian city of Cherson, west of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine. This emerges from the daily intelligence update from the Ministry of Defense in London. Such a project was made more difficult by the fact that all the permanent bridges over the one kilometer wide river were severely damaged, the letter said. British experts say Russia will likely have to rely heavily on a recently completed temporary bridge near Kherson and military ferries.

10:00 a.m.: Governor – Serious damage to the Borsten thermal power plant

According to the governor of the region, the damage to the thermal power plant in Borshten in Western Ukraine is significant. The power plant was hit in a Russian attack on Wednesday. „Unfortunately, there was destruction, and it was huge,” Svetlana Onishuk, the governor of the Ivano-Franevsk region, told Ukrainian television.

9.35 am: Scholz wants to bring energy prices down to an 'acceptable’ level

Chancellor Olaf Schultz wants to bring down the prices of electricity, heating, gas, oil and coal to an „acceptable level”. He said in the Bundestag that this would be an issue at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. In Germany, the electric price brake is working at full speed. The basic quota must be supported. With gas and heat this is more complicated. Schulz describes the expert panel’s proposals for the planned gas-price brakes as smart. „We are now implementing this proposal.” Despite the halt in Russian gas supplies, the chancellor believes Germany is adequately prepared for the coming months. „We’ll get through this winter together.” The 95 percent filling level for gas storage facilities, which Germany wanted to achieve by November 1, has already been exceeded. Despite the decision to bring coal-fired power plants back into the grid, the government „remains firm about our stated climate goals”.

09:34: Russia denies using Iranian drones in Ukraine

Russia has denied the allegations that Iranian drones were used in the war against Ukraine, describing them as „baseless allegations and conspiracy theories”. On Wednesday (local time), speaking before the UN Security Council in New York, Deputy Head of the Russian UN Mission, Dmitry Polyansky, said that the drones used were made in Russia. This can also be seen from the Russian inscriptions on the shells of destroyed UAVs. „We have our own drone industry producing the things we need for this campaign.”

09:28: Germany wants to train the entire Ukrainian brigade

Germany wants to train an entire Ukrainian brigade of up to 5,000 soldiers by spring. „We thus confirm our desire to participate in the long-term development of the powerful Ukrainian armed forces – together with our partners,” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party). He noted that EU foreign ministers had approved a new training mission for about 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers on Monday. One of the headquarters for this will be in Germany, Schultz said. He called for closer European and international coordination on military support for Ukraine.

09:14: Schultz – „Putin will not achieve his war goals”

„Putin will not achieve his war aims,” ​​said Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Bundestag. The Russian president speculates on the weakness of the West and Ukraine. „But he is wrong.” Schultz does not want to question the sanctions against Russia. And this path will remain as long as Russia continues its brutal war of aggression.” Ukraine will be supported as long as necessary. Schulze condemned the recent Russian drone attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine as war crimes that will not succeed. The politician from the Social Democratic Party said in a government statement in The Bundestag “even the scorched earth tactic will not help Russia win the war.” “It only strengthens the determination and perseverance of Ukraine and its partners.”

8:37 am: Wüst – Scholz must demand EU solidarity for refugee distribution

The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Fust (CDU), has called on Chancellor Olaf Schultz (SPD) to demand a better distribution of refugees at the EU summit in Brussels. „The chancellor there must declare that there is also solidarity in Europe,” Wüst said today on ZDF’s „Morgenmagazin” programme. It is essential that people fleeing to Europe – especially from Ukraine – are better distributed. West noted that many municipalities currently report being at their borders when it comes to housing refugees. The answer now cannot be to house people in large halls again, which is especially difficult for women with children. Therefore, the action of the federal government is now necessary.

8:00 a.m.: The start of a blackout in Ukraine

After massive Russian attacks on power plants, Ukraine began cutting electricity across the country. In the capital, Kyiv, electricity was briefly cut off in some homes on Wednesday evening. For today, Ukrainian tool Ukrenergo announced bottlenecks in other regions until 10:00 PM local time (9:00 PM CEST). All residents were asked to use as little electricity as possible between 7am and 10pm. At the same time, there were calls to equip power banks, batteries and light bulbs.

7.45 am: Ukraine presses forward with its offensive in Kherson region

According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it is proceeding with its offensive against the invading Russian forces in the southern Kherson region. The military said 43 Russian soldiers were killed there and six tanks and other equipment were destroyed. On Wednesday, the Russian-appointed administration had ordered evacuations in the occupied territories and also in the regional capital of the same name, Kherson, in anticipation of a Ukrainian attack. According to the Ukrainian army, the Russian armed forces in eastern Ukraine on the border with Russia concentrated their advance mainly on the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Bakhmut is located in the center of Russia’s slow progress in the Donetsk region. According to Ukrainian information, Russian forces in the region bombarded at least ten towns with tanks and artillery.

4:55 am: Ukraine announces nationwide blackout

The Serious damage to their electricity networks Ukraine forced nationwide power cuts on Thursday. President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the citizens of his country to help. „We will do everything in our power to restore the natural energy supply to our country,” he said in his video address. But it takes time and our joint efforts with you.” According to the latest information from the government in Kyiv, Russian missile and drone attacks have destroyed 40 percent of the energy infrastructure in the past few days.

3:26 am: USA – UN discusses delivery of Iranian drones to Russia

The United States, Britain and France raised Iran’s alleged sale of drones to Russia at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday. „We have expressed grave concern about Russia’s purchase of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Iran,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. „We now have ample evidence that these drones have been used to attack Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure. We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools against anyone involved in these transfers.”

2:23 am: Drone dispute – Moscow wants to reconsider cooperation with UN chief

In the event of a UN inspection of drones that may have come from Iran, Russia wants to re-evaluate cooperation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, called on Guterres and his staff to „refrain from illegal investigations.” Otherwise, we will have to reconsider our cooperation with them, which, perhaps, will not be in anyone’s interest. We don’t want to do that, but we have no other choice. He did not initially mention any other details.

2 am: Drones: Ukraine accuses Iran of violating UN embargo

Ukraine throws it Iran will supply combat drones Russia for violating the UN Security Council embargo. Russian forces have recently used such drones in their attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, according to a letter from Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Serhiy Kiselitsya, to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the Security Council, which was made available to the Associated Press. The message was distributed ahead of a closed session of the United Nations’ highest body on allegations that Tehran sold hundreds of drones to Moscow. Iran and Russia denied that the drones were Iranian-made.

12:02 am: Three power plants destroyed in 24 hours

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia continues to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Over the past 24 hours, Zelensky says, Russian forces have destroyed three Ukrainian power stations.