A boy waves a national flag as he celebrates after Russia’s retreat from Kherson, in central Kherson, Ukraine November 13, 2022. REUTERS
Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his first visit to Kyiv, pledging to continue the firm support for Ukraine that was a focus of his predecessors, and providing a new air defence package to help shoot down Russian drones.
Funeral in Poland
* One of the men killed by a missile that hit a Polish village this week was buried, the first of two funerals this weekend following a blast that raised fears that the war in Ukraine could spiral into a wider conflict. Locals said the dead man had worked hard to shelter Ukrainian refugees in the early days of the war.
Joyous train ride
* Jubilant Ukrainians rolled into Kherson by train for the first time in more than eight months as residents of the newly liberated southern city greeted them on the platform with flowers and national flags.
* Citing damage done by Russian forces, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced evacuations of people who want to leave Kherson and the surrounding areas would soon begin.
Missile strikes
* Russia’s surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv’s supplies of air defenses and finally achieve dominance of the skies above the country, a senior Pentagon official said.
* Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said a day after the government stated that almost half of Ukraine’s energy system had been crippled, and authorities in Kyiv warned that the capital could face a “complete shutdown” of the power grid as winter sets in.
* Around 60 Russian soldiers were killed this week in a long-range Ukrainian artillery attack on their positions in the town of Mykhailkva, 40 km (25 miles) to the south of Kherson, Ukraine’s military said on Saturday.
* Five people were wounded in a Russian strike on a humanitarian station where bread was being distributed in the town of Bilozerka, just west of Kherson city, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
* Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
Diplomacy
* Peace in Ukraine will only be possible if the country’s 1991 borders are restored, a senior aide to Zelenskiy said.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said failure to help Ukraine secure its own future could lead to a “world of tyranny and turmoil,” in a speech that sought to lay out the stakes in the war for the international community.
Allegations of abuse
* Hundreds of people were detained or went missing in Kherson region while it was under Russian control, and dozens may have been tortured, Yale University researchers have concluded in a report backed by the U.S. State Department. Russia has denied its forces have committed abuses.
* Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that Ukraine had executed more than 10 Russian prisoners of war. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has vowed to investigate any alleged abuses by its forces.
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