Daily Wrap Up November 19, 2022
Under the cut:
Ukraine’s government will pay for all costs related to voluntary evacuations from areas of the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions that have been liberated from Russian forces, according to a Ukrainian official.
Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite a series of Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said on Saturday. Separately, the head of DTEK, the country's largest private energy company, said there was no need for people to leave Ukraine. Russian missile strikes have crippled almost half of Ukraine's energy system and Kyiv authorities said on Friday that a complete shutdown of the capital's power grid was possible.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the country in his first visit since becoming UK leader.
The first train arrived in Kherson from Kyiv on the morning of Nov. 19, as Ukraine resumed railway traffic between the capital and the recently liberated southern city.
“Ukraine’s government will pay for all costs related to voluntary evacuations from areas of the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions that have been liberated from Russian forces, according to a Ukrainian official.
There are several issues in the liberated areas as winter approaches, according to Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk, who spoke at a briefing with Ukrainian media Saturday in Mykolaiv. A large amount of territory in southern Ukraine suffered extensive damage to infrastructure after Ukrainian forces took it back, making it hard for the local residents to survive without electricity, heat and water supply.
“It is about preparing for winter. The temperatures are dropping as we speak; we understand we won’t be able to repair the damage done to the infrastructure in time,” she said.
“It is only voluntary evacuation; we are not talking about mandatory evacuations at the moment. And voluntary evacuations means that the state assumes all costs and responsibilities associated with transportation, people needing to be taken to the areas where they are going to spend the winter, also accommodations and living expenses and also medical assistance. If people have kids, we need to make sure we provide all the necessary care for the kids,” Vereshchuk said.
She said residents of Kherson will be able to evacuate through Mykolaiv.
Vitalii Kim, head of the regional military administration in Mykolaiv, said that lists of those willing to evacuate are being drawn up in the liberated settlements of his region.
“A transit point has been created in Mykolaiv where people can stay for a week before departure. From there, they are sent to different regions of Ukraine, where places to stay have been prepared for them,” Kim said.”-via CNN
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“Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite a series of Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said on Saturday.
Separately, the head of DTEK, the country's largest private energy company, said there was no need for people to leave Ukraine.
Russian missile strikes have crippled almost half of Ukraine's energy system and Kyiv authorities said on Friday that a complete shutdown of the capital's power grid was possible.
"Denying the panicky statements spread by social networks and online media, we assure you that the situation with the energy supply is difficult, but under control," the energy ministry said in a statement.
Authorities across the country have scheduled blackouts to help the repair effort, it said, urging families to cut their energy consumption by at least 25%.
Ukraine's national grid operator Ukrenergo said while planned blackouts will take place in all regions on Sunday, it does not envisage unexpected emergency shutdowns of electricity.
"We continue to work to return the light to Ukrainians," the company said in a statement late on Saturday on the Telegram messaging app.
"It is difficult, sometimes longer than we expected, but we find solutions."
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia last month of trying to destabilise the country by forcing millions to flee westwards, creating a refugee crisis for the European Union.
DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said the armed forces, the energy industry and individual Ukrainians were working miracles to maintain supplies.
"That is why there is no need to leave Ukraine today," a company statement cited him as saying.
Zelenskiy said on Saturday the supply problems were worst in and around Kyiv as well as in six other regions.
"We are working throughout the country to stabilize the situation," he said in a video address.”-via Reuters
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“British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the country in his first visit since becoming UK leader.
“The Prime Minister is in Ukraine today for his first visit to Kyiv to meet President Zelenskyy and confirm continued UK support,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
A CNN crew in Kyiv earlier spotted Sunak and Zelensky on Saturday during the visit, while they were touring an outdoor square.”-via CNN
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“The first train arrived in Kherson from Kyiv on the morning of Nov. 19, as Ukraine resumed railway traffic between the capital and the recently liberated southern city.
The overnight sleeper train departed from Kyiv on the evening of Nov. 18, with 200 passengers on board. Some of the train's cars were painted by Ukrainian artists for the occasion. A few top officials took the train, including deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk and culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko.
Ukraine liberated Kherson after eight months of occupation on Nov. 11. The Russian troops had to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River, where the city sits, after Ukrainian forces had spent months systematically destroying their logistics with high-precision attacks.
Recently, the state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia started selling the so-called “tickets to the victory” to the cities still under Russian occupation, including to Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. The tickets help fund the state railway company amid the war. They can be used after the cities are liberated and the railway connection is resumed with them.”-via Kyiv Independent
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