Ukrainian energy minister Hrynchuk resigns as corruption probe fallout continues – live | Ukraine
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Ukrainian energy minister Hrynchuk resigns as corruption probe fallout continues
Following Zelenskyy’s request, Ukraine’s energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk has now also resigned from her post as the fallout from the alleged energy corruption probe continues.
Posting a handwritten note to Facebook, she said denied any wrongdoing “in her professional activities,” and stressed her thanks to Zelenskyy and the government for being able to serve in successive roles over the past 10 years.
Key events
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Canada explores participation in the Eurovision song contest
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Search and rescue operations under way to find missing migrants after vessel capsizes near Greek island
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Czech president presses incoming PM Babiš to resolve conflicts of interest, spell out view on Ukraine, Nato
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Ukrainian justice, energy minister to be formally dismissed from positions, prime minister confirms
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Ukrainian energy minister Hrynchuk resigns as corruption probe fallout continues
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‘Undermining state means you will be held accountable,’ Zelenskyy warns
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy calls for justice, energy ministers to be dismissed
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Norway’s Stoltenberg rules out using sovereign wealth fund to guarantee EU’s Ukraine loan
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New sleeper service will run from Paris to Berlin next year
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More than 1,000 people died in people smuggling operations in the Med region this year
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Irregular border crossing down across EU, while UK remains strong pull, Frontex data show
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‘Important results’ reported from growing pressure on Russia, Zelenskyy says
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Milan prosecutors investigate alleged ‘sniper tourism’ during Bosnian war
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20 dead after Turkish military plane crashes in Georgia
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Kazakh parliament passes Russian-style anti-LGBTQ law
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Kremlin confirms failed talks with Britain on Ukraine
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Ukraine hits Russia’s ‘Stavrolen’ plant producing components for drones, military equipment
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Russia ready to resume talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, official says
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Morning opening: Focus on corruption in Ukraine
Canada explores participation in the Eurovision song contest
Ashifa Kassam
European community affairs correspondent
When Canada released its federal budget this month, much of it was standard fare, from the plans to downsize the public service to the boost in defence spending.
But one line tucked in the nearly 500-page document has captured imaginations on both sides of the Atlantic: a mention that the government is working with Canada’s national broadcaster to explore participation in the Eurovision song contest.
When asked about the line, the country’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said the proposal to join the glitzy TV extravaganza had come from “the people who participate”.
He did not specify whether he was referring to specific countries or the European Broadcasting Union, who organises the contest. CBC-Radio Canada is an associate member of the union; another associate member, Australia, was invited by the contest’s governing board to join Eurovision in 2015.
The minister, however, appeared to embrace the longshot bid, hinting that it was part of the government’s strategic realignment away from the US and towards Europe.
“I think it’s a platform for Canada to shine,” Champagne told broadcaster Global News last week. “This is about protecting our identity – yes, we want to protect our sovereignty, but you also want to help people in the arts sector and in the film industry to make sure they can shine around the world. And we have a lot to offer as Canadians.”
In recent months, as Donald Trump’s takes aim at Canada’s sovereignty and slaps tariffs on its economy, the Canadian government has scrambled to deepen its relationships with allies around the world.
In March, the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, made a point of visiting France and the UK on his first overseas trip as prime minister, seizing on the visit to declare Canada the “most European of the non-European countries.”
Two government sources told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Carney – who spent years studying and living in the UK, most recently as the governor of the Bank of England – was personally involved in Canada’s push to join the world’s largest live music event.
While Canada has never formally participated, the pop platform has hosted an array of Canadian artists. Most famously was Céline Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, while in 2001, Natasha St-Pier represented France as did La Zarra in 2023.
Jakub Krupa
And now for something different…
Search and rescue operations under way to find missing migrants after vessel capsizes near Greek island
Helena Smith
in Athens
In more distressing news from the Mediterranean, search-and-rescue operations are still under way to find missing migrants desperate to get to Europe from Libya, following a deadly shipwreck in southern Greece.
Greek coast guard officials, citing the accounts of the more than 50 people rescued so far, believe as many as 13 others were also on board the wooden vessel at the time it capsized 15 nautical miles south of tiny Gavdos off Crete.
Emergency services confirmed that the bodies of three people were found shortly after a Frontex vessel rushed to the scene when the vastly overcrowded boat began to take on water.
Footage released by Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT, shows passengers screaming desperately for help before the tragedy occurs.
As Greece’s most southerly point, the islet of Gavdos has become a magnet for migrants fleeing Libya and one of the most popular if also deadly routes in the Mediterranean.
In a statement the Hellenic coastguard said:
“During procedures to approach the boat to gather those on board, there was movement towards the left side of the vessel with the result of water entering and the boat overturning. The crew of the Frontex boat immediately threw circular and individual lifejackets and athe vessel’s lifeboat was launched.”
Czech president presses incoming PM Babiš to resolve conflicts of interest, spell out view on Ukraine, Nato
Meanwhile in the Czech Republic, the country’s president Petr Pavel has ramped up pressure on the incoming prime minister, billionaire Andrej Babiš, repeating his demand for Babiš to resolve his conflicts of interests before taking up the post, iDnes.cz and Lidovky reported.
The main conflict of interest is about Babiš’s control over the Agrofert conglomerate, which is a recipient of EU funds.
Leaving the meeting with Pavel, Babiš told reporters he would take necessary business decisions in line with Czech and EU law, without specifying his next steps.
President Pavel stressed that he will appoint the new prime minister as soon as he meets all the formal requirements.
Amid concerns about the new government’s foreign and defence policy, Pavel also asked the new right-wing government to consider clarifying its stance on Ukraine and Nato in the coalition manifesto.
In response, Babiš pledged he would discuss these issues with coalition partners.
Ukrainian justice, energy minister to be formally dismissed from positions, prime minister confirms
Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has now confirmed that she formally submitted a motion to dismiss both energy and justice ministers from their posts to the country’s parliament, as per Zelenskyy’s request.
Russia is not wasting any time as its diplomats seek to exploit the corruption allegations in Kyiv in a bid to undermine the broad support for Ukraine among western societies.
The Russian embassy in the Netherlands has just posted a meme portraying a cartoon character sweating over making a choice between “solving Dutch social problems” and “helping corrupt Ukrainian junta,” with a note:
“Is @Minpres still ready to pour billions into Ukraine after Zelensky’s close ally Timur Mindich has been accused of a $100m corruption scheme?”
Ukrainian energy minister Hrynchuk resigns as corruption probe fallout continues
Following Zelenskyy’s request, Ukraine’s energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk has now also resigned from her post as the fallout from the alleged energy corruption probe continues.
Posting a handwritten note to Facebook, she said denied any wrongdoing “in her professional activities,” and stressed her thanks to Zelenskyy and the government for being able to serve in successive roles over the past 10 years.
‘Undermining state means you will be held accountable,’ Zelenskyy warns
In a separate post in English, Zelenskyy sent a clear signal that “undermining the state means you will be held accountable; breaking the law means you will be held accountable.”
He also said:
“There must be maximum integrity in the energy sector, in absolutely all processes. I support – and the prime minister supports – every investigation carried out by law enforcement and anti-corruption officials. This is an absolutely clear and consistent position for everyone.”
His strong comments will be no doubt closely watched by the EU as it continues to assess the country’s progress on its accession path.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy calls for justice, energy ministers to be dismissed
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just commented on the corruption scandal uncovered by the country’s anti-graft authorities (9:55), calling for justice and energy ministers to be dismissed from their positions, as the investigation continues.
“This is also a matter of trust. If there are accusations, they must be answered,” he said in a post on Telegram.
Zelenskyy said he had asked PM Svyrydenko to “request resignation letters from these ministers” so they are not involved in positions of influence as the investigation continues.
He said that as the country faces growing energy issues with power outages, caused by continued Russian strikes on Ukraine, “it is absolutely abnormal there are still some [corruption] schemes in the energy sector.”
In a video accompanying his post, Zelenskyy also said he fully supported the work of the anti-corruption agencies.
Norway’s Stoltenberg rules out using sovereign wealth fund to guarantee EU’s Ukraine loan
In other news, Norway said it could support a European Union plan to utilise frozen Russian assets for Ukraine but will not use its sovereign wealth fund as a sole financial backstop for the scheme, finance minister Jens Stoltenberg said.
EU finance ministers are set to discuss the issue on Thursday as they continue search for a way to provide some €140bn to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian aggression, as Belgium continues to oppose te idea of using the frozen Russian funds in Euroclear.
Reuters said that in a bid to break the deadlock, some members of Norway’s parliament have proposed that the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest with assets of more than $2tn, could offer a guarantee that would cover a potential legal liability.
But Stoltenberg said it was “not an option,” despite Oslo’s broader readiness to join in the EU’s plans.
He said Norway, which is not a member of the EU, was already making major financial contributions to Ukraine and could also potentially participate in the EU’s plans, but would not provide guarantees on its own, Reuters noted.
New sleeper service will run from Paris to Berlin next year
Monisha Rajesh
The resurgence of sleeper trains on the continent hit a kink in the tracks in September, when the Austrian state operator ÖBB announced that it would be axing its two Nightjet services – Paris to Vienna and Paris to Berlin – from 14 December. ÖBB cited the French government’s ending of subsidies, dealing a blow to the night-train renaissance.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
European Sleeper has told the Guardian that it will be taking over the route from Paris to Berlin, with the first train to run on 26 March 2026.
The train will operate three times a week with departures likely to be from Paris Gare du Nord on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings and the return service from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The news is certainly welcomed by Oui au train de nuit!, a French campaign group who in September took to the platforms of Paris Gare de l’Est in their nightwear and threw a pyjama party to protest against the cuts to the sleeper services out of Paris.
“This is a partial victory for the 91,000 people who signed our petition,” said Nicolas Forien, spokesperson for the group.
Jakub Krupa
In different and perhaps more positive news, let’s take a look at the latest update on the future of night trains across Europe…
More than 1,000 people died in people smuggling operations in the Med region this year
Lisa O’Carroll
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people have died in people smuggling operations across the Mediterranean this year with 42 presumed dead off the coast of Libya in the past week alone, the UN’s International Organization for Migration has said.
In a statement on Wednesday, IOM said, according to survivors, that the vessel, carrying 49 migrants and refugees, departed from Zuwara on 3 November at 3am in the morning but capsized six hours later after hitting high waves “throwing all passengers overboard”.
“After drifting at sea for six days, only seven men – four from Sudan, two from Nigeria, and one from Cameroon – were rescued. Tragically, 42 individuals remain missing and are presumed dead, including 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon, and two from Nigeria,” IOM said.
“This tragic event, coming just weeks after other deadly incidents off Surman and Lampedusa, underscores the persistent dangers faced by migrants and refugees along the Central Mediterranean Route,” it said.
Irregular border crossing down across EU, while UK remains strong pull, Frontex data show
Lisa O’Carroll
Almost 60,000 people have tried to cross the English channel small boats this year, according to the latest figures from the European border agency, Frontex.
The latest data which includes “attempted and successful crossings” shows the irregular border crossings, now one of the biggest political challenges in the UK, has remained “unchanged” compared to 2024 rising 3% to 58,900 in the first 10 months of 2025.
People from Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan were the main nationalities of those attempt to cross to the UK.
Across the EU, irregular crossings have fallen 22% to 152,000 in the same period, suggesting the UK remains a strong pull for those who have already made it into the bloc.
Frontex data shows “strong declines” on attempts to cross to the Canary islands from west Africa, which is down 59%, and in the western Balkans, down 46% while the eastern land border, a hotspot for suspected migration orchestrated by Russia, down by 38%.
The figures show that the central Mediterranean route (from Tunisia or Algeria) remains the busiest irregular route in the EU with 59,000 people detected as arriving between January and October.
Separately, we also got the latest set of Frontex figures on migration in Europe this morning.
Let’s go to Lisa O’Carroll for her analysis.
‘Important results’ reported from growing pressure on Russia, Zelenskyy says
Back to Ukraine, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received the head of the foreign intelligence service, Oleh Ivashchenko, earlier this morning.
On their meeting, he said:
“There are important results from our joint efforts with partners to put pressure on Russia.
For the first time since the beginning of the war, a noticeable decline has been recorded this year in Russia’s oil production and refining. The oil and gas revenues of the Russian budget are decreasing, and by the end of this year, Russia will have lost at least 37 billion dollars in budget oil and gas income. In addition, Russian oil companies and the entire energy sector are losing tens of billions more. All this curbs Russia’s war machine.
Both conventional sanctions against Russia and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions are working effectively. Further directions for our sanctions pressure have also been identified. I thank all our partners who are also delivering entirely justified legal blows against the vessels of Russia’s oil fleet – the Russians are now using fewer tankers.”
Zelenskyy also said the pair discussed “bringing home Ukrainian children abducted by Russians, as well as other operations abroad.”
