KYIV: Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts created by Moscow’s bombardment of critical energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said.
In an interview broadcast on Ukrainian national television on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians currently sheltering abroad that they should wait until spring before returning to Ukraine.
“I wanted to ask (them) not to return. We need to survive the winter,” she said.
Since Oct. 10, Russia has launched waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Kyiv says they have damaged up to 40 percent of the power system.
A local official in Kyiv, the capital, warned last week that residents needed to be prepared for possible disconnections lasting days or even weeks.
The strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure come against a backdrop of soaring energy, food and other prices in Europe, where most of the millions of refugees who fled Ukraine following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion sought shelter.
This poses a problem for refugees, many of whom have struggled to find well-paid, permanent jobs in their new countries of residence.
Vereshchuk said the grid “won’t survive” the return of refugees from abroad, and that the situation would “only get worse.”
“To return now is to risk yourself and your children, your vulnerable relatives,” she said.
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Ukraine urges refugees to stay abroad as winter power cuts loom
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Ukraine urges refugees to stay abroad as winter power cuts loom
- Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians currently sheltering abroad that they should wait until spring before returning to Ukraine
South Korea says civilians sent drones to North Korea four times, harming ties
- South Korea is investigating civilians for sending drones to North Korea
- North Korean leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong warns Seoul over drone provocations
SEOUL: South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Wednesday that three civilians had sent drones to North Korea on four occasions since President Lee Jae Myung took office last year, harming inter-Korean ties.
The trio flew the aircraft between September 2025 and January, Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military. Drones crashed on two occasions in North Korea, in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said.
On two other attempts the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Chung said.
South Korean authorities were investigating the three civilians on suspicion of violating the aviation safety act and breaching criminal law by benefiting the enemy, he said.
Some officials at South Korea’s military intelligence agency and the National Intelligence Service were also under investigation for alleged involvement with the trio, he said.
“We express official regret to the North,” Chung said, adding that the government was taking the drone incursion incidents very seriously.
North Korea has reacted angrily, saying last month that drones from South Korea entered its airspace, after another intrusion in September.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, urged Seoul to investigate the incident, warning provocations could result in “terrible situations.”
Chung also expressed regret over South Korea sending 18 drones to North Korea under the direction of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“It was an extremely dangerous incident aimed to induce an attack against South Korea by sending 18 drones on 11 occasions, to sensitive areas in North Korea including the airspace over the Workers’ Party office,” he said.
South Korean prosecutors have indicted Yoon, who was ousted in April 2025, on charges that include aiding an enemy state.
They accused him and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to raise tensions and justify his martial law decree.
Yoon denies wrongdoing.
South Korea’s government plans to strengthen penalties for sending drones to the North, Chung said, including up to a one-year jail term or a 10 million won ($6,928) fine.
A clause will also be added to South Korea’s inter-Korean relations development act to block actions that heighten tensions on the peninsula, he said.
The trio flew the aircraft between September 2025 and January, Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military. Drones crashed on two occasions in North Korea, in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said.
On two other attempts the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Chung said.
South Korean authorities were investigating the three civilians on suspicion of violating the aviation safety act and breaching criminal law by benefiting the enemy, he said.
Some officials at South Korea’s military intelligence agency and the National Intelligence Service were also under investigation for alleged involvement with the trio, he said.
“We express official regret to the North,” Chung said, adding that the government was taking the drone incursion incidents very seriously.
North Korea has reacted angrily, saying last month that drones from South Korea entered its airspace, after another intrusion in September.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, urged Seoul to investigate the incident, warning provocations could result in “terrible situations.”
Chung also expressed regret over South Korea sending 18 drones to North Korea under the direction of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“It was an extremely dangerous incident aimed to induce an attack against South Korea by sending 18 drones on 11 occasions, to sensitive areas in North Korea including the airspace over the Workers’ Party office,” he said.
South Korean prosecutors have indicted Yoon, who was ousted in April 2025, on charges that include aiding an enemy state.
They accused him and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to raise tensions and justify his martial law decree.
Yoon denies wrongdoing.
South Korea’s government plans to strengthen penalties for sending drones to the North, Chung said, including up to a one-year jail term or a 10 million won ($6,928) fine.
A clause will also be added to South Korea’s inter-Korean relations development act to block actions that heighten tensions on the peninsula, he said.
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