War in Ukraine: Sweden confirms sabotage of Nord Stream gas pipelines

The explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, built to transport Russian gas to Europe, amount to sabotage, announced the prosecutor in charge of the preliminary investigations carried out in Sweden on Friday 18 November. . Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the two gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany have been at the center of geopolitical tensions, fueled by Moscow’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Europe in alleged retaliation against the western sanctions. These revelations come as repeated bombings have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October, regularly depriving some of the population of electricity but also of water.

Nord Stream: Sweden confirms sabotage of gas pipelines

The explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, built to carry Russian gas to Europe, are part of a sabotage, the prosecutor in charge of the preliminary investigations in Sweden announced on Friday. “The analyzes that have been carried out show remains of explosives on many of the foreign objects discovered,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement. “The continuation of the preliminary investigations will demonstrate whether someone can be prosecuted for a crime,” the prosecution added.

By the end of September, four huge gas leaks had been detected on pipelines connecting Russia to Germany, all in international waters. Two are located in the Swedish economic zone and two in the Danish economic zone. Preliminary underwater inspections had strengthened suspicions of sabotage, as the leaks had been preceded by explosions, according to investigators.

EU sanctions, “a step towards war” (Orban)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday called EU sanctions against Russia a “step towards war”, escalating his criticism of a strategy Brussels deemed “dangerous”. “Anyone who intervenes economically in a military conflict takes a stand,” said the nationalist leader during his traditional interview on a radio close to the government. “Little by little, we are sliding towards war,” he insisted, worried about the accumulation of measures taken to sanction the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Viktor Orban regularly denounces European sanctions, even though he voted for them together with his partners, accusing them of the economic setbacks of this Central European country. The economy contracted in the third quarter (compared to the second) and inflation exceeded 20%, even reaching 45% in food.

Ukraine: Russia conducts fortification work in Crimea

Russia announced on Friday it was carrying out fortification work on its annexed Crimean peninsula, after withdrawing its soldiers to the neighboring Kherson region of Ukraine in the face of a counter-offensive from Kiev. “Fortification works under my control are underway on the territory of Crimea to ensure the safety of Crimea,” said Sergei Aksionov, the governor installed by Moscow after the annexation of this Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.

However, he stressed that the security of Crimea passes “mainly through measures to be implemented on the territory of the Kherson region”, which borders the peninsula in southern Ukraine. The announcement comes as Russian forces made a humiliating withdrawal from the region last week after failing to contain a counterattack by Ukrainian soldiers.

More than ten million Ukrainians without electricity after Russian attacks

More than ten million Ukrainians were left without electricity on Friday, the day after renewed Russian strikes in several cities, including Kiev, during the first snowfall. These repeated bombings have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October, depriving electricity but also water for millions of inhabitants.

“Currently, more than ten million Ukrainians are without electricity,” particularly in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday evening during his daily televised address. The Ukrainian president, whose country will enter its tenth month of war on November 24, denounced “another Russian terrorist attack”. The Kremlin on Thursday countered that the suffering of civilians in Ukraine was attributable to Kiev’s refusal to negotiate.

Ukraine: “this war is also your problem” (Macron at the APEC summit)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on Asia-Pacific countries to join the “growing consensus” against the war in Ukraine, stressing that this war is also “their problem”. “France’s number one priority is to contribute to peace in Ukraine and try to have a global dynamic to put pressure on Russia,” he said at the APEC meeting of economic leaders. .

“France is not focusing only on supporting Ukraine and we will continue to support it,” he said in a speech in English. He also wants to “work closely with different countries like China, India, the whole region, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, to build a growing consensus and say ‘this war is also your problem because it will create a lot of destabilization'”.

Ukrainian air defense under pressure

Anti-aircraft defense plays a vital and highly effective role in Ukraine’s response to the Russian invasion, but it is being challenged by intensifying attacks from Moscow. Struggling on the ground, Russia has ramped up shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October, a hail of strikes particularly heavy this week.

If the Ukrainian defense has so far prevented Moscow from taking control of the airspace, Kyiv’s allies are aware that it will have to be strengthened to be able to withstand this deluge of fire. While offering to send both modern and old weapons, stressing that they won’t be immediately available, Ukraine believes the time has come to supply sophisticated Patriot-style batteries.

Russia: American basketball player Griner transferred to a penal colony

American basketball star Brittney Griner has been transferred to a penal colony in central Russia to serve a hefty prison sentence, despite protests from Washington citing a political conviction.

The 32-year-old star, recognized as one of the best players in the world, was sentenced in August to nine years in prison for “drug trafficking”, a case with a strong geopolitical dimension which includes negotiations for an exchange of prisoners between Moscow and Washington and the tensions related to the conflict in Ukraine.

After her appeal was rejected last month, Brittney Griner left her pre-trial detention center in early November to be sent to a penal colony, where conditions are harsher, but her exact whereabouts were not disclosed.

Nuclear sites in Ukraine: new IAEA resolution against Russia

The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a new resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine’s Zaporizhia power plant and halt its actions against nuclear sites, diplomatic sources said. The text, presented by Canada and Finland, has been approved by 24 of the 35 member states of the Council, said two diplomats contacted by AFP. Russia and China voted against.

Seven countries abstained (Pakistan, India, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia). Two were absent. Two resolutions on the matter had already been adopted, in March and then in September, when the incessant bombing in Ukraine raised fears of the risk of a nuclear accident. In this text, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “expresses deep concern” over Russia’s refusal to stop its attacks on Ukrainian nuclear facilities.

Ukraine: “Horrible” number of torture cases in Kherson under Russian occupation (kyiv)

The scale of torture in Kherson during the Russian occupation of the southern Ukrainian city is “horrible,” a senior Ukrainian human rights official said on Thursday. “I have not yet seen” torture “on such a scale”, “having visited all the torture chambers in various regions of Ukraine,” Dmytro Loubynets, the parliament’s human rights officer, told national television. “The scale of the phenomenon is terrifying.”

“Dozens of people” were “electrocuted, beaten with metal pipes. Their bones were broken” and “the Russians filmed everything,” he accused. “I’m sure that in every major locality we will discover a torture chamber. Because it is a system put in place by Russia.” Ukrainian authorities have announced that they have discovered several torture chambers in areas of the Kherson region recently recaptured from the Russians after months of occupation.

Missile incident: Ukrainian experts have arrived in Poland (Ukrainian minister)

Ukrainian experts have arrived in Poland to take part in investigations aimed at determining where the missile that killed two people in Poland was fired from, the head of Ukraine’s diplomacy said on Thursday. “Our experts are already in Poland,” Dmytro Kouleba tweeted. “We hope they will quickly gain access to the site” of the accident, “in cooperation with Polish law enforcement agencies,” he added.