President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky invited UN experts to visit the country’s critical infrastructure facilities in order to assess their condition. He stated this on Thursday, November 24, speaking via video link at an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council (SC) on Ukraine, which was convened at the request of Kyiv.
“On behalf of Ukraine, I confirm the invitation for UN experts to visit critical infrastructure facilities. It is necessary to evaluate them (the state. – Ed.),” Zelensky said.
He also asked partner countries to provide Ukraine with air defense systems (air defense).
“We need an effective modern air defense and missile defense system. We would like to thank those who offer it. So I urge you to take concrete steps to protect lives,” the Ukrainian president said.
In addition, Zelensky called on the UN to condemn energy terror, as well as to deprive Russia of the right to veto.
On the same day, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the international organization, Vasily Nebenzya, called on Zelensky to participate in person at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
The Russian Federation regularly opposes Zelensky’s virtual participation in UN Security Council meetings. On the eve of the first deputy representative of the Russian Federation to the international organization Dmitry Polyansky also said that Zelensky’s speech via video link is a violation of the rules of procedure of the Security Council.
On November 23, it was reported that all nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Ukraine and most thermal and hydroelectric power plants (TPPs and HPPs) were temporarily de-energized. As reported by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the vast majority of electricity consumers throughout the country have also been de-energized. It was noted that power engineers are doing everything possible to restore power supply in the country as soon as possible, but they note that this “due to the scale of the defeats, it will take time.”
On November 18, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that almost half of the country’s energy system was out of order. He also said that due to the current situation, Kyiv needs additional assistance from the European Union (EU), which will be used to purchase energy equipment and gas.
On October 10, Russian troops began inflicting massive strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure facilities. As Russian President Vladimir Putin explained, this was a response to the terrorist actions of the Kyiv regime, in particular on the Crimean bridge.
The special military operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, continues. The decision to hold it was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.