WAR IN UKRAINE: November 23, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 273
Ukraine's security service has raided a historic monastery in Kyiv in an operation it says was aimed at stopping Russian agents using the site for sabotage, intelligence or weapons. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Christian monastery dates back to the 11th Century and is a seat of Ukraine's Orthodox Church (UOC). s, some of the UOC's top clergy have been accused of still covertly supporting Moscow, using their position to influence churchgoers - BBC
Ukrenergo: Russian attacks damaged nearly every big thermal, hydroelectric station in Ukraine. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo, said that the level of damage to the energy system is "colossal." If massive Russian strikes continue to take place on energy infrastructure and the electricity supply cannot be restored for hours, Ukrainians will be able to access "invincibility centers" to access all basic services, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily briefing - Kyiv Independent
Ukraine could face rolling blackouts across the country through March, an energy expert said, due to what another official described Tuesday as the "colossal" damage done to Ukraine's power grid by relentless Russian airstrikes. Ukrainians are being told to stock up on supplies and evacuate hard-hit areas. "Although there are fewer blackouts now, I want everyone to understand: Most likely, Ukrainians will have to live with blackouts until at least the end of March," said Sergey Kovalenko, CEO of private energy provider DTEK Yasno. “I think we need to be prepared for different options, even the worst ones. Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about what will help you wait out a long shutdown," he said, addressing Ukrainian residents - AP
As if the above statement needed verification, punishing long outages brought some parts of the southern port city of Odesa to a near standstill yesterday. One popular restaurant in the city center had just a few hours of light in the morning before being plunged into darkness before lunchtime crowds arrived. Staff took to making large candles for the Ukrainian military.
CNN has obtained what it described as an exclusive recording of an intercepted phone call between a Russian soldier deployed to the frontline in Ukraine and his girlfriend in Russia. It describes a “Third World War,” massive unit losses of almost 50 percent and a commander who retreated while leaving his men behind. Listen to the report here
Ukrainian prosecutors open criminal case into a shootout involving Russian POWs. The Prosecutor General's Office said it was investigating video footage that appears to show a Russian soldier opening fire on Ukrainian troops when other Russian soldiers were surrendering as prisoners of war.