Russian strikes kill 12 as Kyiv unveils new long-range ‘rocket-drone’

Russian strikes on two cities in southeastern Ukraine have killed 12 and injured more than 40, local officials have said.

A strike on a car repair shop in Zaporizhzhia turned the facility into a giant fireball and killed 10 people, the regional governor said. Some 24 people were injured, including two children, a local official said.

Some settlements experienced power supply problems after the attack, the governor added.

In Kryvyi Rih, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, also in the southeast, a missile strike on an administrative building killed two people.

It comes as Ukraine showed off a new locally-produced “rocket-drone” which it said could fly 700 km – more than twice the longest range attributed to missiles supplied by Western allies.

The unmanned craft, called “Peklo” – which means hell in Ukrainian – is the second “rocket drone” unveiled by Kyiv as it tries to increase its ability to strike deep into Russia.

On Saturday, Mr Zelensky also met with US-president elect Donald Trump as the pair attended the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Mr Zelensky said: “We spoke about our people, the situation on the ground, and a just peace.”

Key Points

• Russian strikes kill 12 people and injure dozens more in Ukraine

• Trump talks ending Ukraine war with Zelensky in ‘good and productive’ meeting

• Russia puts out feelers to Trump despite ‘red lines’

• Top Biden aide pledges massive Ukraine military aid surge

Scholz says a joint Ukraine approach can be found with Trump

04:10 , Shahana Yasmin

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is confident he will be able to agree with US President-elect Donald Trump on a joint strategy for Ukraine after speaking to him on the phone.

“I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine. My guiding principle remains that nothing can be decided without giving the Ukrainian people a say,” he told the Funke group of newspapers in an interview.

He added he had spoken with the future US president “in detail” and that his team was in a direct exchange with Trump’s security advisers.

Ukraine is shaping up as a major issue in campaigning for Germany’s snap election in February, which follows the collapse last month of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition in Berlin.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader who is on course to unseat Scholz, has said Germany should send Taurus cruise missiles. Scholz has opposed such a move, saying it could escalate the war.

Scholz on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine during a rare visit to Kyiv that he said sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Berlin would stand by Kyiv for as long as needed in the war.

Zelensky meets with Georgian president in Paris, offers ‘full support’

03:50 , Shahana Yasmin

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening.

“I expressed Ukraine’s full support and solidarity with the Georgian people, who are fighting for their dignified future, and emphasised that respecting the will of the Georgian people and preventing Ivanishvili’s government from surrendering the country to (Russian president Vladimir) Putin is essential for the stability and future of the region,” Mr Zelensky posted on X.

“Thank you, President Zelensky, for your steadfast and unwavering support for the Georgian people. Our nations’ fight for independence, freedom, and a European future will prevail – there is no alternative,” Ms Zourabichvili posted.

Russia claims they’ve taken control of village in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast

03:30 , Shahana Yasmin

Russia has captured the village of Beretsky in Donetsk Oblast, the Russian defence ministry announced on Sunday, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Beretsky, located about 40km west of Donetsk, lies near Kurakhove, an area that has faced heavy Russian assaults in recent months as part of efforts to gain ground in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has not commented on Russia’s claims yet.

US announces $1bn weapons package for Ukraine

03:10 , Shahana Yasmin

The US will provide $988m more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, defence secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.

“The baton will soon be passed,” Austin said. “Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”

The latest package will include more drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.

This package is in addition to the $725m military assistance that the US announced on Monday.

Ukraine confirms second Danish delivery of F-16s as Zelenskyy seeks support in Paris

02:50 , Shahana Yasmin

Denmark has delivered a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday as he traveled to Paris to meet with top politicians and dignitaries.

In a message on Telegram, Zelenskyy praised Denmark and lamented a lack of dedication from other allies.

“The first batch of planes provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles: rescuing our people and our infrastructure. Now our air shield is reinforced even further,” he said. “If all partners were so determined, we would have been able to make Russian terror impossible.”

Ukraine confirms second Danish delivery of F-16s as Zelenskyy seeks support in Paris

MI5 forced to shift focus from terrorism to Russia due to ‘finite capacity’

02:01 , Jabed Ahmed

MI5 forced to shift focus from terrorism to Russia due to ‘finite capacity’

Trump talks ending Ukraine war with Zelensky in ‘good and productive’ meeting

01:02 , Alex Ross

Volodymyr Zelensky has described his first in-person talks with US-president elect Donald Trump since November’s US election as “productive” as the pair discussed ending the war as soon as possible.

Mr Trump arrived in Paris for a ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, destroyed by a fire in 2019, in a return to the world stage at a time leaders are jostling for his attention.

The meeting with Mr Zelensky was brokered and attended by French president Emmanuel Macron, who played a key role in the service at the cathedral amid turmoil in French politics.

Mr Trump has previously pledged to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours of his 20 January inauguration, although his officials have floated the idea of forcing Kyiv to cede territory to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to achieve that aim.

On the 35-minute three-way meeting on Saturday night, Mr Zelensky described it as “good and productive”, adding: “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way. We spoke about our people, the situation on the ground, and a just peace.”

Full story here:

Trump talks ending Ukraine war with Zelensky in return to world stage

Top Estonian tech firm to test AI-guided anti-drone missiles in Ukraine

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:58 , Jabed Ahmed

A leading Estonian defence firm has said it will start testing anti-drone missiles in Ukraine in 2025.

The tests intend to check the system’s effectiveness in real combat conditions, Frankenburg Technologies said.

Recognised as Europe’s top technology startup, Frankenburg Technologies has developed missiles to intercept Iranian Shahed dronesat altitudes of two kilometres using artificial intelligence for autonomous targeting.

“The technology is promising, and we will start testing it in Ukraine in the new year,” the company’s CEO Kusti Salm told Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR.

Production will start increase from a few dozen units per week to hundreds by the third quarter of 2025.

ICYMI: Putin signs agreement offering Russia’s security guarantees to ally Belarus

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:02 , Jabed Ahmed

Putin signs agreement offering Russia’s security guarantees to ally Belarus

Russia puts out feelers to Trump despite ‘red lines’

Saturday 7 December 2024 22:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Russia is open to talks with US President-elect Donald Trump but will use “any means” to prevent Washington and its allies from defeating it in Ukraine, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told US journalist Tucker Carlson.

In an 80-minute interview released late on Thursday, Mr Lavrov spoke positively of Mr Trump, who returns to the White House next month, despite urging the West to take Russia’s “red lines” seriously.

Mr Lavrov said Mr Trump was “a very strong person, a person who wants results” and said he saw no reason why the two countries could not “cooperate for the sake of the universe”.

Mr Lavrov’s comments were part of a pattern of Russian signals designed to deter Washington from further escalation in support of Ukraine while displaying openness to negotiations.

Zelensky says Putin ‘does not need real peace’ after Russian strikes kill 12

Saturday 7 December 2024 21:03 , Jabed Ahmed

Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Vladimir Putin over strikes that at least 12 in southeastern Ukraine.

At least 10 people were killed in Zaporizhzhia, while two were killed in Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said.

“Thousands of such strikes carried out by Russia during this war make it absolutely clear that Putin does not need real peace,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. “Only by force can we resist this. And only through force can real peace be established.”

Rachel Reeves to meet with EU counterparts over Ukraine support

Saturday 7 December 2024 20:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Reeves tipped to meet with EU counterparts over Ukraine support

Full report: Ukraine confirms second Danish delivery of F-16s as Zelensky seeks support in Paris

Saturday 7 December 2024 19:02 , Jabed Ahmed

Ukraine confirms second Danish delivery of F-16s as Zelenskyy seeks support in Paris

Zelensky hails ‘good and productive’ meeting with Trump in Paris

Saturday 7 December 2024 18:31 , Tom Watling

Russia says it has taken another village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Saturday 7 December 2024 18:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Russia’s Defence Ministry has said that its forces had taken Berestky, a small village close to the embattled town of Kurakhove in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region.

The Independent could not verify this claim.

Pictured: Zelensky arrives at Paris’s Elysee Presidential Palace

Saturday 7 December 2024 17:29 , Jabed Ahmed

Russian gains in eastern Ukraine accelerate through the Autumn

Saturday 7 December 2024 17:02 , Jabed Ahmed

Russian forces have increased the pace at which they are taking territory in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv’s troops struggle to hold back a much larger and more heavily armed military.

Along the 1,000 km frontline, Moscow has focused its attacks on towns and villages around the transport hub of Pokrovsk, the seizure of which could severely disrupt Ukraine’s ability to supply its forces.

Pasi Paroinen, an analyst from the Finland-based Black Bird Group, which studies footage and satellite images from the frontline, told Reuters that Russian gains in Ukraine had accelerated in recent months.

He estimated the following monthly territorial gains by Russia:

In Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in August, Kyiv now holds approximately 500 sq km of territory, Paroinen estimated, down from a maximum of around 1,200 sq km.

Trump to hold three-way meeting with Macron, Zelensky in Paris

Saturday 7 December 2024 16:52 , Jabed Ahmed

US President-elect Donald Trump will hold three-way talks in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, the Elysee said.

What Russia’s invasion has cost Ukraine after more than 1,000 days of war

Saturday 7 December 2024 16:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Devastating human and material losses continue to mount, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable than at any time since the early days of the war.

As of 31 August, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine had documented at least 11,743 civilians killed and 24,614 wounded in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian prosecutors have said 589 Ukrainian children had been killed by 15 November.

Western countries believe Russia has suffered far worse casualties than Ukraine, sometimes losing more than 1,000 soldiers killed per day during periods of intense fighting in the east.

But it is Ukraine, with around a third of Russia’s population, that is likely to be facing the more severe manpower shortages arising from battles of attrition.

Russia now occupies and claims to have annexed around a fifth of Ukraine, an area around the size of Greece.

The draft 2025 budget envisages that about 26% of Ukraine’s GDP, or 2.2 trillion hryvnias ($53.3 billion), would go on defence. Ukraine has already received more than $100 billion from its Western partners in financial aid.

What is ATACMS? The US missiles being used inside Russia

Saturday 7 December 2024 15:02 , Jabed Ahmed

There are several variants of Army Tactical Missile Systems, a long-range missile system that often carries varying amounts of cluster bomblets.

Ukrainian forces used the US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time in October 2023, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the weapons had “proven themselves.”

Ukraine likely has what are known as M39A1 Block IA ATACMS that are guided in part by Global Positioning System and have a range of 40 to 190 miles. They can carry a payload of 300 bomblets. The M39 Block IA were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Army documents, and were added to the US arsenal in 1997.

What is Russia’s ‘Oreshnik’ missile?

Saturday 7 December 2024 14:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Vladimir Putin said Russia had struck Ukraine with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile in response to Kyiv’s use of US and British missiles against Russia.

On 21 November, he said Russia had launched an “Oreshnik”, one of its newest intermediate-range missiles, at a defence enterprise in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Putin said it travelled at 10 times the speed of sound and could not be intercepted. It has a range of around 3,100 miles allowing Russia to strike most of Europe, according to experts.

It appears to have multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles: separate warheads able to hit different targets.

Anatoly Matviychuk, a Russian military expert, said it could carry six to eight conventional or nuclear warheads, and was probably already in service.

Foreign minister says in interview that Russia will use ‘all means’ to defend its interests

Saturday 7 December 2024 13:01 , Jabed Ahmed

Foreign minister says in interview that Russia will use ‘all means’ to defend its interests

Saturday 7 December 2024 12:14 , Jabed Ahmed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said a second batch of F-16 fighter jets had arrived in Ukraine from Denmark.

“The second batch of F-16s from Denmark has arrived in Ukraine. This is an example of leadership in defending lives that sets Denmark apart,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

Scholz says a joint Ukraine approach can be found with Trump

Saturday 7 December 2024 11:29 , Jabed Ahmed

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is confident he will be able to agree with US President-elect Donald Trump on a joint strategy for Ukraine after speaking to him on the phone.

“I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine. My guiding principle remains that nothing can be decided without giving the Ukrainian people a say,” he told the Funke group of newspapers in an interview.

He added he had spoken with the future US president “in detail” and that his team was in a direct exchange with Trump’s security advisers.

Ukraine is shaping up as a major issue in campaigning for Germany’s snap election in February, which follows the collapse last month of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition in Berlin.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader who is on course to unseat Scholz, has said Germany should send Taurus cruise missiles. Scholz has opposed such a move, saying it could escalate the war.

Scholz on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine during a rare visit to Kyiv that he said sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Berlin would stand by Kyiv for as long as needed in the war.

Putin says new Oreshnik hypersonic missile could be deployed in Belarus

Saturday 7 December 2024 10:46 , Jabed Ahmed

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia could deploy its new Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic missile on the territory of its ally Belarus in the second half of next year.

Putin was responding to a request from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a summit in Minsk, where the two leaders signed a mutual defence pact.

“… since we have today signed an agreement on security guarantees using all available forces and means, I consider the deployment of such systems as the Oreshnik on the territory of the Republic of Belarus to be feasible,” Putin said.

“I think this will become possible in the second half of next year, as serial production of these systems in Russia increases and as these missile systems enter service with the Russian strategic forces,” he added in televised comments.

Russia first fired the Oreshnik at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on 21 November, in what Putin cast as a response to Ukraine’s first use of US ATACMs ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadows to strike Russian territory with Western permission.

Zelensky heads to Paris with possible Trump talks in mind

Saturday 7 December 2024 09:58 , Jabed Ahmed

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Paris to attend the re-opening of Notre-Dame cathedral on Saturday, and could use the trip to hold talks with US President-elect Donald Trump, two diplomatic sources said.

There were efforts to arrange the meeting between Zelensky and Trump, who is also attending the celebrations, the two sources said. The plans would probably not come together until the last minute and any talks would be discreet, they added.

A Ukrainian delegation met on Wednesday with senior Trump aides, two sources familiar with the meeting said, as Ukraine seeks support from the incoming US team for its war to repel Russia’s invasion.

Rachel Reeves to meet with EU counterparts over Ukraine support

Saturday 7 December 2024 09:31 , Jabed Ahmed

Reeves tipped to meet with EU counterparts over Ukraine support

Zelensky says Putin ‘does not need real peace’ after Russian strikes kill 12

Saturday 7 December 2024 08:03 , Shahana Yasmin

Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Vladimir Putin over strikes that at least 12 in southeastern Ukraine.

At least 10 people were killed in Zaporizhzhia, while two were killed in Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said.

“Thousands of such strikes carried out by Russia during this war make it absolutely clear that Putin does not need real peace,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. “Only by force can we resist this. And only through force can real peace be established.”

Russia puts out feelers to Trump despite ‘red lines’

Saturday 7 December 2024 07:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Russia is open to talks with US President-elect Donald Trump but will use “any means” to prevent Washington and its allies from defeating it in Ukraine, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told US journalist Tucker Carlson.

In an 80-minute interview released late on Thursday, Mr Lavrov spoke positively of Mr Trump, who returns to the White House next month, despite urging the West to take Russia’s “red lines” seriously.

Mr Lavrov said Mr Trump was “a very strong person, a person who wants results” and said he saw no reason why the two countries could not “cooperate for the sake of the universe”.

Mr Lavrov’s comments were part of a pattern of Russian signals designed to deter Washington from further escalation in support of Ukraine while displaying openness to negotiations.

Read more on the interview here:

Tucker Carlson returns to Moscow to interview another Russian leader

ICYMI: Putin signs agreement offering Russia’s security guarantees to ally Belarus

Saturday 7 December 2024 06:30 , Shahana Yasmin

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus on Friday to sign a treaty offering security guarantees for Moscow’s closest ally, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to help repel an aggression.

The signing of the document follows the publication of a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid the tensions between Moscow and the West over the Ukrainian conflict.

Speaking alongside Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin emphasized that the new document includes the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to an aggression.

“I’m sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said in televised remarks.

After the two leaders signed the security pact, Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy more advanced weapons in Belarus, including the Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile that Russia used for the first time last month against Ukraine.

“I would like to publicly ask you to deploy new weapons systems, primarily Oreshnik, to Belarus,” Lukashenko said. “It will help calm some heads.”

Putin signs agreement offering Russia’s security guarantees to ally Belarus

Top Estonian tech firm to test AI-guided anti-drone missiles in Ukraine

Saturday 7 December 2024 06:00 , Steffie Banatvala

A leading Estonian defence firm has said it will start testing anti-drone missiles in Ukraine in 2025.

The tests intend to check the system’s effectiveness in real combat conditions, Frankenburg Technologies said.

Recognised as Europe’s top technology startup, Frankenburg Technologies has developed missiles to intercept Iranian Shahed drones at altitudes of two kilometres using artificial intelligence for autonomous targeting.

“The technology is promising, and we will start testing it in Ukraine in the new year,” the company’s CEO Kusti Salm told Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR.

Production will start increase from a few dozen units per week to hundreds by the third quarter of 2025.

Foreign minister says in interview that Russia will use ‘all means’ to defend its interests

Saturday 7 December 2024 05:45 , Shahana Yasmin

Russia’s top diplomat said in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released on Friday that Moscow doesn’t want a war with the United States but will use “all means” to defend its interests.

Sergey Lavrov argued that while Russia and the U.S. are officially not at war, Washington’s permission for Ukraine to use American longer-range missiles for strikes on Russian territory marked a dangerous escalation.

“It is obvious that the Ukrainians would not be able to do what they’re doing with long-range modern weapons without direct participation of the American servicemen. And this is dangerous, no doubt about this,” he said, adding that the Western belief that Russia’s red lines could be “moved again and again” is “a very serious mistake.”

Read the full report here.

MI5 forced to shift focus from terrorism to Russia due to ‘finite capacity’

Saturday 7 December 2024 05:30 , Shahana Yasmin

MI5 will be forced to turn focus away from terrorism and towards Russia and other hostile states as a result of the security agency’s “finite capacity”, its boss has said.

The agency will have to make “uncomfortable choices” in the face of “much more aggression from nation states”, said Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5.

“In effect, we had the 20 to 30-year holiday from that kind of big player, sophisticated states in serious conflict with each other. It’s back, I’m afraid,” he said in an interview recording obtained by The Times.

In a speech in October, the UK’s top security boss warned that Russia wanted to cause “mayhem” on British streets and that Iranian-backed plots which pose “lethal threats” to Britons are being ramped up at an “unprecedented pace and scale”.

MI5 forced to shift focus from terrorism to Russia due to ‘finite capacity’

Ukraine unveils new ‘rocket-drone’ to boost long-range strikes

Saturday 7 December 2024 05:15 , Shahana Yasmin

Ukraine showed off a new locally-produced “rocket-drone” on Friday which it said could fly 700 km – more than twice the longest range attributed to missiles supplied by Western allies.

The unmanned craft, called “Peklo” – which means hell in Ukrainian – is the second “rocket drone” unveiled by Kyiv as it tries to increase its ability to strike deep into Russia.

Ukraine‘s arms production minister told Reuters in November the “rocket-drone” could be viewed as something akin to a cruise missile, which flies low on a guided path to its target, usually below the speed of sound.

Russian rouble rebounds after Putin’s gas payment decree

Saturday 7 December 2024 05:00 , Steffie Banatvala

The Russian rouble has rebounded past 100 to the US dollar, trading at 99.50 on Friday, after a decree by president Vladimir Putin which opened new payment options for European buyers of Russian gas, allowing foreign currency flows to resume.

The rouble strengthened by 1.5 per cent against the dollar, according to bank data.

Putin’s decree meant that European buyers of Russian gas, including Hungary and Slovakia, who previously used Gazprombank for their transactions, could now convert their currency into roubles in other banks that are not under sanctions.

The US sanctions imposed on Gazprombank on November 22 disrupted Russia‘s foreign currency market, leading to a 15 percent fall in the rouble exchange rate against the dollar.

EU envoys fail to approve 15th sanctions package on Russia

Saturday 7 December 2024 04:45 , Shahana Yasmin

The European Union failed to approve its 15th sanctions package on Russia, reported Reuters, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

Most oil imports from Russia were banned by the EU after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary received exemptions due to their limited access to alternatives.

Two EU member states blocked the adoption of the sanctions package due to disagreements over extending the timeframe provided to European companies to withdraw investments from Russia.

Member states have said they will revisit the sanctions later.Debates were also held over extending the exemption, which expired on 5 December, that allowed Czechia to import diesel fuel and other products derived from Russian oil.

Putin’s cousin accidentally reveals secret figure relating to Russian losses

Saturday 7 December 2024 04:30 , Shahana Yasmin

A family member of Russian president Vladimir Putin accidentally revealed what is likely a confidential tally of the appeals by relatives of soldiers who submitted DNA samples.

Anna Tsivilyova, the daughter of Mr Putin’s cousin and a deputy defence minister, said the government received tens of thousands of appeals from relatives trying to trace soldiers, dead or missing, through DNA samples.

Ms Tsivilyova said in a video, published by the independent Astra Telegram channel, the ministry received 48,000 requests from relatives of Russian troops.

Putin’s cousin accidentally reveals secret figure relating to Russian losses

In pictures: Russian strikes in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih kill 12

Saturday 7 December 2024 04:18 , Shahana Yasmin

Russia’s autumn offensive cost over 50 soldiers per square km

Saturday 7 December 2024 04:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Russian forces suffered about 53 casualties per square kilometre as they advanced in Ukraine in autumn 2024, according to an Institute for the Study of War (ISW) report.

From September to November 2024 Russian soldiers lost about 125,800 personnel as they captured approximately 2,356 square kilometres of territory including the Kursk Oblast, the report said.

Zelensky may meet Trump at Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening in Paris

Saturday 7 December 2024 03:45 , Shahana Yasmin

President Volodymyr Zelensky may meet US President-elect Donald Trump during his visit to Paris at the Notre-Dame Cathedral’s reopening, reported AFP citing an unnamed senior Ukrainian official.

“The Ukrainian president will attend celebrations to mark the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral. He will meet with President (Emmanuel) Macron. Other meetings are also possible, including with President-elect Donald Trump, who will also attend the event,” the source told AFP.

Around 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, five years after the iconic cathedral was badly damaged by a fire.

Russian strikes kill 12, wound 40 in Ukraine’s southeast

Saturday 7 December 2024 03:30 , Shahana Yasmin

Russian attacks on the southeastern Ukrainian cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih killed at least 12 and wounded over 40, according to regional officials.

A strike on a car repair shop in Zaporizhzhia killed 10, said the regional governor. Reuters reported that a local official said 24 were injured, including two children.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rih saw a missile attack on an administrative building that killed two people and injured at least 19, including a child.

Scholz says a joint Ukraine strategy can be found with Trump

Saturday 7 December 2024 03:15 , Shahana Yasmin

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is confident that he will be able to decide on a joint strategy for Ukraine with US President-elect Donald Trump after speaking with him on the phone, Scholz told the Funke group of newspapers, reported Reuters.

“I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine. My guiding principle remains that nothing can be decided without giving the Ukrainian people a say,” he told the paper, adding that he spoke with the future US president “in detail” and his team was in a direct exchange with Trump’s security advisers.

On Monday, Scholz announced new military aid for Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv, and said he had sent a message to Vladimir Putin saying Germany would stand by Ukraine.

Top Biden aide pledges massive Ukraine military aid surge

Saturday 7 December 2024 03:00 , Steffie Banatvala

The White House has devised a last-minute strategy to strengthen Ukraine’s war efforts through significant military aid and sweeping new sanctions on Russia, according to a security briefing shared with the Guardian.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, during a meeting with Ukrainian presidential office head Andrii Yermak on Thursday, committed to delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armoured vehicles by mid-January.

The United States also plans to train Ukrainian troops outside the country and finalise $20bn in loans backed by frozen Russian assets, according to the briefing.

The strategy includes a final push of sanctions on Russia before US president-elect Donald Trump renters the White House. The move aims to weaken Russia’s war effort and enhance Ukraine’s leverage in future negotiations.

Russia’s artillery advantage over Ukraine slashed, Western officials say

Saturday 7 December 2024 02:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Russia’s capacity to outpace Ukraine’s artillery barrages has reduced to just 1.5 Russian rounds for each Ukrainian shell fired, Western officials said.

Previously Russia has been able to launch at least five times as many rounds as Ukraine could, with ratios higher at times.

Anonymous Western officials said the narrowing gap was down to a “wide variety of factors”, including limitations on Russian production lines, disruptions to arms rail transportation, Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian and North Korean ammunition stockpiles inside Russia, and Western supplies bolstering Ukraine’s armoury.

But large numbers of Russian glide bombs may be compensating “to devastating effect” for the reduced artillery front, the Western officials warned.

EU’s failed sanctions package against Russia includes oil tankers

Saturday 7 December 2024 01:00 , Steffie Banatvala

A failed package of the latest EU sanctions against Russia included sanctions on tankers carrying Russian oil, as well as an extension for the Czech Republic to import Russian oil-based products coming mainly through Slovakia, diplomats said.

Two member states blocked the passage over a disagreement about extending the time given to European companies disinvesting from Russia, diplomats said. EU members will come back to the package later.

While the Czechs have said they were not looking for an extension allowing the import of Russian oil-based fuels, Slovakia has sought to keep the arrangement, which expired on Thursday, in place.

Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary gained exemptions to sanctions from an EU ban on Russian oil imports because of lack of alternative supply.

But the Czech Republic has been upgrading a pipeline from Italy to Germany to transport more oil that way and wean itself completely off Russian crude by the second half of 2025.

Putin says new Oreshnik hypersonic missile could be deployed in Belarus

Saturday 7 December 2024 00:00 , Steffie Banatvala

President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could deploy its new Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic missile on the territory of its ally Belarus in the second half of next year.

Putin was responding to a request from Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko at a summit in Minsk, where the two leaders signed a mutual defence pact.

“Since we have today signed an agreement on security guarantees using all available forces and means, I consider the deployment of such systems as the Oreshnik on the territory of the Republic of Belarus to be feasible,” Putin said on Friday.

Russia first fired the Oreshnik at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21, in what Putin cast as a response to Ukraine‘s first use of US ATACMs ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadows to strike Russian territory with Western permission.

Russian missile kills two, wounds thirteen in Ukraine

Friday 6 December 2024 23:00 , Steffie Banatvala

A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih damaged an administrative building, killing two people and wounding at least 13 others, the regional governor said.

A six-year-old child was among those wounded and was hospitalised, the governor said on Telegram messenger.

One of the injured died in hospital, the governor added.

Rescuers continued searching at the site as one person was missing, he said.

Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of president Volodymyr Zelensky, is frequently targeted by Russia.

It comes as a separate attack in Russia’s Zaporizhzhia region killed at least seven people. The toll may rise.

Romanian election annulled over Russian meddling claims

Friday 6 December 2024 22:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Romania’s top court annulled the result of the first round of the country’s presidential election after the surprise win of a far-right pro-Russian candidate led to accusations of Russian meddling.

The second round, which was due for Sunday, would have pitted frontrunner Calin Georgescu against pro-European Union centrist leader Elena Lasconi.

A win for Mr Georgescu, who wants to end Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, would have upended the EU and NATO member state’s pro-Western politics.

President Maia Sandu of neighbouring Moldova, who herself won re-election in October despite what her pro-Western camp said was heavy Russian meddling, met Ms Lasconi in Bucharest late on Thursday and endorsed her bid for Romania’s presidency.

“In Moldova we know well the world promised by those who despise the West,” said Ms Sandu.

Romania has been the strongest supporter of its small neighbour’s efforts to join the EU and the votes of Moldovans with dual Romanian citizenship carry weight in Moldovans elections.

Ukraine says Syrian collapse shows Russia can’t fight two fronts

Friday 6 December 2024 21:00 , Steffie Banatvala

The collapse of Russia’s ally Syria in the face of an assault from rebel groups shows Moscow cannot fight on two fronts, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Thursday while reiterating denials that Kyiv was involved in the fighting there.

“We can see that Russia cannot fight on two fronts — this is clear from the events in Syria,” ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters at a weekly news conference.

After years locked behind frozen frontlines, Syrian rebels have burst forth to mount the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a rebellion against president Bashar al-Assad descended into civil war 13 years ago.

Mr Tykhyi was responding to a question about accusations from Iran, another ally of Mr Assad, that Ukraine was supporting what Tehran called terrorist groups.

Ukrainian casino heads suspected of Russian collaboration

Friday 6 December 2024 20:00 , Steffie Banatvala

The top managers and Russian owners of a popular online casino in Ukraine have been suspected of collaboration with Russia, according to Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The owners allegedly collected data about the location of users, including Ukrainian military personnel.

The agencies did not confirm the name of the company but the head of Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency, said the suspects are the representatives of Pin-Up.

The associated individuals operate in Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast, contributing to the Russian state budget, military-industrial complex and war efforts against Ukraine, according to the DBR.

One suspect who “controls the online casino’s work” has allegedly been financing an organisation supporting Russian veterans have fought in the war in Ukraine.

ICYMI: Canada bans more types of firearms and proposes donating guns to Ukraine

Saturday 7 December 2024 04:27 , Shahana Yasmin

Canada said it is outlawing another 324 firearm varieties — guns the public safety minister said belong on the battlefield, not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters.

Ottawa also said it is working with the government of Ukraine to see how the guns can be donated to support the fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move follows the May 2020 ban of 1,500 makes and models of firearms, a number that grew to more than 2,000 by November of this year as new variants were identified.

Canada bans more types of firearms and proposes donating guns to Ukraine

Ukrainian group in US opposes Russian-linked Starlink expansion

Friday 6 December 2024 19:00 , Steffie Banatvala

A Ukrainian non-profit in the United States has filed a petition to block tech company SpaceX from placing nearly 22,500 Starlink satellites into low-earth orbit.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) said it was converned over SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Russian contacts and “the alleged use of his Starlink system by Russian forces in Ukraine”, CNBC reported.

As well as making controversial statements about the war in Ukraine, Mr Musk is alleged to have held secret calls with Putin and Kremlin officials.

The UCCA filed the petition with the US Federal Communications Commission on December 4, calling on the agency to conduct a review.

Ukraine boasts new ‘rocket-drone’ to boost long-range strikes

Friday 6 December 2024 18:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Ukraine showed off a new locally-produced “rocket-drone” on Friday which it said could fly 700 km (430 miles) – more than twice the longest range attributed to missiles supplied by Western allies.

The unmanned craft, called “Peklo” – which means hell in Ukrainian – is the second “rocket drone” unveiled by Kyiv as it tries to increase its ability to strike deep into Russia.

Ukraine‘s arms production minister told Reuters in November the “rocket-drone” could be viewed as something akin to a cruise missile, which flies low on a guided path to its target, usually below the speed of sound.

Ukraine has released few details of its arms industry, citing concerns about giving useful information to Moscow.

Russia scrambling for plane scraps after sanctions

Friday 6 December 2024 17:00 , Steffie Banatvala

Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot plans to buy five Boeing cargo planes to use for spare parts, Russian media reported, as its aviation industry struggles following Western sanctions.

The planes will be transferred to Aeroflot’s budget subsidiary Pobeda to be disassembled rather than converted for passenger use due to financial constraints, Russian state media Kommersant reported.

Western sanctions have piled pressure on Russia’s aviation industry, putting bankruptcies on the table for several airlines.

China says Ukraine-Russia peace talks need ‘positive energy’ from international players

Friday 6 December 2024 16:40 , Steffie Banatvala

China has called on the international community to “create conditions” for direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that dialogue and resolution would only come if major powers showed “positive energy”, according to Ukrinform news agency.

“In our opinion, the only possible way to resolve the ‘crisis’ is through dialogue and negotiations, so the international community should help create conditions for the resumption of direct talks between the two sides of the conflict,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

“Only when all major powers demonstrate positive energy can we see hope for a quick ceasefire,” he added.

China has deepened ties with Russia since the war in Ukraine but denied allegations of bolstering Russian war efforts.

Putin to sign deal guaranteeing Russian security to ally Belarus

Friday 6 December 2024 16:20 , Steffie Banatvala

Russian president Vladimir Putin visited Belarus to sign a treaty offering security guarantees to Moscow’s closest ally.The planned signing of the document follows the publication of a revised version of Russia‘s nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid the tensions between Moscow and the West over the Ukrainian conflict.

“I’m sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said in televised remarks.

Speaking alongside Belarus’ president Alexander Lukashenko, Putin emphasized that the new document includes a potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to an aggression.

Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for more than 30 years and has relied on Russian subsidies and support, allowed Russia to use his country’s territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.