Live blog: EU leaders pledge support to Ukraine on famine anniversary

Saturday, November 26, 2022

European leaders have renewed pledges of support to Ukraine on the 90th anniversary of the start of a famine that affected millions of Ukrainians under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Several European leaders were in Kiev to commemorate the victims of the 1932-33 Holodomor — Ukrainian for "death by starvation" — which is regarded by Ukraine as a deliberate act of genocide by Stalin's regime.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted an international summit to discuss food security and agricultural exports with the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania and the president of Hungary.

NATO chief hails Türkiye’s role in extension of Istanbul grain deal

The NATO secretary general has welcomed the support of Türkiye, together with the UN, to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Speaking at the Grain from Ukraine Summit, Jens Stoltenberg said that he saw the grain ships on the Istanbul Strait when he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“They are getting food, grain, and fertilizers out of Ukrainian ports for the vulnerable people who urgently need it,” he said.

Russia: Nine POWs freed in prisoner exchange with Ukraine

Nine Russian prisoners of war have been released as part of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported, citing Moscow's defence ministry.

"On Nov. 26, as a result of the negotiation process, nine Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime," the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine says Russia 'will pay' for Soviet famine and current war

Russia will pay for a Soviet-era famine that left millions of Ukrainians dead during the winter of 1932-33 and for its actions in the current war in Ukraine, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration has said.

"The Russians will pay for all of the victims of the Holodomor and answer for today's crimes," Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram, using the Ukrainian name for the disaster.

Ukraine's annual memorial day for the victims of Holodomor takes place this year on Saturday.

Britain: Russia likely removing nuclear warheads from missiles

Russia is likely removing nuclear warheads from ageing nuclear cruise missiles and firing unarmed munitions at Ukraine, Britain's military intelligence has said.

The defence ministry said open source imagery shows wreckage of an air launched cruise missile fired at Ukraine which seem to have been designed in the 1980s as a nuclear delivery system, adding that ballast was probably being substituted for the warheads.

Such a system will still produce damage through the missile's kinetic energy and unspent fuel. However, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against intended targets, the ministry added in its daily intelligence update posted on Twitter.

Gazprom to ship 42.6 mcm of gas to Europe 

Russia's Gazprom has said it will ship 42.6 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine, a similar level to recent days.

Power restored in Ukrainian city of Kherson, senior presidential aide says

Electricity has been restored in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after its liberation earlier this month from Russian occupation, a senior presidential aide has said.

"First we are supplying power to the city's critical infrastructure and then immediately to household consumers," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The city had been without electricity, central heating and running water when Ukrainian forces reclaimed it on November 11.

Ukraine gradually restores power

Ukrainian authorities are gradually restoring power, aided by the reconnection of the country's four nuclear plants, but millions of people are still without heat or electricity after the most devastating Russian air strikes of the war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that over six million households in the country are still affected by power cuts, two days after reported Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"As of this evening, blackouts continue in most regions (of Ukraine) and in Kiev. In total, more than six million subscribers," Zelenskyy said in his daily address, adding that the number of affected households has reduced "by half" since Wednesday.

Zelenskyy said that some 600,000 subscribers were experiencing power cuts in the capital Kiev with the Odessa, Lviv, Vinnytsia and Dnipropetrovsk regions also among the worst affected.

For live updates from Friday (November 25), click here