Russia’s scorched earth tactics will not win, Germany says; resist Russian conscription, Zelenskyy tells men in occupied regions

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europe was being put to the test as Russian President Vladimir Putin used energy and hunger as weapons.

“The brutal war in Ukraine, Putin’s ruthless use of hunger and energy as a weapon, the enormous price increases here in Germany and around the world — Germany and Europe are going through tests that we have not experienced for decades. Tests that Putin has forced on us with his imperialist war of aggression,” he told the German Parliament Thursday.

Scholz said Germany, a country that received more than half of its gas imports from Russia prior to the war, would make it “through this winter,” having set up alternative import infrastructures.

“With all of these measures, we managed to fill our storage facilities in Germany and Europe in good time before winter,” he said, with storage levels exceeding 95%.

Nonetheless, Scholz said Germany would bring coal-fired power plants back online as a temporary measure. “We remain committed to our declared climate goals,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

President Zelenskyy called on men in occupied areas of southern and eastern Ukraine to resist being recruited into Russia’s armed forces. “Please avoid it as much as you can. Try to leave the occupied territory,” he said in his nightly address Wednesday.

“If you cannot do this and find yourself in Russian military structures, at the first opportunity try to lay down your arms and come to Ukrainian positions. And most importantly, protect your life. And be sure to help our other people who are close to you,” he added.

Zelenskyy’s comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin put both Russia and occupied areas of Ukraine on a firmer war footing after introducing martial law in the illegally annexed regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south and Donetsk and Luhansk in the east.

Russia had already begun mobilizing men in occupied regions to fight in the war against Ukraine after “annexing” the regions, a move Ukraine and its allies have condemned as illegal. Martial law means the civil administrations in those regions are now essentially a military ones.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is new damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as Kyiv called on civilians to limit their energy usage.

“There is new damage to critical infrastructure. Three energy facilities were destroyed by the enemy today,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Wednesday. “We assume that Russian terror will be directed at energy facilities until, with the help of partners, we are able to shoot down 100% of enemy missiles and drones,” he added.

Kyiv imposed nationwide curbs on energy use on Thursday as a result of widespread attacks on critical energy infrastructure this week.

Ukraine’s national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram Thursday that Russia’s “constant missile attacks are destroying our energy infrastructure, and energy workers need time to restore it.” 

“At the same time, it is getting colder outside, which traditionally encourages us to consume more electricity. But now we need to be very conscious and frugal with our electricity consumption in order to get through the next winter as well as possible.”

“Today, from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., consumption restriction measures may be applied in Ukraine. Your distribution network operator determines when exactly your street will be disconnected,” it said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the government is preparing for a breakdown of energy systems throughout the country.

“We are working to create mobile power points for the critical infrastructure of cities, towns and villages. We are preparing for various scenarios of possible consequences,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskyy said that options were discussed during a strategic meeting on security at energy supply facilities. The meeting comes as Kyiv accuses Moscow of purposefully targeting critical infrastructure like energy facilities.

“Ukraine will defend itself. No matter what the enemy plans and does,” Zelenskyy said.

— Amanda Macias

Russia said the four Ukrainian regions it illegally annexed last month are now under the protection of its nuclear arsenal.

The statement from the Kremlin came at a moment of acute tension, with both NATO and Russia expected to hold military exercises shortly to test the readiness of their nuclear weapons forces.

Asked by reporters if the regions were under Moscow’s nuclear umbrella, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “All these territories are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation and they are all protected. Their security is provided for at the same level as [it is for] the rest of Russia’s territory.”

President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons if necessary to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity.” U.S. President Joe Biden said on Oct. 6 that his threat had brought the world closer to “Armageddon” than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many feared a nuclear war might be imminent.

Read more on NBC News.

— NBC NEWS

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi expects to return to Ukraine “soon,” as talks to establish a security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain ongoing, Reuters reported.

Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly blamed the other for shelling at the site, which has been plagued with power outages in the last few weeks. On Monday, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy firm said Russian shelling cut off the plant’s external power supply.

“There is a possibility I will return to Ukraine and Russia, it is in fact what we have agreed in principle, at this moment we are continuing the consultations aimed at establishing the protection zone,” Grossi told Reuters.

“This implies an interaction where I receive answers and reactions from the two sides and I am looking for new ways to move forward and for that, at some point, probably very soon I will have to return.”

Grossi also told Reuters that he believes Russia’s nuclear threats are not an immediate possibility, though “nothing can be ruled out.”

— Natalie Tham

Russian President Vladimir Putin has introduced martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow illegally annexed last month.

Martial law will be introduced in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — the four regions in Ukraine that Moscow claimed as Russian territory following sham referendums in September that Ukraine and its allies have condemned as illegal and illegitimate.

The decision, announced as Putin addressed a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, will likely mean that the regions’ civil administrations will be replaced by military ones.

— Holly Ellyatt

The Russian-installed deputy governor of the Kherson region has insisted Russia is not surrendering the city of Kherson, despite calling on residents to evacuate immediately.

“We are not going to surrender the city. We will hold our ground to the end. We will not let the Nazis enter the city,” Kirill Stremousov said. Russian officials frequently and baselessly refer to Ukrainian forces as “Nazis” in a bid to demonize them.

Civilians in Kherson, which Russia claims to have annexed and which is only partially occupied by its forces, have been told to leave the region as Russian officials expect that a large-scale counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces to retake the region could be about to begin.

Residents on the west bank of the Dnipro river have been told to cross to the opposite side of the water and to travel on from there to Russian territories. Russian-installed officials say up to 60,000 people could evacuate the area over the next six days.

In a further development, the acting governor of the region Vladimir Saldo told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday that entry to the Kherson region for civilians will be very limited for seven days due to the turbulent situation.

“Only those who will be given a pass by the commandant’s office” will be able to enter the region, Saldo said, according to comments reported by the Tass news agency. “These are those who are engaged in providing, supplying, working in public utilities,” he added.

— Holly Ellyatt