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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine first lady urges UK to support special tribunal for Russian war crimes – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can read all our Ukraine coverage here:

 Updated 
Tue 29 Nov 2022 14.00 ESTFirst published on Tue 29 Nov 2022 00.33 EST
Olena Zelenska during the opening of a Russian war crimes exhibition in London.
Olena Zelenska during the opening of a Russian war crimes exhibition in London. Photograph: James Manning/PA
Olena Zelenska during the opening of a Russian war crimes exhibition in London. Photograph: James Manning/PA

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Key events

Closing summary

It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

  • Ukraine’s supplies of spare parts for its battered electricity grid are running out amid sustained Russian bombing. European companies are being asked to urgently donate surplus kit to help the country get through the winter, after the latest step in Russian bombings targeting power plants and substations resulted in power cuts lasting 48 hours or more across the country.

  • Air raid alerts were issued across all Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday after warnings by officials that Russia was preparing a new wave of missile attacks. There were no immediate reports of any new strikes, and Kyiv sounded the all clear after about 10 minutes of air raid warnings.

  • Ukraine’s state energy operator, Ukrenergo, has said it is still struggling to restore full power nearly a week after Russian missile strikes damaged energy facilities across the country. The power deficit was running at 30% as off 11am local time (09:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Ukrenergo said in a statement, a slight rise from yesterday after emergency shutdowns at several power plants and an increase in consumption as winter sets in.

  • The jailed Belarusian senior opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikava, has been taken to the intensive care of a hospital in the city of Gomel, according to reports. Belarusian opposition politician, Viktor Babariko, posted to Telegram that Kolesnikova, one of the most prominent opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, was taken to hospital on Monday for unknown reasons.

  • Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Moscow had been left with “no other choice” but to cancel nuclear weapons talks with the US, state-run news agencies reported. He said it was unlikely any meeting would take place this year. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, accused the US of “the highest level of toxicity and hostility” and of “a pathological desire to harm our country”.

  • Ukraine has detained a deputy head of newly liberated Kherson’s city council on suspicion of aiding and abetting Russian occupation forces, Ukraine’s state prosecutor has said. The official, who was not named in the statement, cooperated with the occupation authorities and helped with the functioning of public services under the Russians, according to the prosecutor.

  • Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said the alliance will not pull back in its support for Ukraine, calling on partners to pledge more winter aid for Kyiv as it braces itself for more cold and darkness due to Russian attacks on infrastructure. Nato foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest are focusing on ramping up military assistance for Ukraine such as air defence systems and ammunition, even as diplomats acknowledge supply and capacity issues, but also discuss non-lethal aid.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s wife has called for Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the country’s leaders to be put on trial in a specially created war crimes court. Olena Zelenska called for British support in creating a Nuremberg-style tribunal for Russian leadership for ordering the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the bloodshed that followed it.

  • The G7 group has agreed to set up a network to coordinate investigations into war crimes, as part of a push to prosecute suspected atrocities in Ukraine. In a joint declaration, G7 justice ministers said member countries would ensure there is a central national contact point in each state for the prosecution of international crimes.

  • Pope Francis has sparked fury in Russia over an interview in which he suggested that Chechen and Buryat members of its armed forces showed more cruelty in Ukraine than ethnic Russian soldiers. He said soldiers from Buryatia, where Buddhism is a major religion, and the Muslim-majority Chechnya republic, were “the cruellest” while fighting in Ukraine.

  • Germany’s justice minister, Marco Buschmann, said his country contributed to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine by “adhering” to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Buschmann also said Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure constituted a “terrible war crime”, adding that he was “certain that at the end, we will see war crimes cases at the International Criminal Court against senior Russian leadership too”.

  • The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has confirmed that a Zambian national who died in Ukraine had been fighting for his group. Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, 23, “died a hero” fighting with Russian forces, Prigozhin said on Telegram. The admission by Prigozhin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, comes two weeks after Zambia demanded an urgent explanation from Moscow over the death of its citizen.

  • China’s president, Xi Jinping, has said Beijing is ready to “forge a closer partnership” with Moscow to “maintain international energy security”. “China is willing to work with Russia to forge a closer energy partnership, promote clean and green energy development and jointly maintain international energy security and the stability of industry supply chains,” Xi was cited by state-owned broadcaster CCTV as writing.

This post, and several others in this liveblog, were amended on 30 November 2022 to correct the spelling of Ukraine’s state energy operator, Ukrenergo.

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Geneva Abdul
Geneva Abdul

Ukrainian refugees and their hosts have delivered a petition to Downing Street signed by more than 4,500 people calling on the government to provide housing support for those struggling or unable to find independent accommodation.

Krish Kandiah, the founder of Sanctuary Foundation, the charity behind the petition, was accompanied by Ukrainian refugees including nine-year-old Danylo from Kyiv, who knocked on 10 Downing Street to deliver the petition on Tuesday.

The petition comes as more than 100,000 people have become guests of British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. But as many six-month hosting arrangements come to an end, Ukrainians are struggling to find accommodation in the social housing and private rental sectors, a situation compounded by the cost of living crisis.

“We can’t say to the Ukrainian government that we’re standing with them if we’re not adequately caring for women and children who are here,” said Kandiah, who is one of many hosts who together have provided accommodation for more than 10,000 refugees, calling on the government to “meet the compassion of the public” with practical solutions.

The petition asks the government for clarity on the rematching and rehosting process, to make local authorities guarantors for rental properties and consider increasing the monthly “thank you” payment given to hosts, among other considerations.

Read the full story here:

Here’s more from Germany’s justice minister, Marco Buschmann, who said his country contributed to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine by “adhering” to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Speaking during talks with his G7 counterparts, Buschmann said Germany stood united and in support of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion.

He added that with today’s perspective, Berlin’s adherence to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, despite Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, contributed to the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Wir stehen fest an der Seite der 🇺🇦. Aber wir müssen auch deutlich sagen: Das Festhalten an #Nordstream2 war als Antwort auf die Annexion der Krim aus heutiger Sicht der deutsche Beitrag zum Ausbruch des Krieges, so Bundesjustizminister @MarcoBuschmann bei #G7Justice. pic.twitter.com/LfiBTDouxT

— Bundesministerium der Justiz (@bmj_bund) November 29, 2022

Ukraine's first lady calls appeals to UK to support Nuremberg-style tribunal for Russian war crimes

Dan Sabbagh
Dan Sabbagh

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s wife called for Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and the country’s leaders to be put on trial in a specially created war crimes court for ordering the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the bloodshed that followed it.

Olena Zelenska was visiting the UK parliament where she gave a speech to a private audience that included former prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer, in which she called for British support in creating a Nuremberg-style tribunal.

“We need to start the special tribunal against the crime of aggression of Russia against Ukraine, which will enhance the work of the ICC [International Criminal Court] and not weaken it,” Zelenska said.

We need to unite the world community just as it happened in January 1942 to support the special tribunal against the aggression of Russia against Ukraine. I’m asking you a small favour to become the world leader in the justice efforts.

First lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska during the opening of a Russian war crimes exhibition at Portcullis House, London. Photograph: James Manning/PA

The first lady also visited a special photographic exhibition set up in parliament documenting Russian war crimes against civilians, supported by the Pinchuk Foundation, which is designed to rally support among British parliamentarians to support the creation of an international tribunal, which would require the support of the UN and several key states.

Some of the pictures in the exhibition are graphic, although carefully screened from passing viewers. “Every torturer in this war has his face too I really want you to look at those photographs,” Zelenska said. “Then your abstract idea of the war in Ukraine will become real.”

Bjorn Geldhof, the curator of the exhibition, which will run in parliament for 10 days, said the exhibition was intended to be graphic and uncompromising. He said:

People need to start thinking seriously about how to bring these war criminals to justice.

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Russia accuses US of ‘toxicity and hostility’ after pulling out of nuclear arms talks

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has accused the US of “the highest level of toxicity and hostility” and of “a pathological desire to harm our country”.

Her comments came after Russia pulled out of nuclear arms talks with US officials that were due to take place in Cairo this week.

Writing on Telegram, Zakharova said Moscow’s decision to postpone the talks had been driven by the poor state of relations with Washington.

She wrote:

In all areas, we note the highest level of toxicity and hostility from Washington. As part of the all-out hybrid war unleashed against us, almost every US step towards Russia is subject to a pathological desire to harm our country wherever possible.

The US state department has said it is “ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability”.

But Zakharova accused Washington of trying to alter the balance of forces under the treaty in a “wholly illegitimate” way by converting or renaming weapons to take them outside the scope of the agreement. She did not provide examples or evidence.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was cited by state-owned media as saying that Moscow had “no choice” but to postpone the meeting.

State news agency Tass quoted him as saying:

We were faced with a situation where our American colleagues in a number of areas demonstrated not just an unwillingness to perceive our signals and take into account our priorities but acted in the opposite direction.

He added:

Of course, there is an effect of what is happening in Ukraine and around it.

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Germany’s justice minister, Marco Buschmann, said Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure constituted a “terrible war crime”.

Moscow was launching a “systematic destruction of the heating and electricity supply” in Ukraine as winter sets in, Buschmann told reporters after hosting talks with his G7 counterparts.

“Many people will fall victim to the winter”, he said, adding:

War criminals should not and must not be allowed to feel safe anywhere.

He added that he was “certain that at the end, we will see war crimes cases at the International Criminal Court against senior Russian leadership too”.

Jailed Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova ‘in intensive care’

The jailed Belarusian senior opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikava, has been taken to the intensive care of a hospital in the city of Gomel, according to reports.

Belarusian opposition politician, Viktor Babariko, posted to Telegram that Kolesnikova, one of the most prominent opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, was taken to hospital yesterday for unknown reasons.

The leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, wrote on Telegram:

Awful news. Our dear Masha, we all hope that you are going to be okay!

Kolesnikova was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison, after being charged with conspiracy to seize power, calling for action to damage national security, and calling for actions damaging national security using media and the internet.

She was one of three women who in 2020 united to lead an uprising in which tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets in the largest protests in the country’s modern history.

She was arrested and taken to the border, where she was told to leave the country. Instead, she reportedly ripped up her passport, risking prison rather than going into exile.

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Here are some of the latest images we have received from the frontline in Kherson, southern Ukraine.

A soldier in front of the Dnipro golf course gives the finger of honour like the soldier who gave the finger of honour to a Russian military ship on Snake Island last April. Photograph: Sadak Souici/Le Pictorium Agency/ZUMA/REX/Shutterstock
A Ukrainian soldier guards the banks of the Dnipro in the Kherson region. Photograph: Sadak Souici/Le Pictorium Agency/ZUMA/REX/Shutterstock
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Nato powers must take the political decision to send modern battle tanks to Ukraine to give them a military edge against invading Russian forces during the winter months, Lithuania’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

“I’ve talked to a number of military experts and the answer I’m hearing is that if we provided tanks by this winter, let’s say January, it could make a difference,” Reuters reports Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters during a Nato foreign ministers’ gathering in Bucharest, a day after a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with several other ministers.

He said Ukrainian authorities had told him that they had “pilots” able to operate Nato battle tanks, suggesting some had already undergone commensurate training on alliance territory.

“It’s a political decision because from a military perspective during the winter when the frontline is stabilising, if an additional jolt is needed, then this could be achieved by providing extra battle tanks,” he said.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked for Nato’s main arms manufacturers to supply them with state-of-the-art tanks as they look to consolidate gains it has made in counter-offensives in recent months, notably in the embattled eastern Donbas region.

Reuters has a quick snap that US president Joe Biden said aid to Ukraine and funding to continue the fight against Covid are his priorities as he convened a meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday to discuss legislative actions for the remainder of the year.

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