A satellite image of Europe shows the extent to which Ukraine is suffering from energy blackouts, in comparison to other countries, following intense missile strikes from Russia.
The image, which indicates the night radiance of Europe from space, clearly shows the capital city of Russia, Moscow, and the neighbouring second-largest city St Petersburg, strongly lit up, with surrounding countries such as Belarus, Lithuania and Estonia also radiating a varying degree of light.
In stark contrast, Ukraine is seen mainly in darkness on the satellite image, a direct effect of the recent bombardment of missile strikes from Russia, that left tens of millions without power and water.
Strikes on Wednesday targeted critical infrastructure killing 10 and causing widespread power outages across the country, as well as more than half of neighbouring Moldova.
Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said that “the vast majority of electricity consumers were cut off”.
Nuclear power plants, including reactors at Ukraine’s Pivdennoukrainsk plant in the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, south of Kyiv, were forced to shut down and emergency blackouts were necessary for other regions to help conserve energy and carry out urgent repairs.
More on Ukraine
Related Topics:
“In one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown (regime) instead of emergency (blackouts),” Ukrenergo chief executive Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV on Friday.
In a recent update, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a third of houses now have heating, but half of the residents remain without electricity.
Advertisement
Authorities have been racing to return supplies to the capital, which has a population of three million, but residents have been reduced to queuing up for water or collecting it from drainpipes.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:06
Zelenskyy and Cleverly talks in Kyiv
Pictures from the western city of Lviv emerged on Friday showing individuals sitting by candlelight, not far from the Polish border.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadoviy tweeted on Wednesday that the “whole city is without light” and there could also be interruptions with the water supply.
During the blackout, Ukraine’s health ministry said that nine organ transplants from posthumous donors were carried out within 30 hours.
As of Friday morning, the regional governor of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, said that all residents had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to experience interruptions. Whereas in the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.
Image: Kherson hit by a barrage of Russian missiles
In a bid to try and help Ukraine stay warm, European officials have issued monetary and physical aid.
French foreign minister Catherine Colonna said France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine whereas British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who arrived in Kyiv on a visit, promised a £50m air-defence package to help defend against Russia’s bombardments.
Emergency vehicles including 24 ambulances, some of them armoured, are included within the package.
“Words are not enough. Words won’t keep the lights on this winter. Words won’t defend against Russian missiles,” Mr Cleverly wrote in a tweet concerning military aid.
NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg also showed support, saying the alliance is determined to help Ukraine defend itself for “as long as it takes”.
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.