Kyiv suffers ‘largest ever’ drone attack by Russia leaving ‘five wounded’
Moscow has attacked Ukraine with eight long-range ballistic missiles as four people were wounded by debris after air defences shot down the incoming salvo, officials said.
The strike at around 4am on Tuesday marked the first major attack on Kyiv in recent months using ballistic missiles, which travel faster than drones and cruise missiles and are harder to shoot down.
Four people were hurt by shards of shattered glass in the Darnitskyi district, in southeastern Kyiv, and needed medical assistance, the national police said in a statement.
It comes as Russia launched a “massive assault action” on a key town in eastern Ukraine in what appears to be a renewed offensive, with 610 artillery shellings reported over the past day.
Military spokesperson Oleksandr Stupun told Ukrainian TV that “fierce battles continue” in Avdiivka, a town in Donetsk Oblast known for its coking plant.
“The enemy launched massive assault actions with the support of armoured vehicles in Avdiivka and Mariinka directions,” he said.
Earlier, the British Ministry of Defence said up to 40 percent of all combat engagements across the 600-mile frontline were happening in or around Avdiivka.
Ukraine soldier says situation in Avdiivka is ‘very difficult’
A Ukrainian soldier has described to The Independent the “very difficult” situation facing those fighting in Avdiivka, a small town in eastern Ukraine that has become the flashpoint of the frontline.
Serhiy Zhuykov, a Ukrainian section chief and sniper currently stationed nearby to the town, said: “We try to stay but there are many, many Russian attacks on our army. It is difficult, very difficult.”
A British Ministry of Defence update from this morning suggested that as much as 40 percent of combat engagements across the frontline at the moment are occurring near Avdiivka.
Ukrainian military soldiers fire from the MT-12 or 2A29 gun ‘Rapira’ is a Soviet smoothbore 100-mm anti-tank gun on December 7, 2023 in Avdiivka
(Getty Images)
Tom Watling11 December 2023 10:14
Zelensky says US and European freedom threatened by ‘Putin and his sick clique’
Russia’s real target is freedom in America and Europe despite a continuing war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said in a candid speech at a defence university in Washington on Monday.
The Ukrainian president kick-started his visit to the US to ask for more aid to fight off the Russian invasion of his country.
Mr Zelensky said Russia’s war on Ukraine is not “just about some old-fashioned dictatorship trying to settle scores, real or imagined”.
Alexander Butler12 December 2023 08:00
Watch – Defence Secretary Grant Shapps confirm transfer of two naval minehunters to Ukraine
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps confirm transfer of two naval minehunters to Ukraine
Lydia Patrick12 December 2023 07:00
Putin visits a shipyard to oversee the commissioning of new Russian nuclear submarines
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday traveled to a shipyard to attend the commissioning of new nuclear submarines, a visit that showcased the country’s nuclear might amid the fighting in Ukraine.
Putin’s trip to the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s northwestern Archangelsk region comes three days after he declared his intention to seek another six-year term.
Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election, which he is all but certain to win, while speaking to soldiers who fought in Ukraine after a Kremlin award ceremony — a setting that underlined his focus on the military action in Ukraine.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 06:00
Schoolboy’s hilarious reaction to Zelensky walking into classroom
A video of a schoolboy’s hilarious reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walking into his classroom has gone viral. Footage from the president’s office shows Zelensky going from classroom to classroom to interact with students, accompanied by the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov. As Zelensky enters the boy’s classroom, the stunned student stares wide-eyed at the president, immediately raising his hands to his head in apparent amazement. The underground classrooms were opened in September inside the University metro station to protect the students from ongoing Russian attacks.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 05:00
Zelensky says had ‘frank’ talk with Hungary’s Orban ahead of Nato summit on Kyiv membership
“It was as frank as possible – and obviously, it was focussed on our European affairs,” said Mr Zelensky in his nightly address, referring to his interaction with the Hungarian leader.
The two leaders were seen conversing in a corner of the Argentine parliament after Mr Orban threatened to block more European Union financial support to Kyiv. A nearly 20-second-long video showed Mr Zelensky engaging with Mr Orban animatedly in parliament where hundreds of leaders had gathered.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 04:00
Who is Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov? The country’s top soldier turned Putin’s fall guy
His clenched hands hung by his sides, like a schoolboy waiting for the headmaster. It was 19 October 2023. The Russian chief of the general staff, Mr Putin’s top soldier, had been appointed the operational commander of the invasion of Ukraine in January.
It was a move akin to the owner of a football club appointing the manager as his captain on the field. Since 2012, when he was appointed chief of the Russian military, his job had been big-picture strategy; from January 2023, he had needed to be engaged in day-to-day tactics as well.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 03:00
Hungary relies on Russia for some of its energy supplies, and Orban is seen as President Vladimir Putin’s strongest ally in Europe. The government in Budapest has routinely blocked work on sanctions against Moscow linked to the war.
In a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, who will chair the two-day summit starting on Thursday, Orban warned that forcing a decision on Ukraine could destroy EU unity. Other government leaders, ministers and EU officials admit to being perplexed about what Orban wants.
“The only way I can read the Hungarian position, not just on Ukraine but on many other issues, is that they are against Europe and everything Europe stands for,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 02:00
Pressure mounts on Hungary to unblock EU membership talks and funds for Ukraine
Pressure mounted on Hungary on Monday not to veto the opening of European Union membership talks and the supply of economic aid to war-torn Ukraine at a pivotal EU summit this week, after Prime Minister Viktor Orban demanded that the issue be struck from the agenda.
With tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance blocked by Senate Republicans in the United States, Ukraine is desperate to ensure longer-term financial and military assistance as fighting in its almost 2-year war with Russia bogs down.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 01:00
Zelensky in Argentina on leader’s first trip to South America
Ukraine‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in Argentina on Monday, where he attended the swearing-in of the country’s new president, Javier Milei.
It was the Ukrainian leader’s first official trip to South America as Kyiv continues to court support among developing nations for its 21-month-old fight against Russia‘s invading forces.
Mr Zelensky met with Mr Milei as well as with the presidents of Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador. During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Zelenskyy could be seen exchanging words with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, widely considered one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe and one of the few European leaders who has not sided with Ukraine in the war.
In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said he had a “highly straightforward conversation” with Mr Orban, “focused on our European affairs”.
He said he also spoke by phone with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, “about joint work at the EU level and about the joint defence of Europe”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference with local media in Buenos Aires
(REUTERS)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 December 2023 00:00
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
