Ukraine-Russia war latest: Chernobyl loses power while mass blackouts continue across Ukraine
The Chernobyl power plant has lost power off-site as blackouts across Ukraine continue.
Russia has been repeatedly targeting the country’s energy facilities during the winter as the war grinds towards it’s fourth anniversary in February. It is not yet clear what caused the brief Chernobyl outage.
On Thursday Trump claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin had agreed to not attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure this weekend at a time when the war-hit nation is experiencing particularly harsh winter conditions.
The Kremlin has said the brief and limited ceasefire will end on Sunday while Ukraine said it will not attack Russia's energy grid in exchange.
Three way peace talks are due to take place between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington on Sunday.
However, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested the talks may not go ahead as planned due to growing tensions between the US and Iran.
“From our point of view, something is happening in the situation between the United States and Iran, and those developments could affect the timing," Zelensky said.
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Ukraine facing bitter winter with -30C temperatures
Kyiv is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting that is expected to last into next week.
Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, the State Emergency Service said.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponizing winter.”
The possibility of a respite in energy sector attacks was discussed at last weekend’s meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that he had agreed to adhere to a “reciprocal approach” on energy assaults.
“If Russia does not strike us, we will … take corresponding steps,” he told reporters.
Peace negotiations postponed as Ukraine 'counts on meetings next week'
Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that three-way peace talks set to take place in the UAE tomorrow will now take place next week.
In his nightly video address, President Zelensky said he was waiting for more information from the US about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week.
"We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings.
"We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them."
Ukraine’s president has said earlier that talks could be delayed due to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Analysis: Trump is backing the wrong war
World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes: Chaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trump’s latest foreign policy move in Ukraine may provide a brief respite from Russian bombing in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes.
The danger lies in what he expects to get in return for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin to hold off on tormenting Ukraine.
The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlin’s demands to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer “ceasefire”.
Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control.
US negotiators have been trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to cede all of Donetsk and most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces as a reward for Russia’s bloody invasion that has, by many estimates, cost the country 1.2 million casualties.
The power outages come amid mounting concerns among US and European officials over hundreds of millions of dollars in American energy assistance for Ukraine that remain unreleased.
The aid was originally intended to help Ukraine import liquefied natural gas and rebuild infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes, say sources including a US and a Ukrainian official.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had notified Congress during the Biden administration of its intention to disburse some funds.
Yet, after USAID was effectively shuttered in the initial weeks of the Trump administration, some money fell into what sources described as "bureaucratic limbo."
Technical malfunction blamed for outages
Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal blamed a technical malfunction that caused simultaneous outages on two high-voltage power lines, one linking the grids of Romania and Moldova and another connecting western and central Ukraine.
Moldova's energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by serious problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova.
Romania's energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The accident caused a shutdown on Ukraine's side, triggered automatic protection at substations and the temporary disconnection of nuclear power plant units from the grid, Shmyhal said.
Power partially restored in both countries
The metro in Kyiv suspended operations and water supplies in the city were cut.
Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city mayor, and most districts did not have electricity.
At a metro station in Kyiv with dimmed lights, some passengers were waiting, hopeful of resuming their journeys.
Officials in both countries reported that power was partially restored in the early afternoon following rushed efforts to stabilise interconnected grids.
"By evening, we will be back to where we were before the accident," Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the independent Energy Research Centre in Kyiv, told Reuters.
Ukraine and Moldova hit by blackouts from grid malfunction
Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the capitals of both neighbouring countries, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by malfunction of high-voltage power lines, officials said.
Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage, although Ukraine's power grid has suffered from the accumulated impact of Russian air strikes leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks.
Ukraine's digital ministry also said a cyberattack was not to blame.
The system is under greater pressure as a cold spell returns this weekend.
At least five Ukrainian regions and some parts of Moldova were affected by the blackouts, as well as capitals Kyiv and Chisinau, after the malfunction at 10:42 a.m. Kyiv time.
Putin envoy heads for talks with US delegation
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev headed for meetings with members of a U.S. delegation in Miami at 8am local time, a source with knowledge of the visit told Reuters.
This weekend’s talks are due to be held between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington following similar discussions last weekend.
Ukrainian president Zelensky had suggested the talks on Sunday could be delayed, however, due to ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Mapped: Battlefield situation as of Friday
The British Ministry of Defence shared its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday:
Russia claims two more villages in Ukraine
Russia’s defence ministry said today that forces had captured the villages of Petrivka and Toretske.
Petrivka is in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. Toretske is in the eastern Donetsk region.
It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.
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