Ukraine: Major power cuts after 'massive' Russian strike

The United States has sanctioned more than 150 companies and individuals for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, ramping up pressure on Moscow days before President Joe Biden's term in office comes to an end.

The State Department says it is designating "more than 150 individuals and entities involved in Russia's defense industry and supporting its military-industrial base." 

It added that these actions, which also apply to entities outside Russia, would constrain Moscow's ability to wage war and evade sanctions.

"These designations encompass dozens of companies outside Russia that facilitate Russia's evasion of our sanctions, particularly in the People's Republic of China (PRC)," it said.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department says that Washington is slapping fresh sanctions on almost 100 targets — including Russian banks and companies working in Russia's energy sector.

It identified 15 firms and one person involved in a sanction evasion scheme between Russia and China and redesignated nearly 100 firms working with Russia's "military-industrial complex." 

"Today's actions frustrate the Kremlin's ability to circumvent our sanctions and get access to the goods they need to build weapons for their war of choice in Ukraine," deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.

The Biden administration has bolstered sanctions in recent weeks in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, which US President-elect Donald Trump has said he will swiftly end once he takes office. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the West to use some $250 billion of unallocated frozen Russian assets to allow Kyiv to buy weapons.

"The strongest support for the Ukrainian army is to allocate the 250 billion. Ukraine will take this money, allocate a large amount for domestic production and for the import of exactly those types of weapons that Ukraine does not have," Zelenskyy told a press conference in Warsaw.

A prisoner exchange has taken place between Ukraine and Russia involving 25 prisoners from each side being handed over, according to statements from both countries.

"Today, 25 more of our people are returning home to Ukraine. These are our military and civilians," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X.

“Among them are the defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as of our Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions,” Zelenskyy added. 

The Ukrainian leader thanked the United Arab Emirates for brokering the exchange.

The Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the swap and said the released soldiers, who were currently in Belarus for medical treatment, would be transported to Russia.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a press conference on Wednesday that he had credible intelligence that Russia "was planning acts of terrorism in the air, and not only against Poland."

Speaking after meeting Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Warsaw, Tusk said Moscow had planned to use airlines "worldwide" to commit terrorism.

Asked about challenges the EU and Ukraine might face in protecting themselves when a less friendly US president is in office — Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20 — Tusk said the "US will work with Europe on security if we take security challenges seriously."

Now that the two countries had set aside a long-standing feud over the return of the bodies of Polish nationals killed in massacres during World War II, Tusk also said Poland would take a leading role to "break the impasse" that has developed within the EU in regards to Ukraine's ascension to the bloc.

The UK's Ministry of Defence said that during 2024, a large number of journalists and readers of certain publications had been fined.

"Russian courts issued a significant number of fines to journalists and readers of media outlets that the Russian authorities declared 'undesirable'," the MOD said citing Russian independent media organization Mediazona.

Most of those fined were authors, editors or commentators the MOD said.

"The fines are almost certainly intended to deter independent media outlets from reporting anything that contradicts or criticizes official Russian narratives regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict," the MOD said.

Various media outlets have been banned by Russian authorities since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, including DW which has been labeled a "foreign agent."

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese warned that his government would take strong action if reports that an Australian national, captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine, has been killed.

"We call upon Russia to immediately confirm Oscar Jenkins' status. We remain gravely concerned," Albanese told reporters.

"We will await the facts to come out. But if there has been any harm caused to Oscar Jenkins, that is absolutely reprehensible. And the Australian government will take the strongest action possible," Albanese added.

In December, a video emerged on social media showing Oscar Jenkins, dressed in military fatigues with his hands bound, appearing to be interrogated and struck by Russian soldiers.

Moscow said that it was "not aware" if Australia had raised the specific case with its Foreign Ministry, but said foreigners fighting with Ukraine were "legal targets" for Russian troops.

"We are well aware that foreign mercenaries are taking part in the conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

 "They are fighting against our military with weapons in their hands. Accordingly, they become legal targets," he added.

The disruption to the power grid in eastern Ukraine was part of a wider, extensive aerial attack launched by Russia overnight on Wednesday. 

"The enemy continues to terrorize Ukrainians," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook, telling residents to stay in shelters as air raid warnings continued to sound across the country.

President Zelenskyy said that Moscow had sent more than 40 missiles, at least 30 of which were shot down. 

"It is the middle of the winter, and Russia's goal remains unchanged: our energy infrastructure," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scheduled to travel to Poland on Wednesday, the Polish government has said, following a breakthrough in a historic dispute between the two countries.

Although Warsaw has been a staunch ally of Kyiv since the beginning of the invasion, a row over World War II-era killings has prevented the two countries from deepening ties for years.

During the war, Poland says that some 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists. Ukraine has long maintained that thousands of Ukrainians were then killed in reprisal massacres.

Warsaw has been requesting that bodies thought to be in mass graves in Ukraine be exhumed and returned to Poland, something Kyiv had long refused to allow.

Zelenskyy will hold talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk during his visit, during which the exhumations will be a main topic of discussion. Poland had said it would block Ukrainian ascension to the European Union unless such a deal was reached.

Germany will soon deliver dozens more IRIS-T guided missiles to Ukraine, German news agency DPA reported. 

The $60 million (€58 million) delivery of 60 missiles to boost Kyiv's air defenses comes after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visited the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday.

Ahead of Germany's federal elections on February 23, Pistorious promised that Berlin would continue to support Kyiv no matter the outcome of the vote.

Pistorius said he hoped that Germany would find a way to send Ukraine another multion-billion euro aid package ahead of the vote, but that it was difficult without a fixed budget for 2025.

Disputes over the budget in the fall eventually led to the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government, prompting the upcoming snap election.

Ukraine's national grid operator Ukrenergo announced emergency power cuts in several regions following what it described as a "massive" Russian airstrike on its installations.

The regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad were all affected, it said.

In a separate statement, Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko said that "preventative measures" involving the country's energy distribution were also in force.

Earlier in the morning, authorities issued a nationwide air alert, warning that Russian cruise missiles were incoming.

"Kryvyi Rig — take cover! A missile from the south is heading in your direction!" the Air Force said on Telegram, referring to the central Ukrainian city.

It also said a "group of cruise missiles" was headed for the capital, Kyiv.

In its nearly three years of war on Ukraine, Russia has regularly targeted energy infrastructure during the harsh winter months.

es/ab (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)