• Heavy bombing of Kiev and Kharkiv. Zelensky: «Crimea is the center of gravity of the war».
• Kiev: «Russians deliberately target residential buildings».
• Ukraine lacks ammunition: here’s why.
04:00 – A kindergarten in Donetsk hit by a Russian missile attack
Russian forces launched a missile attack around midnight yesterday against the city of Kurakhove, in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine: this was announced by the head of the regional military administration, as reported by Suspilne. A kindergarten, a school, a clinic and a bar were destroyed in the attack, while some apartment buildings were damaged. According to initial information there are no injuries or civilian casualties.
01:44 hours – Russian missiles on Kharkiv, damage to civil infrastructure
Russian forces launched two missile attacks last night on Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, causing damage to civilian infrastructure in the center of the city: the head of the city’s military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, announced this on Telegram, as reported Ukrinform. «The occupiers hit Kharkiv twice, with S-300 missiles. At the moment there are no victims. There is information about damage to non-residential civil infrastructure in the central part of the city,” reads the message.
01.42 am – White House: Congress stops new military funding
The US Congress’s halt blocks further military funding for Ukraine. This was confirmed by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby during today’s briefing as reported by the Ukrainian press, who however guaranteed that the Biden administration will continue to stand by Ukraine. Arms supplies «are forced to stop – said Kirby – The president signed the last aid package that we had the authority to allocate. Now we need a further law to continue providing assistance to Ukraine.” The latest package, for a total of 250 million in air defense weapons, artillery and anti-tank ammunition, was announced on 27 December and will arrive in Ukraine in the next few weeks, but «subsequently, in the absence of additional funding, there are no other magical sources to draw on”, according to the spokesperson.
5.33pm – Moscow: «248 Russian soldiers released thanks to UAE mediation»
248 Russian servicemen were released following a complex negotiation process. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Tass news agency reports, the return of the soldiers to Russia was possible thanks to the mediation of the United Arab Emirates. «Following a complex negotiation process, 248 Russian soldiers were repatriated from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. The return of the Russian servicemen from captivity became possible thanks to the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates,” the ministry’s statement read.
1.51 pm – Poland will not lift the ban on the import of Ukrainian wheat
The new Polish government will not lift the ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat into the domestic market at the moment, introduced on September 15, 2023. This was announced by the Polish Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, Ukrinform reports, citing Cenyrolnicze.pl. «Poland wants to help Ukraine, but the country needs rules on quotas and transition periods. These are negotiations not only between Poland and Ukraine, but also with the participation of the EU. Warsaw will support the embargo on Ukrainian grain until other conditions are agreed,” Siekierski said. According to the minister, «a good solution would be to introduce transportation licenses, while allowing the use of transit routes for Ukrainian grain outside Poland».
1.50 pm – Moscow changes tactics and attacks the Kiev arms industry
According to the latest British military intelligence report, Russia has temporarily changed the targets of attacks in Ukraine and is now targeting the defense industry instead of energy facilities, as it did last winter. British analysts point out that since December 29, 2023, Moscow has increased the intensity of its long-range attacks against Ukraine using a significant part of the stockpiles of cruise and ballistic missiles accumulated in recent months
11.24am – Kiev-USA phone call, important to strengthen air defense
The head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, had a telephone conversation with US national security advisor Jake Sullivan. Yermak himself reports this in a post on X. «We discussed the consequences of Russia’s recent massive bombings on Ukrainian territory. We agreed on the importance of strengthening Ukraine’s air defense,” Yermak added.
10.10 am – The EU sanctions the Russian diamond giant Alrosa
The EU Council has added the company PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev to its blacklist of individuals and entities subjected to restrictive measures. Alrosa is the largest diamond mining company in the world, owned by the Russian state, and accounts for more than 90% of all Russian diamond production. “The company constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation,” the council notes in a statement
09.22 am – Tajani, the political solution and peace are the final goal
The political solution and peace in Ukraine are the ultimate goal: the West and Europe are helping Kiev to prevent violence from prevailing over international law. The Vice President of the Council and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said this to Rainews. “Imagine what would have happened without the West’s help: Russia would have invaded Ukraine in defiance of international law,” Tajani said. “We are helping the Ukrainian people not to be forced to bend in the face of Russian violence,” added the minister.
08.21 am – Media, explosions in Sevastopol
Strong explosions were heard last night in Sevastopol, in occupied Crimea: this was reported by the Telegram channel `Crimea.Realities´, as reported by Ukrinform. For his part, the head of the pro-Russian administration of the peninsula, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that a missile was shot down near Sevastopol, adding that there was no damage to infrastructure.
06:02 am – OSCE strongly condemns the recent Russian bombings
The leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have strongly condemned the recent Russian bombings on the territory of Ukraine and called for an immediate end to the war. The current president of the OSCE, Malta’s Foreign Minister, Jan Borg, and the organization’s secretary general, Helga Maria Schmid, noted in a joint statement that the new year “has started in a depressing way, in the same way in which the last one ended. Death and destruction have stolen the lives of women, men, boys and girls and destroyed essential infrastructure.” «Every day it is civilians who constantly pay the price of this terrible conflict. They should never be victims of deadly drone and missile attacks – the note continues -. Together, we deplore in the strongest possible terms these ongoing attacks and urgently call for an immediate end to the incessant violence that only propagates a vicious cycle of misery and suffering. We demand that this war end now.”
05.25 am – Zelensky, «300 missiles and 200 drones from Russia in 5 days»
«In a few days, from December 29 to today, Russia has used approximately 300 missiles and over 200 “Shahed” drones against Ukraine». This is what the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said in the daily evening video message published a few hours ago on X. «Before Ukraine, no country in the world had ever managed to successfully repel such attacks combined with the use of drones and missiles , including air-launched ballistic missiles. Today alone, 10 Kinzhals were shot down,” he said, referring to Tuesday’s attacks. Zelensky then added that “every additional air defense and missile system saves more lives.” “It is here, in Ukraine, and with our air defense, that we must demonstrate that democracies are capable of protecting lives from all kinds of terror,” concluded the Ukrainian head of state.
03.51 am – Five dead in “massive” Russian attacks, Kiev urgently wants more military aid
Russia today carried out new “massive” attacks against Ukraine, killing at least five civilians and wounding 130 people mainly in Kiev and Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian authorities who are asking their Western allies for more military aid. As usual, the Russian army ensured that it only targeted military installations which were all “destroyed” using long-range missiles and explosive drones. «The trajectories were specifically calculated by the enemy to cause the greatest possible damage. This is completely conscious terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced in his daily speech.
02.33 am – Ukraine: Russian rocket hits Kharkiv, hits a school
A Russian rocket hit one of the schools in the Osnovyansk district of Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine last night: the official Ukrainian radio Suspline reported it on Telegram. Following the attack, the message reads, a part of the two-story building collapsed. The rocket also damaged at least three homes near the school.
01.21 am – Kiev, «The US will strengthen Ukraine’s air defense»
The United States has agreed with the Kiev government to strengthen Ukrainian air defense, also in light of yesterday’s Russian missile attack on Kiev with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles: Ukrainian presidential advisor Andry Yermak made this known on Telegram after a telephone conversation with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. «We discussed the consequences of the recent large-scale bombing of the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation with various types of missile weapons and kamikaze drones of the Shahed type», Yermak wrote, adding that he informed Sullivan of the «results of the work of the forces air defense system of Ukraine, which shot down the vast majority of enemy air targets, including Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles.”
The US “agreed on the importance of strengthening Ukraine’s air defense,” the official continued: “The importance of maintaining the necessary level of support for Ukraine’s air defense by the United States was underlined.” Kiev and Washington also agreed on “coordinated steps to implement Ukrainian-American cooperation plans for 2024 in all directions, including in the field of national security.”
2024-01-04 01:25:04
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