On Thursday, a Ukrainian general stated that Moscow was ready for a long-term war. Russian forces pounded two strategically important cities in Russia while Kyiv’s troops attacked Donetsk, which is in the east.
Each side has ruled out Christmas truces and currently there is no talk to end the almost 10-month-old war, Europe’s longest since World War Two.
After President Volodymyr Zilenskiy’s appeal to them, Brussels leaders of the European Union agreed to 18 billion euro ($19.16billion) for financing Ukraine for 2023.
Two people were killed by Russian bombing in Kherson’s centre, which was liberated last month by Ukraine. Officials said that the shelling knocked out electricity in the same city.
According to Denise Brown, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown, one of the victims in Kherson was a paramedic from the Ukrainian National Red Cross Society. According to her, the strike struck a building that was used for aid distribution by volunteers and local authorities.
She said, “It’s shocking to learn that a place used to help civilians, especially the elderly in dire need, has been destroyed by war.”
A request by the Russian defense ministry for comments about the attack on Kherson was not answered immediately.
Russian forces attacked the Kharkiv’s northeastern region, setting off several explosions. This was also reported by its mayor Ihor Terekhov via the Telegram messaging app.
A senior Ukrainian officer Brigadier General Oleksiy Grmov stated that the Kremlin “is seeking to transform the conflict into an extended armed confrontation.”
Gromov stated that the main objective of the enemy is to seize all of Ukraine’s territory (and not allow Ukraine’s Euroatlantic integration).
On Thursday Alexei Kulemzin (Russian-installed mayor) stated that Ukraine fired 40 rockets using BM-21 Grad multiple rocket-launchers at Donetsk in the worst attack since 2014. This was after separatists from Russia seized control of the city.
Although there were no deaths reported in Donetsk however Kulemzin stated that five people, including a child, had been injured.
Reuters footage captured firefighters extinguishing smoke embers from a Donetsk apartment block that was hit by a missile. Also, a woman was seen removing broken glass from a hospital ward.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian military, Moscow was still the main target of the east cities of Bakhmut & Avdiivka. However, it claimed that the army is also bombarding Kherson every day and trying for a greater foothold in Zaporizhzhia’s southern regions.
Pavlo Kyrylenko (the Ukrainian governor for Donetsk), stated that one person had been killed in Donetsk and that four others were injured close to Bakhmut.
Reuters could not immediately confirm battlefield accounts by either side.
Telegram: “The Russians are crawling like zombies upon our Bakhmut positions, creating pressure south of Donetsk,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential offices, said.
They know that this winter is going to be disastrous if they don’t stretch the front.
Officials from the United States stated that a decision to provide the Patriot missile system for the Ukrainian military might be made as quickly as Thursday, in a significant step to strengthen Kyiv’s air defense.
According to the Kremlin, the United States is getting more involved in conflict in post-Soviet Republic. The Kremlin stated that U.S. Patriot system would make legitimate targets. This was something Russia’s foreign ministry claimed on Thursday. It also applied to weapons that were supplied to Ukraine from the West.
After a visit in Ukraine, U.N. High Commission for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that Russia’s strikes had caused “extreme hardship” to millions of people.
Russia denies deliberately attacking civilians. According to Ukraine, Russian strikes are a war crime.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 24, saying that it had to defend Russian speakers against Ukrainian nationalists, tens of thousands have been killed and millions more forced from their homes. It is being called an unprovoked aggression by Kyiv, its allies.
“We, the world, should not be relaxed, because the ultimate goal for the Russian Federation’s is to conquer Ukraine and then it can go on,” stated Hanna Malyar (Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister), at the Kyiv briefing with Gromov.
Since October, Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. This has disrupted power supply and left people without heat in the cold.
Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, stated that Ukraine continues to experience a significant deficit in electricity because of the strikes. He also added that new strikes were occurring in the east.
Senior U.N. officials expressed optimism about a breakthrough in negotiations that would allow Russian fertilisers exports to be reduced to help avoid food shortages around the world next year.
Russia complained that its concerns regarding fertiliser exports were not addressed in the November agreement for the extension of a Black Sea grain export deal.
