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“Russia is removing nuclear warheads from aging nuclear cruise missiles and conducting unarmed warheads over Ukraine,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Saturday.
“Open source imagery apparently shows the wreckage of a shot-down AS-15 KENT air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), designed in the 1980s specifically as a nuclear delivery system. The warhead may have been substituted for ballast.
The ministry said, “Although such a passive system would still cause some damage through the missile’s kinetic energy and any unspent fuel, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against the intended targets. Russia almost certainly hopes that such missiles will act as decoys and Ukrainian air defenses will be diverted.”
“Regardless of Russia’s intentions,” the British agency said, “the revision reflects the level of decline in Russia’s stockpile of long-range missiles.”
Ukrainian authorities have worked to restore electricity across the country, making some progress to repair the electric grid following Russian missile attacks, but are still unable to immediately help the millions of Ukrainians left in the dark.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in his nightly address on Friday that workers had managed to halve the number of people whose electricity had been cut since Wednesday. However, he said 6 million Ukrainians are still without power.
“Repair crews are working around the clock,” national power grid operator Ukrainergo said on Telegram on Friday.
It says 30% power supply is still off, and asked people to conserve energy.
Zelensky also urged people to reduce the energy they use.
“If there is electricity, it does not mean that you can turn on many powerful electrical appliances at once,” he said.
Russian forces launched another devastating missile barrage against Ukraine on Wednesday, causing Kiev’s biggest outage since the invasion began nine months ago.
Ukraine said the attacks were clearly intended to harm civilians, making them a war crime. Russia has said it only targeted infrastructure linked to the military and blamed Kiev for the blackout.
The weather forecast for most of Ukraine for the next few days calls for rain and snow and temperatures in the single digit Celsius.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that Russian missile attacks on civilian infrastructure are leaving the country’s population without heat, lights and food in a “terrible start” to winter.
Speaking in Brussels, Stoltenberg said Russian President Vladimir Putin “has failed in Ukraine, and he is reacting with even more brutality.”
Stoltenberg said NATO would stand by Ukraine as long as it takes. He said alliance members were providing “unprecedented military support” and other assistance to Ukraine.
NATO countries are also delivering fuel, generators, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone-jamming devices, he said, but added that more will be needed as winter draws to a close, especially as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
In another development on Friday, missiles hit the recently liberated city of Kherson the following day.
At least 11 people were killed in the strike, which began on Thursday and continued into Friday, according to the Associated Press.
Russia withdrew its forces from the city two weeks ago, although Russian troops remain on the other side of the Dnieper River, where they can fire missiles at Kherson.
On the diplomatic front, European leaders pledged more support to Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary James Chaturai announced a new aid package for Ukraine during his visit to Kyiv on Friday.
The package — worth about $60 million, according to Britain — includes radar and other technology to counter Iran-supplied explosive drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets, particularly the power grid. The assistance comes on top of the delivery of more than 1,000 surface-to-air missiles that Britain announced in early November.
“Words are not enough. Words will not keep the lights on this winter. Words will not defend against Russian missiles,” Cleverly said in a tweet about military aid. He added that “as winter sets in, Russia continues to try to break Ukrainian resolve with its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure.”
France will send 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the winter, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also announced on Friday. She said Russia was “weaponizing” the winter and putting Ukraine’s civilian population into trouble.
In addition to European aid, the United Nations humanitarian office said the global organization and its partners are sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help Kiev in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services such as health care. The World Health Organization said it was sending generators to hospitals in Ukraine.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Friday that he was shocked by the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid widespread allegations of abuses.
“Millions of people are drowning in extreme hardship and horrible living conditions through this strike,” Turk said in a statement on Friday.
“Taken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for everything attacked,” he said.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributed to this report. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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