(Bloomberg) -- Six million consumers in Ukraine are without electricity after Russia’s intensive attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. 

The nation needs high-voltage equipment that can be repaired quickly -- transformers as well as generators -- to get through the winter, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Bloomberg TV earlier in the day. 

NATO allies must send main battle tanks to Ukraine as soon as possible, as Ukrainian forces could use them to “revert the situation” on the ground now, while the ground is frozen, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told Bloomberg TV at a ministerial meeting in Bucharest.

 

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Key Developments

  • EU Proposes Special Court to Probe Russian Actions in Ukraine
  • NATO Allies Warn on China With Eye on Beijing’s Ties to Putin
  • Senior House Republican Vows to Keep Money Flowing to Ukraine
  • US Weighs Terrorism Label for Russia’s Wagner Group Mercenaries
  • How Putin’s Spooking Japan Further Away From Pacifism: QuickTake

On the Ground

The threat of new missile attacks against critical infrastructure all across Ukraine remains, the country’s General Staff said in its regular update. Russian forces continue an offensive near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, according to the statement. Each town along the front line in the region has suffered from shelling over the past 24 hours even as Russians failed to push Ukrainian troops away, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said during a video briefing.

(All times CET)

Army Awards Raytheon $1.2 Billion For Six More Air Defense Units (12:10 a.m.)

The US Army on Wednesday awarded Raytheon Technologies Corp a $1.2 billion contract for delivery by late 2025 of six additional National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems for Ukraine.

The contract brings to eight the number Nasam systems the US has committed to Ukraine’s long-term defense needs. The Nasams fire missiles at aerial targets. Two units have been delivered and are proving effective, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said. The $1.2 billion came from the fifth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative contracts package.

“The Army, along with industry partners, will work to shorten the 24-month production lead time associated with production and delivery of Nasams,” the service said in a statement.

Zelenskiy Presses Germany for Long-Range Patriot System (10:20 p.m.)

Zelenskiy pressed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the long-range Patriot missile defense system, saying that if his nation provides it “all generations of Ukrainians will thank Chancellor Scholz, as well as the entire generation of modern German politicians.” 

A Pentagon official said this week that there are no immediate plans for the US to provide the American-made system.

Netanyahu Sees Risk of a Tactical Nuclear Strike in Ukraine (9:57 p.m.)

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer rules out the possible use of a tactical nuclear weapon as Russia presses its invasion of Ukraine, something he considered unthinkable a year ago.

In the past, Netanyahu told the New York Times Dealbook Summit, “people asked me is it possible that it would deteriorate to tactical nuclear weapons,” and his answer was no. “And I can honestly tell you about a year later on, that I think the probability is still low, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely.”

Ukraine Finding Solutions to Adapt Donated Power Equipment (6:45 p.m.)

Ukraine’s power engineers are finding “some technical solutions” to adapt transformers donated by European Union countries to the different specifications used in eastern Europe, Halushchenko, the energy minister, said in his Bloomberg TV interview.

He also said that Ukraine has stored sufficient fuel for portable generators that are in wide use by Ukrainians amid blackouts all over the country from Russian attacks, and he urged the west to provide more such equipment.

Zelenskiy Invites Musk to Ukraine to See Russia’s Devastation (6:18 p.m.)

Zelenskiy invited Elon Musk to visit his war-ravaged nation and see for himself the damage wrought by Russia, after the world’s richest man floated the idea of a peace deal that would give major concessions to President Vladimir Putin.

Musk played a key role restoring Internet service in Ukraine after the invasion, Zelenskiy told the New York Times Dealbook conference Wednesday, saying “life was maintained” thanks to the deployment of his Starlink satellite communications system. 

But sometime later, “it seems that Elon began to change his opinion and we began to hear all kinds of appeals,” Zelenskiy said.

Read the full story.

US Says It Fears Russia May Use Biological Weapons (6:04 p.m.)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has elevated US concern that Putin’s government could use biological weapons, according to a top US State Department official who’s in Geneva for a review of the global treaty addressing such threats.

“We’ve always been concerned about their own biological program,” Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins said, speaking from the US Mission in Geneva. But those concerns have increased as Russia has continued to make unsupported allegations about US development of biological weapons in Ukraine. Such disinformation could mask Russia’s own weaponization of infectious diseases, she said. 

“As long as they continue the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine -- staying there and doing what they’re doing and making these allegations -- there’s always a possibility that they’ve been using” disinformation as a cover, she said.  

Finland Sends Power Grid Components to Ukraine (5:11 p.m.)

Finland’s delivery included current transformers, circuit breakers and relays, the government in Helsinki said in an emailed statement. It follows an earlier shipment of 28 current transformers, and officials are putting together a further package including large generators and heating equipment.

Ukraine Embassy in Spain Reports Injury (1:40 p.m.)

A worker at the embassy in Madrid was slightly injured by a letter bomb, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said in a statement. He was able to reach a hospital on his own, according to the statement. Further details weren’t immediately available.

Petraeus Expects Negotiated End to War (1:00 p.m.)

Former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus said he expects the war to end with a negotiated settlement rather than victory for Ukraine.

“Until then, the US, NATO and western allies should do everything possible to enable Ukraine to liberate its country and defend its people and infrastructure against Russian missiles and Iranian drones,” Petraeus, who is also a former US general, was quoted as saying by Germany’s Tagesspiegel newspaper. The aim should also be to keep Ukraine’s economy running “and accelerate Putin’s realization that the Russian mission in Ukraine cannot be sustained,” he added.

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