Repairs in Odesa could take as long as three months, leaving much of the region without heat or electricity in the cold winter temperatures, the energy authority said Sunday. Attacks from Russian "kamikaze drones" that began Friday caused massive power outages in Ukraine, leaving at least 1.5 million people without power. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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04:01am: Zelensky's talks with world leaders signal diplomatic flurry around Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with US President Joe Biden and with the leaders of Turkey and France on Sunday, stepping up diplomatic activity around a war started by Russia nearly 10 months ago.
"We are constantly working with partners," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, adding that he expects some "important results" next week from a series of international events that will tackle the situation in Ukraine.
While Zelensky has held numerous talks with Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan since Russian forces invaded in late February, the accumulation of discussions in just one day is not a regular event.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold on Monday an online meeting with G7 leaders and European Union foreign ministers to try to agree on further sanctions on Russia and Iran, and on additional aid or arms deliveries to Ukraine.
02:05am: Biden tells Zelensky Washington is prioritizing air defense for Ukraine
US President Joe Biden highlighted to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky during a call on Sunday how the United States is prioritizing efforts to boost Ukraine's air defense through the assistance it is offering, the White House said in a readout.
Biden also welcomed Zelensky's "stated openness to a just peace based on fundamental principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter."
12:52am: Ukraine official says strike hit Wagner group headquarters
A senior official in eastern Ukraine said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had attacked a hotel where members of Russia's private Wagner military group were based, killing many of them.
The account in a television interview by Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, could not be verified by Reuters.
Gaidai, interviewed by Ukrainian television, said forces launched a strike on Saturday on a hotel in the town of Kadiivka, west of the region's main centre of Luhansk. Photos posted on Telegram channels showed a building largely reduced to rubble.
12:40am: Zambian student killed in Ukraine recruited by Russian paramilitary Wagner group
The body of a Zambian student who died while fighting in Ukraine after he was recruited in a Russian jail arrived home in a makeshift coffin Sunday.
Zambia demanded an urgent explanation from Moscow last month over the death of Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda in September while fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine, where he ended up after his spell in prison.
The 23-year-old had been studying nuclear engineering at Moscow Engineering Physics Institute but was handed a nine-and-a-half year jail term in April 2020 over a drugs offence.
Two weeks after Zambia's demand for information, Russia's Wagner paramilitary group admitted it had recruited him for Moscow's "special operation" in Ukraine, adding he had voluntarily joined up before dying "a hero".
10:22pm: Emergency crews work to repair Odesa power grid
Emergency crews were working to ease power shortages in many parts of Ukraine after Russian attacks, particularly the Black Sea port of Odesa, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
"At this time, it has become possible to partially restore supplies in Odesa and other cities and districts in the region," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"We are doing everything to reach the maximum number possible in the conditions that developed after the Russian strikes."
8:48pm: Russia pushes on with offensive in Bakhmut
The rumble of artillery and distant machine gunfire are near-constant occurrences in Bakhmut, where Ukrainians are holding their position in the eastern Ukranian city against an onslaught from Russian forces, FRANCE 24's James Andre reports.
The Russians have attempted to take the city from both the North and the East, reducing much of it to rubble. The remaining residents, many of whom are elderly, are left to cope with damaged houses and the ongoing fallout from Russian attacks.
5:22pm: Russia sought to swap ex-US Marine for 'assassin' held in Germany
US efforts to negotiate the freedom of a former Marine held in Russia as part of the swap involving basketball star Brittney Griner were thwarted by Moscow's demand for the release of a convicted murderer held in Germany, according to a top US official and media reports.
The swap of Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout raised questions as to why the US side had failed to secure the simultaneous release of Paul Whelan, a former Marine accused by Moscow of spying – a charge Washington flatly rejects.
2:53pm: Russian shelling in Kherson kills two, regional governor says
Two people were killed and another five wounded after Russian troops shelled the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, the governor said on Sunday.
"The enemy again attacked the residential quarters of Kherson," the governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich, said on messaging app Telegram, adding the Russian forces hit a maternity ward, a cafe and apartment buildings on Saturday.
The city of Kherson was in November recaptured by Ukrainian forces during a Kyiv counteroffensive.
1:39pm: Erdogan speaks with Putin about food exports through Black Sea grain corridor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about starting work on exporting other food products and commodities through the Black Sea grain corridor, Erdogan's office said on Sunday.
Bilateral ties between Ankara and Moscow, as well as energy, were also discussed in the call, according to a readout from the Turkish presidency.
12:18pm: Russia blames Minsk agreements failure for Ukraine war
Russia's concerns about the Minsk agreements being ignored were the precursor to Moscow launching what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.
President Vladimir Putin this week bemoaned the failure to implement the Minsk agreements – ceasefire and constitutional reform deals between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine – brokered in 2014 and 2015 by Russia, France and Germany at the outset of the conflict with Ukraine.
11:03am: Ukraine begins scrubbing Russian influence from recently recaptured Kherson
Ukrainian journalists, special forces and average people alike have begun the process of rebuilding the recently recaptured city of Kherson.
Ukrainian forces retook the city in November after months of Russian occupation. Looking towards the future, Ukrainians are taking down Russian propaganda billboards and rooting out former collaborators. FRANCE 24's team in Ukraine has more.
9:50am: Ukraine peace talks can't be used as cover for Russian rearmament, UK says
Any peace talks in Ukraine cannot be a fig leaf for Russian rearmament, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said on Sunday, adding that he had not seen any signs that Moscow would enter into negotiations in good faith.
Cleverly said that while Britain wanted to see peace talks "sooner rather than later", he reiterated that Ukraine should set the parameters for any negotiations that were held.
"Any negotiations need to be real, they need to be meaningful, they can't just be a fig leaf for Russian rearmament and further recruitment of soldiers," Cleverly told Sky News.
8:02am: More than 1.5 million people are without power in Odesa
The power cuts were caused by Russian "kamikaze drones", according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Only critical infrastructure including hospitals and maternity wards currently have access to electricity. The region's energy authority says repairs could take weeks, and perhaps up to three months.
FRANCE24's Rob Parsons has the latest from Odesa.
3:12am: Ukrainian forces launch attack on occupied Melitopol
Pro-Moscow authorities in the area say a missile attack has killed two people and injured 10, while the exiled mayor Ivan Fedorov says scores of "invaders" have been killed. Fedorov said the attack hit a church that Russians had turned into a gathering place.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports of the attacks or deaths.
The city of Melitopol is key to the defence of the south, Zelensky adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said. "If [the city] falls, the entire line all the way to Kherson collapses. Ukrainian forces gain a direct route to Crimea," he said in a video interview on social media.
There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian army about the attacks. The central command of Ukraine's armed forces on Saturday said it had been conducting strikes on Melitopol.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
