Ukraine may face its coldest winter in decades, head of state gas company says
Ukraine could be seeing its coldest winter in decades over the coming months, the head of its state gas company Naftogaz said, as centralized heating infrastructure will turn on later in the season and be turned off earlier than normal.
Temperatures indoors will be kept about four degrees lower than in previous years, Naftogaz chief Yuriy Vitrenko said, at between 62 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit (between 17 and 18 degrees Celsius) as the country grapples with shortages of power — and revenue to pay for that power — due to the Russian invasion, now in its seventh month.
Vitrenko said that people should make sure to have a supply of warm clothing and blankets. Average winter temperatures in Ukraine can fall below 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius).
Ukraine’s centralized heating figures also depend on the financial aid they receive from allies to be able to import sufficient gas supplies, as well as whether Russian forces harm vital gas and power infrastructure.
— Natasha Turak
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu being sidelined, Britain’s Defense Ministry says
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has lost some of his authority as commanders are starting to report directly to President Vladimir Putin instead, Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote in its daily intelligence update on Twitter, citing independent Russian media reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a wreath-laying ceremony, which marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia June 22, 2022.
Mikhail Metzel | Sputnik | Reuters
“Recent independent Russian media reports have claimed that due to the problems Russia is facing in its war against Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is now being side-lined within the Russian leadership, with operational commanders briefing President Putin directly on the course of the war,” the ministry wrote.
It added that “Shoigu has likely long struggled to overcome his reputation as lacking substantive military experience, as he spent most of his career in the construction sector and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.”
— Natasha Turak
IAEA nuclear inspection team ‘on its way’ to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, points on a map of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as he informs the press about the situation of nuclear powerplants in Ukraine during a special press conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 4, 2022.
Joe Klamar | AFP | Getty Images
A team from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is at last on its way to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, after months of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces around the facility and amid growing fear of a potential nuclear catastrophe.
“The day has come, the IAEA’s support and assistance mission to Zaporizhzhia (ISAMZ) is now on its way,” the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said via Twitter.
“We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility. Proud to lead this mission which will be in ZNPP later this week.”
The mission will inspect physical damage to the plant and evaluate its safety and security, assess the conditions of the staff there and carry out urgent safety protocols, the agency said.
— Natasha Turak