Live: Fresh Russian strikes batter Ukraine energy grid as first snow falls

Issued on: 18/11/2022 – 06:46Modified: 18/11/2022 – 07:14

6:01am: Ukraine war is Asia’s problem too, Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged Asian countries to join the “increasing consensus” against the conflict in Ukraine, telling them the war was “your problem” too.

Macron told business leaders on the sidelines of a Pacific Rim summit that France was trying to “create an increasing consensus in order to say this war is also your problem, because it will create a lot of destabilisation”.

5:40am: New wave of Russian strikes batter Ukraine grid as first snow falls

Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Thursday, crippling the country’s energy infrastructure and plunging millions into darkness as winter sets in and temperatures drop.

Repeated barrages have disrupted electricity and water supplies across Ukraine, but the Kremlin blamed civilians’ suffering on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate, rather than on Russian attacks.

AFP journalists in several Ukrainian cities said the latest assault coincided with the season’s first snow, after officials in Kyiv warned of “difficult” days ahead.

“Currently, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, adding that the regions of Odesa, Vinnytsia, Sumy and Kyiv were most affected.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters and AP)