Russian forces have shelled the “entire front line” in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, has said. The fiercest fighting was near the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, he said, adding that Russian troops were also trying to advance near Lyman, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November.
US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia in exchange for former arms dealer Viktor Bout and was heading back to the United States on Thursday, ending what President Joe Biden called months of “hell” for her and her wife.
Russian forces have installed multiple rocket launchers at Ukraine’s shut-down Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials claimed Thursday, raising fears Europe’s largest atomic power station could be used as a base to fire on Ukrainian territory, heightening radiation dangers.
Ukraine’s state-run power agency has accused Russian forces of abducting two senior Ukrainian staff at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Energoatom said the two abducted members of staff were beaten before being driven off in an “unknown direction” on Thursday. A third worker, who was detained, was responsible for safety at the plant, it said.
Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan. Putin also discussed the potential for a nuclear war in his remarks on Friday, saying that Russian nuclear doctrine doesn’t allow for a preventive strike and that in the case of all-out war, strikes against Russia would be “inevitable”.
Putin’s remarks came a day after he appeared to revel in recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Drinking what appeared to be sparkling wine, Putin vowed to keep battering Ukraine’s energy grid despite an outcry against the systematic attacks that have plunged millions into cold and darkness as winter sets in.
Putin also said Russia may cut oil production and will refuse to sell oil to any country that imposes the G7’s price cap on its oil. His comments came after the G7, the EU and Australia announced a $60-a-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil last week.
The UK’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said Russia is attempting to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles. Moscow is offering Tehran an “unprecedented level” of military and technical support in return for it supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine, Woodward told reporters. Meanwhile, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, warned that Russia is “expanding and modernising its nuclear arsenal”.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States is confident that Finland and Sweden will be approved soon for membership of Nato despite ratification delays from members Turkey and Hungary. After meeting his Finnish and Swedish counterparts on Thursday, Blinken said both countries had proved their bona fides to join the alliance, most notably in joining Nato to provide support to Ukraine to counter Russia’s invasion.
Russia is still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Putin claimed as his own, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He added that the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine, which Russia annexed in 2014, was vulnerable to attacks by Ukrainian forces, after officials there said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base.
The US has announced fresh sanctions on dozens of people and entities over alleged human rights abuse or corruption across nine countries, including Russia, China and Iran. The latest sanctions list includes Russia’s Central Election Commission, which Washington accused of helping to oversee and monitor what the US said are “sham referendums” held in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, as well as 15 of its members.
President Joe Biden has authorised $275m in military aid for Ukraine, the White House said. The new package will include weapons and artillery rounds, as well as equipment to help Ukraine boost its air defences, according to a statement by the US defence department.
Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko. At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk, he said in a Telegram post.
The UK Ministry of Defence has said Russia has likely received a resupply of Iranian Shahed-131 and 136 loitering munitions. Friday’s intelligence update comes following new reports over the past three weeks of attacks involving these devices. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian general staff reported shooting down at least 14 Shahed-136s.
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has announced in the Guardian that he will place new sanctions on 2,000 individuals and 400 entities across the world with connections to the Kremlin. “We are right to express our horror and revulsion, but our words will always count for more when they are backed by action,” Cleverly wrote. “I will ensure this remains the theme of British diplomacy. We are not passive observers and we should not merely voice our feelings: we will use our country’s leverage to make a difference.”
Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, discussed the latest Russian attacks on the country’s infrastructure in a phone call on Friday. Sunak said “more anti-air guns and further short-range air defence missiles would arrive in the coming weeks”, Downing Street said.
About 10,000 Ukrainian service personnel and roughly the same number of Ukrainian civilians are believed to be being held in Russian detention facilities, according to a Ukrainian official. Oleksandr Kononenko, who oversees human rights in the security and defence sector on behalf of Ukraine’s parliament, said the civilians were being detained illegally as prisoners of war because of their alleged association with the Ukrainian army or state.
Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid during the war. The grid is still working despite taking major damage, a senior official said. Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the chief executive of the grid operator Ukrenergo, also told a meeting arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that his officials were scouring the world for the complex equipment needed for repairs.
Ukraine has introduced new emergency power cuts as it tries to repair energy infrastructure damaged in Russian airstrikes. The grid operator Ukrenergo said the situation was complicated by the weather, with western regions facing frost, rain, snow and strong winds that were causing wires to ice over, but the most difficult situation was in eastern areas, where fighting has been fiercest.
Russian troops are reportedly taking part in tactical exercises in Belarus, according to the Russian defence ministry. Video clips posted by the ministry showed Russian soldiers in snow gear training near tanks in a winter landscape, firing weapons including artillery.
A Russian court has sentenced the opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison on charges of spreading false information meant to discredit the Russian army. The verdict marks the most high-profile case to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine.
The EU plans to tighten up sanctions on Russia’s military and industrial complex, pro-Kremlin media and Russian nationalist groups fighting in Ukraine, according to leaked papers. A total of eight individuals are facing personal sanctions, including Russian officials said to be involved in the illegal transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia, as well as the leaders of rightwing nationalist groups.
Representatives from Russia and the US met in Istanbul on Friday to discuss “difficult questions”, Russian state media reported. A US embassy spokesperson confirmed that a senior State department official met with Russian interlocutors to discuss “a narrow set of bilateral issues” that did not involve the war in Ukraine.
Russia has told Zambia it pardoned a Zambian student to go and fight in Ukraine, where he was killed, according to the Zambian foreign affairs minister. Zambia has demanded answers over the death of Lemekhani Nyirenda, after Russia announced he had been killed on the battlefield in Ukraine in September.
A senior Orthodox Christian cleric has been accused of engaging in anti-Ukrainian activity by supporting Russian policies in social media posts, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said. The SBU’s statement followed a series of raids of property used by a Ukrainian branch of the Orthodox church, including the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex, as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”.
Pope Francis broke down and wept as he prayed for peace in Ukraine during a traditional Christmas visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome. Reuters reports that Francis had to stop speaking and was unable to continue for about 30 seconds, and his head trembled. He later tweeted that “peace is possible; disarmament is possible”
Russian athletes have been offered a path to compete at the Paris 2024 Games even if the war in Ukraine continues to rage for another 18 months. It comes after a proposal was made by the Olympic Council of Asia to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in its qualifying competitions for 2024 – even though they are still banned by most sports.
