WAR IN UKRAINE: December 9, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 289
Energoatom: Russia places Grad rocket launchers next to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reactor. Russian forces have placed Grad multiple launch rocket systems on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s territory next to the spent nuclear fuel storage units near the plant's sixth reactor, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator Energoatom reported on Dec. 8. The Grads will likely be used to strike the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets on the opposite side of the Dnipro River, using the reactor and fuel storage as a “shelter” from return fire, according to Energoatom - Kyiv Independent
The deficit in the energy system will remain during the winter, said the head of Ukrenergo Kudrytskyi. He also informed that the gradual restoration of generating capacities in the power system is currently underway, and power plants are gradually resuming work. "I think that in a few days we will reach the limit, when it will be possible to clearly observe the planned shutdown schedules in the regions introduced by Oblenergo," concluded Kudrytskyi.
The Russian Federation launched more than 1,000 missiles and drones on the energy structure of Ukraine - Ukrenergo
One of Russia's most prominent opposition figures, Ilya Yashin, has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for spreading "fake news" about the country's military. One of few Kremlin critics to stay in Russia after it invaded Ukraine, Yashin continued to speak out against the war. He was arrested after he condemned suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Soon after the invasion, Russia made reporting "false information" a crime - BBC
As of June, Microsoft had detected “Russian intrusion efforts” on 128 organizations in 42 countries outside of Ukraine️. The US was Kremlin’s number one target but also Poland where much of logistical delivery of military/humanitarian aid coordinated. The Baltics countries and even Turkey were also targeted. “Since the start of the war the Russian targeting we’ve identified has been successful 29% of the time - a quarter led to confirmed exfiltration of an organization’s data although…this likely understates the degree of Russian success,” said Microsoft.
British street artist Banksy became an honorary citizen of Irpen, Kyiv region. The artist left his graffiti on one of the houses destroyed by fireflies, thus drawing the world's attention to the extent of the destruction in Irpen - Trukha
Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Wednesday filed a joint declaration of intervention in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), the International Court of Justice announced in a press release. In their joint declaration, Canada and the Netherlands state that “bearing in mind the jus cogens character of the prohibition of genocide, and the erga omnes partes nature of the obligations under the Genocide Convention, all Contracting Parties have a common interest in the accomplishment of the high purposes of the Genocide Convention”.
