Source: BBC
Security & Justice
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UN Reports Heavy Clashes Between Israeli Troops and Hezbollah in South Lebanon
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Opinion
Lebanon's Economy—Not Battlefield—May Have the Final Word
Time and again during this most recent war in Lebanon, we hear the phrase, “The battlefield has the final word”. It has become the sole and wholly unsatisfactory refrain of Hezbollah and the so-called 'Axis of Resistance'.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Flying Above the Bombs, a Lebanese Airline Becomes an Unlikely National Hero
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Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Sports
Israel Face France in Paris Football Match Under Tight Security
Israel face France in a Nations League football match in Paris on Thursday surrounded by a huge security operation to prevent a repetition of the attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam last week.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Alcaraz Beats Rublev to Open ATP Finals Account
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Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Tuesday 18 October 2022 17:13:50
Ukraine War: Energy Situation 'Critical' After Russian Attacks
Russian forces have again targeted Ukraine's energy facilities, leaving part of Kyiv and other cities with no power and water.
A presidential aide said the situation across Ukraine was now critical.
Prosecutors say two people were killed in an attack on the capital. Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from around a power station near the Dnipro river.
Power and water were cut in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, and two facilities were badly damaged in Dnipro.
"Everyone should be ready, first, to save electricity, and second, rolling power blackouts are also possible if strikes continue," said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president's office.
"The entire population needs to prepare for a tough winter."
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter on Tuesday that in the past eight days, 30% of Ukraine's power stations had been destroyed, "causing massive blackouts across the country".
Ukrainian energy firm DTEK said two of its thermal power plants had been significantly damaged by Russian shelling, leaving one worker dead and six others wounded.
Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on electricity infrastructure in cities away from the front lines. Officials have rushed to repair the damage, but the strikes, ahead of winter, have raised concerns about how the system will respond.
The latest attacks came 24 hours after "kamikaze" drones - believed to have been supplied by Iran - killed at least nine people in Kyiv and Sumy, as strikes on infrastructure caused power cuts in hundreds of towns and villages.
It was not initially clear to what extent drones were involved on Tuesday. Ukraine said Russian bombers had fired missiles and one S-300 anti-aircraft missile had hit a residential building in the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, killing one person. The city's flower market was also destroyed.
In other attacks early on Tuesday:
- In Zhytomyr, the mayor said there was no power or water in the city and hospitals were working on back-up power
- 11 villages in the Zhytomyr region were also without electricity, officials said.
- Power and water supplies were disrupted in the central city of Dnipro, where a large energy facility was destroyed, and officials said street lighting would be turned off
- Shelling was reported in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv
- Infrastructure in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was hit, although local officials said no-one had been hurt.
In some cities, Ukrainians are buying power generators and gas burners, while across the country, people have been urged to reduce their energy consumption at peak times. Some towns are already facing rolling blackouts.
In a separate development, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company accused Moscow of abducting two senior officials at its nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia.
The plant is occupied by Russian forces but its Ukrainian staff continue to work there under difficult conditions.
"We were expecting that Russia will intensify attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian infrastructure and increase the urban warfare towards autumn - and here we are exactly with that scenario taking place," Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko told the BBC.
In its latest assessment, UK defence intelligence said it was highly likely that Russia had become increasingly willing to strike civilian infrastructure, in addition to military targets, since its setbacks on the battlefield.
Russia's missile and drone attacks have brought renewed calls from the Ukrainian government for the delivery of air defence missiles.
Earlier, the US said it agreed with its French and UK allies that the supply of drones by Iran violated a UN Security Council resolution linked to a nuclear agreement, barring the transfer of certain military technology.
Ukraine has identified the drones used in deadly attacks on Kyiv and Sumy as Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Vedant Patel of the US state department said the US would not hesitate to use sanctions. The EU said it was gathering evidence and was ready to act.
Both Russia and Iran have denied that Iranian drones were deployed. However, Western officials in Ukraine said it was not in doubt that the drones had come from Iran and it was obvious Russia was seeking to attack the power network.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he would ask President Zelensky to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran. He also said an official note would be sent to Israel appealing for immediate air defence supplies.
Israeli officials have so far stopped short of sending weapons to Kyiv. One Russian security figure, Dmitry Medvedev, has warned that if they did, relations with Moscow would be destroyed.
Meanwhile, in one of the biggest prisoner swaps since Russia's war began in February, 218 detainees were exchanged - including 108 Ukrainian women.
And across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, a Russian fighter jet crashed into the courtyard of a block of flats in the southern Russian town of Yeysk. At least 13 people were killed, including three children, while dozens of residents were rescued from the nine-storey block.
The pilots on board the Su-34 plane ejected.
