The Ukrainian government has promised to provide shelters with heat and water and urged citizens to conserve energy as a harsh winter is forecast amid ongoing Russian strikes that have severely damaged the country’s energy system. The head of NEMU stated that the damage to energy facilities was “colossal”, but rejected the need to evacuate the civilian population.

The main thing for Wednesday, the 273rd day of the war in Ukraine, TEXT OF THE LIVE MODE:

07:46 A newborn baby died after the Russians attacked a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv Independent reports.

A Russian missile hit the maternity ward of the Vilnius Hospital near Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday morning, Governor Starukh reported in Telegram. A newborn baby died during the attack.

07:20 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, appealed to the EU to speed up work on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, which should include strict restrictions on the Russian missile industry.

07:14 Researcher Nicolas Gosse: Putin is becoming increasingly dependent on certain ultra-radical groups.

A brief summary of recent events:

• In Ukraine, “special invincible centers” will be created to provide 24/7 free electricity, heat, water, Internet, mobile communication and pharmaceutical services, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
• The Kremlin said that there is no significant progress in creating a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP in southern Ukraine. There were no nuclear safety or security problems at the Russian-owned reactor complex, despite weekend explosions that caused extensive damage, the UN atomic watchdog said after its experts visited the site.
• Fighting continued in the east, where Russia sent part of its forces, which it withdrew from the area of ​​the southern city of Kherson.
• Moscow is trying to advance on a section of the front line west of the city of Donetsk, which it has held since 2014. “The enemy does not stop shelling the positions of our troops and settlements near the contact line (in the Donetsk region).” This was reported in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• Russian air defense repelled two drone attacks in Crimea, including one on a TPP near Sevastopol, the base port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the governor of the region said.
• One volunteer was killed and two women were wounded as a result of Russian shelling of a humanitarian aid distribution center in Orihiv, a city in southeastern Ukraine, the regional governor said.
• The G7 nations are expected to soon announce a maximum price for Russian oil exports, and the coalition is likely to adjust the level several times a year, a senior US Treasury official said.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Germany should be prepared for an escalation in Ukraine, but his recent trip to China was worth it, if only to express the two countries’ joint position against the use of nuclear weapons.
• The payment of $4.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine will begin in the coming weeks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
• 16 US senators from the Democratic and Republican parties sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with a request to provide Ukraine with MQ-1C Gray Eagle combat drones.
• In one of the regions of Russia, airsoft players from the local branch of the Airsoft Federation of Russia train conscripts accepted after the partial mobilization decree.
• Vladimir Putin praised Russia’s “Arctic power” on Tuesday at a ceremony to launch two nuclear-powered icebreakers that will provide year-round navigation in the western Arctic.
• The governor of the Belgorod region on Tuesday visited the defense line being built on the border with Ukraine, sharing several photos of the construction works being carried out on the territory of Russia.

—————

• Tuesday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro