NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today called on Russia to stop the war and end the global food crisis caused by the war.
"Ninety years ago, the holocaust of the Soviet Union killed millions of Ukrainians. Today, Russia is using hunger as a weapon of war against Ukraine and to create division and further instability among the rest of the world," he said, as reported on NATO's official website.
At the International Food Security Summit in Kyiv, "Grain from Ukraine," Stoltenberg said that NATO "will stand by Ukraine as long as necessary."
Hundreds of civilians fled Kherson today, fleeing constant Russian shelling just weeks after the Ukrainian army took over the city.
The line of trucks, vans and cars with trailers starting to leave the city was a kilometer or more long.
Although happy that their city was returned, the residents have to leave it because the shelling by Russian forces continues for days.
Emergency project coordinator for the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières in Ukraine, Emily Forey, said the evacuation of 400 patients from a psychiatric hospital in Kherson began on Thursday and is expected to continue.
Repair crews across Ukraine scrambled today to restore heating, power and water services that were disabled by Russian shelling.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the capital city of Kyiv, participated in meetings with several leaders of the European Union during the International Summit on Food Safety.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmykhal said that Ukraine has allocated 900 million hryvnias ($24 million) to buy corn for Yemen, Sudan, Kenya and Nigeria.
"Ukraine knows what hunger is and we don't want people to die again in the 21st century because of Russia and its inhumane methods," he said.
Nine Russian prisoners of war were released today as part of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
"As a result of the negotiation process, on November 26, nine Russian soldiers who were in life-threatening captivity were returned from the territory under the control of the Kiev regime," the Ministry's statement said, according to Reuters.
Great Britain has said that Russia is likely to remove nuclear warheads from missiles and target Ukraine.
Russia may be removing nuclear warheads from aging nuclear cruise missiles and firing unarmed munitions into Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Saturday, Reuters reports.
"Whatever Russia's intent, this improvisation underscores the level of depletion in Russia's long-range missile stockpile," the Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Twitter.
Electricity has been restored in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after its liberation earlier this month from Russian occupation, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Saturday, according to Reuters.
"First we supply electricity to the city's critical infrastructure, and then immediately to household consumers," Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The city was without electricity, central heating and running water when Ukrainian forces retook it on November 11.
Russian troops captured Kherson shortly after the February 24 invasion of Moscow, and it was the only regional capital they managed to capture.
Their withdrawal marked a significant step back for Moscow, but Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are still shelling the city from across the Dnieper River.
The head of the local administration said on Friday that 15 people were killed and 35 wounded in the past six days.
In a rare public spat involving Ukraine's leaders, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday criticized Kyiv Mayor Vladimir Klitschko for what he said was a poor job setting up emergency shelters to help those without electricity and heat after the Russian attacks, Reuters reported. .
After defeating Russian missile strikes on its power generation system, Ukraine set up thousands of so-called "invincibility centers" where people can access heat, water, internet and mobile phone connections.
In his evening address, Zelensky pointed out that Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko and his officials did not do enough to help.
"Unfortunately, local authorities have not performed well in all cities. In particular, there are many complaints in Kyiv... To put it mildly, more work is needed," he said, saying that the level of services available in many Kyiv centers were not good enough.
"Pay attention - the people of Kiev need more support... many are without electricity for 20 or even 30 hours. We expect quality work from the mayor's office," he said.
Zelensky also criticized those he said lied in their official reports, but did not elaborate.
More than 4.000 centers have been established so far.
The remarks were unusual as Zelenskiy sought to cultivate an image of national unity during the war and usually showered officials with praise, according to Reuters.
Klitschko, a 51-year-old former professional boxer, was elected mayor of Kyiv in 2014. There was no immediate reaction from his cabinet.
Russia will pay for the Soviet-era famine that left millions of Ukrainians dead during the winter of 1932-33. and for his actions in the current war in Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
"The Russians will pay for all the victims of the Holodomor and answer for today's crimes," wrote Andriy Jermak on Telegram, using the Ukrainian name for the disaster.
The annual memorial day for the victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine takes place on Saturday this year.
In November 1932, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sent the police to confiscate all grain and livestock from the newly collectivized Ukrainian farms, including the seeds needed to plant the next crop.
Millions of Ukrainian peasants starved to death in the following months in what Yale University historian Timothy Snyder calls "apparently premeditated mass murder."
During the past day, Ukraine repelled Russian attacks near eight settlements, announced the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian army repelled Russian attacks in the Donetsk region - in the vicinity of Yakovlivka, Soledar, Bakhmutska, Bakhmut, Opitny, Pervomaisky, Krasnohorivka and Nevelsky," the General Staff added, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentin Reznichenko, announced that during the night, Russian troops fired almost 60 grenades at Nikopol, the neighboring town of Marganets, and the surrounding villages, Kyiv Independent reports.
"Russia targeted Nikopol five times with heavy artillery," Reznichenko said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered its 276th day - you can watch what happened yesterday HERE.
Bonus video:
