Some 400 apartment buildings in Kyiv are still without heating following Russian attacks. Ukraine\u2019s parliament appoints Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister. The UK could use oil from shadow fleet to fund Ukraine war effort, The Times says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia overnight on Wednesday carried out attacks on Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities and civilian sites in the regions of Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Kherson, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a post to X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe main target was energy facilities and critical infrastructure that ensures normal life for our people: heat and electricity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National energy operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday that Russia\u2019s overnight attacks knocked out power for consumers in the regions of Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv and Donetsk. The company also imposed power cuts in Kyiv and the surrounding region as well as in Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy and Poltava regions following a difficult situation in the energy system that resulted from previous Russian missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emergency power cuts continued in Kyiv on Wednesday, private energy company DTEK said. Power was in place for three hours followed by power cuts lasting for up to 10 hours, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe duration may vary, as the energy system is operating under emergency conditions. Weather conditions and overloaded networks have additional impact,\u201d the message reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most difficult energy situation is in Kyiv region, Ukraine\u2019s acting Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov told a news conference on Wednesday. In the capital and surrounding region, power cuts were implemented and repair works continued round the clock, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Kyiv, 400 apartment buildings were still without heating on Wednesday, supply will be restored to part of them later in the day, acting First Deputy Head of the Kyiv State City Administration, Petro Panteleyev said in a news conference Wednesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a plan of [repair] works for each building and neighborhood. We aim at certain progress today that will bring back heating to numerous buildings. As of today, the situation with heating is relatively under control,\u201d Panteleyev said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had to take up emergency measures and halt the heating system for 6,000 buildings. We quickly drained water from the system when the temperature was -10 degrees [Celsius] and lower. This has not happened before in the history of centralized heating,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were preparing and training for this scenario. We managed to quickly halt the system and then restart it. Such low temperatures make the task even more difficult,\u201d Panteleyev added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s parliament on Wednesday appointed Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister. The decision was passed by a vote of 277 to 0, with nine abstentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority Servant of the People (Sluha Narodu) faction gave 171 votes, European Solidarity (Yevropeyska Solidarnist) supplied 17 votes, Batkivshyna (Fatherland) two votes, Platform for Life and Peace (Platforma Za Zhyttya ta Myr) 17 votes, Golos (Voice) 13 votes, Reconstruction of Ukraine (Vidnovlennya Ukrayiny) 14 votes, For the Future (Za Maybutne) 12 votes, Trust (Dovira) 17 votes and independent MPs secured 14 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fedorov, an outgoing First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, listed to lawmakers his accomplishments in digitalizing public services. He pledged to further digitize the military environment and secure supplies of more drones, jamming systems and Starlink terminals to Ukraine\u2019s armed forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe must win over the enemy in each technological cycle and be one, two and ten steps ahead to save the lives of our service members and destroy the adversary with maximum efficiency. The more robots [we have], the fewer losses [we\u2019ll take]. More technology means fewer casualties. The lives of Ukraine\u2019s heroes are the highest value,\u201d Fedorov said ahead of the vote, as cited by Ukrainian media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also promised to launch an audit of military enlistment offices, the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will offer a comprehensive solution to solve the problems that have accumulated over the years while maintaining the country\u2019s defensive potential. Everything should be based on data, that\u2019s my priority. We will measure effectiveness of every [measure],\u201d Fedorov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that his ministry holds an increase of salaries of military personnel as a priority, but the audit of the defense ministry has to happen first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fedorov said the Defense Ministry will work to increase foreign military aid to Ukraine and step up the purchases of domestically produced drones for Ukrainian brigades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parliament also appointed Denys Shmyhal, an outgoing defense minister, as First Vice Prime Minister and new Energy Minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britain is examining plans to use any oil seized from Russian shadow fleet vessels to fund the Ukrainian war effort, a government source has disclosed to The Times. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article that was released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere would be a double impact on Russia’s war machine \u2014 we wouldn’t just be depriving them of illicit war revenues but also finding a way to help fund Ukraine’s resistance,\u201d the source said. The Times disclosed on Tuesday that British special forces were being lined up to storm Russian shadow fleet vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two shadow fleet vessels sanctioned by Britain \u2014 Spring Fortune and Range Vale \u2014 are on course to sail into the Channel at about lunchtime on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both crude oil tankers are flying false flags, of Cameroon and Zimbabwe respectively, making them possible targets for UK special forces raids raids under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spring Fortune was sanctioned by the UK in May last year for engaging in activities aimed at destabilising Ukraine or benefiting the Russian government. It had previously sailed under different names and the flags of Greece, the Marshall Islands, Malta and Panama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Range Vale is involved in the export of oil from Russian ports, in particular in the Baltic Sea, and was put under British sanctions in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other news, the crew of an The Bella 1 tanker fleeing U.S. forces in the Atlantic Ocean recently painted a Russian flag on the side of the vessel, in an apparent attempt to claim Russian protection, two American officials told The New York Times as reported on December 30, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The oil tanker fleeing American forces in the Atlantic Ocean has been formally renamed and added to an official Russian database of vessels registered in that country, potentially complicating U.S. efforts to board the runaway ship, The New York Times said on December 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government of Russia has made a formal diplomatic request that the United States stop its pursuit of an oil tanker that had been sailing for Venezuela and is now fleeing the Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, the publication said on January 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"