Live blog: Ukraine recaptures Black Sea peninsula, blasts hit Russian area

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Ukraine recaptures Black Sea peninsula - governor

Ukraine has recaptured almost the entire southern Mykolaiv region on an isolated peninsula off the Black Sea where fighting is ongoing, the local governor said.

Kiev's troops have been pushing out Russian forces from the southern Mykolaiv and Kherson regions and recently recaptured Kherson city, which was the only regional capital Moscow's forces had taken since February.

"We are restoring full control over the region. We have three settlements left on the Kinburn Split to officially no longer be a region at war," said Mykolaiv regional governor Vitaly Kim on social media.

Blasts kills three in Russian region bordering Ukraine

Explosions killed three people in two villages in Russia's Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

A woman was killed in what Gladkov said was Ukrainian shelling in the village of Shebekino, around seven kilometres (four miles) from the Ukrainian border in the south of the Belgorod region.

"During the shelling of Shebekino, a woman civilian was killed," he said on Telegram. 

Air defences activated in Crimea, two drones shot down - Russia-backed official

Air defences were activated in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and two drones were shot down, the regional governor said on social media.

Sevastopol is the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet. Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the port using air and marine drones at the end of October, in response to which it briefly suspended its participation in a deal to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. 

US to provide $4.5B to Ukraine through World Bank

The US government said it would provide $4.5 billion in financial support for Ukraine, with the funds aimed at "bolstering economic stability and supporting core government services".

The mobilisation comes as Kiev grapples with fallout from Russia's offensive, with Moscow stepping up strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as it faces growing losses on the ground.

"These funds will begin disbursing in the coming weeks," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement. 

Gazprom says Ukraine diverting Moldova gas supplies, threatens cuts

Russian energy giant Gazprom said Ukraine was diverting natural gas supplies transiting to Moldova and threatened to curtail deliveries through a key pipeline to Europe in response.

The allegations are the latest point of tension over energy deliveries between Kiev, European capitals and Moscow, which has reduced consignments to Europe in response to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.

"The volume of gas supplied by Gazprom... for transit to Moldova via Ukraine is more than the physical volume transmitted at the border of Ukraine with Moldova," Gazprom said in a statement.

Ukraine detains 'traitor' who released Kherson prisoners

Ukrainian investigators said that a prison official in the recently liberated city of Kherson was suspected of committing treason for releasing inmates before the Russian army's retreat.

On November 11, the Russian army pulled forces from the southern city of Kherson, in a major setback in a region President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed.

Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation said that an official in charge of security at a local prison collaborated with the Russian forces and allowed inmates to flee ahead of Russia's retreat. 

No major progress on Ukraine nuclear security zone – Kremlin

The Kremlin has said that no substantive progress had been made towards creating a security zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, once again accusing Kiev of shelling at the plant and risking a nuclear incident.

Ukraine denies those charges and has levelled the same accusations at Russia.

"Speaking about the security zone, one should only speak about those who are shelling this station. Who is a threat? The threat is those who are bombarding it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia seized shortly after its February 24 incursion, was again rocked by shelling at the weekend, leading to renewed calls from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to create a protection zone around it to prevent a nuclear disaster.

Ukraine detains 'traitor' who released Kherson prisoners

Ukrainian investigators have said that a prison official in the recently liberated city of Kherson was suspected of committing treason for releasing inmates before the Russian army's retreat.

On November 11, the Russian army pulled forces from the southern city of Kherson, in a major setback in a region President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) said that an official in charge of security at a local prison collaborated with the Russian forces and allowed inmates to flee ahead of Russia's retreat. He himself did not have the time to escape and was detained, the SBI added.

The former employee is suspected of committing state treason and could face up to life in prison.

Putin to meet mothers of soldiers called up to fight in Ukraine

Russian President Putin will in the coming days meet the mothers of reservists called up to fight in Ukraine, the Kremlin has said.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been sent to the frontlines - including some of the more than 300,000 reservists who were called up as part of a mobilisation announced by Putin in September.

The meeting with soldiers' mothers, first reported by the Vedomosti newspaper, was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Ukraine says over 8 people killed in past 24 hours 

Ukraine has said that more than eight people were killed by Russian forces over the past day across three regions in the country, as missile and artillery strikes have intensified in the country.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, issued a statement on Telegram, with reference to statements given by the administrations of the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

“On November 21, Russians killed four civilians in the Donetsk region: in Bakhmut, Heorhiivka, Kurakhove and Petrivka. Another four people in the region were injured,” Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.

Ukraine's security service raids Kiev monastery

Ukraine's SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kiev as part of operations to counter suspected "subversive activities by Russian special services".

The sprawling Kiev Pechersk Lavra complex - or Kiev Monastery of the Caves - is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that falls under the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Russian Orthodox Church, whose head Patriarch Kirill has strongly supported Moscow's military actions in Ukraine, condemned Tuesday's raid as an "act of intimidation".

Ukraine says Russia hit aid distribution centre, one killed

Russian shelling has hit a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the town of Orihiv in southeastern Ukraine, killing a volunteer and wounding two women, the regional governor said.

Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, gave no further details of the attack on Orihiv, about 110 km east of the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

"Russian terrorists are shelling humanitarian delivery points, continuing nuclear blackmail - a pitiful tactic of military losers," Andriy Yermak, chief of Ukraine's presidential staff, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"Well, for every such action there is a Ukrainian counteraction," he added.

Ukraine to investigate video of alleged shooting of Russian POWs

Ukraine has said it will investigate the content of video footage shared by Russia showing Ukrainian soldiers allegedly shooting more than 10 Russian soldiers said to be surrendering.

“Of course, Ukrainian authorities will investigate this video,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishyna, said on the sidelines of a security forum in Canada on Saturday.

During the forum, Stefanishyna said it is “very unlikely” that the footage shows what Russia claims to have taken place, adding that Ukrainian forces do not intend to execute anyone because they have direct orders to take “as many prisoners of war” as possible for prisoner exchanges.

Ukrainians brace for bleak winter

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to Ukrainians to conserve energy amid relentless Russian strikes that have already halved the country's power capacity, even as the United Nations' health body warned of a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine this winter.

Authorities said millions of Ukrainians, including in the capital Kiev, could face power cuts at least until the end of March due to the strikes. Citizens in the recently liberated southern city of Kherson may apply to be relocated to areas where heating and security problems are less acute, they said.

Temperatures have been unseasonably mild this autumn, but are starting to dip below zero and are expected to drop to -20 degree Celsius or even lower in some areas during the winter months.

Ukraine begins civilian evac in retaken areas as winter comes

Ukrainian authorities have begun evacuating civilians from recently liberated sections of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, fearing that a lack of heat, power and water due to Russian shelling will make living conditions too difficult this winter.

Authorities urged residents of the two southern regions, which Russian forces have been shelling for months, to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Monday that the government will provide transportation, accommodations and medical care for them, with priority for women with children, the sick and the elderly.

The World Health Organization delivered a chilling warning about the energy crisis' human impact on Ukraine. "This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine," said the WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge.

For live updates from Monday (November 21), click here