Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoys to hold talks in Davos as Zelensky says Putin is not interested in peace

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic – he has no holy mission in Ukraine

Drone strikes cut power to over 200,000 homes in Russian-occupied Ukraine, local official says

Union boss ‘held up communist flag alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

UK announces £20m emergency fund to repair Ukraine’s battered power grid

Key Points

• Ukraine continuing peace proposal talks with US in Davos
• Drone strikes cut power to over 200,000 homes in Russian-occupied Ukraine
• Putin not interested in diplomacy, says Zelensky
• Russia planning big boost in drone production, says Ukraine's top military commander
• Former Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic – he has no holy mission in Ukraine

Ukraine continuing peace proposal talks with US in Davos

Talks with US officials on a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war with Russia will continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos, Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

In a message on Telegram, Umerov said two days of talks in Florida with a US team including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, president Donald Trump's son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine.

He gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at the meeting.

“We agreed to continue work at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos," Umerov said.

The two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had "discussed in depth" the two issues, "focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them," Mr Umerov said.

He said his delegation had reported on Russian strikes last week which badly damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure and left hundreds of apartment buildings with no heating or electricity.

Trump says he will get 'Russian threat' away from Greenland

US president Donald Trump has claimed Denmark has not been able to do anything to get the "Russian threat" away from Greenland, and said, "Now it is time, and it will be done!!!"

"NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that "you have to get Russian threat away from Greenland,” he said.

“Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it," Trump wrote in a post on the social media website TruthSocial.

Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.

US invasion of Greenland 'would make Putin happiest man on earth', says Spanish PM

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said a US invasion of Greenland "would make Putin the happiest man on earth".

Sanchez said any military action by the US against Denmark's vast Arctic island would damage Nato and "legitimise" the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“If we focus on Greenland, I have to say that a US invasion of that territory would make Vladimir Putin the happiest man in the world. Why? Because it would legitimise his attempted invasion of Ukraine," he told La Vanguardia.

“If the United States were to use force, it would be the death knell for Nato. Putin would be doubly happy,” he said.

President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to change tack over Greenland by vowing to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.

Drone strikes cut power to over 200,000 homes in Russian-occupied Ukraine

More than 200,000 households in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, according to the Kremlin-installed local governor.

In a Telegram post, Yevgeny Balitsky said nearly 400 settlements have had their supply cut, due to damage to power networks from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Russia has hammered Ukraine's power grid, especially in winter, throughout the almost four-year war. It aims to weaken Ukrainians' will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call "weaponising winter."

Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine's energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.

Watch: 'Diplomacy not a priority for Russia', says Zelensky

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic – he has no holy mission in Ukraine

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has accused Vladimir Putin of “heresy” after the Russian President claimed his invasion of Ukraine was a “holy mission”.

During a speech to mark Orthodox Christmas earlier this month, Putin called his soldiers “warriors” who were acting “as if at the Lord’s behest” and “defending the fatherland”.

Mr Williams, who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012, condemned the use of religion to justify the invasion as “disturbing” and said that Putin’s revanchism directly contradicts the message preached by Jesus Christ.

“I’d certainly say we’re talking about heresy,” he told The Independent. “We’re talking about something which undermines a really fundamental aspect of religious belief, of Christian belief, which assumes that we have to defend God by violence.”

Ex-Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic – he has no holy mission in Ukraine

Watch: Europe says tariff threat ‘risks dangerous downwards spiral’ in joint statement

Putin not interested in diplomacy, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was important to outline the dire effects of the Russian strikes as they demonstrated that Russia was not interested in diplomacy.

"If the Russians were seriously interested in ending the war, they would have focused on diplomacy," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

He said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites in preparation for strikes, including targets linked to Ukraine's nuclear power stations.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that there was evidence Russia was considering attacks on power substations supplying nuclear power stations.

If the Russians seriously wanted to end the war, they'd focus on diplomacy—not on missile strikes, blackouts, and even attempts to damage our nuclear power plants.
 
We have information about the sites Russia reconnoitered in preparation for strikes. Everything clearly shows that… pic.twitter.com/xXgoUqNDbz

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 18, 2026

Russia planning big boost in drone production, says Ukraine's top military commander

Russia is showing no signs of interest in talks leading to a peace deal and is instead focusing on boosting arms production, including a target of 1,000 drones a day, Ukraine’s top military commander has said.

“On the contrary, we see an increase in intensity of military actions, an increase in the number of offensive enemy groupings, an increase in production of strike weapons, missiles and drones,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi told the online media outlet lb.ua in an interview.

“At the moment, the enemy produces daily 404 ‘Shaheds’ (Iranian-designed drones) of different kinds. And the plans are to increase that. The enemy plans to boost production significantly, up to 1,000 drones a day,” he said.

Watch: Energy grid restoration works 'complicated' due to constant Russian strikes, says Zelensky

Zelensky holds special energy coordination meeting

Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a special energy coordination meeting yesterday, noting that the situation remains most difficult in several areas.

He said Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding regions are the worst hit due to Russian attacks.

Ukraine needs to ramp up electricity imports and acquire additional equipment from its partners, the Ukrainian president said.

Zelensky said he has ordered a separate review in Kyiv to identify buildings that are still without heating.

“Unfortunately, there are discrepancies between city-level and government-level reports even concerning the number of such buildings. The Ministry of Energy and all central government bodies must fully engage to help people,” he said.

Ukraine continuing peace proposal talks with US in Davos

Talks with US officials on a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war with Russia will continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos, Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

In a message on Telegram, Umerov said two days of talks in Florida with a US team including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, president Donald Trump's son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine.

He gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at the meeting.

“We agreed to continue work at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos," Umerov said.

The two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had "discussed in depth" the two issues, "focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them," Mr Umerov said.

He said his delegation had reported on Russian strikes last week which badly damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure and left hundreds of apartment buildings with no heating or electricity.

Watch: 'Ukraine delegation in US to brief officials on Russian strikes' says Zelensky as he urges diplomatic progress

Watch: Russian attack on residential Kharkiv kills woman, Ukraine says

Ukraine killed 27 Russian soldiers for every loss as it regained Kupiansk

An intelligence assessment provided to the British military revealed a 1:27 kill ratio in the battle for Kupiansk, with 27 Russian soldiers lost for each Ukrainian.

This assessment was shared during a briefing with Ukrainian officials last week, highlighting Kyiv’s ability to reclaim territory despite Russia's 'meat grinder' tactics.

During the battle for the northern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv, up to 200 Russian soldiers were reportedly surrounded by advancing Ukrainian forces before Christmas.

Ukraine successfully regained control of Kupiansk last month.

At a war-ravaged sports center in Ukraine, the hope for Olympic glory persists

Young athletes in northern Ukraine spend their days cross-country skiing through a scorched forest, focused on their form — until a siren inevitably shatters the silence.

They respond swiftly but without panic, ditching their skis and following coaches to an underground bomb shelter.

It’s an ordinary training session at the complex that produced Ukraine’s first Olympic medalist.

At a war-ravaged sports center in Ukraine, the hope for Olympic glory persists

Photos show Ukraine's historic training center in ruins, but children and athletes still train

Ukraine’s historic Chernihiv biathlon and cross-country training center, which produced the country’s first Olympic medalist, remains in ruins after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Despite bombed-out buildings and constant air-raid threats, children and Olympic hopefuls continue to train on its damaged ski tracks.

Photos show Ukraine's historic training center in ruins, but children and athletes still train

Ukraine’s battered power grid faces unprecedented challenge, energy minister says

In case you missed this...

Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said Friday, as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days amid the coldest winter for years.

Denys Shmyhal said Russia conducted 612 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure objects over last year. That barrage has intensified in recent months as nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 18 degrees C (minus 0.4 F).

“Nobody in the world has ever faced such a challenge,” Shmyhal told lawmakers in a speech at Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Read more here:

Ukraine’s battered power grid faces unprecedented challenge, energy minister says

Union boss ‘held up communist flag alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

In case you missed this-

The leader of a major railway union posed with a communist flag and was pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants on a visit to occupied Ukraine, it has emerged.

The general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Eddie Dempsey, travelled to the Donbas region of Ukraine in 2015, one year after it had been invaded by Russia.

While he characterised the trip as a “humanitarian convoy”, footage from his visit – obtained by The Telegraph – showed him holding the red Communist Party flag while those around him chanted slogans in Russian, such as “United, we will never be defeated” and “The Donbas, the tomb of fascism”.

Read more here:

Union boss ‘pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

Russia says Greenland belongs to Denmark - after four years of trying to take Ukrainian territory

The Kremlin said Russia considers Greenland to be Danish territory, as Donald Trump refuses to back down over his repeated threats against a Nato ally.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation was “extraordinary” from the perspective of international law, despite Moscow itself having been repeatedly accused of breaching international law with its deadly invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

“On the other hand, given that President Trump is in Washington ... he himself has said that international law is not a priority for him,” Peskov added.

Read more here:

Russia says Greenland belongs to Denmark - after four years of waging war on Ukraine

Zelensky says Ukraine 'doing everything they can' to restore energy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post that repairing the country's energy system remains challenging, "but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible".

He said two people were killed in overnight attacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.

More than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types were used by Russia to strike Ukraine this week, he added.

"If Russia deliberately delays the diplomatic process, the world's response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor," Mr Zelensky said.

He spoke the day after a Ukrainian delegation arrived in the US for talks on a US-led diplomatic push to end the war.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic - he has no holy mission in Ukraine

For years, the Russian Orthodox Church has given its blessing to Moscow’s brutal invasion and attempted to frame it in religious terms.

The former Archbishop tells The Independent’s Maira Butt that Putin’s violence directly contradicts the message preached by Christ.

Read it here:

Ex-Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic - he has no holy mission in Ukraine

Drone strikes leave over 200,000 homes without power- part two

In a Telegram post, Yevgeny Balitsky said nearly 400 settlements have had their supply cut, because of damage to power networks from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Russia has hammered Ukraine's power grid, especially in winter, throughout the almost four-year war. It aims to weaken Ukrainians' will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call "weaponising winter".

Russia targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight on Sunday, according to Ukraine's emergency services. A fire broke out and was promptly extinguished.

Drone strikes leave over 200,000 homes without power

Hundreds of thousands of people in Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine were left without power on Sunday, according to Kremlin-installed authorities there.

Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine's energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.

More than 200,000 households in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, according to the Kremlin-installed local governor.

Talks continue between Ukrainian and US delegation

A Ukrainian delegation is continuing talks with US officials on a diplomatic push to end the nearly 4-year-old war n Ukraine.

On Friday, Zelensky said that the delegation would try to finalize with U.S. officials documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.

If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelensky said at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel.

Trump plans to be in Davos, according to organisers.

Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals.

Sam Kiley: Trump’s tariff threat on Greenland is a golden opportunity for Starmer - it is time to rejoin the EU

Trump’s tariff threat must be the final straw for Starmer - time to rejoin the EU

More than 200,000 in occupied Zaporizhzhia left without electricity after attacks

More than 200,000 consumers in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region were left without electricity on Sunday, the Moscow-installed regional governor said, after a Ukrainian drone strike on Saturday.

In a statement posted on Telegram, Yevgeny Balitsky said that work was ongoing to restore the power supply, but that almost 400 settlements remain without electricity.

Temperatures are well below freezing throughout the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, around 75% of which is controlled by Russia.

Russia has frequently bombarded Ukraine's power infrastructure throughout its nearly four-year war, causing rolling daily blackouts, and has also targeted heating systems this winter.

Separately, the governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod, which has come under regular Ukrainian attack since 2022, said that one person had been killed and another wounded by a drone strike on the border village of Nechaevka.

Watch: Russian attack on residential Kharkiv kills woman, Ukraine says

Union boss ‘held up communist flag alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

Union boss ‘pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

Two killed and dozens wounded in massive Russian drone attack on Ukraine

Two people were killed and dozens wounded in a mass Russian drone attack on Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Writing on X, he said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, and Odesa regions were targeted in an attack that included more than 200 drones.

'Ukraine delegation in US to brief officials on Russian strikes' says Zelensky as he urges diplomatic progress

Zelensky warns Russia is targeting Ukraine’s nuclear-linked energy infrastructure

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Moscow is increasingly focusing its attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear-related energy systems, accusing the Kremlin of trying to break the country through prolonged power disruptions.

He said there was no indication that Russia was prepared to honour any agreements or move towards ending the war.

“We do not see any willingness on the part of the aggressor to comply with any agreements or end the war. Instead, there is ample information about preparations for further Russian strikes on our energy sector and infrastructure, including facilities and networks that serve our nuclear power plants. Each such Russian strike on the energy sector amid such a harsh winter weakens and undermines the efforts of key states – in particular the United States – to end this war.”

Ukraine killed 27 Russian soldiers for every loss as it regained Kupiansk

An intelligence assessment provided to the British military revealed a 1:27 kill ratio in the battle for Kupiansk, with 27 Russian soldiers lost for each Ukrainian.

This assessment was shared during a briefing with Ukrainian officials last week, highlighting Kyiv’s ability to reclaim territory despite Russia's 'meat grinder' tactics.

During the battle for the northern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv, up to 200 Russian soldiers were reportedly surrounded by advancing Ukrainian forces before Christmas.

Ukraine successfully regained control of Kupiansk last month.

Zelensky says air defence supplies insufficient, warns of new massive Russian strikes

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that allied supplies of air defence systems and missiles were insufficient, warning that Russia was preparing new large-scale strikes.

In his evening address, Zelensky said it was crucial that Ukraine’s partners heed Kyiv’s requests for additional support.

Zelensky holds special energy coordination meeting

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he held a special energy coordination meeting, noting that the situation remains most difficult in several areas.

He said Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding regions are the worst hit.

Ukraine needs to ramp up electricity imports and acquire additional equipment from its partners, he added.

Zelensky said he has instructed that a separate review be conducted in Kyiv to identify buildings that are still without heating.

“Unfortunately, there are discrepancies between city-level and government-level reports even concerning the number of such buildings. The Ministry of Energy and all central government bodies must fully engage to help people,” he said.

Russian forces take control of two settlements in Ukraine, defence ministry says

Russian forces took control of the settlements of Pryvillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and Pryluky in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday.

Ukrainian forces have yet to comment on it.

Foreign embassies in Kyiv refuse to leave amid crippling energy crisis

Foreign embassies in Kyiv have confirmed they are not evacuating staff despite worsening power outages, damage to energy infrastructure, and forecasts of extreme cold.

It comes as Ukraine’s energy situation deteriorates under repeated Russian strikes, with a state of emergency declared on 14 January and forecasts warning that late January temperatures could fall below –20°C.

Kyiv is home to the largest number of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine, with around 80 embassies based in the capital, according to The Kyiv Independent.

In early 2022, almost all foreign missions evacuated Kyiv due to security concerns as Russia, possessing the world’s second-largest military, launched a full-scale invasion and attempted to seize the capital within days.

Most embassies later returned and resumed operations in the city.

At least eight embassies have told the outlet they would remain and continue operations, while the remainder either did not respond or declined to comment publicly.

Moldova says it found a crashed Russian drone

A crashed Russian drone has been discovered in Moldova, officials said.

The Russian Gerbera-type drone has been found by a hunter in a village of Nucareni in the Telenesti District of the country, around 54km from the Moldova-Ukraine border, authorities said.

Moldova's National Policealso released a picture of the drone.

It was not immediately clear when the drone had crashed. In recent weeks, Russia has repeatedly launched drone attacks on multiple regions of Ukraine, including areas along the country’s south-western border.

Responding to the airspace breach, Moldova’s foreign ministry said the incident posed a threat to national security and constituted a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The Republic of Moldova condemns such violations and condemns the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which also endangers the safety of our citizens," the statement added.

Photos show Ukrainians enduring a frigid winter after Russian strikes knocked out power

Emergency repair crews are working flat out to restore power in the Kyiv region of Ukraine, after relentless Russian barrages on energy infrastructure left Ukrainians at the mercy of the coldest winter in years.

Photos show Ukrainians enduring a frigid winter after Russian strikes knocked out power

Ukraine's energy crisis deepens with Russia's 'serious strikes on the system'

Russia launched fresh overnight strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hitting facilities in the Kyiv and Odesa regions and leaving tens of thousands without electricity, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

The Ministry of Energy said that more than 20 settlements in the Kyiv region were cut off from power after the attacks. In the south, infrastructure in the Odesa region was also targeted, adding to pressure on an already strained grid.In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, mayor Ihor Terekhov said that a Russian strike hit a critical infrastructure facility in the industrial district, raising the risk of serious disruptions to electricity and heating supplies.

Three people were wounded.

“We are talking about serious strikes on the system that keeps the city warm and lit,” Mr Terekhov wrote on Telegram, warning that the network was already operating at its limits. Each new attack, he said, makes it harder to maintain stable supplies and prolongs recovery efforts.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he had convened a special coordination meeting on energy security, describing the situation as most difficult in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as surrounding regions.

He said Ukraine needed to increase electricity imports and accelerate the acquisition of additional equipment from international partners.

Throughout the war, Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid, particularly during the winter months, in what Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to “weaponise winter” and weaken civilian morale.

Ukraine’s new energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Friday that Russia carried out 612 attacks on energy facilities last year, with the intensity increasing in recent months as nighttime temperatures dropped to -18C.

To cope with the strain, Ukraine has introduced emergency measures, including temporarily easing curfew restrictions to allow residents to reach public heating centres when needed. Shmyhal said hospitals, schools and other critical facilities remained the top priority for electricity and heat.

He added that state energy companies, including Ukrzaliznytsia, Naftogaz and Ukroboronprom, had been instructed to urgently purchase imported electricity to cover at least half of their own consumption.

163,606 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine - report

Independent Russian outlet Mediazona, working with the BBC’s Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 163,606 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine, offering one of the most detailed public accounts of Moscow’s battlefield losses.

Since the previous update in mid-December, the journalists have added 7,445 names to the database.

They caution that the true death toll is likely far higher, as their verification relies solely on publicly available information, including obituaries, posts from relatives, regional media coverage and statements by local officials.

The confirmed figures include nearly 54,000 volunteers, close to 20,000 recruited prisoners and around 16,500 mobilised soldiers.

More than 6,300 officers are also among those confirmed dead.

In August 2025, Mediazona and the independent outlet Meduza estimated that roughly 220,000 Russians had been killed in the war, a figure that has risen significantly since then.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv regularly publishes official casualty figures. Ukraine estimates that Russia’s overall casualties since the start of the full-scale invasion have exceeded 1.2 million.

Despite the scale of losses, Russian forces have managed limited advances along the front line by replenishing ranks with new contract soldiers.

Ukraine, by contrast, is grappling with mounting manpower shortages, particularly among infantry units. In a rare disclosure on 14 January, Ukraine’s new defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said around two million Ukrainians were wanted for evading mobilisation, while a further 200,000 soldiers were absent without official leave.

As of 17 January, Ukraine’s general staff estimated that Russia has lost 1,225,590 troops since the invasion began on 24 February 2022, a figure that includes those killed, injured or missing and broadly aligns with assessments by Western intelligence agencies.

Zelensky warns Russia is targeting Ukraine’s nuclear energy system as winter attacks intensify

Russia is stepping up efforts to target Ukraine’s nuclear power system as part of a broader campaign to break the country through energy blackouts, president Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Sunday.

Speaking amid freezing winter conditions, Zelensky said there was no sign Moscow was willing to honour any agreements or bring the war to an end. Instead, he accused the Kremlin of preparing further strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including facilities linked to its nuclear power plants.

“These attacks are designed to weaken Ukraine and to undermine the efforts of key partners – particularly the United States – to stop the war,” he said, warning that every assault on the energy sector during winter deepens the humanitarian and security risks facing the country.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic - he has no holy mission in Ukraine

For years, the Russian Orthodox Church has given its blessing to Moscow’s brutal invasion and attempted to frame it in religious terms.

The former Archbishop tells The Independent’s Maira Butt that Putin’s violence directly contradicts the message preached by Christ.

Read it here:

Ex-Archbishop of Canterbury: Putin is a heretic - he has no holy mission in Ukraine

Ukraine’s battered power grid faces unprecedented challenge, energy minister says

Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said Friday, as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days amid the coldest winter for years.

Denys Shmyhal said Russia conducted 612 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure objects over last year. That barrage has intensified in recent months as nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 18 degrees C (minus 0.4 F).

Ukraine’s battered power grid faces unprecedented challenge, energy minister says

Russia expels British diplomat from Moscow embassy over spying claims

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Russian authorities Thursday ordered a British diplomat to leave the country on allegations of spying.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, alleged that the member of embassy staff had worked for British intelligence. It did not provide evidence.

The diplomat’s accreditation was revoked and and the person must now leave the country within two weeks, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The U.K.’s charge d’affaires in Russia, Danae Dholakia, was summoned to the ministry's Moscow headquarters to receive the notice.