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Situation is ‘difficult’ along the entire front line, Kyiv says; Crimean bridge damage poses problems for Russia

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Situation is ‘difficult’ along the entire front, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that news updates on Ukraine’s progress at the front line of fighting with Russia might have decreased of late, but fighting remains intense.

“In the information space, there is still a certain decrease in the number of news coming from the frontlines. There are fewer reports than for example at the beginning of the fall. But this does not mean that the intensity of the fighting has decreased,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Tuesday.

In the last few months, Ukraine launched successful counteroffensives in both the east of the country, around Kharkiv and southward toward Donetsk, as well as in the southern Kherson region, and made sizeable gains in the east in particular.

Ukrainian soldiers of an artillery unit fire toward Russian positions outside Bakhmut on Nov. 8, 2022.

Bulent Kilic | AFP | Getty Images

In recent weeks, however, the fighting appears to have entered a period of stalemate with neither side making any dramatic advances. Nonetheless, fighting remains intense around the Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas of Donetsk, a factor touched upon by Zelenskyy last night.

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“The situation is difficult on the entire front. Fierce positional battles continue in some areas, as before. And it is especially difficult in Donetsk region, as before. The occupiers are suffering extremely large-scale losses, but their order to move to the administrative border of Donetsk region has not changed. We are not surrendering a single centimeter of our land there,” he said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine, Zelenskyy said “we strengthen our positions, break Russian logistics, and consistently destroy the enemy’s potential to keep the south of our country under occupation” while in the east of the country “step by step we are moving towards the return of the Ukrainian flag to all our cities and communities. We are also actively strengthening the border.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Damaged Crimean bridge unlikely to be fully operational until Sept. 2023, UK says

Russian efforts to repair the Crimean Bridge — which links mainland Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014 — continues, “but it is unlikely to be fully operational until at least September 2023,” according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense.

The bridge, a source of pride for Moscow, was partially damaged in early October following an explosion that Russia blamed on Ukraine, although Kyiv did not claim responsibility for the attack. Two road spans of the bridge were severely damaged, partially collapsing into the Kerch Strait below. The railway span was damaged by fire.

Black smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded, near Kerch, on Oct. 8, 2022.

– | Afp | Getty Images

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The U.K. defense ministry noted that, on Nov.8, the road bridge was due to be closed to allow the movement and installation of a replacement 64-meter span, and that three more spans will be required to replace the damaged road sections of the bridge. Repairs are likely to take longer than expected, however.

“Although Crimean officials have claimed these additional spans will be in place by 20 December, a briefing provided to President Putin added that works to the other carriageway would cause disruption to road traffic until March 2023,” the ministry said on Twitter.

“Replacement of the damaged rail bridge has been contracted for completion by September 2023, although Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister stated the repair timeline would be expedited,” it noted. With only track open, rail transport remains restricted and repair activity will be heavily dependent on weather conditions during the winter.

This picture taken on October 13, 2022 shows workers restoring damaged parts of the Kerch Bridge that links Crimea to Russia, which was hit by a blast on October 8, 2022.

Stringer | Afp | Getty Images

“The Crimean bridge attack has disrupted Russian logistics supplies for Crimea and southern Ukraine, reducing Russia’s ability to move military equipment and troops into the area by rail or road,” the ministry noted.

The damage to the bridge, coupled with the recent attack on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and the probable withdrawal from Kherson in southern Ukraine, “all complicate the Russian government’s ability to paint a picture of military success,” the ministry said.

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— Holly Ellyatt

Backlog of 80 ships waiting to transport agricultural goods from Ukraine

Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine and awaiting inspections are seen anchored off the Istanbul coastline on October 14, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images

The organization overseeing the export of Ukrainian agriculture products said there is a backlog of 80 vessels waiting to be loaded with cargo.

The U.N.-led Joint Coordination Center also said that about 13 loaded vessels are waiting for inspection in Turkish territorial waters.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports. Since the deal with signed, more than 430 ships carrying a total of 10.1 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have left for destinations around the world.

Kyiv has previously blamed Moscow for holding up inspections and delaying vessel movements.

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— Amanda Macias

NATO chief calls on Russia to respect and renew Black Sea Grain deal

Stoltenberg has said NATO’s updated Strategic Concept will likely refer to Russia as the “most significant and direct threat” to security.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to “respect the grain agreement and to continue it.”

“Russia’s weaponization of food and energy as part of its illegal war in Ukraine underlines the need to increase resilience, diversify energy supplies and sources and accelerate the transition to cleaner, greener economies,” Stoltenberg said in remarks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP27.

Before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor, Ukraine and Russia accounted for almost a quarter of global grain exports, until those shipments came to a severe halt for nearly six months.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports. Since the deal with signed, more than 10 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have left for destinations around the world.

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Read more about the Black Sea Grain Initiative here.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine imposes emergency power shutdowns as it struggles to cope with demand

Ukraine’s national energy company has imposed further restrictions on power use in the country as the country’s damaged power networks struggle to meet demand as the cold sets in.

National Energy Company Ukrenergo said on Telegram Tuesday that “emergency shutdowns” have been applied in the city of Kyiv, as well as in the surrounding region, and the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions.

“Additional restrictions on consumption are necessary because, due to falling temperatures, consumption of electricity increases, which leads to an increase in the load on equipment and a shortage of electricity in the power system,” it said.

A worker examines damage as he repairs power line equipment destroyed after a missile strike on a power plant, in an undisclosed location of Ukraine, on Oct. 27, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

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Ukraine’s energy network is under immense pressure following daily Russian assaults on the country’s energy infrastructure, particularly with the use of drones to attack facilities like substations. That has meant that energy company repair teams have been working round the clock to restore power to a number of regions.

Ukrenergo’s CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said yesterday that the regions of Kyiv and Kharkiv were experiencing the most difficulties with emergency shutdowns being imposed as well as scheduled shutdowns

“The key task of Ukrenergo today is to repair the trunk networks in the central and northern regions so that the necessary amounts of power from power plants from other regions can be transferred there,” he said yesterday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian prime minister says Ukraine has saved enough energy resources to prepare for upcoming winter season

A woman rides a bicycle past a damaged building in the town of Kupiansk on Nov. 3, 2022, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has enough accumulated energy resources to get through the colder season.

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“A relatively mild fall and the saving of energy resources allow for more gas to be pumped in than is withdrawn from gas storages,” he said, according to an NBC News translation.

He added that Ukraine has approximately 14.6 billion cubic meters of gas in its reserves.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian official calls for more weapons amid counteroffensives against Russians

The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council called for more “modern air defense, aircraft, tanks and long-range missiles.”

“Russian missiles must be destroyed before launch in the air, on land and at sea,” Oleksiy Danilov wrote on Twitter.

— Amanda Macias

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Evacuate or freeze? Kyiv braces for worst case of a winter without power

A local resident Olena Kushnir stands in front of ammunition boxes near her destroyed house, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 15, 2022.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

Millions are already without power in Ukraine’s capital, and with further Russian attacks on energy infrastructure feared, Kyiv is bracing for the prospect of a winter without electricity, gas and water.

That has left officials and residents to confront a scenario in which civilians may be forced to consider leaving their homes to flee the freezing cold. 

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko appealed to the city’s 3 million residents to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, including making arrangements that would allow them to relocate and stay with friends or relatives elsewhere if it comes to it.

“We are doing everything to avoid this. But let’s be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die,” he told state media during a telethon.

“The future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations,” he added.

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During winter, Kyiv sees temperatures plunge below the freezing point, making the potential for power outages in the coming months particularly alarming.

Read more on NBC News.

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:

Source: CNBC

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