Nov 30 (Reuters) – Russia said its forces had edged forward in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv said Moscow was “planning something” in the south, while NATO sought to shore up other countries that fear destabilisation from Moscow.
DIPLOMACY, FOREIGN RESPONSE
* NATO foreign ministers sought to reassure fragile countries in Russia’s neighbourhood that fear being destabilised by Russia as the conflict in Ukraine drags on, squeezing energy supplies and pushing up prices.
* Ukraine needs the U.S.-made Patriot missile defence systems to protect its civilian infrastructure now under heavy attack by Russia, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding he would be working with the German government on this issue.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was vital to avoid any kind of military confrontation between nuclear powers, even if it only involved conventional weapons, the TASS news agency reported. Lavrov also said the West was pushing Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin has focused his “fire and ire” on Ukraine’s civilian population, bombing more than a third of Ukraine’s water and electricity supply in a strategy that will not work, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
* Russia has shown no indication it will stop or slow attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and the United States believes military operations will persist through winter months, possibly curtailed by weather, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
* Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said in a published interview that he discussed nuclear issues and Ukraine in a meeting earlier this month with United States Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns.
* The European Union will try to set up a specialised court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, European Commision President Ursula von der Leyen said.
[1/4]Â A view shows the city without electricity after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Vladyslav Sodel/
* The European Commission proposed a plan to compensate Ukraine for damage from Russia’s invasion with proceeds from investing Russian funds frozen under sanctions.
NUCLEAR
* Russia said it had promoted the chief engineer of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to become its director, after Kyiv said the plant’s previous boss was abducted by occupying Russian authorities.
* Russia must withdraw its heavy weapons and military personnel from the Zaporizhzhia plant if the U.N. atomic watchdog’s efforts to create a protection zone are to succeed, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
ENERGY CRISIS
In a grim sign of the energy crisis caused by Russian attacks on Ukraine’s electricity grid, nine people have been killed in fires over the past 24 hours as Ukrainians resorted to emergency generators, candles and gas cylinders in violation of safety rules to try to heat their homes after power outages.
CONFLICT
* A teenager was killed in Russian shelling of a hospital in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy, a presidential aide said. Another person was killed and one wounded in Russian shelling of the southern city of Kherson, its regional governor said.
* Reuters could not confirm the battlefield reports of either side.
* Ukraine’s SBU security service conducted a fresh search of a monastery in the west of the country in what it said was an operation to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”.
Compiled by Mark Heinrich
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