Key events
Special “invincibility centres” will be set up around Ukraine to provide electricity, heat, water, internet, mobile phone connections and a pharmacy, free of charge and around the clock, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly video address on Tuesday.
Russian attacks have knocked out power for long periods for up to 10 million consumers at a time. Ukraine’s national power grid operator said on Tuesday the damage had been colossal.
“If massive Russian strikes happen again and it’s clear power will not be restored for hours, the ‘invincibility centres’ will go into action with all key services,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said this week that 8,500 power generator sets are being imported to Ukraine daily.
The first snow of the winter has fallen in much of the country over the past week.
Authorities have warned of power cuts that could affect millions of people to the end of March – the latest impact from Russia’s nine-month invasion that has already killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions and pummelled the global economy.
Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities follow a series of battlefield setbacks that have included a retreat of its forces from the southern city of Kherson to the east bank of the Dnipro River that bisects the country.
Britain sending helicopters to Ukraine
The Ministry of Defence has announced it will send helicopters to Ukraine for the first time since the war began.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said it will be the first time piloted aircraft were sent to the war-torn nation since Russia’s invasion.
According to the BBC, three former Sea King helicopters will be provided. The first of which has already arrived in Ukraine.
Wallace, who made the announcement from Oslo where he is meeting allies to discuss ongoing military support for Kyiv, added that the UK will also send an additional 10,000 artillery rounds.
It comes after Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, used a visit to the Ukrainian capital to set out a new 50m package of defence aid which included 125 anti-aircraft guns and equipment to counter Iranian-supplied drones.
Moldova will pay for gas withheld in Ukraine, Moldova’s deputy prime Minister Andrei Spinu said on Wednesday.
Accusing Ukraine of keeping volumes of gas that were destined for Moldova, Gazprom said it could start reducing gas supplies to Moldova via Ukraine from 28 November.
“Gazprom accuses Ukraine and Moldova of something that is not happening. All gas supplied to the right bank of Moldova will be paid by Moldova,” Spinu said on messaging app Telegram.”
Here are photos of the aftermath of the attack, posted by Zaporizhzhia governor Oleksandr Staruk, via the Kyiv Independent:
⚡️Russia strikes maternity ward in Zaporizhzhia, newborn baby killed.
A Russian missile struck the maternity ward of the Vilnianska Hospital near Zaporizhzhia early on Nov. 23, Governor Starukh wrote on Telegram. A newborn baby was killed in the attack.
📸 Starukh/ Telegram pic.twitter.com/O0b41fvAdh
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) November 23, 2022
Zaporizhzhia regional governor says newborn killed in Russian attack on maternity ward
Zaporizhzhia governor Oleksandr Starukh said on Telegram in the early hours of Wednesday morning that a Russian missile strike on a maternity ward in the Zaporizhzhia oblast city of Vilniansk has killed a newborn baby.
“Grief fills our hearts,” he said.
Summary
Hello, this is the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next while.
Zaporizhzhia governor Oleksandr Starukh said on Telegram in the early hours of Wednesday morning that a Russian missile strike on a maternity ward in the Zaporizhzhia oblast city of Vilniansk has killed a newborn baby.
“Grief fills our hearts,” he said.
The Guardian has not been able to verify the claim independently, but if true, it would not be the first strike by Russian forces on maternity wards in Ukraine.
In March, Russian bombs destroyed a children’s and maternity hospital in Mariupol, killing three people and injuring 17. A pregnant woman who was in the hospital when it was attacked died later, after being taken to another hospital, as did her baby.
We’ll have more on the strike in Zaporizhzhia as it comes in. In the mean time, here are the other key recent developments:
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The Group of Seven nations are set to soon announce the price cap on Russian oil exports and the coalition will probably adjust the level a few times a year rather than monthly, a senior US Treasury official said on Tuesday. The G7, including the United States, along with the EU and Australia are slated to implement the price cap on sea-borne exports of Russian oil on 5 December, as part of sanctions intended to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukrainians needing basic services if Russia knocks out power stations and other facilities this winter can turn to special “invincibility centres,” president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday. Thousands of centres spread across the country will offer electricity, heat, water, internet service, mobile phone connections and a pharmacy, free of charge and around the clock.
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Ukrainians are likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said, as the government started free evacuations for people in Kherson to other regions.
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Kyiv will summon the Hungarian ambassador to protest that prime minister Viktor Orbán went to a football match wearing a scarf depicting some Ukrainian territory as part of Hungary, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Ukrainian media showed images of Orbán meeting a Hungarian footballer wearing a scarf which the outlet Ukrainska Pravda said depicted a map of “Greater Hungary” including territory that is now part of the neighbouring states of Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine.
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Russia’s Gazprom has threatened to cut its gas flows to Europe via Ukraine as early as next week. In a statement, the Russian state-owned energy giant said some gas flows being kept in Ukraine were actually meant for Moldova, and accused Kyiv of obstructing the delivery of 52.52m cubic metres from transiting to Moldova.
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In Crimea, Russian air defences were activated and two drone attacks were repelled on Tuesday, including one targeting a power station near Sevastopol, the regional governor said. Sevastopol is the home port of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Russian-installed Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev called for calm and said no damage had been caused.
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The Polish president spoke to a hoax caller pretending to be France’s Emmanuel Macron on the night that a missile hit a village near the Ukrainian border, his office has admitted. “Emmanuel, believe me, I am extra careful,” Duda tells the caller in a recording of the call posted on the internet. “I don’t want to have war with Russia and believe me, I am extra careful, extra careful.”