War against Ukraine: ++ Selenskyj reports nationwide power outages ++

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reports nationwide power outages after Russian rocket attacks. A German security expert warns that a weak Russia would be destabilizing for Europe. All developments in the live blog.

2:35 a.m

Zelenskyy: Nationwide power outages after Russian missile attacks

According to Kiev, the massive Russian rocket attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have led to power outages in large parts of the country. “Tonight there will be power outages in most regions of Ukraine,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address in the evening. The situation is “particularly difficult” in the Kyiv region and in the capital itself, in the western region of Lviv and in the Odessa and Cherson regions in the south of the country. With each of these missile attacks, Russia “only drives itself deeper into a dead end,” Zelensky said. “They have fewer and fewer rockets.” According to Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, three people were killed in Thursday’s rocket attacks. Six other people, including a child, were injured.

2:35 a.m

Security expert: Weak Russia is destabilizing for Europe

The head of the security policy research group at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Claudia Major, has warned of the consequences of a Russia weakened by the war. “Any weakening of Russia and the possible breakup of this multi-ethnic state has an enormously destabilizing effect on Europe and beyond,” Major told the editorial network Germany. At first glance, a weak Russia is good news, but at second glance there are many destabilizing side effects.

“We also have to ask ourselves how we will deal with the possible chaos if Russia is no longer a leading power, for example in Central Asia,” said Major. The consequences are already visible in Central Asia, where Russia was a leading hegemonic power. “After the military defeats in Ukraine, the Kremlin is perceived as weak there, and the first states want to use this to break away from Moscow’s sphere of influence.” Major cited the flare-up conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and in Kazakhstan as examples.

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