Russia’s attacks plunge the regions of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia into near-total blackout. Senator Graham says Trump lets the Russia sanctions bill proceed. Russia warns it would consider the presence of any Western troops in Ukraine a legitimate military target.
Russia’s attacks plunge regions of Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia into near-total blackout
A Russian drone and missile attack plunged the regions of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia into near-total blackout overnight on Wednesday.
In Zaporizhzhia region, power has been largely restored on Thursday.
In the region of Dnipro, nearly 800,000 consumers were still without power on Thursday morning, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said.
The attack on Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday was one of the largest combined drone and missile assaults on the city since the invasion, head of the city’s defense council, Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.
More than 77,000 consumers were still without power on Thursday evening, he added. One person was killed in the attacks on the city on Wednesday and Thursday, 24 others were wounded.
Half of the city’s water facilities were powered from generators, Vilkul said. Power was restored to 30 boiler houses, one was still operating on generators.
The mayor of Dnipro, Borys Filatov, said the situation in the city amounted to a national emergency. All boiler houses lost power. Repair works were underway. Hospitals were powered from generators. The city’s wastewater system was powered from alternative sources.
Senator Graham says Trump lets Russia sanctions bill proceed
U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump had “greenlit” a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill.
“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said in a post to X.
“Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham said, saying the legislation would be “well-timed.”
“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said, citing China, India and Brazil as potential targets of the legislation.
“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine. I look forward to a strong bipartisan vote, hopefully as early as next week,” Graham added.
In other news, United States forces boarded and seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday following a weeks-long chase on the high seas which has escalated tensions with Moscow and piled further pressure on its ally Venezuela. The aging, rusting tanker, originally called the Bella 1, was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for operating within a “shadow fleet” of tankers transporting illicit Iranian oil, according to CNN.
Russia warns will consider Western troops in Ukraine “legitimate military targets”
The declaration outlining security guarantees for Ukraine signed by the Coalition of the Willing on Tuesday in Paris is “extremely far from a peace settlement,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement Thursday. Russia would consider the presence of any Western military forces deployed to Ukraine under a post-war security arrangement a “legitimate military target,” she added.
“The declaration is not aimed at achieving a lasting peace and security but rather at continuing the militarization, escalation and further conflict aggravation,” she said.
Zakharova specifically objected to provisions calling for a multinational force and continued military support for Ukraine’s armed forces, warning that any foreign troops, military infrastructure or facilities on Ukrainian territory would be viewed by Moscow as direct foreign intervention. “All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate combat targets of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” she said.
The plans of Ukraine and its western allies “are becoming increasingly more dangerous and destructive for the future of the European continent and its residents,” she added.
Zakharova was responding to a declaration of intent signed by France, the UK and Ukraine on Tuesday at the latest meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, where they agreed to deploy a multinational force to guarantee Ukraine’s postwar security.
The European-led multinational force will cover land, air and sea and will be stationed in Western Ukraine, far from the contact line, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
