[Korrespondent] 22:25 Zelensky said that next year will be decisive: "We continue to prepare the defense and security forces of Ukraine for next year. This should be a decisive year. We understand what risks there are in winter, we understand what we must do in the spring, which means we understand what results must be demonstrated by the entire defense and security sector."
The President also said that the current week for Ukraine will be important from a political point of view: “We are entering the next year and must maintain a common understanding of our national goals. Of course, this is the liberation of our land from the enemy, as well as the restoration of Ukraine, the return of our people home, further rapprochement of our state with key partners, opening up new opportunities for Ukraine in the world - these are all the tasks for the near future. Soon I will present my view on the implementation of these tasks in the annual message to the Verkhovna Rada on the external and internal situation of Ukraine. I want this message was not a report, but our conversation with you about the next year."
22:16 The FSB announced the death of "Ukrainian saboteurs" on the territory of Russia, the information is confirmed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Everything that is known about what happened is in the material Death of "Ukrainian saboteurs" in the Russian Federation .
22:10 Kyiv receives stable volumes of electricity, albeit with limitations, Yasno CEO Sergei Kovalenko said. According to him, these volumes can be evenly distributed through temporary network reconnection schemes, but it is difficult to predict how the equipment will behave if the temperature drops significantly and consumption rises. In addition, we must not forget about the risk of new Russian attacks.
21:04 Italian Prime Minister George Meloni, during a conversation with Zelensky, confirmed her intention to come to Kiev and invited the Ukrainian president to visit Rome, her office said.
20:28 The Russians fired at the maternity ward of the hospital in Kherson, where two children were born today. In total, there are five women in the institution after giving birth, miraculously no one was hurt, the President's Office reported.
19:31 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin instructed to create 16 military training centers at federal universities.
19:10 French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu announced that he would arrive in Kiev tomorrow: "On Wednesday I will be in Kiev for a working meeting with Alexei Reznikov. Our support for Ukraine has been constant since the beginning of the war."
19:07 There cannot be normal relations with today's Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said: "We must be clearly aware that there cannot be normal relations with this Russia. Like many Russians, we want to see a peaceful and democratic Russia, which is not "a threat to our neighbors. But let's not have any illusions - we live in a different reality. That is why the task should be to strengthen our common security against Russia on an ongoing basis."
18:34 The enemy, despite significant losses in manpower, does not stop offensive operations in the Bakhmut and Avdeevsky directions, is trying to improve the tactical situation in the Limansky direction, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in the evening summary.
In the Luhansk region, due to significant losses of personnel, the number of cases of desertion of Russian military personnel and the abandonment of combat positions has increased. Because of this, the military leadership of the Russian Federation increased the number of patrols to detain and return deserters to their units.
18:17 Putin signed a decree banning the supply of Russian oil to countries that have joined the price ceiling, as well as under any contracts with any countries in which this ceiling is registered. Deliveries can be made only with the special permission of the President of the Russian Federation.
18:10 The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Orban's statements demonstrate "a pathological disregard for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people who oppose Russian aggression, as well as his own political myopia." The department emphasized that the defeat of Ukraine in the war, which Orban indirectly calls for, would lead to a direct threat of Russian aggression to Hungary and the Hungarians.
“The Hungarian leader should ask himself if he wants peace. If the answer is yes, he needs to use his close ties with Moscow to stop its aggression against Ukraine and withdraw its troops,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, Orban said that if the United States stops giving money and weapons to Ukraine, then the war will stop.
| This is possibly true. Certainly the character of the war would change. |
17:22 Podolyak said that Russia usurped the right of veto in the UN Security Council: “Fatal mistakes must be corrected. The Russian Federation illegally took a seat in the UN Security Council. rights. It's time to return to the letter of the law and the UN Charter."
16:53 The State Border Service does not see the formation of an offensive grouping in Belarus, and Moscow and Minsk are escalating the situation, spokesman of the State Border Guard Service Andrey Demchenko said: "The units of Belarus are still on the strengthening of the border with our country, but neither the number nor the nature of the actions of these units are changing .Belarus and Russia are constantly escalating the situation, focusing on this direction."
16:30 The Russians fired on the city of Oleshki on the left bank of the Kherson region: one person was killed, five were injured, Mayor Yevgeny Ryshchuk said.
16:28 Lithuania awarded the 2022 Freedom Prize to Ukraine and President Zelensky. The decision was unanimously supported by all 113 Lithuanian legislators.
16:11 Shmyhal promised that in the absence of shelling, the New Year holidays will pass without emergency shutdowns. At the same time, he did not rule out new attacks: "We understand that Russia is preparing to continue attacks on the Ukrainian energy system. Therefore, we are in daily readiness for new massive shelling. This can happen anytime: today, tomorrow, or even on New Year's Eve."
15:49 Since the beginning of the year, the SBU has neutralized hundreds of cyber attacks on Ukrainian thermal power plants and oblenergos, of which almost 30 could become supercritical, Ilya Vityuk, head of the Cybersecurity Department, said: "Missile attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities are very often accompanied by cyber attacks. We were waiting for such a scenario, therefore none of them were effective."
According to him, since October, systemic cyberattacks of the Russian Federation have been taking place on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. Earlier, the enemy also attacked the electronic systems of Ukrainian energy facilities, although not so massively. "There were specific attempts to turn off the lights and destroy the digital infrastructure of individual regional power companies and thermal power plants. Fortunately, we were able to prevent this," Vityuk said.
14:53 The bodies of 42 fallen defenders were returned to Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration reported.
14:49 Orban said that if the US stops giving money and weapons to Ukraine, the war will stop: "Ukraine can continue to fight only as long as the US supports them with money and weapons. If the Americans want peace, then there will be peace."
14:27 Zelensky held a regular meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Office of the President reported. The participants discussed the situation at the front, including near Bakhmut and Kremennaya. Separately, we focused on updating the action plan of the defense forces for the next year.
14:23 The Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed 70 of the 250 Iranian drones from the second batch that Russia received, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Command of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said.
13:52 Sweden has additionally allocated about $19.1 million to support the defense of Ukraine, the Kingdom's embassy in Ukraine has reported.
13:23 In Ukraine, the property of the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was arrested for almost UAH 2 billion, the SBU reported. In particular, as a result of investigative and operational actions, the location of underground warehouses of the Russian Federation was established, where more than 160 thousand tons of Ukrainian iron ore were stored. Hidden raw materials were found on the territory of several Ukrainian seaports. Representatives of the Russian Federation tried to illegally transport him by sea to the territory of Russia.
12:47 Podolyak said that Ukraine will carry out the demilitarization of Russia to the end: "Neither total mobilization, nor panic searches for shells, nor secret contracts with Iran, nor Lavrov's threats will help ... Russia should realize the reality. Ukraine will carry out the demilitarization of the Russian Federation to the end, will expel the occupiers from all the occupied territories. Silently wait for the final…"
12:29 The Russians have changed the location of strategic aviation - its activity has been significantly reduced, said Yury Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In his opinion, the dispersal is connected with yesterday's explosions at the military airfield in Engels. Ignat added that there are still a few planes at this airfield, and the threat of a massive rocket attack has not passed. Perhaps the Russians only made certain adjustments to their plans.
11:51 Putin resorts to nuclear rhetoric under certain circumstances - when he is desperate and feels his failures, Borrell said: "It is obvious that someone who recklessly violates the UN Charter and international law and despairs if things do not turn out the way he wants , threatens to use everything in its arsenal of terror without hesitation."
At the same time, the head of European diplomacy stressed that the EU and the majority of the international community reject Russia's irresponsible nuclear blackmail: "And I think that those who decide in Moscow on the possible use of nuclear weapons have heard this."
11:27 The capacity deficit in the energy system has slightly decreased due to the increase in the production of power plants. After emergency recovery work, a unit at one of the thermal power plants, which was damaged during one of the latest Russian missile attacks, was switched on to the network, Ukrenergo reported.
However, the available capacity in the system is still not enough to meet all the needs of consumers in the country, as the level of consumption has increased. This is due to the phased return to operation of power grids damaged during massive attacks, as well as the restoration of energy infrastructure in the de-occupied territories. Accordingly, the number of consumers who have at least partially resumed electricity supply has increased, and the volume of industry consumption is also growing. In this regard, consumption limits have been brought to all regions.
10:53 Yermak announced important events: "Important events are ahead. We have no right to relax, because we have an important goal - reaching the borders of 1991."
10:35 Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, SBU cyber experts have exposed more than 1,200 agitators who have been spreading fakes and Russian narratives on the Internet, said Ilya Vityuk, head of the Cybersecurity Department of the Security Service. At the same time, 600 defendants were reported on suspicion and almost 230 were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
In addition, 45 large-scale bot farms with a capacity of more than 2 million fake accounts, almost 500 pro-Russian YouTube channels with an audience of more than 15 million subscribers, and about a thousand information resources that worked against Ukraine have already been blocked this year.
| Could this be why we’ve had fewer hysterical posters — on both sides — recently? |
09:20 British intelligence reports that over the past 48 hours, the fighting in Ukraine has continued to be concentrated around Bakhmut and Svatovo, the Russians carry out frequent attacks in these areas and managed to capture a small territory.
Meanwhile, in the north, parts of the Russian 1st Guards Tank Army were among the Russian forces recently deployed to Belarus. The unit likely conducted pre-deployment drills and is unlikely to have the support units needed to put it on alert, analysts say.
08:59 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of December 27th. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Bakhmut and Liman directions.
- personnel - about 103,220 (+620) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3016 (+0),
- armored combat vehicles - 6024 (+7),
- artillery systems - 1998 (+2),
- MLRS - 418 (+0),
- air defense systems - 212 (+0),
- aircraft - 283 (+0),
- helicopters - 267 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 1707 (+0),
- cruise missiles - 653 (+0),
- ships/boats - 16 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 4652 (+5),
- special equipment - 179 (+1).
08:48 Heavy fighting continues near the Kremennaya Luhansk region, the occupiers are pulling a huge amount of reserves and equipment there, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. According to him, militants "are dying there by the hundreds." The Russians understand that in the event of the loss of Kremennaya, their entire line of defense in the Luhansk region will be violated. Gaidai noted that the success in this sector of the front is on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Russians occupied all the forest belts and mined everything around them. Most of the minions took place remotely, so they don’t even have mining maps.
08:37 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is ready to mediate at the peace summit initiated by Ukraine in February, provided that all parties agree with this, said the representative of the organization Florencia Soto Niño-Martinez.
08:23 Over the past day, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled the attacks of the invaders in the areas of the settlements of Novoselovskoye and Stelmakhivka in the Luhansk region and Dilievka, Krasnogorovka, Vodyane, Vesele, Maryinka and Pobeda in the Donetsk region, the General Staff said in the morning report .
On December 25, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the concentration of Russian manpower near Novobelozerka, Vasilyevsky district, Zaporozhye region. The losses of the enemy amounted to 100 servicemen dead and wounded, among them 15 FSB officers.
01:57 The Russians have set themselves the goal of reaching the administrative border of the Donetsk region before the end of the year, said Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar. According to her, Bakhmut is now the "eastern fortress" of Ukraine, where the enemy concentrated the most military equipment and weapons: "There was a slight advance, but the enemy was driven out. As of today, the enemy is trying to surround the city, but they also fail ".
00:43 Podolyak said that various incidents on the territory of the Russian Federation, including in Engels, are an objective consequence of the war, and in the future there will be "very, very many" of them. "Everything that is happening in Russia today - and the number of excesses, and not only in Engels, is growing - is related to the loss of control over processes in Russia itself. The number of sabotages, unidentified explosions, and fires at critical facilities, including in Engels, is constantly growing and Diaghilev," Podolyak said.
In his opinion, fires on the territory of the Russian Federation occur due to the fact that the country cannot get foreign spare parts, as well as expert advice.