Sergey Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images Russian missile attacks on vital energy infrastructure around Ukraine have left about 10 million people in the country without power, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “Right now, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without power,” Zelensky said in his nightly speech, citing the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia and Sumy as the hardest hit. Kyiv has for several weeks been urging Ukrainians to conserve energy use as power plants around Kyiv operate at a fraction of their normal capacity amid Russian attacks. Engineers are working around the clock to repair power plants, which have become key targets of Russian raids. The attacks on urban areas follow humiliating losses for Moscow as Ukrainian forces launched successful counter-offensives to retake areas previously held by Russia. — Natasha Toorak
The Nord Stream explosion was “gross sabotage”, the Swedish prosecutor said
BORNHOLM, DENMARK – SEPTEMBER 27: Danish Defense shows the gas leak in Nord Stream 2 as seen by the Danish F-16 interceptor in Bornholm, Denmark on September 27, 2022. Danish defense/ | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, who is leading the investigation into the September explosion that destroyed Germany’s Nord Stream pipeline, called the explosion a “major act of sabotage” and said explosive remnants had been found. “During the crime scene investigations conducted on site in the Baltic Sea, extensive seizures were made and the area has been carefully documented,” Ljungqvist said in a statement. “The incident is gross sabotage,” the statement headlined. “The analysis that has now been done shows traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects found. Advanced analysis work is ongoing to enable us to draw more confident conclusions about the event.” The statement added that work is continuing on the preliminary investigation, which “is very complex and comprehensive.” He is not naming any potential suspects and said no further information can be released at this time. — Natasha Toorak
Diplomats make final push on Ukraine crisis at APEC meeting
After the ASEAN and G-20 meetings, the potential spillover of the war in Ukraine to the eastern side of Europe looms large during the two-day APEC summit. The meeting of world leaders in the Thai capital, Bangkok, may be the last chance in a recent flurry of diplomatic efforts in the region to try to find consensus to chart a path to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “How do we help bring all parties to the conflict here to the table and try to find a solution? We need to get to that point as soon as possible,” Kasemsit Pathosak, executive director of the APEC CEO Summit, told CNBC. Attendees at the group’s first in-person summit in four years include Chinese President Xi Jinping, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Key stakeholders such as US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not be there. — Lee Ying Shan, Sri Jegarajah
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley and his Swedish counterpart discuss NATO membership at the Pentagon
Chairman of the U.S. Army Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a news briefing after participating in a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 16, 2022. Tom Brenner | Reuters US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met with his Swedish counterpart at the Pentagon. Milley discussed the NATO accession process and regional security concerns with Swedish Commander-in-Chief General Micael Bydén, according to a Pentagon readout of the meeting. In May, Sweden and Finland began the formal application process to NATO. All 30 members of the alliance must ratify countries’ entry into the group. In August, US President Joe Biden signed ratification documents after a 95-1 vote in the Senate for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. — Amanda Macias
