LIVE – War in Ukraine: Sweden confirms sabotage of Nord Stream gas pipelines

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday described EU sanctions against Russia as “a step towards war”, intensifying his criticism of a Brussels strategy deemed “dangerous”.

“Anyone who intervenes economically in a military conflict takes a stand,” said the nationalist leader during his traditional interview with a radio close to the government.

“Little by little, we are sliding towards war,” he insisted, worrying about the accumulation of measures taken to sanction the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

The mayor of Lviv announces this Friday on Telegram the restoration of electricity in “almost the whole city”, after the Russian strikes which occurred on Tuesday.

“We have restored the water supply and the heating” and “30% of the city’s traffic lights are working” again, he adds.

Russia carried out massive strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure on Tuesday, which left millions of homes without power.

Imprisoned Russian opponent Alexei Navalny denounced the tightening of his conditions of detention, claiming to be locked up now in a small isolated cell and deprived of visits from his relatives, in a message broadcast on social networks by his team.

“Congratulate me!” Said Alexei Navalny, announcing that he had been transferred to solitary confinement, in a “close cell” for detainees accused of misconduct.

“For this type of cell, long-term visits do not exist”, specifies the opponent of Vladimir Putin, who claims not to have seen his parents, his wife and his children for several months. “They do it to silence me,” he said.

It is already the third operation for Andriy, 23 years old. This Ukrainian army officer deployed in Kherson was hit by shrapnel in the face while he was at the front.

“I’m going to remove the scars and splinters that he received in the skin of his face”, explains to BFMTV the surgeon Rostylslav Valikhnovski, who entrusts to do this work for free. It has already carried out a dozen operations of this type since the start of the conflict.

“It’s our contribution to the war,” he said.

Russia announced on Friday that it would carry out fortification work in the annexed Crimean peninsula, after the withdrawal of its soldiers to the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kherson in the face of a counter-offensive from kyiv.

“Fortification works are being carried out under my control on the territory of Crimea in order to guarantee the safety of Crimeans,” said Sergei Aksionov, the governor installed by Moscow after the annexation of this Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.

In Ukraine, electricity only works for a few hours a day, according to our special correspondents on the spot, after Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure.

It is therefore time for solidarity for the inhabitants. While some live in living rooms where the mercury does not rise above 5°C, others manage to get their hands on stoves or generators, sometimes bought in Poland, for heating.

Everyone remains attentive to what could happen in the coming days, as the first snowflakes have fallen and the temperatures will still remain negative. If the gas infrastructures are affected in turn, the situation could become really complicated.

The explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, built to transport Russian gas to Europe, are part of sabotage, the prosecutor in charge of the preliminary investigation in Sweden announced on Friday.

“The analyzes that have been carried out show remnants of explosives on several of the foreign objects discovered,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, in charge of the preliminary investigation, said in a statement.

On September 26, four huge gas leaks were detected on gas pipelines connecting Russia to Germany, all in international waters. Sabotage is quickly suspected.

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday adopted a new resolution calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine’s Zaporizhia power plant and stop its actions against nuclear sites, according to diplomatic sources.

The text, presented by Canada and Finland, was approved by 24 of the 35 States sitting on the Council, said two diplomats. Russia and China voted against.

In this text, the IAEA Board of Governors “expresses its deep concern” at Russia’s refusal to stop its attacks on Ukrainian nuclear facilities and calls on Russia “to abandon its baseless claims on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, immediately withdraw its troops and personnel and cease all action” against the country’s power stations.

Russia said on Friday it hoped that a prisoner exchange with the United States, involving in particular a Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, detained by the American authorities, could take place.

“I hope that the prospect (of an exchange) is not only topical, but is getting stronger, and that the time will come when we will get a concrete agreement,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. , quoted by Russian news agencies.

These statements come the day after the announcement of the transfer to a Russian penal colony of American basketball player Brittney Grinersentenced in August to nine years in prison for “drug trafficking”.

A Ukrainian hacker, Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, wanted since 2012 by American justice, was arrested last month in Switzerland, the specialized site revealed on Friday. Krebs on Security.

The 40-year-old man is accused by the Americans of leading a group of hackers who stole millions of dollars thanks to the online hacking of bank accounts in the United States. He was charged with eight accomplices across the Atlantic in 2012 but had escaped justice until then.

He was arrested in the canton of Geneva on October 23 during a visit to his wife on the shores of Lake Geneva. He refuses his extradition to the United States.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on Asia-Pacific countries to join the “growing consensus” against the war in Ukraine, stressing that this war was also “their problem”.

“France’s number one priority is to contribute to peace in Ukraine and to try to have a global dynamic to put pressure on Russia,” he said at the APEC economic leaders summit. .

“France is not just focusing on supporting Ukraine and we will continue to support it,” he said in a speech in English.

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Several Ukrainian cities, including the capital kyiv, again suffered Russian strikes on Thursday, attacks denounced by Volodymyr Zelensky who spoke of “another Russian terrorist attack”.

“Civilian sites are the main target. Russia is waging war on electricity and heating for people by blowing up power plants and other energy facilities,” he said.

The Kremlin countered on Thursday that the suffering of civilians in Ukraine was attributable to kyiv’s refusal to negotiate.

More than ten million Ukrainians are without electricity this Friday, the day after new Russian strikes in several cities, including kyiv.

“At present, more than ten million Ukrainians are without electricity”, especially in the kyiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday evening during his daily televised address.

These repetitive bombings have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October, regularly depriving millions of inhabitants of power and water.

Welcome to this direct dedicated to the news in Ukraine this Friday, November 18, 2022.