CNN

 — 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Moscow wants to cause darkness and leave the country “in the dark for the New Year,” as deadly strikes swept several regions on Saturday.

Moscow intends to “intimidate, leave us in the dark for the new year, cause as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible,” Shmyhal said on Telegram.

“There are attacks on civilian infrastructure in different regions of our country. Residential buildings, hotel, (a) shop, place for festivals were damaged. There are dead and injured,” he wrote.

“Russians want to intimidate, leave us in the dark for the New Year, cause as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible.”

Russian shelling in recent weeks targeting critical infrastructure across Ukraine has left much of the country without access to heat and power, amid a harsh winter season.

Out of the 20 injured, 14 were hospitalized, while six others were given medical care on the spot, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Several school buildings in the capital suffered severe damage from the explosions, the mayor added.

Air raid sirens, which were activated earlier following the attacks, are now off in Kyiv.

Further east in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, Russian strikes killed at least six people.

Three people died and three more were wounded in the Donetsk region, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

One person was wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region. Two were killed and one wounded in the Kharkiv region. Two people were wounded in the Kherson region, while one died in the Chernihiv region.

It came after Russia launched five missiles and 29 air strikes on Friday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Saturday.

“26 of the enemy’s air strikes were on civilian infrastructure. In particular, the occupants used 10 Shahed-136 UAVs, but all of them were shot down. In addition, the enemy made 80 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, civilian settlements were also hit,” the General Staff said in its latest operational update.

It said that Russia “continues to conduct offensive actions at the Lyman and Bakhmut directions and is trying to improve the tactical situation at the Kupiansk and Avdiivka directions.”

Russian forces fired on several towns and villages, including in Lyman, in the direction of Bakhmut, in the areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russian military strike in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 10. At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 injured in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday as Moscow targeted critical energy infrastructure.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1128″ width=”2000″/>

Ukrainian military continues to advance into several of the areas Russia now claims as its own.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1953″ width=”2930″/>

strike on a convoy of civilian cars that killed at least 30 people near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 30.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1331″ width=”2000″/>

results of a referendum on the joining of the DPR to Russia, in Donetsk, Ukraine, on September 27.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1250″ width=”2000″/>

referendum poster reading “Yes” in Berdyansk, Ukraine, on September 26. Russia is attempting to annex up to 18% of Ukrainian territory, with President Vladimir Putin expected to host a ceremony in the Kremlin to declare four occupied Ukrainian territories part of Russia.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

mass grave in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 18. Ukrainian authorities discovered hundreds of graves outside the formerly Russian-occupied city.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1129″ width=”2000″/>

inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 1.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1501″ width=”2461″/>

six month anniversary of the Russian invasion, on August 24. ” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

leaving port of Odesa, Ukraine, on August 5. ” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1356″ width=”2000″/>

evacuation train departs from Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, on August 2.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1724″ width=”2500″/>

Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 1.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1667″ width=”2500″/>

At least 29 people have been confirmed dead.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1407″ width=”2500″/>

missile attack in the Serhiivka district of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 1.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1881″ width=”3000″/>

rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on June 28.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1395″ width=”2322″/>

session of G7 leaders via video link from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday June 27.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2001″ width=”3000″/>

Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on June 20.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian PM Mario Draghi past destroyed buildings in Irpin, Ukraine, on June 16.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1677″ width=”3000″/>

Young people swing in front of destroyed residential buildings in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on June 15.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1297″ width=”2000″/>

mass grave near the village of Vorzel in the Bucha district near Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 13.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1306″ width=”2000″/>

front line in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 8.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

MLRS towards Russian positions at the front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

sentenced to life in prison by a Ukrainian court in Kyiv on May 23. He was convicted of killing an unarmed civilian. It was the first war crimes trial arising from Russia’s invasion.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2667″ width=”4000″/>

evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant wait near a prison in Olyonivka on May 17. The steel plant was the last holdout in Mariupol, a city that had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance under relentless Russian bombardment.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on May 8.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1224″ width=”2000″/>

Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Ukraine, on May 5.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1625″ width=”2437″/>

fire at an oil depot in Makiivka, Ukraine, after missiles struck a facility in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces on May 4.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1101″ width=”1854″/>

the most senior US official to meet with Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

struck the Ukrainian capital shortly after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1953″ width=”2930″/>

attend a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 24.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1684″ width=”3000″/>

Easter church service at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv on April 24.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2336″ width=”3500″/>

Russian attack on Mariupol.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1511″ width=”2257″/>

Shocking images showing the bodies of civilians scattered across the suburb of Kyiv sparked international outrage and raised the urgency of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian war crimes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian leaders to be held accountable for the actions of the nation’s military. The Russian Ministry of Defense, without evidence, claimed the extensive footage of Bucha was “fake.”” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1668″ width=”2500″/>

What was left of the town, after intense shelling and devastating airstrikes, was then occupied by Russian forces.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1688″ width=”3000″/>

Zelensky emphasized as he stood in the town, surrounded by security.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2989″ width=”5045″/>

confirmed a strike on an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities in the port city.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1099″ width=”1953″/>

meet in Istanbul for talks on March 29. Russia said it would “drastically reduce” its military assault on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv. The announcement came after Ukrainian and Western intelligence assessments recently suggested that Russia’s advance on Kyiv was stalling. The talks also covered other important issues, including the future of the eastern Donbas region, the fate of Crimea, a broad alliance of security guarantors and a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1953″ width=”2930″/>

following a Russian attack on March 29. At least nine people were killed, according to the Mykolaiv regional media office’s Telegram channel.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1703″ width=”3000″/>

the 110-minute call to dissuade Xi from assisting Russia in its war on Ukraine.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

the celebration, which commemorated the eighth year of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2279″ width=”3876″/>

The historic speech occurred as the United States is under pressure to provide more military assistance to the embattled country.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1186″ width=”2000″/>

an airstrike on the Yavoriv military base near the Polish border. Local authorities say 35 people were killed.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

besieged by Russian forces.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”909″ width=”1616″/>

their newborn daughter, Veronika, at a hospital in Mariupol on March 11. Vishegirskaya survived the maternity hospital bombing in the city earlier in the week.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1336″ width=”2000″/>

a funeral service for three Ukrainian soldiers in Lviv on March 11. Senior Soldier Andrii Stefanyshyn, 39; Senior Lt. Taras Didukh, 25; and Sgt. Dmytro Kabakov, 58, were laid to rest at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church. Even in this sacred space, the sounds of war intruded: an air raid siren audible under the sound of prayer and weeping. Yet no one stirred. Residents are now inured to the near-daily warnings of an air attack.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1331″ width=”2000″/>

Lavrov falsely claimed that his country “did not attack” its neighbor.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1278″ width=”2000″/>

Due to heavy fighting, Irpin has been without heat, water or electricity for several days.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9. The woman and her baby later died, a surgeon who was treating her confirmed. The attack came despite Russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause in hostilities to allow refugees to evacuate.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1125″ width=”2000″/>

unable to hold proper burials.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2667″ width=”4000″/>

stretched for miles as people tried to escape fighting in districts to the north and northwest of Kyiv.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

addresses British lawmakers via video on March 8. “We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost,” he said in his comments translated by an interpreter. The House of Commons gave Zelensky a standing ovation at the end of his address.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

a Russian military strike.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1297″ width=”2000″/>

Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Thursday, April 28, which occurred as the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres was finishing a visit to the Ukrainian capital.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1875″ width=”2500″/>

their meeting, in Kyiv, on April 28. ” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1668″ width=”2500″/>

Residents wrapped statues in protective sheets to try to safeguard historic monuments across the city.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

18-month-old son, Kirill, who was wounded by shelling in Mariupol on March 4. Medical workers frantically tried to save the boy’s life, but he didn’t survive.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

According to the Washington Post, he was a member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, which is comprised mostly of volunteers.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”1941″/>

Russian forces have “occupied” the power plant.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2014″ width=”3584″/>

a senior US defense official told reporters.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1202″ width=”2000″/>

Video of the incident was widely shared on social media.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”2000″/>

take shelter in a subway station in Kyiv on March 2.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1667″ width=”2500″/>

an exclusive interview with CNN and Reuters on March 1. Zelensky said that as long as Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian cities continued, little progress could be made in talks between the two nations. “It’s important to stop bombing people, and then we can move on and sit at the negotiation table,” he said.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”2000″/>

Russian forces fired rockets near the tower and struck a Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv hours after warning of “high-precision” strikes on other facilities linked to Ukrainian security agencies.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1667″ width=”2500″/>

hold talks in Belarus on February 28. Both sides discussed a potential “ceasefire and the end of combat actions on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak told reporters. Without going into detail, Podolyak said that both sides would return to their capitals for consultations over whether to implement a number of “decisions.”” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1475″ width=”2500″/>

according to the Associated Press was killed by Russian shelling in a residential area, lies on a medical cart at a hospital in Mariupol on February 27. The girl, whose name was not immediately known, was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

extended a citywide curfew.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

that was damaged by shelling.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1305″ width=”2000″/>

The dramatic scene was captured on video, and CNN confirmed its authenticity. The moment drew comparisons to the iconic “Tank Man” of Tiananmen Square.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1067″ width=”1600″/>

told CNN that more than 120,000 people had left Ukraine while 850,000 were internally displaced.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

Explosions were seen and heard in parts of the capital as Ukrainians battled to hold back advancing Russian troops.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1125″ width=”2000″/>

Newly married couple Yaryna Arieva and Sviatoslav Fursin pose for photo in Kyiv on February 25 after they joined the Territorial Defense Forces.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

their wedding ceremony at the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv on February 24. They had planned on getting married in May, but they rushed to tie the knot due to the attacks by Russian forces. “We maybe can die, and we just wanted to be together before all of that,” Arieva said.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1875″ width=”2500″/>

address the Russian invasion on February 24. “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said, laying out a set of measures that will “impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.”” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1667″ width=”2500″/>

Airports were also hit in Boryspil, Kharkiv, Ozerne, Kulbakino, Kramatorsk and Chornobaivka.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”3257″ width=”4885″/>

seized control of the the plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1581″ width=”2500″/>

In a video address, Zelensky announced that he was introducing martial law. He urged people to remain calm.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”2000″ width=”3000″/>

a barrage of artillery.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1670″ width=”2500″/>

exiting Kyiv on February 24. Heavy traffic appeared to be heading west, away from where explosions were heard early in the morning.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1335″ width=”2000″/>

announces a military operation in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on February 24. “Whoever tries to interfere with us, and even more so to create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never experienced in your history,” he said.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1219″ width=”2000″/>

An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is held in New York to discuss the crisis on February 23. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop “attacking Ukraine” and to give peace a chance.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1125″ width=”2000″/>

killed by a shrapnel wound on February 19 after several rounds of artillery fire were directed at Ukrainian positions near Myronivske.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”2000″/>

Global markets tumbled the day after Putin ordered troops into parts of eastern Ukraine.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”2000″/>

an address by Putin from their hotel room in Taganrog, Russia, on February 21. Putin blasted Kyiv’s growing security ties with the West, and in lengthy remarks about the history of the USSR and the formation of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, he appeared to cast doubt on Ukraine’s right to self-determination.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1573″ width=”2500″/>

Putin signs decrees recognizing the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic in a ceremony in Moscow on February 21. Earlier in the day, the heads of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics requested the Kremlin leader recognize their independence and sovereignty. Members of Putin’s Security Council supported the initiative in a meeting earlier in the day.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1617″ width=”2500″/>

the position came under fire. No one was injured.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1406″ width=”2500″/>

a staged attack designed to stoke tensions in eastern Ukraine.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1068″ width=”1600″/>

those who died in 2014 while protesting against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader who later fled the country.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1307″ width=”2000″/>

damaged by shelling is seen in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, on February 17. No lives were lost, but it was a stark reminder of the stakes for people living near the front lines that separate Ukrainian government forces from Russian-backed separatists.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1333″ width=”2000″/>

urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, warning that “things could go crazy quickly” in the region.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1336″ width=”2000″/>

were hit by cyberattacks that day, as were the websites of Ukraine’s defense ministry and army, according to Ukrainian government agencies.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1334″ width=”2000″/>

In pictures: Russia invades Ukraine

Thirty percent of the capital was left without power due to emergency shutdowns, Klitschko said.

“The municipal ‘life support system’ of the capital is operating normally. Currently, 30% of consumers are without electricity. Due to emergency shutdowns,” he said on Telegram.

“Kyiv residents have water and heat,” he added.

Klitschko also reported that the restrictions were applied to check the open section of the red metro line in the city “for the presence of remnants of missile debris.”

“Specialists are on the way to that area,” he said. “We will inform you further about the resumption of traffic on the red line.”

Locals in Kyiv told CNN how they planned to spend the New Year in the capital.

“From 2023 I really want to win, and also to have more bright impressions and new emotions. I miss it very much. I also want to travel and open borders. And I also think about personal and professional growth, because one should not stand still. I have to develop and work for the benefit of the country,” said Alyona Bogulska, a 29-year-old financier.

“This year, it’s a symbol, not that it’s a small victory, but a symbol that we survived the year,” said Tatiana Tkachuk, a 43-year-old pharmacy employee.

“And I want to thank everyone who helps Ukraine. We’ve made a lot of friends. And in order to understand that we have a lot of good things, unfortunately, we had to go through terrible things. But so many people are doing real miracles for Ukraine.”

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said the country “will persevere,” following the strikes.

“On New Year’s Eve, cities should be covered by wave of celebration, joy and hope. Ukrainian cities are again covered by missile wave from Russia,” Zelenska tweeted.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors. But we will persevere and be even stronger – in spite of everything.”

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The post Russia wants to ‘leave us in the dark for the New Year,’ says Ukrainian prime minister appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

2022 is drawing to a close, which means we’re wondering — what happened this year? Or, more importantly, what trended this year?

Entering the bleak midwinter as we are, it’s difficult to remember those happy days before Beanie Feldstein left Funny Girl and Kanye went “death con 3.” But we looked back on a year’s worth of cultural crazes so we can tell you what fads went out of style — in other words, got tired — and which trends are going to dominate 2023. (That is, they’re wired.)

Gentile behavior on Passover, a Guide
Tired: attending Christian Passover Seders
Wired: attending Jewish Passover Seders
Inspired: buying your Jewish friend’s non-Kosher for Passover food for $1 so that they don’t have to throw it away and selling it back after Passover is over

— lucifer (@emmazapdos) April 19, 2019

We created this comprehensive list of what’s in and what’s out based solely on vibes and our own little opinions. Grab your pickle jar, enjoy your deli raves and turn on a Nora Ephron flick. You never know what 2023 will bring.

It’s now a truth universally acknowledged that hot girls have gut issues, and that their unspeakable symptoms can only be staved off by ingesting large quantities of fermented substances. But in our humble opinion, kombucha, the official drink of professional hipsters, is officially passé. Care for your gut the way our ancestors did — by piling pickled vegetables on literally every meal. Purchasing pickles at the supermarket is acceptable, but the real ones make their own.

You might think pastrami on rye, smothered in Russian dressing, seems like a symbol of a bygone era, your zayde’s favorite order that’s passé in a gluten-free vegan era. But you’d be wrong — the deli is so hot right now. Not just the food, also the aesthetic. Fashion designer Batsheva Hay had her New York Fashion Week show at Ben’s Kosher Deli, you can rep Zabar’s with a designer sweater from Coach, and Katz’s even hosted a rave headlined by the hugely famous DJ Diplo. I hear a bowl of 4 a.m. matzo ball soup is a great hangover preventative.

This new season of My Unorthodox Life featured an overabundance of plastic surgery and far too few details on the most interesting plotline: Julia Haart’s messy divorce from her billionaire husband. Love is Blind gave us a kvell-able Jewish contestant and … a surprisingly genuine love story? Take your pick.

When Ukraine went to war with Russia, people got outraged, but also, well … thirsty. Now we’re nearing a year of war and it’s clear that turning Volodymyr Zelenskyy into a sex symbol is not helping Ukrainians. Instead of drooling over the president in his wartime camo, consider putting actual resources behind your obsession and send some dollars to efforts to aid Ukraine.

Quiet quitting — in which the worker does not actually quit, but does stop trying to work very hard — dominated headlines in 2022. It was an epidemic that threatened our economy, our society, the very foundations of American capitalism! It was also not a real trend. For 2023, workers are taking back the narrative with a pastime long beloved by our Yiddish socialist forebears: union organizing. This month alone has seen strikes at The New York Times, HarperCollins, The New School and across UC schools. Alabama coal miners have been striking for over a year. Workers’ rights: so hot right now.

The Jewish Museum’s targeted advertisements have filled us with a hitherto unknown desire to own folk art-inspired terracotta menorahs. Alas, these bespoke treasures cost the GDP of a small country. Seeking to spend a stupid but not life-derailing amount of money on Hanukkah accoutrements, we turned instead to these taper candles from The Six Bells, Wing founder Audrey Gelman’s home goods store. Clocking in at $30 for a single taper, this candle will not fit in a standard menorah or help you celebrate Hanukkah in any way — which tracks perfectly with Gelman’s approach to Judaica at her “country store.” But as long as you only buy one or two they’re a more affordable, if less lasting, way to bring hand-painted charm to next year’s festival of lights.

Why did Jews get assigned gnomes as a Holiday mascot? We don’t think it was meant to be antisemitic, but it still feels, ya know, a bit antisemitic. Thankfully, there’s another Hanukkah animal coming in hot: the lion. Is it random? Absolutely. But Target is really leaning into the lion theme, and we’re here for it.

You’ve been under a rock if you’ve missed rapper Kanye West’s continued antisemitic outbursts over the past several months. But in his original tweet about going “death con 3” on Jews, West, who goes by Ye, opened by saying he was “a bit sleepy,” a phrase that he’s repeated in some of the subsequent antisemitic tweets. We get it! We, too, sometimes say mean things when we’re tired — although most of us don’t go so far as to praise Hitler. Maybe if West finally took a nap, we could all finally stop talking about him.

This year’s crop of Hallmark Hanukkah movies may be the best this burgeoning genre has yet to offer. But when it comes to chic winter attire, crisp days in a romanticized, rat-free New York City, and whirlwind romances between protagonists who are definitely going to get divorced in two years, no one does it better than Nora Ephron. With this year’s resurgence of 90s style, she’s never been more relevant. Meg Ryan, we’re coming for your exquisitely tailored leather coats!

For years, we’ve been complaining about our options for Hanukkah merchandise. Mainstays have included menorahs with the wrong number of branches, pillows with puns like “Oy to the World” and saccharine wall art about spreading light. We’re over it. Hanukkah is a holiday about religious war. So try some sweatshirts with slogans like “less assimilation, more celebration” and “revolt & rejoice.” They’re made by @hanukkahfails, an Instagram account that’s been tracking all of the worst merch — so she knows how to make the best.

Beanie Feldman’s hasty departure from this year’s Funny Girl revival, and the decision to cast Lea Michele in her place, spurred the kind of pitting-female-celebrities-against-each-other internet discourse that we hope (but do not expect) will fade from the earth in 2023. The good news is, the musical itself still slaps. You don’t even need to shell out for Broadway tickets. We recommend setting up at home with a bottle of wine, some knitting to get you through the boring parts (let’s be real, any non-sung moment is a lost cause) and the OG Fanny, Barbra Streisand.

Novelty items with misspelled Yiddish obscenities are out. Yiddish women writers are in: 2022 was a banner year for translations of this underrated demographic. This year saw translations of Ida Maze’s autobiographical bildungsroman Dineh; Chana Blankshteyn’s haunting stories of interwar Vilna in Fear; and Miriam Karpilove’s caustic coming-to-America tale, Judith. And that’s just to name a few. We can’t think of anything more wired than these new additions to a literary canon long dominated by men.

Banning books may be the most tired trend of all, in that it has happened before and historically worked out poorly. When a Tennessee school district banned the teaching of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, print sales of the novel rose 753%. Wired!

Buying a TikTok-inspired wardrobe to go with your Coachella tickets? Tired. Wearing Black Sabbath gear to folk dance the early morning away at the Yiddish Book Center’s annual music festival? Count us in.

Apps like JDate and The Lox Club cater to Jews looking for love. They also don’t feel very Jewish. Thankfully, at this stage of the pandemic, you aren’t limited to the apps anymore. So try meeting your beshert the old fashioned way: at Simchat Torah.

Chantal Akerman walked so James Gray and Steven Spielberg could, uh, make underwhelming prestige films about the Jewish experience? Honestly, this year’s highly touted Jewish releases did not impress. But Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Bruxelles was crowned the best movie of all time by the British Film Institute. Watch it next time you have a free afternoon — and a healthy outlook on the world that can withstand this gutting work of cinema.

Cottagecore — an internet trend of dressing like you’re in a fairytale and photographing yourself around your rustic abode — has been bafflingly big for years, and boomed during the pandemic. Why not go further, and relive the subsistence farming lifestyle of your ancestors? After all, babuskha-inspired headscarves and tinctures your great-grandmother once made are very in.

They tell us that clean eating and regular exercise will make us feel restored and rejuvenated, but have they tried singing an ancient blessing and eating an entire loaf of challah? Trust us, it works.

The post The hottest Jewish trends for 2023 (and the 2022 fads we won’t miss) appeared first on The Forward.

Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person in Kyiv, in attacks President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said showed Moscow was in league with the devil.

The second barrage of major Russian missile attacks in three days badly damaged a Kyiv hotel and a residential building. Energy Minister German Galushchenko on Facebook said the strikes had not caused serious damage to the national power system.

Russia has been attacking vital Ukraine infrastructure since October with barrages of missile and drones, causing sweeping power blackouts as the cold weather bites.

Zelenskiy speaking in a video address noted that Russia had also launched attacks at Easter and Christmas.

“They call themselves Christians … but they are for the devil. They are for him and with him,” he said.

At least a dozen people were injured in the attacks. A Japanese journalist was among the wounded and taken to a hospital, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

DTEK, the country’s largest private energy company, later said it had cancelled emergency power outages in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

Zelenskiy in comments addressed to Russian speakers said President Vladimir Putin was destroying Russia’s future.

“No one will forgive you for terror. No one in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will not forgive,” he said, reiterating calls for allies to supply more anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems.

Army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said air defences shot down 12 incoming cruise missiles, including six around the Kyiv region, five in the Zhytomyrskiy region and one in the Khmeltnytskiy region.

The cruise missiles had been launched from strategic bombers over the Caspian Sea hundreds of miles away and from land-based launchers, he said on Telegram.

“Russia’s mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even our energy infrastructure,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter after the attack.

“War criminal Putin ‘celebrates’ New Year by killing people,” Kuleba said, calling for Russia to be deprived of its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets described the attack as “Terror on New Year’s Eve.”

Other cities across Ukraine also came under fire. In the southern region of Mykolaiv, local governor Vitaliy Kim on television said that six people had been wounded.

Kim in a separate post on Telegram said Russia had targeted civilians with the strikes, something Moscow has previously denied.

“According to today’s tendencies, the occupiers are striking not just critical (infrastructure) … in many cities (they are targeting) simply residential areas, hotels, garages, roads.”

In the western city of Khmelnytskyi, two people were wounded in a drone attack, Ukrainian presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said. He also reported a strike in the southern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, which Tymoshenko said had damaged residential buildings.

Ukraine’s defence ministry responded on Telegram by saying: “With each new missile attack on civilian infrastructure, more and more Ukrainians are convinced of the need to fight until the complete collapse of Putin’s regime.”

Curfews ranging from 7 p.m. to midnight remained in place across Ukraine, making celebrations for the start of 2023 impossible in public spaces.

Several regional governors posted messages on social media warning residents not to break restrictions on New Year’s Eve.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the headline)

Related Galleries:

Fight for $15 and a Union

• A total of 23 states are hiking minimum wages this year, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 
• The changes will impact 8.4 million workers, and especially women and people of color.
• See the full list of states and the adjusted rates, below.

A new year means higher minimum wages in 23 states, leading to increased pay for an estimated 8.4 million US workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

The rate hikes are the result of a variety of factors, including inflation, state legislation, and ballot measures. They will benefit women and workers of color most, as noted by Insider’s Juliana Kaplan.

As a result of the boosts, two states will reach the $15-an-hour minimum for the first time, a salary floor that activist groups like Fight For $15 have pushed for heavily in recent years.

With the help of activist efforts and legislators, states and cities have been working independently to increase rates as the federal minimum wage stagnates at $7.25 — an amount that hasn’t risen in 13 years. 

While many of the adjusted rates will be effective starting Jan. 1, others come into effect later, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project.

Here’s the full list of states increasing minimum wage and the new rates coming in 2023, according to NELP data:

• Alaska: $10.85, up from $10.34
• Arizona: $13.85, up from $12.80
• California: $15.50, up from $14 for small employers and $15 for large employers 
• Colorado: $13.65, up from $12.56
• Delaware: $11.75 (with legislation to reach $15 by 2025), up from $10.50
• Illinois: $13 (with legislation to reach $15 by 2025), up from $12 
• Maine: $13.80, up from $12.75
• Maryland: $13.25 for large employers and $12.80 for small employers (with legislation to reach $15 by 2025), up from $12.50 and $12.20, respectively
• Massachusetts: $15, up from $14.25
• Michigan: $10.10 (with pending legislation to reach $12.05 by 2030), up from $9.87
• Minnesota: $10.59 for large employers and $8.63 for small employers, up from $10.33 and $8.42, respectively
• Missouri: $12, up from $11.15
• Montana: $9.95 (based on 2006 legislation), up from $9.20 
• Nebraska: $10.50 (with legislation to reach $15 by 2026), up from $9
• New Jersey: $14 for standard workers (with legislation to reach $15 by 2024-2027), up from $13
• New Mexico: $12, up from $11.50
• New York: $15 for New York City and suburbs/$14.20 upstate, up from $13.20 upstate 
• Ohio: $10.10 (based on 2006 amendment), up from $9.30
• Rhode Island: $13 (with legislation to reach $15 by 2025), up from $12.25
• South Dakota: $10.80, up from $9.95
• Vermont: $13.18, up from $12.55
• Virginia: $12 (with legislation to reach $15 by 2026), up from $11
• Washington: $15.74, up from $14.49

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

• Ginni Thomas affirmed that she did not speak with Clarence Thomas about 2020 election challenges.
• On Friday, the conservative activist’s September testimony with the January 6 panel was released.
• Thomas during her interview was unable to point to any specific instances of voter fraud in 2020.

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, told the January 6 committee that it was “laughable” for anyone who knew her husband to believe that she could “influence” his judicial philosophy.

The conservative activist — who in September gave a voluntary interview to the House panel probing the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol — told the members that Clarence Thomas is “stubborn” and “uninterested in politics.”

“I am certain I never spoke with him about any of the legal challenges to the 2020 election, as I was not involved in those challenges in any way,” Ginni Thomas told the panel during her interview, noting that she had an “ironclad” household rule on not discussing pending court cases with Clarence Thomas. “Let me also add, it’s laughable for anyone who knows my husband to think I could influence his jurisprudence. The man is independent and stubborn, with strong character traits of independence and integrity.”

Ginni Thomas, who in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 presidential election exchanged texts with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows where she pushed him to challenge now-President Joe Biden’s victory over then-President Donald Trump, said during her January 6 interview that she regretted sending the messages to the high-ranking Trump administration official.

“I regret all of these texts,” she told the committee during her closed-door testimony, which was released to the public on Friday. “It was an emotional time, and people were scared that there had been enough fraud happening that they weren’t going to get to the bottom of it. So that’s how I would look at that one.”

Ginni Thomas during her January 6 committee interview admitted that while she had concerns about voter fraud in the 2020 election, she couldn’t pinpoint specific cases of such malfeasance.

“I can’t say that I was familiar at the time with any specific evidence,” she told the members. “I was just hearing it from news reports and friends on the ground, grassroots activists who were inside of various polling places that found things suspicious.”

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice chair of the January 6 panel, then asked Ginni Thomas to confirm her lack of verifiable information about voting irregularities in 2020.

“Right. I know. I wasn’t very deep; I admit it,” she told Cheney.

“I was hearing it, Congresswoman, from a lot of people I trust. So trusted people were telling me there were problems, and I just thought there should be people at the state level investigating those before it was too late,” she added.

After the 2020 election, Thomas also emailed a range of GOP legislators in Arizona and Wisconsin — two key swing states where Biden narrowly outpaced Trump — where she also pushed them to help overturn Biden’s victory.

Ginni Thomas, well-known in GOP circles for decades, has only in the past few years become a larger figure in the public sphere, driven by her ties to prominent conservatives as her husband has taken a prominent role as a leader of the now-dominant conservative bloc on the Supreme Court.

With a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court, Justice Thomas’ judicial philosophy has taken on incredible significance as the conservative bloc is set to reshape some of the most pertinent issues in American society for the foreseeable future.

KYIV, Ukraine — At least one person was killed and 14 others hospitalized as multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine Saturday. Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the New Year’s holiday.

Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out a grim 2022 and usher in a bloody new year.

First Lady Olena Zelenska expressed outrage that such massive missile attacks could come just before New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” she said.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The deadly blast in the Ukrainian capital occurred among the multi-story residential buildings of the Solomianskyi district. One person wounded in the attacks is in a critical condition, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He said two schools were damaged, including a kindergarten.

Various residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon as part of massive attacks spanning the country. A top official in the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, published photos and video of a partially collapsed six-story hotel in Kyiv. Mayor Klitschko said a Japanese journalist was mong those injured in the capital.

Russia launched 20 cruise missiles over Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, of which Ukrainian forces shot down 12, according to Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

At least four civilians were wounded in the Khmelnytskyi province of western Ukraine, according to regional Gov. Serhii Hamalii. Six people were wounded in the southern region of Mykolaiv.

Mykolaiv Governor Vitalii Kim said that the Russians were targeting civilians more directly than just by attacking infrastructure as in the past.

“In many cities residential areas, hotels, just roads and garages are affected,” he wrote on Telegram.

In Zaporizhzhia region, as a result of a missile attack, two houses were destroyed, and around eight damaged. Four people were also wounded, among them a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old girl, said regional Gov. Oleksandr Starukh.

Even though Russia’s 10-month war rumbles on with no end in sight, for some families the new year is nevertheless a chance to reunite, however briefly, after months apart.

At Kyiv’s central railway station on Saturday morning, Mykyta, still in his uniform, gripped a bouquet of pink roses tightly as he waited on platform 9 for his wife Valeriia to arrive from Poland. He hadn’t seen her in six months.

“It actually was really tough, you know, to wait so long,” he told The Associated Press after hugging and kissing Valeriia.

Nearby, another soldier, Vasyl Khomko, 42, joyously met his daughter Yana and wife Galyna who have been living in Slovakia due to the war, but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year’s Eve together.

Back in February, fathers, husbands and sons had to stay behind as their wives, mothers and daughters boarded trains with small children seeking safety outside the country. Scenes of tearful goodbyes seared television screens and front pages of newspaper across the world.

But on the last day of the year marked by the brutal war, many returned to the capital to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones, despite the ongoing Russian attacks.

As Russian attacks continue to target power supplies leaving millions without electricity, no big celebrations are expected and a curfew will be in place as the clock rings in the new year. But for most Ukrainians being together with their families is a luxury.

Valeriia first sought refuge from the conflict in Spain but later moved to Poland. Asked what their New Year’s Eve plans were, she answered simply: “Just to be together.”

The couple declined not to share their family name for security reasons as Mykyta has been fighting on the front lines in both southern and eastern Ukraine.

On platform 8, another young couple reunited. University student Arseniia Kolomiiets, 23, has been living in Italy. Despite longing to see her boyfriend Daniel Liashchenko in Kyiv, Kolomiiets was scared of Russian missiles and drone attacks.

“He was like, ‘Please come! Please come! Please come!’” she recalled. “I decided that (being) scared is one part, but being with beloved ones on the holidays is the most important part. So, I overcome my fear and here I am now.”

Although they have no electricity at home, Liashchenko said they were looking forward to welcoming 2023 together with his family and their cat.

Natalya Kontonenko had traveled from Finland. It was the first time she had seen her brother Serhii Kontonenko since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24. Serhii and other relatives traveled from Mykolaiv to Kyiv to meet Natalya.

“We are not concerned about the electricity, because we are together and that I think is the most important,” he said.

The whole Kari Lake Governor fiasco in Arizona exhausted many, particularly Arizonans. On and on, it seemed to go. There was no rhyme or reason to Lake’s complaints that she was cheated, and she strongly mimicked Donald Trump in her actions. But perhaps what she did was, in its way, a good thing.

I say this because, reportedly, many Republicans are livid at the way Lake degraded herself. It isn’t just that she refused to accept the election results. It is about all the toxic, babyish tweeting that she did and her overall appearance of completely unprofessional behavior.

And this has some Arizona Republicans saying that Lake’s future in politics — at least as it pertains to Arizona — is finished. Arizona GOP consultant Chuck Coughlin said: “It’s done in Arizona. I think the enormous amount of ill will that she’s going to create as a result of the appeal — I mean, it’s OK to file a case, but then, some of the stuff she’s been saying on media and posts and just the degradation of the Arizona institutions — I think is really going to hurt her out here.”

“I don’t really think she’s got a future in terms of her own electoral space here in Arizona.” Well, that is likely true, especially since she’s still doing it. If one were to look at Kari Lake’s Twitter profile right now, one would see it’s sort of suspended in some sort of time warp.

Lake will not stop tweeting (and sometimes retweeting) articles or comments that call her the real and true Governor of Arizona. She seems impervious to all the laughter and the fact that she’s become a punchline. Then again, her response appears to block many people taunting her immediately.

Lake also tweeted a cartoonish image of herself with the words: “Kari Lake Governor.” At this point, it’s stopped looking like embarrassing behavior and moved into the severely disturbed category.

The woman has degraded herself, degraded her voters, degraded the whole of Arizona, and she does not seem to be able to stop. So perhaps, after all, it’s a good thing she did this, and the world could be exposed to the real Kari Lake because the real Kari lake is certainly not a politician. In fact, she’s nobody at all.

The post The degradation of Kari Lake appeared first on Palmer Report.

Rescuers get the job done at the web page of a creating destroyed right after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on December 31. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko explained that at least a single particular person has been killed in explosions in the money metropolis.

“According to preliminary info, one person died in the Solomyansky district (of the city). Quite a few people are injured,” he claimed on Telegram.

“Health professionals are hospitalizing a few hurt gals. Rescuers are operating at the websites of explosions,” Klitschko explained.

The Kyiv town army administration said that a private dwelling was ruined as a result of a missile attack in Solomyansky district.

A resort was strike in Pechersk district, and there was also destruction in Holosiivskyi district, it claimed.

Somewhere else: Household properties have been ruined as a end result of a strike in the area of Zaporizhzhia, according to the president’s business. 

“Details about the victims and destruction is being clarified,” in accordance to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Workplace of the President of Ukraine.

Tymoshenko did not specify the locale of the strike. 

Source connection

The post Ukrainian military official calls countrywide attack “insidious and cynical” appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) asked a U.S. judge to dismiss lawsuits by women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, and said the banks enabled and ignored red flags about the late financier’s sex trafficking.

The banks in papers filed on Friday night in Manhattan federal court said they did not participate in or benefit from sex trafficking by their former client, and that the unnamed women failed to allege violations of a federal anti-trafficking law.

The banks also said they had no duty to protect the women from Epstein and did not cause his abuses, requiring the dismissal of claims under a new law in New York that lets abuse victims sue even if statutes of limitations have expired.

“Jane Doe 1 is a survivor of Epstein’s sexual abuse, and she is entitled to justice,” but filed meritless claims against the “wrong party,” JPMorgan said in its filing.

Lawyers for the women did not immediately respond on Saturday to requests for comment.

Both lawsuits seek class-action status and unspecified damages. They were filed on Nov. 24 by lawyers who have represented many Epstein accusers.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from about 2000 to 2013, and a Deutsche Bank client from 2013 to 2018, court papers show.

The JPMorgan plaintiff is a former ballet dancer who said Epstein abused and trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, while the Deutsche Bank plaintiff said she suffered from similar misconduct between 2003 and 2018.

Both said numerous cash payments from the banks were used to pay Epstein’s victims.

New York state’s financial regulator in July 2020 fined Deutsche Bank $150 million over its relationship with Epstein.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, sued JPMorgan, saying the bank turned a “blind eye” to his trafficking while providing banking services.

The cases are Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10018, and Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co in the same court, No. 22-10019.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more effort and unity as the country enters a “new phase” in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments addressed to the public on COVID-19 since his government changed course three weeks ago and relaxed its rigorous policy of lockdowns and mass testing.

In a televised speech to mark the New Year, Xi said China had overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges in the battle against COVID-19, and that its policies were “optimised” when the situation and time so required.

“Since the outbreak of the epidemic … the majority of cadres and masses, especially medical personnel, grassroots workers braved hardships and courageously persevered,” Xi said.

“At present, the epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase, it is still a time of struggle, everyone is persevering and working hard, and the dawn is ahead. Let’s work harder, persistence means victory, and unity means victory.”

Beijing earlier this month scrapped its signature zero-COVID approach based on mass testing, centralised quarantine and lockdowns – which it had maintained for almost three years.

The policy switch has led to a wave of infections across the country, a further drop in economic activity and international concern, with Britain and France becoming the latest countries to impose curbs on travellers from China.

China’s decision to abandon the zero-COVID policy aligned it with a world that has largely reopened to live with the virus.

The step followed unprecedented public protests over the policy championed by Xi, marking the strongest show of public defiance in his decade-old presidency and coinciding with grim growth figures for China’s $17 trillion economy.

(This story has been corrected in paragraph 1 to state these are Xi’s first comments to the Chinese public since the country eased its COVID restrictions rather than his first public comments.)