France's President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that France would send light tanks to help repel the Russian invasion, the Elysee said. Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a warship armed with new hypersonic cruise missiles on an international training mission. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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22:47: Bradley Fighting Vehicles on table for Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine was being considered to help the country fight Russia's invasion.
The armored vehicle with a powerful gun has been used as a staple by the US Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
The Army has thousands of Bradleys, which could give the Ukrainians more firepower on the battlefield. Biden's move, however, is short of sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which the Ukrainians have been requesting.
As the war has progressed, more complex weapons systems have been sent, most recently the US pledged to send a Patriot missile system to repel Russian missile and drone attacks. The US in particular has taken up the mantel of backing Ukraine as the war has become a symbol of “global security”, in the words of President President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and democracy.
6:38pm: France and Ukraine agree future cooperation to 'significantly strengthen' air defense, Zelensky says
Ukraine's Zelensky thanked French President Macron for his decision to send light armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine.
Zelensky added that he and Macron also agreed on further cooperation “to significantly strengthen [Ukrainian] air defense and other defense capabilities”.
6:31pm: Macron promises Zelensky armoured fighting vehicles, Elysee says
France's President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that his country would send French-made light tanks to help repel the Russian invasion, the French presidency said.
"The president wanted to increase... aid" to Ukraine "by accepting to deliver AMX-10 RC light tanks", it said after both leaders spoke by telephone. "It is the first time that Western-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces."
5:54pm: Russian soldier deaths provoke calls for answers among civilians
The deaths of 89 Russian soldiers after a Ukrainian strike in the town of Makiivka has provoked an unusual response in Russia says Daniel Hawkins, reporting for FRANCE 24 from Moscow.
The confirmation of the most recent death toll by Russia is rare admission of war losses by the State, and there was even a public memorial ceremony on Tuesday in Samara, the hometown of many of the deceased troops.
“We saw no real criticism of the conflict and certainly not of Putin himself [in Samara] but certainly people there were divided into two groups,” Hawkins says. “One who were seeing to use the incident to unite behind the Kremlin, and those who are really furious and demanding answers as to why nobody has been publicly held accountable and punished.”
3:06pm: Macron sent shrapnel which struck ex-Russian Deputy PM in Ukraine
A vocal former top Russian official injured in Ukraine said Wednesday he had sent the shrapnel from a French howitzer shell that he claimed struck him to President Emmanuel Macron.
Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister, was injured last month during a shelling in Donetsk, a Russian-held city in eastern Ukraine.
Rogozin, an ardent supporter of President Vladimir Putin's campaign in Ukraine, said that he had written to France's ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Levy.
"In this envelope along with my letter you will see a fragment of a shell from a French 155-mm French artillery piece Caesar," Rogozin said in his open letter to Levy published on Telegram.
"It punctured my right shoulder and lodged in the fifth cervical vertebra only a millimetre away from killing me or rendering me an invalid," he wrote.
Russian state news channel Rossiya 24 TV reported at the time that he had been celebrating his 59th birthday.
Rogozin said the same shelling had killed two of his friends, adding: "All our victims are on your conscience".
"I ask that you give the fragment cut out of my spine by surgeons to French President Emmanuel Macron," Rogozin wrote.
"And tell him that no-one will escape responsibility for war crimes," he added.
1:19pm: Putin wants to destroy Ukraine, says Germany's Baerbock, urging more weapons
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the EU had tried everything to stop the war in Ukraine but that Russian President Vladimir Putin only wants to destroy the neighbouring country.
Speaking at a conference in Portugal's capital Lisbon, Baerbock said Putin's stance was the reason why it was "important to keep up the delivery of weapons so Ukraine can defend itself and protect people's lives."
12:45pm: Putin sends new hypersonic missiles to Atlantic, Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent off a frigate towards the Altantic and Indian oceans armed with new hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles which he said were unique in the world.
At a ceremony for the launch of a warship armed with hypersonic missiles, Putin said he was "sure that such powerful weapons will make it possible to reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country", Russian news agencies quoted the president as saying.
In a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal, commander of the frigate named "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", Putin said the ship was armed with Zircon hypersonic weapons.
"This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system – 'Zircon' – which has no analogues," said Putin. "I would like to wish the crew of the ship success in their service for the good of the Motherland."
Shoigu said the Gorshkov would sail to the Atlantic and Indian oceans and to the Mediterranean Sea.
"This ship, armed with 'Zircons', is capable of delivering pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on land," Shoigu said.
12:03am: Russia says 89 troops killed in New Year Eve attack, blames mobile phones
Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that 89 servicemen were killed in the Ukrainian attack on Makiivka in the Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk region, adding the main reason for the attack was unauthorised use of mobile phones by the troops.
"It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use – contrary to the prohibition – by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons," the ministry said in a statement.
Senior Russian military official Lieutenant General Sergei Sevryukov said Ukraine had hit a temporary base in Makiivka at 12:01am local time on January 1, using US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
