Russian occupiers are said to have dumped bodies on a landfill in Cherson and burned them there, reports the Guardian, citing local residents and workers from Cherson. So they saw Russians arrive in trucks with black sacks, which were then set on fire. After that, large clouds of smoke are said to have risen and a terrible stench was created.
Local residents suspect that the Russians disposed of the bodies of their soldiers who died in heavy fighting in the summer. “Every time our army fired at the Russians there, they took the bodies to the landfill and burned them,” Kherson resident Iryna, 40, told the Guardian. The landfill there was said to be closely guarded and declared a no-go zone by the Russians for locals there, reports say.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine’s Main Military Intelligence (GUR) reports that Russian special services are planning multiple false flag terrorist attacks on critical Belarusian infrastructure facilities, including the Belarusian nuclear power plant Ostrovets. The Russian special services apparently want to blame the attacks on Ukrainian and NATO member states in order to accelerate the participation of the Belarusian military in Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, the experts of the “ISW” consider Belarus’ entry into the war to be unlikely, “since participation would pose a major domestic political risk for the survival of the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.”
Severely damaged by Russian missile hits, Ukraine’s power grid is likely to remain highly disruptive for months to come. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country struggled not only with planned shutdowns but also with sudden power outages on Monday. Consumption exceeds electricity production, everyone has to save energy. Electricity supplier Yasno said Ukrainians would have to expect outages or shutdowns at least until the end of March.
While the Ukrainian military continued to report heavy fighting from the Donbass coal and steel region in the east of the attacked country, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a partial all-clear: the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian soldiers, was largely intact despite the intense shelling over the weekend.
Regarding the fighting in the Donbass, the Ukrainian general staff announced that Russia was concentrating its attacks on the cities of Avdiivka and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Elsewhere, the general staff spoke of an “active defense” by the Russian troops. The towns of Kupjansk and Lyman as well as Novopavlivka were mentioned. The Russian troops fought back with tanks, mortars, tube and rocket artillery, it was said Russian advance on the town of Marjinka near Donetsk.
According to the official report, Russian troops in southern Ukraine are strengthening their defense lines on the southern bank of the Dnipro River. According to unofficial information, the Ukrainian artillery fired on this area in the direction of Crimea with their long-range guns. The Ukrainian city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region was hit by Russian multiple rocket launchers on Monday evening, local authorities said.
In his video speech on Monday, Zelenskyy recalled the start of the pro-European demonstrations on Kyiv’s Independence Square, the Maidan, nine years ago on November 21, 2013. In February 2014, the protest led to the fall of the pro-Russian government. However, Moscow used Ukraine’s phase of weakness to annex the Crimean peninsula and, a little later, to start the war in eastern Ukraine.
Freedom and dignity of the Ukrainian people are more than a thousand years old, Zelenskyy said. The people have survived many threats to their freedom and existence. “And now we have a historic chance to protect Ukrainian freedom once and for all,” he said, referring to the hoped-for victory over the Russian invaders.
Because of the lack of electricity in the Ukrainian grid, Zelenskyy turned to the regional and municipal administrations: They should continue to encourage citizens to save electricity. Electricity must also be saved in public spaces. “Tonight the situation in Kyiv and its environs, as well as in Vinnytsia, Sumy, Ternopil, Cherkasy, Odessa and some other cities and regions is particularly difficult,” Zelenskyi said.
“The systemic damage caused to our energy sector by the Russian terrorist attacks is so great that all our citizens and businesses should be very economical and spread consumption over the hours of the day,” he said. Since mid-October, Russia has been destroying Ukraine’s energy system with rocket attacks, in violation of international law. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the government of the neighboring country should be forced to the negotiating table.
Power technicians are trying their best to repair the damage to the grid before winter sets in, Yasno power company boss Serhiy Kovalenko wrote on Facebook. “Even if there are fewer dropouts now, I want everyone to understand: Ukrainians will probably have to live with dropouts at least until the end of March,” he wrote. Network operator Ukrenergo announced planned shutdowns across the country for Tuesday.
There are no immediate concerns about the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, said the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi. Four IAEA experts had checked the largest European nuclear power plant. The status of the six reactor units is stable. The integrity of the spent fuel, fresh fuel and low, intermediate and high level radioactive waste in their storage facilities has been confirmed.
Nevertheless, the experts had found damage on the site in many places. “This is of great concern as it highlights the sheer intensity of the attack on one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants,” Grossi said. The nuclear power plant was shaken by dozens of grenade hits on Saturday and Sunday. The facility had also come under fire in the months before. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for this.
That will be important on Tuesday
The Russian parliament, the State Duma in Moscow, intends to condemn the shooting of Russian soldiers who were being captured by Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday. Parliaments of other countries should be asked to join. The incident, documented by video, is believed to have happened in mid-November when Ukraine recaptured the town of Makiivka in the Luhansk Oblast in the east of the country. According to Ukrainian sources, a Russian opened fire instead of surrendering. The Ukrainians therefore shot Russians who were already lying on the ground in self-defense. The UN Human Rights Office has announced an investigation.
Also Read: The Ukraine Update of November 21st
Fierce fighting is going on in the Donbass. Rosatom warns of the consequences of the days-long shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. A planning error paralyzed German howitzers in Ukraine. All news about the Ukraine war in the ticker.
Four suspected Russian torture chambers have been discovered in Cherson. Ukraine has again rejected proposals to negotiate with Russia. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found here in the ticker.
With the withdrawal from Cherson, the mood among those in favor of the war in Russia has also changed. Vladimir Putin in particular is counted out. Some observers give him only half a year in power.
