December 2, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he hopes to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by year's end.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Friday, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said, "My commitment is to reach a solution as soon as possible. I hope by the end of the year."

"I know that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is following the process, and I do not rule out another meeting with him soon, as well as with Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky."

Grossi has been trying to get Ukraine and Russia to agree to a format for a demilitarized zone around the plant, which has been damaged by various forms of weapons fire several times.

"Russia is not against an agreement and the principle of protecting the plant," Grossi added.

As for the Ukrainian side, Grossi said, "The withdrawal of armaments from the plant is what, understandably from their point of view, the Ukrainians are demanding. And it would still be part of the overall agreement."

Regarding the current status of the plant, Grossi said that "right now the plant has electricity to ensure the operation of cooling and emergency systems," but "some nodes of the electricity grid that supply it are being attacked periodically, with surgically precise strikes."

Asked who was responsible for those strikes, Grossi said, "It is not my job to assign responsibility. For me the important thing is to avoid a nuclear accident and reach the agreement, not to be a judge."

He also spoke about three other nuclear plants in Ukraine: Rivne, South Ukraine and Khmelnytskyi.

"A few days ago, they too lost external power supply. And the Ukrainian authorities have made a formal application to have a permanent IAEA presence at these plants as well, as in Zaporizhzhia. In this way the agency's staff will be stationed throughout Ukraine and will be vigilant that the nuclear power plants are not used by anyone as weapons of blackmail in the conflict," Grossi said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Russian airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday.

Scholz also urged Putin to find a diplomatic solution “as soon as possible” during the one-hour conversation devoted to the ongoing “Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences,” German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.

The chancellor stressed Germany's determination to support Ukraine in ensuring its defense capability against Russia, he added.

Germany plans to supply Ukraine with seven more Gepard anti-aircraft tanks and an additional, 100,000 first aid kits, according to a list of arms deliveries published by the German government.

The chancellor and the Russian president also discussed the global food crisis precipitated by the invasion of Ukraine and highlighted the important role of the recently extended grain agreement under the aegis of the United Nations.

The Ukrainian military says Russia is now using nuclear-capable missiles fitted with non-explosive warheads in a bid to exhaust Ukraine’s air defenses.

Mykola Danyliuk, a representative of the Ukrainian armed forces research unit, shared these updates at a Thursday briefing held at a site where missile fragments — from what Ukraine says is a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile — were on show.

Pointing to a fragment on stage, Danyliuk said, “I would also like to add that even a missile without a warhead, a missile with a warhead like this, poses a great threat because of its kinetic energy and fuel. This is evidenced by... the impact of a Kh-55 missile into a residential building." 

“This exact fragment was a compartment of the warhead. So, this is a substitute for a thermo-nuclear guided charge, which is used in Kh-55 missiles," he said.

Danyliuk said tests on this Kh-55 missile did not show abnormal levels of radioactivity, “which means it didn't have contact with nuclear elements." 

On Nov. 26, the British Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update that “Russia is likely removing the nuclear warheads from ageing nuclear cruise missiles and firing the unarmed munitions at Ukraine.” 

“This improvisation highlights the levels of depletion in Russia’s stock of long-range missiles,” the British Defense Ministry said.

If you are just joining us, here are the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine so far on Friday.

Ukraine claims Russians are withdrawing from their positions in Zaporizhzhia: The Ukrainian military claims that some Russian troops are withdrawing from their positions in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and that the Russians are preparing the evacuation of "the personnel of the occupation administrations."

CNN is unable to confirm the claims made by the General Staff.

A Ukrainian leader alleges that a census is underway in parts of the same region: The Ukrainian mayor-in-exile of the city of Melitopol claims that Russia has begun conducting a census in parts of occupied territory in Zaporizhzhia in preparation for "evacuation."

Kremlin warns Washington's refusal to accept annexed regions as part of Russia complicates possible Putin-Biden talks: The fact that Washington doesn't recognize annexed Ukrainian regions as part of Russia would complicate any possible talks between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday. The illegal annexations followed sham referendums in the four regions.

Biden and Macron have different views on engaging with Putin: US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday demonstrated a united front in addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine, but offered divergent answers over their willingness to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Biden told reporters during a joint White House news conference with Macron that he “has no immediate plans” to contact Putin, but added that he’s prepared to speak with the Russian leader if he’s looking for a way to end the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Macron said that once Ukraine sets conditions for a peace agreement, he’s willing to talk with Putin, and told ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier Thursday that he intends to speak to the Russian president in the coming days.

Russia told US about Brittney Griner's transfer to penal colony weeks after she was moved: The Russian government formally told the US Embassy last week about Brittney Griner’s transfer to a remote penal colony, weeks after the wrongfully detained WNBA star had been moved, according to the Biden administration. Separately, the Kremlin said on Thursday that any details of prisoner swap discussions with the United States will not be publicly disclosed and that Moscow is not planning to engage with the Biden administration before the end of the year, according to Russian state media.

New law would ban religious groups in Ukraine associated with Russia: Ukraine's parliament will vote on a new law that would ban the operation of religious organizations “affiliated with centers of influence” in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, in an effort to prevent an "opportunity to manipulate" Ukrainians.

Between 10,000 and 13,000 Ukrainian troops killed, says Zelensky adviser: Between 10,000 and 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war in Ukraine, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky. But this figure is much lower than estimates suggested by the United States.

Electricity supplies are being restored in Kherson: The southern Ukrainian city was left without power due to Russian shelling early Thursday, a local official said.

Russians advance in Bakhmut: Social media videos indicate that Russian troops in the areas around Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region are taking heavy casualties, even as they take some territory, especially south of the city. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a phone call on Friday that the position of Western states on Ukraine is "destructive" and that Germany should reconsider its approach, according to a statement by the Kremlin.

"Attention has been drawn to the destructive line of Western states, including Germany, pumping up the Kyiv regime with weapons, training the Ukrainian military. All this, as well as comprehensive political and financial support for Ukraine, leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations," reads the statement.

"In addition, this stimulates radical Ukrainian nationalists to commit more and more bloody crimes against the civilian population," the Kremlin claimed.

Putin "called on the German side to reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events," according to the Kremlin.

During the call, the Kremlin said that the Russian military "had long refrained from targeted missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine, but now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks against Russian civilian infrastructure."

This "Russian civilian infrastructure" includes, according to the Kremlin, the Crimean bridge, energy facilities, as well a "terrorist act" against the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which requires "a transparent investigation with the participation of Russian specialized structures."

Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. Both pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between European capitals and Moscow since the February invasion of Ukraine.

Western nations have previously said that the leaks, which were first discovered on September 26, were likely the result of sabotage. Denmark last month said a preliminary investigation had shown they were caused by powerful explosions.

Ukraine has received more than 80,000 generators in recent weeks, Ukrainian member of parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram on Friday.

"82,124 power generators and 3,075 power transformers were imported into Ukraine from November 9 to November 30," he said. "Also, 266,596 power banks and accumulators were imported over the same period."

Zheleznyak is the assistant head of the parliamentary committee on finance, taxes and import policy. 

His notes comes as a number of countries said they would donate power generators to Ukraine to help the country have heating for the winter following Russian strikes against energy infrastructure. 

This week the United States government pledged more than $50 million dollars in equipment to support Ukraine’s electrical system. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the equipment -- generators, transformers and spare parts -- would be arriving in Ukraine “not in a matter of months, but in a matter of days, or weeks.”

Ukraine has put all embassies and consulates abroad under enhanced security measures after a series of incidents involving threatening packages, letter bombs and vandalism at its diplomatic missions. This week Ukrainian embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, Austria, the consulates general in Naples and Krakow, and the consulate in Brno have received bloody packages, containing animal eyes, Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said Friday on Facebook.

"The packages were “soaked in a liquid of a characteristic colour and had a corresponding smell. We are examining the meaning of this message,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, a package sent to the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, addressed to the country’s ambassador to Spain, Serhiy Pohoreltsev, exploded upon opening.

“We have reason to believe that there is a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation of Ukrainian embassies and consulates. Unable to stop Ukraine on the diplomatic front, they are trying to intimidate us,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

He called on foreign governments to guarantee maximum protection of Ukrainian diplomatic institutions in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In addition to the suspicious packages, Nikolenko reported other incidents including vandalism of the entrance to the Ukrainian ambassador's residence in the Vatican.

Czech police evacuate consulate: Czech police tweeted Friday that the Ukrainian Consulate in Brno, a city in the southeast of Czech Republic consulate and its immediate surroundings, including a kindergarten were evacuated. After investigating the package, the police said it did not contain any explosives, adding that they had no information to indicate people at the consulate or within its vicinity were at any danger.

“Initial analysis suggest the package contained animal tissue. A detailed analysis of will be conducted in laboratories now,” the police tweeted.

The fact that Washington doesn't recognize annexed Ukrainian regions as part of Russia would complicate possible talks between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

In September, Moscow illegally declared four Ukrainian regions to be Russian territory: Luhansk and Donetsk -- home to two Russian-backed breakaway republics where fighting has been ongoing since 2014 -- as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, two areas in southern Ukraine that had been occupied by Russian forces since shortly after the invasion began.

The illegal annexations followed sham referendums in these southern and eastern regions. Russian troops have since withdrawn from a swathe of the Kherson region, including the regional capital Kherson city.

Here's some background: On Thursday, Biden told reporters during a joint White House news conference with French President Emmanual Macron that he “has no immediate plans” to contact Putin, but added that he’s prepared to speak with the Russian leader if he’s looking for a way to end the war in Ukraine. Biden also clarified that Putin has not done so yet.

“He’s just miscalculated across the board,” Biden said of Putin following his bilateral meeting in the Oval Office with the French president. “And so the question is … how does he get himself out of the circumstances in? I’m prepared, if he’s willing to talk, to find out what he’s willing to do, but I’ll only do it in consultation with my NATO allies. I’m not going to do it on my own.”

Peskov said Moscow has always been open to negotiations to ensure its interests but Putin's initiative to discuss security guarantees with the US, NATO and the OSCE “was not reciprocated.”

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed those remarks, saying that Moscow "never avoids contacts" but there haven't been "substantial ideas" when it comes to a possible meeting between Biden and Putin.

Some people with reduced mobility will be evacuated from the Russian-occupied town of Kakhovka on the east bank of the Dnipro river, Russian-installed authorities said on Friday.

“On Saturday, December 3, the evacuation of bedridden and disabled citizens from Kakhovka to one of the boarding houses of the Henichesk district begins,” the Russian-installed administration said via its Telegram channel.

Earlier this week, Serhii Khlan, a member of Kherson regional council, told a news conference that pro-Russian administrators had left the east bank towns and set up an administration in the city of Henichesk, closer to Crimea.

"They defined it as the center of the occupation region, and now all supporters and collaborators are there," he said.

Khlan said that Russian forces are shelling "all settlements" along the west bank of the Dnipro river in recently liberated areas of Kherson.

He added that the bulk of Russian forces were positioned some 15 to 20 kilometers (9.3 to 12.4 miles) from the east bank of the river, but that personnel of the Russian security service (FSB) occupied observation posts close to the river, in towns like Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka. They were exerting pressure on the remaining civilian population to leave, he said.

Khlan said that he expected people already in temporary accommodation would be forced to leave for Russia.