Striking satellite image reveals extent of Ukraine’s power shortage after Russian missile strikes

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3 years ago

November 26, 2022

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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.

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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.

“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.

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.

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.

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”.

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

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3 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.

Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.

The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.

“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.

“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.

Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.

They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.

Orsi said it was worth a fine.

Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.

“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.

Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.

“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.

He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.

The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.

While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:

“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.

However, the packed streets showed many disagree.

At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.

The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.

The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.

“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.

Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.

Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.

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Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

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3 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.

Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.

Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.