The raided Kiev Pechersk Lavra complex is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and home to the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reported. “These measures are taken … as part of the systemic work of the SBU to counter the destructive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine,” the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement. It said the investigation was aimed at preventing the monastery of caves from being used as “the center of the Russian world” and was conducted to investigate suspicions “regarding the use of the facilities… to shelter sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign nationals, weapons storage”. The SBU did not say what the result of the raid was. The Moscow Patriarchate did not immediately comment. In May, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate severed ties with the Russian church over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemned the support of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian church, in what Moscow calls a “special military operation.” . Updated at 10.27 GMT Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Here are some images we received from Kyiv, where authorities have warned that millions of people could face power outages until at least the end of March amid relentless Russian incursions. A woman makes a phone call behind a generator as the power is down in Kyiv. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA man works in the dark during a power outage in Kyiv. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Vigil lanterns are depicted on the portraits of the “Hundred Heavenly Heroes” during a tribute to the fallen activists of the Revolution of Dignity on the Day of Dignity and Freedom in Kyiv. Photo: Future Publishing/Ukrinform/Getty Images Updated at 11.31 GMT Piotr Sauer The Kremlin said on Monday it was not seeking a change of government in Ukraine. When asked by a reporter if one of the goals of a “special military operation” was regime change in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: No [it is not]the president has already spoken about it. The Kremlin has shifted its stated targets in Ukraine throughout the conflict. When Putin announced his “special military operation,” he said in a speech that his country’s goal was to “demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine,” indicating his ultimate goals in this war: the overthrow of the government of its president-elect Ukrainian, Volodymyr Zelensky. However, as Russia’s invasion subsided, Putin dramatically scaled back his ambitions, declaring that his goal in Ukraine was to “liberate the Donbas.” In recent weeks, the Kremlin has repeatedly said that its goals in Ukraine could also be achieved through negotiations. Other senior Russian officials, however, continued to push for regime change in Ukraine. Earlier this month, former president Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow should “completely dismantle” Ukraine’s political regime. Updated at 11.32 GMT
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 13:00. Here’s a rundown of the day’s top stories so far:
Ukraine’s SBU security service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early Tuesday as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities of Russian special services,” the SBU said. The raided Kiev Pechersk Lavra complex is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and home to the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, Reuters reported. Ukrainians are likely to live with blackouts until at least the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said on Monday, as the government began free evacuations for people in Kherson to other regions. Half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed by Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, leaving millions without electricity and water as winter sets in and temperatures drop below freezing. Russian shelling hit a humanitarian aid distribution center in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Orihiv on Tuesday, killing one volunteer and wounding two women, the regional governor said. Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, did not elaborate on the attack in Orihiv, about 70 miles east of the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that was bombed in recent days. Russians have murdered, tortured and kidnapped Ukrainians in a systematic manner that could implicate top officials in war crimes, the US State Department’s ambassador for global criminal justice said on Monday. There is growing evidence that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “accompanied by systemic war crimes committed in every region where Russian forces are deployed,” US Ambassador-at-Large Beth Van Schaack said. The Ukrainian government is offering people in the newly liberated city of Kherson, which remains mostly without electricity and running water, free evacuations to areas with better infrastructure, as well as free accommodation. “Given the difficult security situation in the city and infrastructure problems, you can evacuate for the winter to safer areas of the country,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia has reiterated that it does not seek a change of government in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said his country “does not intend to carry out the ‘special operation’ to change the government in Ukraine,” Sky News reports. The Kremlin said there has been no substantial progress towards establishing a safety zone around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russia shortly after its invasion, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog, which said such attacks risked a major disaster. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the coming days with the mothers of soldiers amid fierce fighting in Ukraine, Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing three unnamed sources in the presidential administration. Russia celebrates Mother’s Day on November 27. The Kremlin has not officially announced any meetings of Putin with mothers of soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will soon be able to add New Zealand to the list of parliaments he has addressed, after Wellington agreed to a request to do so. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government had agreed to the request from the Canberra-based Ukrainian embassy, which serves both countries. Ukraine is to evacuate civilians from the recently liberated areas of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Residents of the two southern regions have been advised to move to safer areas in the central and western parts of the country, amid fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to survive the winter. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Ukraine’s health system is “facing its darkest days in the war so far”. The WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, called for a “humanitarian health corridor” to be established in all areas of Ukraine recently retaken from Kyiv, as well as those occupied by Russian forces. Russian troops have been accused of burning corpses in a dump on the edge of Kherson during their occupation. Residents and workers at the site told the Guardian they saw Russian open trucks arrive at the site carrying black bags which were then set on fire, filling the air with a large cloud of smoke and the stench of burnt flesh.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for now. I will be back at 2pm. UK time, but my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be joining soon to bring you all the latest news from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Updated at 11.26 GMT The Kremlin said there has been no substantial progress towards establishing a safety zone around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russia shortly after its invasion, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the UN nuclear watchdog, which said such attacks risked a major disaster. Updated at 11.09 GMT Russian shelling hit a humanitarian aid distribution center in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Orihiv on Tuesday, killing one volunteer and wounding two women, the regional governor said. Oleksandr Starukh, the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, did not elaborate on the attack in Orihiv, about 70 miles east of the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been bombed in recent days. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of firing the shells that landed near reactors and destroyed a radioactive waste storage building at the plant, Reuters reported. “Russian terrorists are bombing humanitarian aid delivery points, continuing nuclear blackmail – a sad tactic of military losers,” wrote Andriy Yermak, the president’s chief of staff, on the Telegram messaging app. “Well, for every such action there is a Ukrainian counter-reaction,” he added. Updated at 11.10 GMT An image shows the destruction of Kherson International Airport in Chornobaivka, located in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. The destruction of the Kherson International Airport in Chornobaivka, located in the Kherson region of Ukraine. Photo: Jose Hernandez/REX/Shutterstock Updated at 10.05 GMT
Russia reiterates that it does not want to overthrow the government of Ukraine
Russia has reiterated that it is not seeking a change of government in…
