Summary
As the time approaches 8pm in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, here is the summary of today’s news from the war.
Attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are “playing with fire”, the UN nuclear watchdog’s director general has said. It comes after a series of explosions in the area overnight, which damaged buildings and equipment. The International Atomic Energy Agency said none of the blasts had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security. But its boss, Rafael Grossi, said that whoever was behind the attacks, “it must stop immediately”, adding: “You’re playing with fire.”
Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks The Ukrainian operator of the nuclear power plant said on Telegram that Russian forces were behind “targeted” shelling on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom had earlier accused Ukraine of shelling at the plant, which is under Russian occupation.
Ukraine will investigate footage that is said to show its forces killing Russian troops Moscow has said the videos, which are circulating on social media, show Ukrainian soldiers killing Russian soldiers as they tried to surrender. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said Ukrainian authorities would investigate the footage but it was “very unlikely” that the clips showed what Russia claims.
Negotiating with Russia would be “capitulation”, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency has said. Mykhaylo Podolyak said attempts by the west to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow were “bizarre” given a series of major military victories by Kyiv. He added it would mean that a country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”. The comments come after recent US media reports that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks.
Nearly 45,000 criminal proceedings have been initiated over crimes allegedly committed by Russian service personnel during the invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national police have said. An update published on Sunday said 47 places have been discovered where Russian forces are accused of illegally detaining and torturing Ukrainian. They include in liberated regions including Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv.
There are more signs of life starting to return to a modicum of normality in Kherson as supermarkets are reopening. ATB, a 24/7 shop in the city, had queues of people outside on Sunday as it welcomed customers back. The city was recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces after a Russian retreat.
France has sent another two air defence systems to Ukraine, along with two multiple rocket launchers, according to an interview given by a French defence minister.
That’s all for today, thanks for following along.
Updated
France has sent another two air defence systems to Ukraine, along with two multiple rocket launchers, according to an interview given by a French defence minister.
Sébastien Lecornu told the Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that Paris was considering a request for radars.
According to the minister, since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, France has provided Ukraine with €550m of military aid and is among the five largest donor countries to the war effort. The French military have also trained Ukrainian soldiers.
“Our task is to train 2,000 people out of the 15,000 proposed by the European Union. Some 400 Ukrainian military personnel have already been trained on operating equipment and weapons systems that we are providing to Ukraine,” Lecornu said, Ukrinform reports.
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The Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights has denied that Kyiv’s forces have killed Russian prisoners of war, claiming that Ukraine’s soldiers were defending themselves against Russians who feigned surrender.
Videos circulated on Russian social media this week purporting to show the bodies of Russian service personnel killed after surrendering to Ukrainian troops, Agency France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said “excerpts” of a video showed that Russians “using a staged capture … committed a war crime by opening fire on the Ukrainian armed forces”.
This means the soldiers “cannot be considered prisoners of war”, Lubinets argued.
“Those who want to use the protection of international law to kill must be punished,” he added.
AFP has not independently confirmed the videos.
The Russian defence ministry said on Friday the videos showed the “deliberate and methodical murder of more than 10 restrained Russian soldiers”. It called for an investigation into “war crimes”.
A United Nations spokesperson told AFP on Friday it was “aware of the videos” and “looking into them”.
Updated
There are more signs of life starting to return to a modicum of normality in Kherson as supermarkets are reopening.
ATB, a 24/7 shop in the city, had queues of people outside on Sunday as it welcomed customers back. The city was recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces after a Russian retreat.
Anton Gerashchenko, a government adviser and former minister, said people were crying when they went back into the store for the first time.
The supermarket opened a phone-charging service because of continuing issues with the city’s electricity supply.
First ATB supermarket reopens in Kherson after 8 months of occupation.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 20, 2022
Since the city is mostly without electricity, the store also opened a charging station. pic.twitter.com/60wUynZsAq
Updated
About 5 million people have lost their jobs in Ukraine owing to Russia’s invasion, according to Ukraine’s deputy economy minister.
Tetyana Berezhna said fighting continued in the regions where 10 million people were once employed. She said the war, which led 7 million people to flee, had “significantly” affected the unemployment rate.
“The war is destroying the Ukrainian labour market,” she said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Updated
Nearly 45,000 criminal proceedings have been initiated over crimes allegedly committed by Russian service personnel during the invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national police have said.
An update published on Sunday morning said investigators had launched 44,662 proceedings.
It added that to date, 47 places where Russian forces are accused of illegally detaining and torturing Ukrainian citizens had been discovered in liberated regions including Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Investigators from the national police had inspected specified places of imprisonment and torture, it added.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a short summary of key events so far during day 270 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are “playing with fire”, the UN nuclear watchdog’s director general has said. It comes after a series of explosions in the area overnight, which damaged buildings and equipment. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said none of the blasts had been “critical” for nuclear safety and security. But Rafael Grossi said that whoever was behind the attacks, “it must stop immediately”, adding: “You’re playing with fire.”
Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks The Ukrainian operator of the nuclear power plant said on Telegram that Russian forces were behind “targeted” shelling on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom had earlier accused Ukraine of shelling at the plant, which is under Russian occupation.
Ukraine will investigate footage that is said to show its forces killing Russian troops Moscow has said the videos, which are circulating on social media, show Ukrainian soldiers killing Russian soldiers as they tried to surrender. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said Ukrainian authorities would investigate the footage but it was “very unlikely” that the clips showed what Russia claims.
Negotiating with Russia would be “capitulation”, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency has said. Mykhaylo Podolyak said attempts by the west to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow were “bizarre” given a series of major military victories by Kyiv. He added it would mean that a country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”. The comments come after recent US media reports that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks.
Updated
The Ukrainian operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant says Russian forces were behind Saturday night and Sunday morning’s shelling, contradicting Moscow’s claim that the attack came from Ukraine.
The nuclear energy company Energoatom said there had been at least 12 hits on the plant’s infrastructure facilities, Reuters reports.
The company posted on Telegram that the list of damaged equipment indicated that the attackers “targeted and disabled exactly the infrastructure that was necessary for the restart of 5th and 6th power units” and the restoration of power production for the country’s needs.
Updated
AP reports that Ukraine is saying it will investigate controversial video footage circulating on social media that Moscow claims shows Ukrainian forces killing Russian troops while they tried to surrender.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in charge of the country’s push to join the European Union, told the agency: “Of course Ukrainian authorities will investigate this video.” Speaking at a security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she said it was “very unlikely” that the short clips show what Moscow claims.
Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation based on the clips circulating on Russian social media, and its foreign ministry claims the footage shows an “execution”.
Russia wants an international investigation but Stefanishyna said Ukrainian forces were “absolutely not interested in the execution of anybody” and were under direct orders to take “as many prisoners of war as we can” so they could be swapped in prisoner exchanges with Russia.
The UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has called for further investigation, which Stefanishyna said Ukraine had “no problem” with.
Updated
Ukraine’s defence ministry has shared a daily update on Russian losses, reporting that 330 more soldiers were “eliminated” in the last 24 hours.
The total number of Russian soldiers killed during the invasion now stands at 84,210, according to the ministry.
"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye."
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 20, 2022
Helen Keller
Total combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Nov 20: pic.twitter.com/3l2gTo5z9s
Nearly 3,000 tanks have been destroyed since February, it said.
The figures, yet to be independently verified, were posted alongside a quote from the American author Helen Keller.
Updated
Zaporizhzhia attacks 'playing with fire', says UN nuclear watchdog director general
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has condemned an attack on the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Its director general said that those responsible for “powerful explosions” in the area on Saturday night and Sunday morning were “playing with fire”.
Managers told IAEA experts at the plant there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment, but “none of them so far” critical for safety and security.
Powerful explosions shook area of #Zaporizhzhya NPP last night & today. IAEA experts at #ZNPP report a dozen+ blasts from apparent shelling & some site buildings, systems & equipment damaged, but none so far critical for nuclear safety & security. https://t.co/0nEY45BLAg pic.twitter.com/FgG6erL0IV
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) November 20, 2022
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the IAEA said: “The news from our team yesterday and this morning is extremely disturbing. Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable.
“Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately. As I have said many times before, you’re playing with fire!”
Updated
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is being shelled, according to the Russian state-owned news agency Tass, Reuters reports.
It added that “Ukraine-fired” shells had landed near a dry storage site and no radioactive emissions were being detected.
Renat Karchaa, an adviser from the Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom, said 15 shells were fired at the plant’s facilities, according to Tass.
The plant, which is Europe’s largest nuclear station, has been under Russian occupation since March but continues to be operated by Ukrainian staff.
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for previous shelling at the site that has caused damage to buildings and threatened a nuclear accident.
Prior to Russia’s invasion, the facility provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity. It has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times since being occupied by Russian forces.
Updated
Russia has reached agreement with Iran to begin manufacturing hundreds of unmanned weaponised aircraft on Russian soil, the Washington Post reports.
Citing intelligence seen by US and other western security agencies, the newspaper said officials from Moscow and Tehran finalised the deal during a meeting in Iran earlier this month.
Russia and Iran are moving rapidly to transfer designs and key components that could allow production to begin within months, three officials familiar with the matter are reported to have said.
Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.
As what is expected to be Ukraine’s toughest winter begins, much of its energy system has been crippled by targeted Russian strikes.
It means that in recently liberated Kherson, those who live in houses have started to gather wood to burn.
But Ukrainian authorities have warned citizens that Russian troops may have left behind mines, tripwires and unexploded shells in the woods.
At the same time, those living in flats with old Soviet centralised heating systems have even fewer options.
In their latest dispatch from the city, my colleagues Lorenzo Tondo and Isobel Koshiw speak to residents facing more devastation after eight months of occupation.
Updated
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine.
It says that Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian port city of Kherson was “conducted in relatively good order” compared with previous major retreats from occupied areas.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 November 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 20, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/XxGVrEPLLJ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/vFBUntDkIO
It is likely Russia lost only tens, rather than hundreds, of vehicles during the retreat. Meanwhile, it “successfully” destroyed most of the kit that was left behind to prevent it from falling into Ukrainian hands.
This apparent improvement is likely due to a “more effective” single operational command under Gen Sergei Surovikin, the update says.
Surovikin was appointed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, as overall commander of Russia’s “special military operation” in October.
Updated
Negotiating with Russia would be 'capitulation', says key Ukrainian adviser
A key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency has told the AFP news agency that the west’s attempts to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow, after a series of major military victories by Kyiv, are “bizarre” and amount to asking for capitulation.
“When you have the initiative on the battlefield, it’s slightly bizarre to receive proposals like: ‘you will not be able to do everything by military means anyway, you need to negotiate,” said Mykhaylo Podolyak.
US media recently reported that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks, which Zelenskiy has so far rejected without a prior withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian territory.
According to Podolyak, Moscow has not made “any direct proposal” to Kyiv for peace talks, preferring to transmit them through intermediaries and even raising the possibility of a ceasefire.
Kyiv sees such talk as mere manoeuvring by the Kremlin to win some respite on the ground and prepare a new offensive.
Updated
New Zealand said on Sunday that its defence minister, Peeni Henare, had visited Kyiv to reaffirm support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion.
“We discussed New Zealand’s recent extension of the infantry training support mission in the UK for Ukrainian troops out to July 2023,” Henare said in a statement after holding bilateral talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov.
New Zealand last week said it would send a further 66 defence personnel to Britain to help train Ukrainian soldiers.
Welcome back to our continuing live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. Here’s a brief look at the latest developments as it approaches 9.15am in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said at least 437 Ukrainian children have been killed and more than 837 injured as a result of Russia’s invasion.
Five people were injured in a Russian strike on a humanitarian station in southern Ukraine, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior aide to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president.
Around 60 Russian soldiers were killed this week in a long-range Ukrainian artillery attack on their positions in the town of Mykhailkva, 40km to the south of Kherson, Ukraine’s military said on Saturday.
Rishi Sunak made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday to meet Zelenskiy – Sunak’s first visit to the country since taking office.
Sunak announced that Britain will provide a £50m air defence package for Ukraine, including anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter Iranian-supplied drones.
Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said a day after the government stated that almost half of Ukraine’s energy system had been crippled, and authorities in Kyiv warned that the capital could face a “complete shutdown” of the power grid as winter sets in.
Zelenskiy said on Saturday that the supply problems were worst in and around Kyiv as well as in six other regions. “We are working throughout the country to stabilise the situation,” he said in a video address.
Ukrainian forces could be in Crimea by the end of December, the country’s deputy defence minister, Volodymyr Havrylov, has said.
Jubilant Ukrainians rolled into Kherson by train for the first time in more than eight months as residents of the newly liberated southern city greeted them on the platform with flowers and national flags. Citing damage done by Russian forces, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced evacuations of people who want to leave Kherson and the surrounding areas would soon begin.
The funeral took place on Saturday of a Polish man who was one of two victims killed when a missile crashed into a grain storage facility in the Polish village of Przewodow.
Asia-Pacific leaders added their voices on Saturday to international pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, issuing a summit statement saying “most” of them condemned the war.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin said China and Russia were seeking a world where force is used to resolve disputes and he vowed the United States would continue to defend humanitarian principles and international law.
Peace in Ukraine will only be possible if the country’s 1991 borders are restored, a senior aide to Zelenskiy said.
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