Because the conflict enters its 666th day, these are the principle developments.
Right here is the scenario on Thursday, December 21, 2023.
Combating
- 9 individuals, together with 4 youngsters, had been injured in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson, as Russia additionally focused the capital Kyiv, the second-largest metropolis of Kharkiv and different areas with drones and missiles. Ukraine’s Air Power stated air defence techniques destroyed 18 out of 19 Russian assault drones and that Russia fired two surface-to-air guided missiles at Kharkiv. No casualties had been reported.
- Ukrainian navy spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun acknowledged that Russian forces had been gaining floor across the industrial metropolis of Avdiivka. Sthupun informed Ukrainian tv the Russians had “superior by one and a half to 2 kilometres [0.3 to 1.2 miles] in some locations” since October 10, nevertheless it had “price them lots”.
- The night replace from the Ukrainian Basic Workers reported 89 incidents of Russian floor assaults on seven sections of a entrance line that extends for about 1,000km (600 miles). There have been 31 assaults close to Avdiivka, it added.
- Ukraine’s Armed Forces are taking on a extra defensive posture after a months-long counteroffensive failed to attain a big breakthrough, the UK’s Defence Ministry stated in its newest evaluation of the conflict. It stated Ukraine was bettering area fortifications alongside the entrance line.
Politics and diplomacy
- The Kremlin stated there was no present foundation for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and that Kyiv’s proposed peace plan was absurd as a result of it excluded Russia. “We actually take into account that the subject of negotiations is just not related proper now,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters in Moscow.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin known as for a “extreme” response to international brokers who attempt to assist Ukraine by partaking in sabotage in Russia.
- Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich misplaced his try on the European Union’s high courtroom to overturn the sanctions the EU imposed on him after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- German federal prosecutors stated they goal to grab greater than 720 million euros ($789 million) from an unnamed Russian financial institution it suspects of attempting to violate Western sanctions.
- Ukraine’s largest cell operator Kyivstar stated it had absolutely restored its companies within the nation and abroad following an enormous cyberattack final broken IT infrastructure and affected air raid alert techniques. Greater than half of Ukraine’s inhabitants are Kyivstar subscribers.
- A Russian courtroom fined Google 4.6 billion roubles ($50.84m) for failing to delete so-called “pretend” details about the conflict in Ukraine and different subjects, in keeping with the state TASS information company.
- Yekaterina Duntsova, a 40-year-old former broadcast journalist, put her title ahead to face in Russia’s presidential election on a platform “for peace and democratic processes”. Duntsova has beforehand known as for an finish to the conflict in Ukraine and the discharge of political prisoners together with opposition chief Alexey Navalny. The 40-year-old wants 300,000 signatures from throughout Russia by January 31 to assist her candidacy. Vladimir Putin is anticipated to win in a landslide.
Weapons
- Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s minister for strategic industries, stated Kyiv plans to fabricate 1 million reconnaissance and assault drones in addition to greater than 11,000 medium- and long-range assault drones subsequent yr. The determine contains not less than 1,000 drones with a variety of greater than 1,000km (620 miles), he stated.
- Japan is contemplating permitting Patriot missile transfers to Ukraine, in keeping with a report in Nikkei.
