Closing summary
It’s approaching 9pm in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, as the war continues on the 295th day. Here’s a roundup of today’s developments, as the head of Ukraine’s armed forces has said he believes Russia will try again to capture Kyiv.
The head of Ukraine’s armed forces believes Russia will have a renewed attempt at capturing the capital Kyiv, after its previous attack was repelled earlier this year. In an interview with the Economist, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, said he was trying to prepare for Russian forces to have another go at taking the city, possibly in February or March.
Zaluzhny’s comments were echoed by Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, who told the Guardian that Ukraine’s forces were preparing for Russia to launch a “major” offensive in the new year.
Electricity blackouts due to Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure are crippling its economy, including in key sectors such as mining and manufacturing. The report in the Washington Post said Ukraine needs another $2bn a month on top of the $55bn already projected for next year to meet basic expenses.
An €18bn EU finance package for Ukraine looks likely to go ahead after Poland dropped its opposition. Diplomats from Warsaw had objected to a minimum corporate tax level, which diplomats had told Reuters had “blindsided” those negotiating the deals. They, and Lithuania, had also argued for tighter restrictions on their neighbour Russia.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the next six months of the conflict with Russia will be “decisive”. In an online address to the European Council on Thursday, Zelenskiy said: “The next six months will be decisive in many respects in the confrontation Russia started with their aggression.”
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will try to overcome the financial impact of western sanctions by selling gas to its eastern neighbours. In a televised speech he said Russia would develop its economic ties with countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Kherson city is without electricity, according to the head of the regional military administration for the region. Yaroslav Yanushevich said that because of heavy shelling, which killed two people on Thursday, the city does not have any working electricity at the moment.
A former Russian deputy prime minister, who is one of the country’s wealthiest men, is one of the latest people to be placed under sanctions by the US government for ties to Putin and the war in Ukraine. Vladimir Potanin has had restrictions placed on him because of his involvement in Interros, a conglomerate that works across several sectors including manufacturing, construction and finance.
A Russian airbase in Kursk was struck on Wednesday night, a senior Ukrainian official has said. Anton Gerashchenko, a senior presidential adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, posted a series of updates on Telegram, saying an “unknown drone” struck the military facility.
The UN diplomat in charge of aid said it was unlikely the Black Sea grain deal would be expanded to include more ports or reduce inspection times. Kyiv has called for an expansion of the agreement, which allows safe passage for ships carrying grain out of three Ukrainian ports. However, Martin Griffiths said it was “not immediately likely”.
Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk overnight, Russian-installed officials in the annexed areas said on Thursday.
The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday that all weapons supplied to Ukraine by the west were legitimate targets for Russia, and that they would be either destroyed or seized.
EU member states failed to agree on a ninth package of Russia sanctions in talks late on Wednesday, diplomats said, as EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for their last summit of the year.
Russia’s recent deployment of mobilised reservists to Belarus as well as exercising Belarusian troops will be unlikely to constitute a force capable of conducting a successful new assault into northern Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. On 13 December, Belarus carried out a “snap combat readiness inspection of its forces”, the ministry notes in its latest intelligence report.
Moscow has said no “Christmas ceasefire” was on the cards after nearly 10 months of war in Ukraine, with fighting looking set to drag on through the winter. Military analysts say a winter deadlock could now set in, even as fierce fighting continues especially in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where Russian forces are pushing to capture the town of Bakhmut.
Russia said on Thursday it had received an apology from the Vatican over Pope Francis’s comments last month that Russian soldiers from some ethnic minority groups were the “cruellest” fighters in the Ukraine conflict. At a briefing in Moscow, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Russia now considered the matter closed.
More than a third of the Ukrainian refugees who fled to Germany after the invasion by Russia in February have said they would like to stay in Germany permanently. A government-backed survey carried out in Germany found the majority feel welcome, and 37% would like to settle there permanently.
That’s all for today, thank you.
Updated
The German government has said it sent some additional missiles for Iris-T air defence systems it has previously provided to Ukraine.
Over the past week, Germany has already provided Ukraine with 34 ambulances, 18 trucks “with swap body system”, 12 armoured recovery vehicles, as well as 78,500 rounds of ammunition for grenade launchers and artillery, according to the German government in comments reported by the Kyiv Independent.
Earlier on 10 December, the German embassy in Ukraine said the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) would provide Ukraine with 470 electric generators “of different power classes” worth €19.5m.
Updated
