Ukraine latest: Kiev faces power cuts after one of the ‘biggest’ Russian attacks

Russia said it was advancing in house-to-house fighting in the strategic city of Pokrovsk, where fighting with Ukraine has intensified in recent days.

According to the Telegram account of the Defense Ministry, the small village of Vovche in eastern Ukraine was captured on Saturday. According to 2001 census data, its inhabitants are said to be 13 people.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he is ready to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reviving hopes for diplomatic talks on Ukraine.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular communication,” Lavrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“It is important to discuss the Ukrainian issue and promote the bilateral agenda. That is why we communicate by telephone and are ready to hold a face-to-face meeting if necessary.”

A highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin was stalled after Lavrov was said to have taken a tough stance during talks with Rubio last month. Trump said he didn’t want to “waste time.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that work is underway on Vladimir Putin’s orders to prepare a proposal for a possible Russian nuclear test, state news agency Tass reported.

According to Tass, Lavrov said, “With regard to the directive of President Vladimir Putin at the Security Council meeting on November 5, it has been accepted for implementation and is being worked on. The public will be informed about the results.”

The order was in response to Donald Trump’s surprise announcement last week that the US would resume testing.

Lavrov said that Russia has not received any explanation from the US regarding Trump’s order.

Russia-US relations have deteriorated sharply over the past few weeks as Trump, frustrated by the lack of progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, canceled a planned summit with Putin and imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time since returning to the White House in January.

This is the moment an 11-year-old girl bravely faced Vladimir Putin about his uncle being injured war With Ukraine.

The child reached out to Putin RussiaAt a Unity Day service on Tuesday (4 November) he was told how his uncle suffered an injury to his hand, was left untreated in hospital and then sent back to fight.

She said, “My uncle is on the front right now, he has an injured hand. He was in the hospital, they were not treating him and now they are sending him on a mission, and I would like him to be transferred to some good hospital in Russia.”

Putin replies: “We’ll find him, okay?”

An overnight drone strike by Ukraine has temporarily disrupted electricity and heating supplies in the city of Voronezh in southwestern Russia, a regional governor has said.

There were no casualties in the attack on Voronezh, the administrative center of the wider Voronezh region, Governor Alexander Gusev said on the Telegram messaging app.

He said several drones were suppressed by electronic warfare systems, causing a fire at a utility facility that was quickly extinguished.

Mr Gusev said security measures led to short-term changes in central heating temperatures in some homes and power outages in some parts of the city, but supplies later returned to normal.

fight for Pokrovsk In ukraine‘S Donetsk According to soldiers and analysts, the region has reached a decisive stage, with Russian and Ukrainian forces locked in intense fighting, even competing for control of individual residential buildings.

The fierce fighting on the ground also underlines a significant diplomatic conflict as both Moscow and Kyiv Trying to convince the US President donald trump Of their military advantage and the weakness of the opposing side.

Russia claims that its forces have encircled Pokrovsk and successfully thwarted Ukrainian attempts to re-establish supply lines. However, Ukraine denies the blockade claims, saying fighting continues and its forces are inflicting significant losses on the Russians.

State-owned energy company Centrenergo said the attacks on its facilities were the largest since the start of the war in February 2022, and it had halted operations at its plants in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.

“The last attack was not even a month ago and the enemy has now attacked all of our production capacity at the same time. The stations are on fire!” Centrenergo, which generates about 8 percent of Ukraine’s electricity, said in a statement.

“Our generation is now zero.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that Russia has lost approximately 1,150,100 troops in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, new figures show. Released on Saturday.

According to the report, Russia has lost 11,330 tanks, 23,544 armored fighting vehicles and fuel tanks and 34,321 artillery systems during the conflict.

The figures include the loss of 1,538 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,239 air defense systems, 428 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 78,928 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.

Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said emergency crews had stabilized the power grid, but warned consumers that further outages were needed for work to proceed after the attacks.

“We are assessing the fallout and coordinating what actions to take to find alternative energy sources so people can get their electricity and heating back,” Ms Hrynchuk said on national television.

News reports and unofficial social media accounts said the blackout continued in at least two regions – Kharkiv in the northeast and Poltava in central Ukraine.

The case holds symbolic importance for the country, as the suspects are usually accused of killing Ukrainian soldiers outside its jurisdiction.

A criminal investigation is underway into the alleged murder of 322 Ukrainian soldiers who had laid down their arms and/or surrendered unconditionally. Russia Invaded the country in February 2022, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.

The UN human rights monitoring mission said in February that there had been an “alarming increase” in the number of executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia.

This is illegal under international humanitarian law. prisoner of war and wounded, and such actions are considered war crimes.