December 1, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Brittney Griner during a hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4.

The Russian government formally told the US Embassy last week about detained WNBA star Brittney Griner’s transfer to a remote penal colony,?weeks after?she had been moved, according to the Biden administration.

“The U.S. Embassy in Moscow was formally notified by the Russian government of Ms. Griner’s transfer on November 23, more than two weeks after she was moved from a prison in Moscow to IK-2 in Mordovia,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.

“We are in frequent contact with Ms. Griner’s legal team and aware that they were able to visit her this week,” the spokesperson said.?

Meanwhile, the US is still awaiting answers from the Russian government on the whereabouts of Paul Whelan, another American it says is wrongfully detained.

Whelan’s family has voiced immense concern after more than?a week without contact with him, and his brother has cast doubt on claims from prison officials that he was sent to the prison hospital.?

“The U.S. embassy has continued to press Russian authorities for more information about his current location,” the spokesperson said. “Consular officers last visited Paul on November 16 and spoke with him by phone on November 14.”?

In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the State Department has asked for contact with Whelan.

“I can’t speak to his condition now, his situation now. We are working every day to make sure that we have contact with him, that we understand what the exact situation is,” Blinken said. “Even as we’re working to bring him home, to bring Brittney Griner home, this isn’t the end of what we see Russia doing in terms of abusing very basic understandings that countries have had when it comes to having access to our citizens who are being detained.”

Biden and Macron hold a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday, December 1.

US President Joe Biden and?French President Emmanuel Macron?on Thursday demonstrated a united front in addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine but offered divergent answers over their willingness to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, relaying that they spent much of their recent meeting discussing the invasion.

Biden told reporters during a joint White House news conference with Macron that he “has no immediate plans” to contact Putin, but added that he’s prepared to speak with the Russian leader if he’s looking for a way to end the war in Ukraine. Biden also clarified that Putin has not done so yet.

Macron said that once Ukraine sets conditions for a peace agreement, he’s willing to speak with Putin. The French leader told ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier Thursday that he intends to speak with the Russian president in the coming days.

Firm US support, Macron also relayed, “is very important, not just for the Ukrainians … but for the stability of our world today. Because if we consider that we can abandon the country and abandon the full respect of these principles, it means that there is no possible stability in this world,” pledging France’s own increased military, economic, and humanitarian support.

The French president’s trip to the White House alongside his spouse, Brigitte Macron, marks their second time as the guests of honor for a state visit, having first done so during Donald Trump’s administration in 2018.

Thursday’s agenda for Biden’s?first state visit?since taking office has been filled with formal fanfare, with a list of events intended to highlight the strength of the critical relationship between the US and its oldest ally.

Read more here.

A Florida Guardsmen from 3rd Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, carries a shoulder mounted stinger missile launcher at McGregor Range, New Mexico, in April 2009.

The Biden administration approved a $380 million sale of missiles to Finland, just days after approving a separate $323.3 million arms sale to the Nordic nation.

The potential arms sales come as Finland, which shares a border with Russia, seeks to join NATO.?

According to a note from the US State Department, the administration informed Congress Thursday it had approved the possible sale of?Stinger anti-aircraft shoulder-fired missiles?and related equipment.??

“It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Finland in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the note said.

On Monday, the administration informed Congress of its approval of the possible sale of tactical missiles and Joint Stand Off Weapons.

Correction:?An?earlier?version?of this post misstated the total value of the previous arms sale. It was $323.3 million.

The Ukrainian military claims that some Russian troops are withdrawing from their positions in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

It also says that the Russians are?preparing the evacuation of “the personnel of the occupation administrations” in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In its daily update, the military’s General Staff said that Russian units had left the settlements of Mykhailivka, Polohy and Inzhenerne, all towns south of the city of Zaporizhzhia. Front lines in the region run for 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) across rolling farmland.?Geolocated footage posted on Wednesday shows the aftermath of strikes on buildings in Polohy.

The General Staff said that in the settlement of Burchak, the occupation authorities are conducting a census for the so-called voluntary evacuation of the population.

The Ukrainians appear to be repeating actions they undertook in Kherson — striking bridges, supply hubs and Russian troop concentrations behind the front lines. The General Staff said that in recent days strikes about half a dozen places had wounded more than 230 Russian soldiers and destroyed ammunition and equipment.

CNN is unable to confirm the claims made by the General Staff.

What could happen next: Analysts have suggested that the next offensive front for the Ukrainians is likely to be a thrust southwards towards the occupied city of Melitopol.?

The General Staff said that elsewhere Russian forces continued to defend their positions in eastern Luhansk region using tanks, mortars and artillery to prevent further advances of Ukrainian forces.

Russian units were also shelling several settlements in recently liberated parts of Kherson region. But Brig. Gen. Oleksii Hromov claimed that last week Russian forces had accidentally fired on their own unit near the village of Tsukury in Kherson, killing 14 servicemen. CNN cannot verify the claim.

Hromov said that Russian forces had gathered in the city of Dzankhoi in Crimea, which had “actually turned into the largest military base on the territory…?from where the Russian occupation troops and weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces are redeployed.”

Damage and debris is seen in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on November 29.

Social media videos indicate that Russian troops in the areas around Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region are taking heavy casualties, even as they take some territory, especially south of the city.?

Some videos from Ukrainian military drones show Russian troops in foxholes and trenches being targeted by explosive charges dropped from the drones. Other videos at ground level show the bodies of Russian soldiers littering the countryside.?

One video shot by the Ukrainian military and published on Telegram shows different weapons systems being used in a coordinated attack on Russian positions, including?155 mm Howitzers and mortars. It appears from some videos that Russian positions have little protection and are exposed in open countryside.

Russian forces have been attacking the area around Bakhmut for months — and more recently have sent newly mobilized but less experienced units forward.?

Some Russian units —including those affiliated with the Wagner group — appear to have made incremental progress, taking a string of small villages to the south of the city. On Thursday the Russian Ministry?of Defense said that, “as a result of the offensive actions of the Russian troops, the settlement of Kurdiumivka of the Donetsk People’s Republic was completely liberated from the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The Defense Ministry had previously announced the capture of three other settlements —but all are small villages.

Ukrainian military fire rockets at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on November 24.

What Ukraine is saying: Ukrainians say fighting continues in the area, and that during?combat missions near Kurdiumivka, Ukrainian forces destroyed three ammunition depots, one mortar crew “and manpower of the enemy.”

Analysts say the Ukrainians are also clearly taking casualties as they are targeted by Russian artillery and tanks.?The Ukrainian military has said that fighting continues in many areas close to Bakhmut but has not acknowledged losing any ground.?

The Ukrainian?National Guard said that over the past week, units had repelled enemy attacks in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka sectors of Donetsk region and “destroyed ammunition depots, equipment and personnel of the enemy.”

Its spokesman said that in strikes near the north-eastern outskirts of Bakhmut, “the enemy’s losses amounted to 79 servicemen, of which 46 were irrecoverable.

A CNN team in nearby Kramatorsk reported hearing heavy artillery exchanges for much of Thursday.

In its latest analysis, the Institute for the Study of War says that the Russian campaign around Bakhmut?indicates “that Russian forces have fundamentally failed to learn from previous high-casualty campaigns concentrated on objectives of limited operational or strategic significance.”

US President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, December 1.

US President Joe Biden described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine as “sick” and said that there’s only one rational way to end the war in Ukraine —?for Putin to “pull out” of the country.

Biden added that he had no immediate plans to contact Putin, but is “prepared to speak” with the Russian leader “if in fact there is an?interest in him deciding he’s?looking for a way to end the?war — he hasn’t done that yet.”

He continued, “If that’s the case, in?consultation with my French and?my NATO friends, I’ll be happy?to sit down with Putin to see?what he wants, has in mind.?He hasn’t done that yet.?In the meantime, I think it’s?absolutely critical what?Emmanuel [Macron] said.?We must support the Ukrainian?people.”

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at the White House on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he does not believe allies should push Ukrainians into a compromise with Russia that would “not be acceptable for them.”

“We?will never urge the Ukrainians?to make a compromise which will?not be acceptable for them,” the French president said in response to a question about a possible end to the war.

In the meantime, Macron said, “We increased our military?support.?We increased our economic?support.?We are increasing our?humanitarian support.”

Additionally, US support — both financially and in providing military weapons to Ukraine — is not just important for the country under attack but also for wider Europe, Macron said.

“For the stability of our?world today — because if we consider that we?can abandon the country and?abandon the full respect of?these principles, it means that?there is no possible stability?in this world,” Macron said.

“I think it’s extremely?important to have you so much?committed,” he said, referring to the money and assistance the US has provided in aid to Ukraine so far.

From left, Viktor Bout, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

The Kremlin said?on Thursday that any details of prisoner swap discussions with the United States will not be publicly disclosed and that Moscow is not planning to engage with US President Joe Biden’s administration before the end of the year,?according to?Russian state media.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin considers it unnecessary to publicly disclose the details of prisoner swap negotiations between Russia and the US, state news agency TASS reported.?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks at a press conference in Moscow in 2021.

The US has previously called on Russia to release American citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. The Biden administration has offered a potential prisoner swap involving Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence.

The potential swap is being negotiated through the special services of Russia and the US, according to Russian state media.

WNBA star Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in August after being arrested in February with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Whelan, a former US Marine, is serving 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a news conference with President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House on Thursday, December 1.

US President Joe Biden noted that he and French President Emmanuel Macron are determined to hold Russia and President Vladimir Putin accountable for his “war on the rest of the world.”

“Putin?thinks he can crush the will of?all those [who] oppose his imperial?ambitions, but attacking civilian?infrastructure in Ukraine,?choking off energy to Europe to?drive up prices, exacerbating?the food crisis, that’s hurting?very vulnerable people, not just?in Ukraine but around the world. And he’s not going to succeed,” Biden said during a bilateral news conference at the White House.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, December 1.

US President Joe Biden reaffirmed both the US and France’s support for Ukraine, along with other European allies.

“Today we affirm that France and the United States together with all our allies … stand as?strong as?ever?against Russia’s?brutal war against Ukraine. We talked a lot about that in our bilateral meeting,” Biden said at a joint news conference following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

Biden also thanked Macron for taking in Ukrainian refugees during the course of the war so far.

Macron reiterated the US president’s pledges of support, saying in translated remarks that “we support both the Ukrainian army that is resisting” as well as Ukrainian civilians who are facing the attacks as well.

He thanked the US for its investments aimed at trying to mitigate the effects of the war on Europe, adding during their bilateral meeting, the two leaders also agreed to continue to invest in helping Ukraine.

“We also agreed to continue to work together to support the?Ukrainian people … to help them?resist because we can very well?see today that the Russian war?effort is very much targeting?the civilian infrastructure,” Macron said via a translator, adding that “more violence” is making it harder for Ukrainians to survive winter with damaged energy systems.

French President Emmanuel Macron and President Joe Biden speak at a joint press conference in the East Room of The White House on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden and?French President Emmanuel Macron?are holding a news conference now at the White House as part of the French leader’s state visit.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and NATO’s support for Kyiv are expected to be key topics.

During a welcome ceremony earlier Thursday, Biden referred to the Macrons as “close friends,” remarking that it is a “genuine honor to host you for the first state visit of my administration and to celebrate the current strength and vitality between France and the United States of America.”

France, Biden said, is the United States’ “oldest ally” and an “unwavering partner,” referencing the history of the relationship from the US Revolutionary War’s Marquis de Lafayette to the beaches of Normandy during World War II.?He said the alliance will “grow stronger for decades to come.”

Macron referenced common values of the US and France, referring to the nations as “sisters in the fight for freedom” and calling for their countries “to become brothers in arms once more” in the midst of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Macrons return for another state visit also follows?a dramatic bounce-back in US-French relations?compared to just a year ago, when Macron took the extraordinary step of recalling his ambassador to Washington over a US-Australia submarine deal that blindsided the French and cost them a multi-billion dollar defense contract.

The riff appears to largely be behind them, and Biden and Macron have deepened their ties even more over the last year in their united efforts to combat the war on Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office of the White House on December 1.

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron released a joint statement following their bilateral meeting at the White House Thursday, which denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The two leaders wrote that they “strongly condemn Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and stress that intentionally targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure constitutes war crimes whose perpetrators must be held accountable.”?

The two leaders also wrote that they “outlined a shared vision to strengthen security and increase prosperity worldwide, combat climate change, build greater resilience to its effects, and advance democratic values.”??

“This vision is built on a shared conviction that the United States and its European allies and partners can better face our greatest challenges and capitalize on our most promising opportunities together,” according to the statement. “This includes addressing global issues such as climate change and energy transition, investing in technologies and building resilient value chains in strategic sectors such as health, semiconductors, and critical minerals, as well as strengthening our security and defense cooperation.”?

NATO’s General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on December 1.

NATO’s General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday it is still “too early” to make a conclusion on Poland’s call to move Patriot air defense systems, which were offered by Germany, to Ukraine.?

“We all agree on the urgent need to help Ukraine, including with air defense systems,” he said, adding that ensuring the good operation of already-delivered systems is equally important as giving out new ones.?

“There is a need for ammunition to existing systems, there is a need for spare parts and maintenance,” Stoltenberg said.?

More context: On Wednesday,?Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Germany to provide Patriot air-defense systems to Ukraine “as soon as” it can. Kuleba’s comments come after Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz B?aszczak last week said Berlin should send Patriot missile air-defense systems directly to Ukraine rather than Poland.?

Electrical workers fix a power line in Kherson, Ukraine, on December 1.

Electricity supplies are being restored in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after it was left without power by Russian shelling early Thursday, a local official said.

Earlier Thursday, Yanushevych had said Kherson was without power in the wake of heavy Russian shelling.

“The voltage in the power grids has disappeared,” the local official wrote on Telegram, adding that energy company Khersonoblenergo was “already working to fix the problem.”

Four lion cubs were rescued from Ukraine and brought to a sanctuary in Minnesota.?

Four lion cubs rescued from Ukraine were flown from Poland to a sanctuary in Minnesota, on Tuesday, according to a release from International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a global nonprofit animal rescue organization.

The four cubs — one male and three females — were born during the war in Ukraine at breeding facilities and orphaned at a few weeks old,?according to the IFAW.

According to the release, the cubs survived sporadic bombings and drone attacks in Ukraine.

Four lion cubs were rescued from Ukraine and brought to a sanctuary in Minnesota.?

After a nine-hour flight, the cubs landed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport around noon local time on Tuesday. Once they cleared customs, the cubs were met by care staff from The Wildcat Sanctuary to transport them from the airport to the sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota, the release said.

According to the release, the cubs will now live together as a pride at the sanctuary, which has a specially designed habitat for lions.

“From the moment IFAW reached out to request our partnership, we knew these cubs had found their forever home at our sanctuary,” said Tammy Thies, founder and executive director of The Wildcat Sanctuary. “They have a custom, open space to explore and soft grass or hay to rest their tired bodies on.”

During a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine will be one of the two leaders’ main topics of discussion and that “sustainable peace” is about respecting sovereign nations.?

“We want to build peace and a sustainable peace means full respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine but at the same time a new architecture to make sure we have a sustainable peace in the long run,” Macron said at the White House.

Macron also said that they will discuss energy, economy and space and emphasized the importance of “synchronization” and “close coordination.”?

“When we look at our common history, this friendship has always prevailed — with quite good results by the way,” Macron later added.

Biden said that the two nations have stood together since the time of the US Revolutionary War.

“We are at a real inflection point. Things are changing rapidly, really rapidly. And it’s really important we stay in close communication — doesn’t mean that every single solitary thing we agree on. That does mean we agree on almost everything,” Biden said, adding that they would work toward strengthening “security and prosperity.”

Switzerland has frozen over $7 billion in Russian financial assets, according to the Swiss State Secretary of Economy (SECO).

The total amount of seized financial assets since the start of the Ukraine war now amounts to US $7.89 billion as of Nov. 25, the SECO said in a news release on Thursday. Additionally, 15 properties attributed to sanctioned Russians in Switzerland have been seized.

A total of $48.5 billion belonging to Russian nationals have been reported to SECO for investigation.?

Some context: In response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, the Swiss Federal Council broke with its tradition of neutrality and adopted European Union sanctions against Russia.

Switzerland has also said it would seek closer ties to NATO and the European Union to strengthen its “defense capabilities” in the wake of Russia’s war.

One hundred soldiers have been exchanged in Ukraine on Thursday, according to Ukrainian and pro-Russian senior figures.

Andrii Yermak — the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine — and Denis Pushilin — head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic — confirmed that 50 soldiers on each side have been exchanged Thursday.?

Yermak said fighters from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel facility and prisoners from Olenivka in the Donetsk region were returned to Ukraine.

“We will work until the last Ukrainian is released,” Yermak said. ?

Pushilin also confirmed that a mixture of Russian and pro-Russian fighters were returned. He said on Telegram that 12 fighters from the DPR and eight from the [self-declared Luhansk People’s Rebuplic] were among the 50 prisoners.?

There was no mention of the location or time of the swap.?

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks alongside US President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday, December 1.

US President Joe Biden welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House Thursday, kicking off an official state visit aimed at?shoring up the US-France alliance as Macron has emerged as a critical ally amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“Our hearts are warm to welcome such close friends to the White House,” Biden said at a formal arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn on the cold December morning.?

“It’s a genuine honor to host you for the first state visit of my administration and to celebrate the current strength and vitality between France and the United States of America,” he continued. ?

Following?last year’s low point in French-American relations following the US-Australia submarine deal, the two presidents have forged a close relationship, as Biden highlighted in his opening remarks Thursday.

France, Biden said, is the United States’ “oldest ally” and an “unwavering partner,” referencing the history of the relationship from the Revolutionary War’s Marquis de Lafayette to the beaches of Normandy during World War II.?

“The alliance between our two nations remains essential to our mutual defense,” he added.?

Biden said both countries are united amid Russia’s “brutal war” in Ukraine and said that the two countries are working to ensure “democracies deliver” on numerous key issues.

He said the alliance will “grow stronger for decades to come” as he welcomed Macron and his delegation to Washington.

Following the Macrons’ arrival, the two leaders greeted dignitaries, observed a 21-gun salute, and inspected the troops on the South Lawn, keeping with the tradition of a formal arrival ceremony.??

Russia would be ready to restart conversations with the United States and NATO on security guarantees, but so far Moscow hasn’t seen willingness on their part,?Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed Thursday.

“I doubt that they will find the energy and mind to do it,” he said. “However, if this suddenly happens, we will be ready to return to the conversation with them.”

“But, since they rejected our proposals, they have already taken a number of steps that completely contradict the prospects for resuming the dialogue,” he added.

While answering another question at the news conference, Lavrov reiterated that?Russia is open to dialogue with Western partners as the security situation in Europe has deteriorated, but said it won’t be “business as usual.”?

“If our Western partners develop an interest in somehow restoring our joint work on European security,” Lavrov said, “it won’t be business as usual.”?

“If the West understands that it is better to develop neighborly relations based on mutually agreed foundations, we will listen to what the West would propose,” he said.?“But it is clear that it needs to be a completely new start. Whether there is a chance of this new start in the near future, I don’t know. It is up to the West,” he added.?

On a possible meeting with US President Joe Biden: Moscow “never avoids contacts,” Lavrov claimed, but there haven’t been “substantial ideas” when it comes to a possible meeting between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have said a few times, Putin himself has said that, as well as myself, that we never avoid contacts,” Lavrov said during his annual news conference in Moscow.?

“But so far, we are not hearing any substantial ideas,” he added.

Prior to the G20 summit in Indonesia, Biden said he didn’t see a good reason for a sit-down.

“It would depend on specifically what he wanted to talk about,” Biden told CNN in late October, adding if Putin wanted to discuss the jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner, then he would be open to talking.

“But look, he’s acted brutally, he’s acted brutally,” Biden said. “I think he’s committed war crimes. And so I don’t, I don’t see any rationale to meet with him now.”

The Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said a “large number of fortifications works” are being conducted on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Russian-occupied territory.?

Saldo added the fortifications are being built quickly, and “significant financial resources have been allocated for these purposes and a large number of construction companies have been engaged.”

Speaking on his Telegram channel, Saldo finished by saying there were problems with phone communications, but that the internet is “fairly stable.”

The new director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been denounced as a collaborator following his appointment to the position by Russia’s occupying forces.

In a statement, Ukrainian energy company Energoatom — which ran the plant before the war — accused Yuiry Chernichyuk of “collaboration and treasonous activities” and said it had fired him from the company.

On Wednesday, the Russian agency running the plant since its capture by Russian forces in March claimed Chernichuyk had been promoted from chief engineer to director-general.?CNN has been unable to verify whether Chernichuyk was under any form of duress when he allegedly assumed his new position.

The president of Energoatom, Petro Kotin, condemned Chernichuyk, saying he had “betrayed Ukraine and gone over to the enemy.”?

Since falling under Russian control, none of the nuclear facility’s engineers have been allowed to leave the plant, and Energoatom said all those who had reportedly signed new employment contracts with the Russian agency, Rosenergoatom, had been forced to do so.

“Allegedly thousands of Ukrainian nuclear workers happily joined [Rosenergoatom] and are proud of it, because new and bright prospects have opened up for them. This is a cynical lie,” according to a statement from the Ukrainian company.

The statement also contained a warning to former employees about the situation they were facing, saying the “structure will make you direct accomplices of the aggressor, and therefore enemies of your own compatriots.”

“[This is] because the Russian invaders use ZNPP not as a nuclear power plant, but primarily as a military base and a means of nuclear blackmail of the entire world. Therefore, the personnel they recruit to work under the flag of the Russian Federation will be obliged to support military aggression against Ukraine,” the statement added.

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron review troops during a welcoming ceremony for Macron at the White House on December 1.

Challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of?Ukraine?will be “front and center” Thursday when US President Joe?Biden?welcomes French President Emmanuel?Macron?to the White House for his administration’s first official state visit, a senior administration official told reporters Monday.?

Macron?will hold a bilateral meeting with?Biden?at 10 a.m. ET and a joint news conference at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Macron’s visit serves “as an opportunity to highlight a foundational component of the administration’s approach to foreign policy, strengthening our alliances,” the official said, who also noted that France’s status as the United States’ oldest ally made it “fitting” that the nation was the first to receive a state visit. Former President Donald Trump?also hosted?Macron?for his first state visit.

Russia’s continued attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in?Ukraine?are likely to loom large during the meetings between the two leaders, with focus on the “numerous diplomatic and global coordination efforts that are underway in terms of responding to what really is a critical need of the Ukrainians right now,” the official said Monday.

The administration is expecting the two “to continue discussing ways that they can support?Ukraine?– not only in terms of its energy security needs, but also with security assistance means, humanitarian assistance, budgetary support, and the full range of areas in which the United States, France and the rest of our allies and partners are continuing to support?Ukraine,” the official said.?

Read more about Macron’s visit here. ?

Russian strikes continue to impact the power supply across Ukraine, with shelling leaving the southern city of Kherson without electricity on Thursday. Meanwhile, a letter bomb that injured a worker at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, Spain, is one of a series that have now been discovered in the past week.

These are the latest headlines:

Russian shelling leaves Kherson without electricity: The recently liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine is without power in the wake of heavy Russian shelling. Energy company Khersonoblenergo is “already working to fix the problem,” said local official Yaroslav Yanushevych.

Outages in Zaporizhzhia: Emergency power outages have been imposed in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region on Thursday, according to state-owned energy provider Ukrenergo.?A statement from the company said the move was due to “significant exceeding of electricity consumption” in the region.?Power would be restored when “consumption stabilizes,” it added.?

Kyiv power supply cuts in the interests of fairness: Some 750 residential buildings across the Ukrainian capital that have enjoyed continuous electricity during power outages will now have their supply cut to “ensure fair and equal conditions,” according to a local energy provider.?

Spate of letter bombs: A series of letter bombs have been sent to various offices in Spain, including one which exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid Wednesday afternoon, injuring an employee. This follows a letter bomb addressed to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez which was delivered on November 24.

UK sanctions more Russian officials: The United Kingdom has sanctioned another 22 Russian officials for aiding Russia’s war on Ukraine, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced Wednesday.?In total, London has now sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals and 120 entities over the invasion, according to a UK Foreign Office press release.

Spain said Thursday it was boosting security measures after a series of letter bombs was discovered in the country, including one that was sent to Spain’s prime minister last week.

The latest bomb, sent to an air force base near Madrid, was discovered before dawn Thursday, after one?exploded?at the Ukrainian embassy in the capital Madrid Wednesday, injuring a member of staff, and another was deactivated at an arms manufacturer.

The device addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in the post at his official Moncloa compound on November 24 and his security detail singled it out as suspicious.

After establishing a security perimeter, they conducted a “controlled explosion” of the envelope, an interior ministry statement said.

The most recent letter bomb was intercepted just before dawn Thursday after being sent to the Torrejon air force base.

The letters were likely sent from Spanish territory,?said Secretary of State for Security Rafael Perez on Thursday.?

Both Perez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska, who later spoke separately with reporters, said that people should remain “calm.”?

Perez went on to say that there are not enough reasons to justify raising a terror threat just yet.?

Marlaska told reporters that he could not provide any further details.?

A sixth envelope: A new envelope with features similar to the five previously detected “incendiary envelopes” was intercepted around 12:30 p.m. local time at the security post of the US Embassy in Madrid, a police source told CNN.?A special protocol was activated for these cases, the source added.

A suspicious package was received at the embassy in Madrid on Thursday, according to spokesperson Jamie Martin.?“We are grateful to Spanish law enforcement for their assistance with this matter,” Martin added.

The?mysterious envelope that arrived at the gate of the US embassy was detonated in a controlled environment, according to two US officials. No one was injured in the process, the officials said. A State Department spokesperson also confirmed that the suspicious package was received by the embassy.

Read more here.

CNN’s Pau Mosquera, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.

Some 750 Kyiv residential buildings that have enjoyed continuous electricity during power outages will now have their supply cut to “ensure fair and equal conditions,” according to a local energy provider.

Power has been rationed in Kyiv as a result of persistent targeting of energy infrastructure by Russian strikes.

DTEK said that 750 of those residential buildings (out of a total 1,497) will now have their supplies cut in the interests of fairness.

The company has been carrying out “extensive technical work to optimize the power supply scheme for critical infrastructure and, where possible, created an alternative scheme for residential buildings,” meaning they can now apply “emergency or stabilization outages to them,” it said.

The remaining 747 buildings will remain connected to the same supply lines because DTEK “cannot change the current electricity supply scheme due to the technical characteristics of the network.”

DTEK is working with city authorities, housing cooperatives and management companies to “apply stabilisation or emergency outages to these houses,” it added.

Russian Minister of Industry Denis Manturov meets with his German counterpart in Moscow, Russia, on May 14, 2018. He has now been sanctioned by the UK government.

The United Kingdom has sanctioned another 22 Russian officials for aiding Russia’s war on Ukraine, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced Wednesday.?

In total, London has now sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals and 120 entities over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a UK Foreign Office press release.

The new package of sanctions includes Deputy Prime Minister Denis Valentinovich Manturov who, according to the press release, “is responsible for overseeing the Russian weapons industry and responsible for equipping mobilised troops.”?

Ten governors and regional leaders have also been sanctioned, including the heads of “some of Russia’s poorest ethnic republics,” Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kalmykia, “from which a significant number of conscripts have been drawn,” said the Foreign Office.?

Arkady Gostev, director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, and Dmitry Bezrukikh, the head of the Federal Punishment Service of the Rostov region, have also been sanctioned.

According to the release, Gostev and Bezrukikh have reportedly worked closely with Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military group that has been heavily involved in fighting in Ukraine.?

Ella Pamfilova, chairperson of the Central Election Commission and Andrey Burov, head of the regional election commission in Rostov, have also been sanctioned. They were both responsible for organizing the “sham” referendums in the four temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine, according to the press release.

“We have sanctioned individuals who have enforced this conscription, sending thousands of Russian citizens to fight in Putin’s illegal and abhorrent war,” said Cleverly, as quoted in the press release.??

“The UK will continue to use both sanctions and military aid to support Ukraine in the defence of their independence,” he added.??

Workers dismantle an autotransformer, which stands completely destroyed after the Ukrenergo high voltage power substation was directly hit by a missile strike, in central Ukraine on November 10.

A leading international energy organization coordinating efforts to help Ukraine’s energy grid withstand repeated Russian strikes has urged European energy companies to donate more essential equipment.

Energy Community told CNN it has coordinated donations of specialized equipment since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, helping to repair damage to critical infrastructure deliberately targeted by Russian forces.

“This month, seven energy equipment shipments coordinated by the Secretariat in cooperation with the?EU’s?Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) have reached Ukraine,” said Artur Lorkowski, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat.

“This includes much needed tools, fuses, welding electrodes, elcometers,?generators and other electricity and gas equipment?donated by companies from Estonia, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Sweden, Slovakia and Lithuania.”

Since the start of the war 37 shipments from 20 countries have been delivered to Ukraine, the statement said, with 47 more deliveries planned.

“Items that cannot be delivered will be procured via the Ukraine Energy Support Fund,” said Lorkowski. “The first procurement of equipment is near finalization and the emergency equipment is expected to be delivered to Ukraine shortly.”

And on Thursday morning heavy Russian shelling left the recently liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine without power, according to Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson region military administration.

The request for more equipment came after NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that foreign ministers are going to step up “non-lethal support” to Ukraine, including fuel, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone jammers.

The State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia's parliament, in Moscow on September 15, 2020.

A new expanded law on “foreign agents” in Russia comes into force Thursday, signifying an intensifying crackdown on free speech and opposition under President Vladimir Putin that has accelerated as his fortunes in Ukraine have deteriorated.

It’s also further evidence of Russia’s determination to root out what it sees as Western liberal values, coming in the same week Russia’s parliament sent a bill expanding a ban on what it calls “propaganda” of LGBT issues to Putin’s desk.

The 2012 law on Foreign Agents, passed after a wave of public protests against Putin’s return to the presidency, required organizations engaging in political activity and receiving funding from abroad to register as foreign agents and adhere to draconian rules and restrictions.

That law has been gradually updated since then, forming the backbone of an ever tighter stranglehold on civil society in Russia over the past decade. From Thursday that definition?is expanded to include not only individuals or organizations receiving funding from abroad but those who have “received support and (or) is under foreign influence”.

Further reading of the law does not offer much in terms of clarification. “Support” by foreign sources is defined not just as financial but “organizational and methodological, or scientific and technical help.” “Influence” can be read, according to the law, as “exacting an influence on an individual by coercion, persuasion or other means.”

Read more here.

Emergency power outages have been imposed in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia?region on Thursday, according to state-owned energy provider Ukrenergo.

A statement from the company said the move was due to “significant exceeding of electricity consumption” in the region, ?

Power would be restored when “consumption stabilizes,”it added.

By bombing the power grid meant to sustain Ukrainians through dark, cold months,?Vladimir Putin is inflicting?some of the most barbaric wartime conditions experienced by civilians in Europe for decades.

The use of winter as a weapon of war is designed to break the will of a nation that has humbled Russian forces — and to test the generosity of Western publics footing the bill for Ukraine’s defense. And it is forcing?President Joe Biden?and other leaders to make another round of adjustments to the lifeline of armaments and aid sustaining Ukraine’s resistance.

The intensity of Moscow’s deliberate targeting of civilians has also revived questions over if and when the world should press for a diplomatic end to the war as well as a rising domestic political debate about how long multi-billion dollar aid must last. This pressure, notably inside the incoming Republican House majority, often spikes alongside Putin’s calculated spurts of nuclear brinkmanship and whenever fears rise that the war will spill into NATO territory.

These questions will be at the center of talks Thursday between Biden and?French President Emmanuel Macron, the two most critical leaders of the West, who will be essential to any eventual ceasefire and who have at times differed on whether diplomacy can work with a leader as ruthless as Putin.

Read Collinson’s full analysis here.

Employees remain electric power lines damaged by Russian military strikes in the Kherson region,?Ukraine, on?November 30.

The recently liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine is without power in the wake of heavy Russian shelling, according to a local official.

Energy company Khersonoblenergo is “already working to fix the problem,” Yanushevych added.

Some context: Ukraine’s liberation of Kherson last month delivered a major victory to Kyiv and marked one of the biggest setbacks for Russian President Vladimir Putin since his invasion began. But with winter fast approaching, residents face a dire situation in the face of continued Russian shelling and power and water shortages.

Paul Whelan, a former US Marine accused of spying and arrested in Russia stands inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at a court in Moscow, Russia, on August 23, 2019.

Paul Whelan, an American wrongfully detained in Russia, has reportedly been moved to a prison hospital and has been unable to contact his family for a week, according to his brother.

The lack of communication has raised serious concerns for the family, said David Whelan, who questioned the penal colony’s claim that his brother was transferred to the hospital. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the United States is “working every day to make sure that we have contact with him, that we understand what the exact situation is.”

Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in a remote penal colony, has “repeatedly” told his family that “if he doesn’t call home for more than 3 days, to alert the US Embassy,” his brother said in an email Monday.

Read more here.

The Biden administration is considering a dramatic expansion in the?training the US military provides to Ukrainian forces, including instructing as many as 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers a month at a US base in Germany, according to multiple US officials.

If adopted, the proposal would mark a significant increase not just in the number of Ukrainians the US trains but also in the type of training they receive. Since the start of the conflict in February, the US has trained only a?few thousand Ukrainian soldiers, mostly in small groups, on specific weapons systems.

Under the new program, the US would begin training much larger groups of Ukrainian soldiers in more sophisticated battlefield tactics, including how to coordinate infantry maneuvers with artillery support — “much more intense and comprehensive” training than Ukraine has been receiving in Poland or the UK, according to one source briefed on the proposal.

The proposal, which was made at the behest of Ukraine, is still under interagency review by the administration. News of its existence comes more than nine months into?Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?and as the onset of winter is?expected to slow military operations.

Read the full story here.

The recently liberated southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the surrounding towns continue to be shelled, according to the city’s regional military administration.

The administration and its head, Yarsolav Yanushevych named the towns struck — Beryslav, Naftohavan, Kizomys, Antonivka, Dariivka, Sadove and Zelenivka – which are all along the western bank of the Dnipro River.?

The Ukrainians said Russian forces are targeting Naftohavan in particular to “hit power lines and gas distribution station.” The town has an oil loading terminal that can clearly be seen on maps.

Yanushevych added that three residents were injured and a 70-year-old woman was killed.

Despite the continuing hardships for residents, some basic services are coming back online more regularly, including water. The administration described the power supply as “intermittent.” Mobile communications are available with “interruptions,” but the internet is working.?

Water is also appearing around the city “due to the supply of power to pumping stations” but is being supplied with a reduced pressure.?

Two police officers at the Ukrainian embassy where an explosion occurred, on November 30, 2022, in Madrid, Spain.

The?envelope that exploded?at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid Wednesday was addressed to Ambassador?Serhii Pohoreltsev, according to a statement released by Spain’s Foreign Ministry.?

Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares spoke to Pohoreltsev after the incident. The person injured was a Ukrainian worker, according to the same statement.?

Albares, who is visiting Spanish troops at a NATO mission in Romania, extended his support and solidarity after the incident.?

The Biden administration is considering designating the Wagner Group, a Russian private military group, as a foreign terrorist organization amid ongoing efforts to impose costs on Russia for the?Ukraine war, a US official said.

No final decision has been made, and it is unclear how far out the administration is from potentially making this designation given the laborious legal process in making this determination, the official explained.

The Wagner Group is a mercenary firm that has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The group is often described as?President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014. The group has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

Read more here.

The United States is “very focused” on providing air defense systems to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Wednesday.

“We’re now very focused on air defense systems and not just us, many other countries,” Blinken told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Blinken was speaking from Bucharest, Romania, where he is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

While Blinken would not elaborate on whether the Pentagon would provide the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, he told Amanpour that the United States had been working on making sure that “at any given time, [the Ukrainians] have the most effective systems possible to deal with the threat they are facing.”

“We just recently, for example, provided them with a very effective system called NASAMS that they are using very effectively. Before that of course, we had the HIMARS, which they used to great effect both in southern and eastern Ukraine,” Blinken said.