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[1/2]Ukrainian servicemen move past a burning car hit by a kamikaze drone outside the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 8, 2023. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday thanked Ukraine's military for fighting Russian attacks and its rescue services for tackling the consequences of extreme winter weather that he said had deprived about 400 settlements in 10 regions of power.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said relentless, intense battles were ongoing in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv, while "extremely challenging weather" was affecting areas from Kyiv region in the north to Odesa in the south.

In Russian-controlled territory, Oleg Kryuchkov, a senior Moscow-installed official, said nearly half a million people were without power in Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.

The Russian-installed heads of Crimea, of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, and of the part of Kherson region under Moscow's control, declared days off for Monday amid reports of high winds, flooded homes and snowbound roads, and damaged buildings.

Ukraine's border service said Moldova had temporarily suspended vehicle access to its territory from two crossing points in Odesa region. Moldovan authorities also asked local schools to consider closing due to snowfall and high winds.

Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov urged residents of his Black Sea port to stay at home. Local authorities warned that water supplies were being interrupted by power cuts that stopped pumps from working and urged people to preserve supplies.

Power grid operator Ukrenergo shared a photograph of a transmission tower in Odesa region whose leg had snapped in two due to high winds, adding, "We are doing everything possible to overcome the consequences of the bad weather as soon as possible and restore light to every home."

Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv, Alexander Tanas in Chisinau and Elaine Monaghan in Washington; Editing by Alexander Smith and David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Zelenskiy praises Ukrainians for battles with Russia and the weather - Reuters

A Ukrainian politician said Russia proposed ending the war if Ukraine abandoned its NATO ambitions.

Russia made the proposal during peace talks soon after the full-scale invasion began.

"There is no, and there was no, trust in the Russians that they would do it," the politician said.

Russia offered to stop its invasion of Ukraine on the condition that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government abandon its ambition to join NATO, the Kyiv Post reported.

David Arakhamia, the leader of the Servant of the People party and the head of the Ukrainian delegation in the talks, said that Russia had proposed a resolution to the conflict in spring 2022.

The peace talks took place during the early stages of the full-scale war on the border of Ukraine and Belarus and in Turkey.

The Russian delegation reportedly proposed ending the war if Ukraine dropped its NATO aspirations and took a neutral position.

Arakhamia said that a shift toward neutrality would require a constitutional change, considering Ukraine's current constitutional commitment to NATO membership.

Arakhamia told Natalia Moseychuk, a Ukrainian journalist, that Russia saw Ukraine's neutrality as a key condition for a potential peace agreement. "They really hoped almost to the last that they would put the squeeze on us to sign such an agreement so that we would take neutrality. It was the biggest thing for them," he said.

Arakhamia said there was a lack of trust in Russia's sincerity. "There is no, and there was no, trust in the Russians that they would do it. That could only be done if there were security guarantees," he explained.

Signing an agreement without such assurances, Arakhamia argued, would leave Ukraine vulnerable to a potential second incursion because it would have given Russia an opportunity to regroup and prepare for another round of military aggression.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unexpected visit to Kyiv on April 9, 2022, had an impact on the potential cease-fire. Johnson advised against signing any agreement with Russia and encouraged Ukraine to continue the fight. Arakhamia recalled Johnson's stance, saying Ukraine "shouldn't sign anything with them at all and let's just fight."

While both sides expressed readiness for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussions abruptly halted when Russian troops retreated from Kyiv. The withdrawal exposed the extent of apparent war crimes committed, including the Bucha massacre.

Three days after Johnson's departure from Kyiv, Putin publicly declared that talks with Ukraine had "turned into a dead end."

NATO expansion has been underway since the beginning of the war, with the formerly neutral Finland joining in April.

Business Insider reported in January that Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was a miscalculation because the war backfired by uniting NATO in support of Ukraine.

While the bloc has been a crucial ally to Ukraine, there is a reluctance to initiate Ukrainian membership while the country is at war. The US opposes extending NATO membership to Ukraine in the immediate future to avoid escalating the West's tensions with Russia.

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Russia offered to end its invasion of Ukraine if it dumped plans to join NATO, but Kyiv feared a double cross, says negotiator - Yahoo! Voices

Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes that Russias war against Ukraine could once again spread beyond the country's east and south, especially if Russia continues to ramp up weapons manufacturing and improve the technologies available to it with the help of its allies, or if Ukraines allies reduce the amount of aid they give it.

Source: Serhii Naiev in an ABC News interview

Quote: "We understand that there is currently a resource war going on. The Russian Federation gets its resources with the help of the Axis of Evil it is North Korea, it is Iran. And we, with the help of our partners, receiving air defense equipment from them, are opposing the Russian Federation with their resources.

It must be understood that the reduction of aid will really hit our defense capabilities. But we will fight with what we have."

Details: Naiev warned that if Russia continues to increase weapons production and improve technologically with the help of its allies, war could again expand beyond Ukraine's east and south.

"We are getting ready for that," he said. "Were building defenses, putting mines, and training our forces."

ABC News reported that the Ukrainian Air Force and Defence Intelligence estimate that Russia fired more than 800 drones on Ukraine in the last two months, "having kept around 870 cruise and ballistic missiles in stock for major attacks against the countrys energy infrastructure".

"Technology is critical. The target for which, according to the old Soviet-style technologies, it was necessary to spend 100 shells with the help of Western technologies, much less is needed, and it is measured in numbers up to ten, so the technology always outweighs the number. And I will emphasize once again that this help is very, very important to us," Naiev said.

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Ukraine preparing for possibility of war spreading beyond its east and south Ukraine's Joint Forces Commander - Yahoo News

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) made use of information shared by Russians on social media in its preparations for attacks on the Crimean Bridge.

Source: a film produced by 1+1, Crimean Bridge Encore: SSU

Quote from counterintelligence officer Yenot: "During our preparations for the operation, most of the information we obtained came from open sources.

One of the sources of such information was a video recording made by a Russian woman who was relaxing on a yacht near the Crimean Bridge - she filmed the internal structures of the bridges arch. This information gave us an idea of the point where the bridge had to be attacked in order to cause maximum damage."

A screenshot from Crimean Bridge Encore: SSU, a film by 1+1

Quote from counterintelligence officer Khrom: "Every Russian with a smartphone is our best friend, comrade and client. We can observe a lot of sites inside Russia itself and in the occupied territories. We hope theyll keep on filming, photographing and sharing."

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Russian woman films Crimean Bridge from her yacht: Ukraine's Security Service reveals details of special operation - Yahoo News

Ukraine attacked Russian military targets with about 35 drones overnight on Nov. 26 in response to Russia's mass Shahed attack against Ukraine a day earlier, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing a military intelligence source.

Ukraine's drones were aimed at targets in Moscow and its region, as well as in Tula and Smolensk. Russia claimed that it had shot down 24 Ukrainian drones.

According to Ukrainska Pravda's source, the attack is a signal to Russia that its strikes against civilians in Ukraine will be met with consequences.

"The war must be fought with the military in the war zones. Strikes on civilians and outside the war zone will not go unanswered," source said as cited by the media.

On the morning of Nov. 25, Russia struck Ukraine with 75 Shahed kamikaze drones, mainly targeting Kyiv. Ukrainian air defense reported bringing down 74 of them.

As a result of the six-hour attack, at least two people were injured and several residential and non-residential buildings were damaged across the capital.

Shaheds are an Iranian design cheap, simple, long-range kamikaze drones, which have steadily replaced missiles in Russia's mass strikes, especially after thousands of advanced missiles had been fired.

Both Russia and Ukraine produce and field their own takes on the design.

Read also: Russia launches record number of drones against Ukraine on Holodomor Memorial Day

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.

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Media: Ukraine retaliated against Russia's mass attack with 35-drone-strike - Yahoo News