Fire burns near a high-voltage line after a Russian airstrike outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 22, 2024 (Sofiia Gatilova/OSV/Reuters)

Saturday’s Coverage: European Commission — Accession Talks with Kyiv and Moldova Can Begin

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 0614 GMT:

A former Ukrainian mayor who served the Russian occupation is in critical condition after an attack inside Russia, say Ukrainian officials.

Hennadiy Matsehora was mayor of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region during northeast Ukraine before it was liberated by Ukrainian forces in autumn 2022. Officials said he “voluntarily agreed to full cooperation” during the Russian invasion, signing in June 2022 “the so-called protocol for the creation of the occupation Kharkiv administration”.

After liberation, he went to Russia’s border Belgorod region, where he was attacked on Friday.

UPDATE 0610 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden have issued a joint “roadmap” for the support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, including the use of frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv.

During his state visit to Paris, Biden said, “It’s about much more than Ukraine. All of Europe will be threatened, but we’re not going to let that happen. The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We will not — I say it again — walk away.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has detailed the serious damage from Russia’s protracted campaign to break Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Shmyhal said the Russian missile and drone strikes have damaged or destroyed 73% of Ukraine’s large thermal power plants, 42 power generators, and 20 hydropower generators. He confirmed reports that attacks since March have knocked out 9.2 gigawatts of generation capacity, half of that used last winter.

Last week the European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Matherovna, issued the same estimate. A Ukrainian official acknowledged that Russian forces damaged 1.2 gigawatts of capacity in overnight strikes on May 31 and June 1.

Ukraine’s production now is below 20 gigawatts per year, compared to 55 gigawatts before Russia’s invasion.

On Wednesday evening, Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo ordered cuts in 12 regions because of shortages caused by the Russian assaults.

Shmyhal emphasized that Ukraine is taking steps to relieve the pressure on the grid, restoring as much generation capacity as possible before the winter 2024-2025. The head of State electricity producer Ukrenergo said an additional reactor at a nuclear power plant has been connected to the grid, relieving constraints for the next two weeks.

The Prime Minister added that Ukraine is currently importing 1.7 gigawatts from the European Union, with the bloc able to export a maximum of 2.2 gigawatts.