Russia-Ukraine Crisis highlights: Ukrainian forces push toward Kherson, Kyiv orders electricity curbs

Track all the latest news and updates from the Ukraine-Russia crisis on DH!

UK matches EU sanctions over Iran drones in Ukraine

The UK government on Thursday imposed sanctions on three Iranian generals and an arms firm over Russia's use of Iranian drones to bomb Ukraine, matching EU sanctions announced earlier.The Treasury added Iranian drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries and three top Iranian military officials to its sanctions list, citing the supply of drones to Russia "for use in their illegal invasion of Ukraine".

Defiant Ukrainians wrap up warm to face power outages

Ukrainians turned off domestic appliances, wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm and remained defiant on Thursday as they faced the first nationwide electricity outages of the war against Russia.

In response to requests by the president and government, towns and cities restricted power supplies and limited electricity use so that energy companies could repair power facilities hit by a wave of Russian air strikes.

Russia's Putin inspects preparations of mobilised servicemen - agencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday inspected a training ground for mobilised servicemen in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, news agencies reported.They said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin on how the mobilised troops, called up to support Russia's military effort in Ukraine, were being trained.

Russia says outgoing PM Truss was a 'catastrophically illiterate' disgrace

Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday welcomed the departure of British Prime Minister Liz Truss, saying she was a disgrace of a leader who would be remembered for her "catastrophic illiteracy".

"Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The claim of illiteracy appears to refer to Truss' visit to Moscow shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine while she was British foreign minister.

Arson suspected in Ukrainian refugee hotel fire, German police say

Police suspect that a fire that broke out at a hotel housing Ukrainian refugees in northeastern Germany is a case of politically motivated arson.Fourteen guests, most of them Ukrainians, and three staff were in the half-timbered thatch-roofed Hotel Schaefereck when the fire began on Wednesday evening, police in Rostock said on Thursday, adding that none of them was hurt."As things stand, arson is suspected and a political motivation is assumed," the police said in a statement.The blaze erupted at 9:20 p.m. in the hotel near the Baltic seashore in the village of Gross Stroemkendorf, which since April served as accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.

Russian air force patrols ally Belarus' borders

Russia's air force held scheduled patrol flights at the borders of its ally Belarus on Thursday, Minsk said, as concerns remain that it could take a more active role in the Ukraine war.Russia has deployed an enhanced task force of 9,000 troops and hundreds of pieces of military hardware to its neighbour after President Alexander Lukashenko said last week Belarus was at threat of attack from Ukraine.

French-German ties need 'reset' amid Ukraine war and energy crisis, French minister says

Strained relations between France and Germany amid the war inUkraineand energy crisis need a "reset" to forge a stronger alliance between the two biggest EU countries, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.

Ties between the two countries, traditionally the driving force behind broader EU policy initiatives, have hit a rough spot with their governments postponing a meeting planned for next week until January.

Ukraine's Burshtyn power plant seriously damaged - regional governor

A Russian air strike that hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in westernUkraineon Wednesday has caused "quite serious" damage, the region's governor said on Thursday.

"Unfortunately there is destruction, and it is quite serious," Svitlana Onyshchuk, Ivano-Frankivsk's governor, said on Ukrainian television.

Russia's liberal 'Echo of Moscow' radio returns, from Berlin

Taken off-air shortly afterRussia's invasion of Ukraine, the liberal Echo of Moscow radio station has found a new home in Berlin from where it has resumed the fightback against President Vladimir Putin's propaganda.

"Ekho Moskvy" radio, considered one of the last independent voices inRussia, in early March joined the ranks of media outlets forced to halt operations in the face of an unprecedented crackdown by the Kremlin over coverage of the war.

Ukraine Reduces Electricity as Shelling on Key Infrastructure Continues

Ukrainewill start reducing electricity use nationwide early Thursday morning, officials said, a difficult belt-tightening after Russian aerial attacks knocked out one-third of its power stations since last week, just as the weather is beginning to turn colder.

Ukrainian forces push toward Kherson, Kyiv orders electricity curbs

Ukraine's military tightened the noose around Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson on Thursday as the government ordered nationwide curbs on electricity use because of Russian missile and drone attacks on power plants.

Cold weather brings tougher conditions to fighting in Ukraine

The approach of winter will bring tougher conditions to Ukraine including heavy mud, snow and freezing cold that will make operations more difficult for both sides in the war.

Kyiv -- which is fighting to retake areas seized by Moscow -- has more to lose from a slowdown that leaves its territory in Russian hands, and time is running out for it to capitalize on recent battlefield successes before bad weather sets in.

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Ukraine restricts electricity use after Russian strikes

Ukrainehas urged residents to drastically restrict their electricity consumption starting Thursday to cope with the destruction of power stations by the Russian army as winter approaches.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a meeting with energy companies that they were preparing "for all possible scenarios with a view to winter", as Kyiv accused Moscow of orchestrating a "mass deportation" of civilians from the occupied region of Kherson.

Russia, Iran defiant as West presses sanctions over drones in Ukraine

Russia on Wednesday warned the United Nations not to probe alleged strikes by Iranian-made drones inUkraine, joining Tehran in denying the weapons' origin as the European Union prepared new sanctions.

Putin Declares Martial Law in 4 Illegally Annexed Ukrainian Regions

President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, but in a telling sign that his real concerns may lie far closer to home, he also moved to put the economy on a wartime footing and imposed restrictions in more than two dozen areas acrossRussia.

Putin boosts Russia's war footing with troops on defensive in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin ordered all of Russia to support the war effort in Ukraine on Wednesday, as the Russian-appointed administration of Kherson prepared to evacuate the only regional capital Moscow has captured during its invasion.

Images of people using boats to flee the southern city were broadcast by Russian state TV, which portrayed the exodus - from the right to left bank of the River Dnipro - as an attempt to evacuate civilians before it became a combat zone.

Ukraine to restrict electricity supplies as Russia knocks out more power plants

US busts network providing technology to Russian military

The Biden administration has announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complicated scheme to procure military technologies from US manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Some of the equipment was recovered on battlefields in Ukraine, the Justice Department said, and other nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted in Latvia before it could be shipped to Russia.