Russia-Ukraine war latest updates – The Washington Post
Swedish prosecutors said Friday that explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September were the result of “gross sabotage.” Their ongoing investigation also discovered “traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects that were found” at the site of the blast. The findings confirm the suspicions of many European policymakers that the blasts — which hit the major underwater natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that connect Russia with Germany — were deliberate. Prosecutors did not provide further details or assign blame, but said the “complex” investigation was ongoing.
In Ukraine, as the first snow fell in Kyiv and winter sets in, “more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address late Thursday, with those most affected in the capital, Odessa and Vinnytsia regions. The blackouts follow damage to the country’s power lines after being pummeled by a barrage of Russian strikes Thursday, as Moscow appears to retaliate for battlefield setbacks — injuring scores of civilians and damaging key infrastructure in the country’s south and east.
Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe.
4. From our correspondents
Russians fleeing Ukraine war seek success in Dubai: This cosmopolitan city-state in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates has long positioned itself as a haven for global wealth and finance. Now, the UAE’s decision not to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has made Dubai a new hub for fortune-seeking Russians, who see much of the rest of the world closed off to them, writes Brian Rohan for The Washington Post.
Many are choosing Dubai for its high living standards, low taxes and easy visa requirements, telling The Post they don’t face “Russophobia” compared to elsewhere.
“I see no reason to defend my homeland when no one attacked it,” said one emigre, Sergei Tulinov, 35, a tattoo artist from Kaliningrad who sold his business and moved to Dubai shortly after Russia announced a partial military mobilization in September. According to property brokerage Betterhomes, Russians were the largest single group of nonresident buyers from July to September this year.
Helier Cheung and Amar Nadhir contributed to this report.