Closing summary
It’s coming up to 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue attacking Ukrainian energy systems despite global criticism of strikes that have left millions without electricity and water at the start of winter. The Russian leader presented the strikes as a response to a blast on Moscow’s bridge to annexed Crimea and other attacks, accusing Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Russia is still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Putin claimed as his own, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He added that the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine, which Russia annexed in 2014, was vulnerable to attacks by Ukrainian forces, after officials there said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said his government was working with the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to create a safety zone around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Kyiv remained “in close contact” with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said at a joint press conference with his Slovak counterpart, Rastislav Káčer, in Kyiv.
Russia has claimed that its proposed safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is to “stop Ukrainian shelling”. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, also said the US’s withdrawal from a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles was a “destructive” act that created a vacuum and stoked additional security risks.
Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko. At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk, he said in a Telegram post.
About 10,000 Ukrainian service personnel and roughly the same number of Ukrainian civilians are believed to be being held in Russian detention facilities, according to a Ukrainian official. Oleksandr Kononenko, who oversees human rights in the security and defence sector on behalf of Ukraine’s parliament, said the civilians were being detained illegally as prisoners of war because of their alleged association with the Ukrainian army or state.
Explosions have been reported at Berdiansk airbase in the Zaporizhzhia region. Three large explosions were heard, as well as smaller ones, near the city on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid, which is still working despite taking major damage, a senior official said. Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the chief executive of the grid operator Ukrenergo, also told a meeting arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that his officials were scouring the world for the complex equipment needed for repairs.
Ukraine has introduced new emergency power cuts as it tried to repair energy infrastructure damaged in Russian airstrikes, which the national grid operator said had caused significant supply shortages. The grid operator Ukrenergo said the situation was complicated by the weather, with western regions facing frost, rain, snow and strong winds that were causing wires to ice over, but the most difficult situation was in eastern areas, where fighting has been fiercest.
Russian troops are reportedly taking part in tactical exercises in Belarus, according to the Russian defence ministry. Video clips posted by the ministry showed Russian soldiers in snow gear training near tanks in a winter landscape, firing weapons including artillery.
Russia freed the jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a high-level prisoner exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been held in a US prison for 12 years. Joe Biden, who had made Griner’s release a top priority after she spent almost 10 months in jail on drugs charges, said in an address from the White House that he had spoken with Griner and found her “in good spirits”.
The mother of Viktor Bout has thanked Vladimir Putin for her son’s release as part of a swap with the US. Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”, is a former Soviet lieutenant colonel whom the US justice department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers. Russian state media reported that he had arrived back in the country.
Biden expressed regret that the deal did not include Paul Whelan, an American jailed since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the US government say are baseless. An anonymous US official told CNN that leaving Whelan out of the deal had been “a difficult decision” but “it was a choice to get Brittney or nothing”.
The EU plans to tighten up sanctions on Russia’s military and industrial complex, pro-Kremlin media and Russian nationalist groups fighting in Ukraine, according to leaked papers. A total of eight individuals are facing personal sanctions, including Russian officials said to be involved in the illegal transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia, as well as the leaders of rightwing nationalist groups.
Pope Francis broke down and wept as he prayed for peace in Ukraine during a traditional Christmas visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome. Reuters reports that Francis had to stop speaking and was unable to continue for about 30 seconds, and his head trembled. He later tweeted that “peace is possible; disarmament is possible”.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images we have received from Ukraine, including of the village of Posad-Pokrovske, in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.
Updated
The notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout, has arrived back in Russia after his release from US detention in a prisoner swap with Brittney Griner, Russian state media reported.
The White House has said the grant of clemency for Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”, was not approved until today.
Updated
One killed and two injured in Russian shelling of Donetsk town, says governor
Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk, he said in a Telegram post.
Kyrylenko wrote:
1 person was killed, 2 more were wounded in artillery shelling of Toretsk. Shells hit a private sector, destroying and damaging at least 12 houses. The Russians are again cynically shelling civilians — they are continuing their terror tactics.
Russian occupation forces shelled the city of Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, with artillery, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Russian shells destroyed and damaged at least 12 houses. One person was killed and two wounded in the attack. pic.twitter.com/CXUfA3tKLy
— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) December 8, 2022
Mother of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout thanks Putin for his release
The mother of the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout has thanked Vladimir Putin for her son’s release as part of a swap with the US.
Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”, is a former Soviet lieutenant colonel whom the US justice department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.
He was serving a 25-year sentence for conspiring to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of weapons that US officials said were to be used against Americans.
He was released from US detention in a prisoner swap for the American basketball star Brittney Griner. He is expected to arrive in Moscow shortly.
The release happened “thanks to our president”, Raisa Bout said in televised remarks reported by AFP.
She said:
I am so grateful. A low maternal bow to the Russian foreign ministry with Lavrov Sergei Viktorovich at its helm.
She said she was also grateful to “kind people” in the US, adding: “You cannot say that all of them are evil.”
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Tatiana Moskalkova, described Bout as a “wonderful man who has become a victim of American insinuations”.
Updated
The US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian jail and is on her way back to the US, President Joe Biden said.
The Russian foreign ministry said it had traded Griner for Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer who had been held in a US prison for 12 years. The swap took place at an airport in Abu Dhabi, Russian news agencies reported.
Griner, 32, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, was arrested on 17 February. Talks to secure her release were complicated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and the subsequent souring of ties between Washington and Moscow.
Updated
Ukraine says it is working with UN nuclear watchdog on demilitarising Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said his government was working with the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to create a safety zone around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Kyiv remained “in close contact” with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said at a joint press conference with his Slovak counterpart, Rastislav Káčer, in Kyiv.
Kuleba said:
Of course, we are all interested in ensuring that all nuclear power plants, not only the Zaporizhzhia NPP, are safe. This is extremely difficult to achieve without stopping Russian missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, but we are moving forward step by with mutual understanding with the IAEA.
There is a rule in diplomacy that nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed.
Ukraine’s state nuclear energy firm Energoatom earlier today repeated Kyiv’s claims that Russia was using the site as a de facto weapons depot.
Energoatom said Russia had brought multiple rocket launchers to the site and stationed them near the plant’s power unit No 6.
It went on to claim that Russian forces planned to use them to launch attacks against Ukrainian positions and bridges on the western bank of the Dnipro River.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has come under repeated shelling since Moscow seized it shortly after launching its invasion in February, prompting the IAEA to call for a demilitarised safety zone around the plant.
Updated
Earlier, we reported that Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue attacking Ukraine’s energy grid and presented the strikes as a response to the explosion on Moscow’s bridge to annexed Crimea in October.
“Yes, we do that,” Putin said of the strikes on the Ukraine grid. “But who started it?”
Here’s a clip of Putin speaking while attending a military awards ceremony in the Kremlin today:
Putin admits that Russian army strives to destroy critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 8, 2022
Russia seeks to destroy 🇺🇦energy system in order to retaliate for Ukrainian strikes on the Crimean bridge, Putin claims.pic.twitter.com/xQ8yulbFoWhttps://t.co/LyT6lxwDn6
Updated
Pope Francis broke down and wept as he prayed for peace in Ukraine during a traditional Christmas visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome.
The pope’s voice began to tremble as he mentioned the suffering of Ukrainians. He said:
I would have liked to have brought you the thanks of the Ukrainian people …
Reuters reports that Francis had to stop speaking and was unable to continue for about 30 seconds, and his head trembled.
The crowd, which included the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, applauded when they realised he was unable to talk and saw him crying.
When he resumed the prayer, his voice was cracking.
He continued:
…the Ukrainian people for the peace we have so long asked the Lord. Instead I must present you with the pleas of children, elderly, mothers and fathers and the young people of that martyred land, that is suffering so much.
He later tweeted that “peace is possible; disarmament is possible”.
Let us entrust to the intercession of the Mother of God the universal desire for peace, in particular for tormented Ukraine, which suffers greatly. With God’s help, peace is possible; disarmament is possible. May Our Lady help us to convert ourselves towards God’s plans.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 8, 2022
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue attacking Ukrainian energy systems despite global criticism of strikes that have left millions without electricity and water at the start of winter. The Russian leader presented the strikes as a response to a blast on Moscow’s bridge to annexed Crimea and other attacks, accusing Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Russia is still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Putin claimed as his own, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He added that the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine, which Russia annexed in 2014, was vulnerable to attacks by Ukrainian forces, after officials there said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base.
Russia has claimed that its proposed safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is to “stop Ukrainian shelling”. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, also said the US’s withdrawal from a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles was a “destructive” act that created a vacuum and stoked additional security risks.
About 10,000 Ukrainian service personnel and roughly the same number of Ukrainian civilians are believed to be being held in Russian detention facilities, according to a Ukrainian official. Oleksandr Kononenko, who oversees human rights in the security and defence sector on behalf of Ukraine’s parliament, said the civilians were being detained illegally as prisoners of war because of their alleged association with the Ukrainian army or state.
Explosions have been reported at Berdiansk airbase in the Zaporizhzhia region. Three large explosions were heard, as well as smaller ones, near the city on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid, which is still working despite taking major damage, a senior official said. Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the chief executive of the grid operator Ukrenergo, also told a meeting arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that his officials were scouring the world for the complex equipment needed for repairs.
Ukraine has introduced new emergency power cuts as it tried to repair energy infrastructure damaged in Russian airstrikes, which the national grid operator said had caused significant supply shortages. The grid operator Ukrenergo said the situation was complicated by the weather, with western regions facing frost, rain, snow and strong winds that were causing wires to ice over, but the most difficult situation was in eastern areas, where fighting has been fiercest.
Russian troops are reportedly taking part in tactical exercises in Belarus, according to the Russian defence ministry. Video clips posted by the ministry showed Russian soldiers in snow gear training near tanks in a winter landscape, firing weapons including artillery.
Russia freed the jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a high-level prisoner exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been held in a US prison for 12 years. Joe Biden, who had made Griner’s release a top priority after she spent almost 10 months in jail on drugs charges, said in an address from the White House that he had spoken with Griner and found her “in good spirits”.
Biden expressed regret the deal did not include Paul Whelan, an American jailed since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the US government say are baseless. An anonymous US official told CNN that leaving Whelan out of the deal had been “a difficult decision” but “it was a choice to get Brittney or nothing”.
The EU plans to tighten up sanctions on Russia’s military and industrial complex, pro-Kremlin media and Russian nationalist groups fighting in Ukraine, according to leaked papers. A total of eight individuals are facing personal sanctions, including Russian officials said to be involved in the illegal transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia, as well as the leaders of rightwing nationalist groups.
Good afternoon from London. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong, I’ll be bringing you all the latest global developments on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
The commodities trading firm Trafigura is to hand more than $1.7bn to its top traders and shareholders after the energy crisis, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, led to a surge in profits.
Trafigura, one of the world’s largest specialist commodity traders, posted a record $7bn net profit in its last financial year, more than the previous four years combined, after making gains from the market volatility caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Its chief financial officer, Christophe Salmon, hailed an “exceptionally strong year” as profits more than doubled and revenues grew to $318.5bn in the year to 30 September, up from $231.3bn a year earlier.
The $1.71bn payout to its 1,100 shareholders, including top employees, equates to about $1.56m a head if shared equally. That’s an increase of about 35% compared with 2021’s dividend of $1.12bn to about 1,000 top traders and investors.
Oil and gas companies, as well as some electricity generators, have faced windfall taxes as a result of the gains made since the invasion. However, politicians have not moved to curb the profits of commodity traders. Strong trading performances have boosted multinationals including the British oil firms BP and Shell.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Speaking earlier, Joe Biden said Russia was treating the case of the detained American Paul Whelan “differently” but that the US “will never give up” on securing his release.
Biden said:
Sadly and for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.
The Biden administration has offered Moscow multiple options to secure Whelan, a US official told journalists today.
From the Washington Post’s John Hudson:
U.S. officials said after months of pushing for the release of both Whelan and Griner, they had hit a wall. "It became clear in recent weeks that the choice was bringing Brittney Griner home right now, or bringing no one home right now," per official
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) December 8, 2022
And from Nick Schifrin from PBS:
Senior US officials on @freepaulwhelan:
— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) December 8, 2022
-Yesterday, senior US official visited Paul’s sister
-Today, senior US official talked directly to Paul
-“If we had exactly enough to bring Whelan home, he would be home. It’s an indication we don’t... or at least in the Russian view don't"
Updated
Explosions have been heard at Berdiansk airbase in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Three large explosions were heard, as well as smaller ones, near the city on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Emergency services have been reported as making their way to the scene. No casualties have been reported.
❗️Three powerful explosions occurred at the air base in occupied Berdyansk, followed by 15 more smaller explosions, - Chairman of the City Military Administration of #Berdyansk Victoria Galitsina.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 8, 2022
Russia has used the 35th anniversary of the historic signing of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) to criticise the US for withdrawing from the agreement in 2019.
At the time, the then US president Donald Trump gave his reason for doing so as “developing our own military response options,” to Russia’s missiles.
Nato allies later backed the US by issuing a statement attributing responsibility for the treaty’s demise to Russia.
When the treaty was signed in 1987, the agreement between the US and the Soviet Union to reduce their nuclear arsenals was hailed by some commentators as a significant step towards a non-nuclear world.
This is how the Guardian reported the historic event.
Putin says he will keep on launching attacks on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure
Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue attacking Ukrainian energy systems despite global criticism of strikes that have left millions without electricity and water at the start of winter.
“There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. Yes, we do that. But who started it?” Putin said at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin, according to Agence France-Presse, adding that the criticism would “not interfere with our combat missions”.
He presented the strikes as a response to a blast on Moscow’s bridge to annexed Crimea and other attacks, accusing Kyiv of blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and not supplying water to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
“Not supplying water to a city of more than a million people is an act of genocide,” Putin said.
He accused the west of “complete silence” on this and of bias against Russia.
“As soon as we move and do something in response, there is uproar and clamour spreading through the whole universe,” he said.
Russia has faced claims that its attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems and infrastructure amount to war crimes.
Updated
The EU plans to tighten up sanctions on Russia’s military and industrial complex, pro-Kremlin media and Russian nationalist groups fighting in Ukraine, according to leaked papers.
The EU’s ninth set of restrictive measures on Russia since February’s invasion of Ukraine seek to close gaps in previous rounds, with further sanctions on 169 entities “which might contribute to the technological enhancement of Russia’s defence and security sector”, according to a draft text seen by the Guardian. These companies will face restrictions on their ability to buy from Europe so-called dual-use goods – civilian products that can be turned to military purposes.
Previous EU sanctions have already imposed sweeping bans on hi-tech equipment, but this package adds items that were missed off the list such as generators, toy drones, laptops, cameras and lenses.
According to a separate paper, four pro-Kremlin TV companies will lose their licence to broadcast in the EU, including NTV, Rossiya 1, Pervyi Kanal and REN TV, home to some of Russia’s high-profile talkshows featuring strident pro-war commentators.
A total of eight individuals are facing personal sanctions, meaning a travel ban and freeze on any assets held in the EU, including Russian officials said to be involved in the illegal transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia, as well as the leaders of rightwing nationalist groups.
In a largely symbolic move, six entities will see any EU assets frozen, including nationalist groups such as the Russian Imperial Legion, the Russian Imperial Movement and Taskforce Rusich.
Unlike previous rounds of sanctions, the cost for EU countries is relatively small. Some ideas, such as a ban on the once lucrative trade in Russian diamonds, are conspicuous by their absence.
The measures now have to be agreed by all 27 member states before coming into force.
Updated
Speaking at the White House, Joe Biden formally announced the release of Brittney Griner from detention in Russia and pledged to continue working to bring home another American jailed in the country.
“Moments ago, standing together with her wife, Cherelle, in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittney Griner,” Biden said.
She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances. Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.
He thanked officials in his administration who had worked for her release, as well as the United Arab Emirates, “because that’s where she landed”. The president said “the past few months have been hell” for Griner, her family and her teammates.
He also mentioned the case of Paul Whelan, another American, whose release from Russia he said he was working on. “We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan, who’s been unjustly detained in Russia for years.”
For live developments on the release of Griner, do follow our US politics live blog with my colleague Chris Stein:
Updated
20,000 Ukrainian fighters and civilians held in Russian detention, says Ukrainian official
Around 10,000 Ukrainian service personnel and roughly the same number of Ukrainian civilians are believed to be being held in Russian detention facilities, according to Oleksandr Kononenko, who oversees human rights in the security and defence sector on behalf of Ukraine’s parliament.
Konenenko said the civilians were being detained illegally as prisoners of war because of their alleged association with the Ukrainian army or state.
Kononenko said:
These are the total number of confirmed people who are classed as ‘missing under special circumstances’, we do not have the exact figures. Russia has not given the International Committee for the Red Cross access [to the information].
Though the ICRC has not been given full access, it has been able to visit some Ukrainian prisoners. On Thursday, the ICRC made a rare announcement that it had visited one Russian facility and that it planned to visit another this week.
“ICRC teams are reaching out to families of prisoners of war to share updates from their loved ones. Most updates are short notes of love and personal news,” read the ICRC statement.
In July, Oleh Kotenko, who is in charge of wartime missing people within the Ukrainian ministry for the occupied territories, put the total number of Ukrainian service personnel believed to be held by Russia at significantly less – 7,200.
Kotenko said that although Ukraine had not heard from some of those reported missing, they were believed to be alive and in captivity.
After Ukraine pushed Russian forces out of parts of Kharkiv and Kherson region, it has announced several prisoner swaps. The regularity of the swaps probably indicate that Ukraine detained Russian prisoners during their offensives.
Updated
The former US marine Paul Whelan is still in Russian custody, his lawyer said, after news that Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap with the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Dialogue on a possible prisoner swap for Whelan is ongoing, his lawyer said.
Whelan was convicted by a Russian court in 2020 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian high-security prison. He denied the charges.
Updated
Joe Biden has tweeted that he has spoken to Brittney Griner, following the announcement that she has been released from Russian detention.
In a tweet, he posted pictures of him meeting with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, at the White House.
Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT
Updated
Brittney Griner released from Russian detention in prisoner swap for convicted arms dealer
The US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for the convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, US officials have confirmed.
Griner was sentenced to nine years behind bars in Russia after being convicted on drug charges. A two-time Olympic gold medallist and champion, she was arrested on 17 February, a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, at a Moscow airport while in possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia.
Bout, known as “the merchant of death”, was one of the world’s most wanted men before his 2008 arrest on multiple charges related to arms trafficking.
For almost two decades, he was one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, selling weaponry to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords in Africa, Asia and South America.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images we have received from Ukraine.
Kremlin: ‘Risk’ of Ukrainian attacks on Crimea
The Kremlin has said the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine, which Russia annexed in 2014, was vulnerable to attacks by Ukrainian forces after officials there said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base.
The Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in annexed Crimea, said this morning that Russia’s fleet shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Black Sea.
Speaking to reporters during his regular briefing, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said:
There are certainly risks because the Ukrainian side continues its policy of organising terrorist attacks. But, on the other hand, information we get indicates that effective countermeasures are being taken.
His comments came after President Vladimir Putin recently made a visit to the Kerch bridge, the key link between annexed Crimea and mainland Russia which was partially destroyed by an explosion in October.
The Russian-installed head of occupied Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said last month that he had ordered “fortification works to ensure the safety of Crimeans” to be built on the peninsula after recent attacks.
Updated
Kremlin: Russia ‘still needs to liberate’ east and south Ukraine
Speaking during his briefing with reporters today, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia is still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin claimed as his own.
The Russian leader announced he had annexed four Ukrainian regions – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk – after holding fake referendums in order to claim a mandate for his territorial claims.
However Moscow does not have full control of any of the four provinces of Ukraine it says it annexed, and Peskov appeared to set a limit on the Ukrainian territory that Russia now sought to claim.
Asked whether Russia planned to incorporate any more territories beyond the four regions, he replied:
There is no question of that. At least, there have been no statements in this regard. But there is nevertheless a lot of work ahead to liberate the territories; in a number of new regions of the Russian Federation there are occupied territories that have to be liberated.
I mean part of the Donetsk Republic, as well as what became part of the Russian Federation, and then was re-occupied by Ukrainian troops.
My colleague Peter Beaumont is in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, amid worsening wintry conditions.
Vile weather in Donbas. It rained on snow and froze. Sheet ice everywhere with freezing rain on top.
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) December 8, 2022
Updated
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has called on Russia to answer for “atrocities” committed by its forces in Ukraine.
Thomas-Greenfield was responding to a report by the UN’s human rights office, published yesterday, that found that at least 441 civilians were killed by Russian forces during the first weeks after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
The Kremlin must answer for atrocities committed by its forces in Ukraine. https://t.co/dJ1xWG4s7B
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) December 8, 2022
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented summary executions and attacks in dozens of towns across three regions, and warned the actual number of victims in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions was likely to be much higher.
The report covered the beginning of Moscow’s invasion on 24 February until early April, and gathered evidence from 102 towns and villages in Ukraine.
It said:
The acts in question were committed by Russian armed forces in control of these areas and led to the deaths of 441 civilians (341 men, 72 women, 20 boys and 8 girls).
Many of the bodies documented in the report bore signs that the victims may have been intentionally killed, the report said. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation”.
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said the US’s withdrawal from a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles was a “destructive” act that created a vacuum and stoked additional security risks.
The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty had kept nuclear missiles off European soil for more than three decades, but the treaty expired in 2019 after the US and Russia failed to agree on how to keep it alive.
Speaking on the 35th anniversary of the signing of the treaty by the US president, Ronald Reagan, and Soviet general secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, Zakharova said:
The INF treaty had an indefinite life and was able to provide predictable restraint in the missile sphere for many years to come.
Updated
Russia has claimed that its proposed safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was to “stop Ukrainian shelling”.
A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, made the comments this morning, according to Reuters.
Both sides have accused each other of shelling the plant, which is Europe’s biggest nuclear power station. There are fears the attacks could cause a nuclear accident.
Russia seized it shortly after its invasion in February. The International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog has called for a demilitarised safety zone around the plant.
Updated
The Red Cross has visited Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war in the past week, and it hopes that inspections can become more frequent.
Since the Russian invasion the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has seen hundreds of prisoners on both sides of the conflict. However its president, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, said access had been “sporadic”.
“My expectation is that these visits lead to more regular access to all prisoners of war,” the statement cited Spoljaric Egger as saying, according to Reuters.
“While the recent visits are important progress, the ICRC must be granted unimpeded access to see all prisoners of war repeatedly and in private, wherever they are held.”
The ICRC carried out a two-day visit to Ukrainian PoWs this week, according to Reuters. It also visited Russian PoWs last week. The UN human rights office said in November that its monitors had not been allowed access to Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia.
Updated
Ukraine introduces new power cuts to repair grid damaged in Russian airstrikes
Ukraine has introduced new emergency power cuts as it tried to repair energy infrastructure damaged in Russian airstrikes, which the national grid operator said had caused significant supply shortages.
Russia targeted power facilities across Ukraine in the latest big wave of attacks on Monday, at a time of the year when energy consumption usually rises as temperatures plunge.
“As of 11:00 on 8 December, because of damage caused by missile strikes to power plants and the high-voltage network, the system has a significant shortage of electricity,” the grid operator Ukrenergo said.
It said the situation was complicated by the weather, with western regions facing frost, rain, snow and strong winds that were causing wires to ice over, Reuters reports, but the most difficult situation was in eastern areas, where fighting has been fiercest.
“In all regions, there is a lack of energy – up to a third of what is needed,” said Oleksandr Starukh, the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region in south-eastern Ukraine.
Monday’s attacks began as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer, said there were now emergency power cuts in the capital Kyiv and the Kyiv region, in the southern region of Odesa and in Dnipro, central Ukraine.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, has increased attacks on energy facilities in recent weeks, saying strikes on vital infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine says attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime.
Updated
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has produced a paper after Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the Russian presidential council on Wednesday where he said the war in Ukraine could be a “lengthy process”.
Putin struck an imperialist tone. He compared himself to Peter the Great by noting that Russia controls the Sea of Azov, which the Russian tsar also fought for.
The ISW said Putin seemed unwilling to go for a temporary break in fighting to regroup, as the Nato secretary general had suggested the Kremlin may look to do.
“The Russian military is continuing offensive operations around Bakhmut and is – so far -denying itself the operational pause that would be consistent with best military practice.
“Putin’s current fixation with continuing offensive operations around Bakhmut and elsewhere is contributing to Ukraine’s ability to maintain the military initiative in other parts of the theater. Ukraine’s continued operational successes depend on Ukrainian forces’ ability to continue successive operations through the winter of 2022-2023 without interruption,” the paper said.
The report’s authors added that there appeared to be friction in the Belarusian military over Russian attempts to pressure them into joining the war.
“[The] ISW continues to assess that Belarus is highly unlikely to enter the war in Ukraine due to domestic factors that constrain Lukashenko’s willingness to do so.”
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Fighting intensifies in southern Kherson
Our world affairs editor, Julian Borger, is in Zaporizhzhia, from where he has filed this dispatch as fighting intensifies in southern Kherson.
The people of Nova Kakhovka on the east bank of the Dnipro River had grown accustomed to constant shelling, but in recent days they have been hearing machine gun fire as the war draws closer to what could be its next major battlefield.
Despite predictions that the conflict would slow down in the winter months, civilians arriving in Zaporizhzhia through the last open crossing point on the frontlines say the fighting is escalating in southern Kherson region as Ukrainian forces seek to keep the Russians on the retreat towards Crimea and beyond.
“It has been machine guns lately, not artillery,” said Anna, a 78-year-old from Nova Khakovka after arriving at a police checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia. “The windows were shaking, the house was shaking. We were afraid that everything could collapse at any moment.”
Read more:
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Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said Moscow would keep to its moratorium on deploying intermediate-range nuclear forces in Europe, as long as the US did not deploy such weapons in Europe or Asia.
“The moratorium is still in place, but if such weapons are deployed by the United States on European or Asian territory, our approach cannot remain unchanged,” Ryabkov told the Rossiya 24 news channel according to Reuters.
He made similar comments a year ago.
Updated
The UK Ministry of Defence has published its daily update on the situation in Ukraine according to its intelligence sources.
It said Russia had an “almost continuous trench system” for a 60km (37 miles) stretch between Svatove in Luhansk oblast and the Russian border.
The MoD added, however, that the depth of the defence remained “unclear”.
Svatove is a small city to the north of Luhansk city. The region has been occupied since Russia’s initial invasion in 2014.
The MoD said Russia’s 1st Guards Tank Army is partially deployed near Svatove but the “supposedly elite” group took heavy casualties earlier in the war, including in the retreat from Kharkiv in September 2022.
“It has now been partially reinforced with mobilised reservists, although remaining well below its authorised strength of over 25,000 personnel,” the update added.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 08 December 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 8, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/nm2wfzARU1
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/d2ZC3rnsYg
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The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Europe lacked “critical defence capabilities” at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency on Thursday.
Addressing attendees he said it made Europe vulnerable to “higher-level threats”. His comment echoes a recent remark by the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, who said “Europe isn’t strong enough” without the US.
Here is the clip:
Updated
As Christmas approaches, Ukrainian authorities are taking extra steps to try to create a festive feeling despite the conflict.
In Kharkiv, which was occupied by Russian troops earlier this year, a tree has been erected in a subway to protect it from artillery or missiles.
Kharkiv. This year, the city's main Christmas tree has been installed at a subway station, where it won’t be hit by russian artillery fire or missile strikes.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 8, 2022
The holidays are coming, no matter what.
📷 by Kharkovskiye Izviestiya pic.twitter.com/aI9dHY6UV4
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Russian forces planning to conscript locals in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine army claims
Russian forces are trying to use locals in Zaporizhzhia to fight for their army to replace Russian personnel who have been killed.
The general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said in the Russian-occupied region, the authorities have issued summonses to men of conscription age in Melitopol.
“The Russian occupiers plan to mobilise local residents in order to replenish current losses,” the update said.
Updated
More than 93,000 Russian troops killed since invasion according to Ukraine statistics
The Ukrainian army has killed another 340 Russian troops in the last 24 hours.
More than 93,000 Russian personnel have been killed since 24 February, a post on Facebook by the general staff of the armed forces said.
Battles on 8 December also led to the loss of two Russian battle tanks, two armoured combat vehicles and two artillery systems.
A further two drones, which have been used to attack Ukraine’s infrastructure and residential areas, were shot down.
These are figures provided by the Ukrainian side, which have not been verified by the Guardian. Russia’s published statistics show much lower numbers of losses.
• The original key event headline on this blog entry has been corrected to make clear it was 93,000 Russian troops Ukraine is claiming have been killed.
Updated
A Ukrainian pilot who shot down two missiles and five drones before ejecting from his plane has been awarded the Hero of Ukraine, the order of the Gold Star.
Maj Vadym Voroshylov carried out the operation over the Vinnytsia oblast on 12 October, before ejecting from his jet after it had been damaged. A photo of him has been circulated on the internet in Ukraine this week, as he took a photo of himself bloodied but defiant afterwards, giving a thumbs-up to the camera.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy approved a government decree on Monday giving him the honour, in recognition of his service.
Updated
Before I hand you over to my colleague, Harry Taylor, here are some of the latest snaps to come out of Ukraine today.
The number of oil tankers waiting in the Black Sea to cross Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait on the way to the Mediterranean rose by five to 16 on Thursday, a shipping agency said, according to a Reuters report.
Talks are continuing between western and Turkish officials on steps to resolve the tanker queues after new restrictions were rolled out aimed at Russian oil exports.
The G7 group of countries, the European Union and Australia agreed to bar shipping service providers like insurers from helping export Russian oil unless it is sold at an enforced low price, or cap, to deprive Moscow of wartime revenue.
But a separate Turkish measure in force since the start of the month has caused a logjam, requiring vessels to provide proof they have insurance covering the duration of their transit through the Bosphorus strait or when calling at Turkish ports.
The Tribeca shipping agency named five new tankers longer than 200m waiting north of the Bosphorus strait to cross southbound towards the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the 11 named a day earlier. It said no ships were scheduled to cross.
At the Dardanelles strait further south, nine tankers were waiting to cross southbound, down from 12 a day earlier, the agency said. Three tankers were scheduled to pass through that strait on Thursday, two en route from Tuapse in Russia to Fujairah in the UAE and one en route from Tuzla in Turkey to Sidi Kerir in Egypt.
Russian troops take part in tactical drills in Belarus
Russian troops are reportedly taking part in tactical exercises in Belarus, according to the Russian defence ministry.
Belarus has said it will not enter the war in Ukraine, but President Alexander Lukashenko has in the past ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border, citing threats from Kyiv and the west.
In a statement cited by Reuters, Russia’s defence ministry said:
Servicemen of the Western Military District ... continue intensive combat training on the ranges of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus …
Combat training events are held during both daylight and at night.
Servicemen are shooting from all types of small arms, as well as from mortars; they hone their skills in driving combat vehicles, pass psychological obstacle courses, study tactical medicine and other disciplines.”
Video clips posted by the ministry showed Russian soldiers in snow gear training near tanks in a winter landscape, firing weapons including artillery.
Ukraine used domestically-modified Soviet drones to strike Russian bases hundreds of miles from its border, according to a recent Politico report.
The drones reportedly struck two military airbases in Russia killing three Russian service members and damaging two airplanes earlier this week.
The drones used in the attack, according to two people familiar with the operation who spoke with Politico on the condition of anonymity, were modified Tu-141 surveillance aircraft left over from the Soviet era.
“The key success factor was a surprise. Russia just did not expect anything of this sort,” said one of the individuals, who works with the Ukrainian government. “Now they will be prepared.”
Ukraine has for months requested long-range missiles and drones from its western allies, but have so far been refused.
Russia launched 1,000 strikes at Ukraine’s power grid, Kyiv says
Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid, which is still working despite taking major damage, Interfax Ukraine news agency cited a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
Volodymyr Kudrytsky, chief executive of the Ukrenergo grid operator, also told a meeting arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) that his officials were scouring the world for the complex equipment needed for repairs.
Eight recent waves of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure have seriously damaged the grid and led to emergency and planned outages across the country.
Interfax Ukraine cited Kudrytsky as saying:
These attacks represent the biggest blow to a power grid that humanity has ever seen. More than 1,000 shells and rockets were fired at electrical facilities and lines, including substations.”
Ukraine now has a serious shortage of generating capacity, even though consumption is down between 25% and 30% compared to the pre-war period.
The system is still working, it is integrated, not broken or disconnected,” Kudrytsky said.
Kyiv supermarket. Electricity is off but that doesn't stop anyone from shopping. pic.twitter.com/lM1ZOLRVsS
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) December 7, 2022
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later said Ukraine was increasing the electricity supply every day but noted problems in Kyiv and several other regions.
“We should not forget ... that it is impossible to restore 100% of the energy system, as it was before the beginning of the Russian energy terror,” he said in an evening video address.
“Time is needed. That is why scheduled blackouts continue in most of the cities and districts,” he continued.
Zelenskiy reports fierce fighting in Bakhmut
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy provided a battleground update in his latest national address on Wednesday evening.
Regarding the Donetsk region, Bakhmut districts and other hottest spots. A very fierce confrontation is ongoing there, every metre counts.”
Zelenskiy also noted Russian forces made a “brutal, absolutely deliberate strike” on Kurakhove, also in the Donetsk region. The strike reportedly killed ten people.
Today [Wednesday] the Russian army carried out a very brutal, absolutely deliberate strike at Kurakhove. Precisely at civilians. At ordinary people. At the market, elevator, gas station, bus station, residential building. The list of the dead so far includes ten people, there are many wounded.”
Bakhmut. So much suffering, so much pain.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) December 8, 2022
📷: @Liberov pic.twitter.com/qFevPtxyJx
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US denounces 'loose talk' on nuclear weapons
The US has denounced “loose talk” on nuclear weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin mused on rising risks of nuclear war but said Moscow would not strike first.
Putin hinted that “such a threat is rising” during a Kremlin meeting on Wednesday but assured that “Russia will under no circumstances use them first”.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price, asked about Putin’s remarks, declined to reply directly but said:
We think any loose talk of nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible.”
Price said that nuclear powers around the world since the Cold War, including China, India, the United States and Russia itself, have been clear that “a nuclear war is something that must never be fought and can never be won.”
We think any other rhetoric – whether it is nuclear saber-rattling or even raising the spectre of the use of tactical nuclear weapons – is something that is irresponsible,” Price said.
It is dangerous, and it goes against the spirit of that statement that has been at the core of the nuclear non-proliferation regime since the Cold War.”
US officials have voiced fear that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it feels routed on the battlefield and could plant a fictitious story to justify its actions.
Updated
Putin says threat of nuclear war increasing
Putin dedicated some of his remarks on Wednesday to questions about the potential for nuclear war, which he said was growing more likely due to the conflict with the west.
This threat is increasing, I can’t deny it,” Putin said in response to a question, adding that Russia would not use those weapons first.
We have not gone crazy, we are aware of what nuclear weapons are. We have these means, and they are more advanced and more modern than those of any other nuclear country. As of today, this is an obvious fact.
We are not going to wave these weapons around like a razor, running around the world, but of course we act with the understanding that they exist.”
Putin says war could be ‘long-term process’
Vladimir Putin has admitted Russia’s war in Ukraine could turn into a “long-term process” as he sought to defend an invasion in which Russian troops have been forced to retreat and even airbases deep inside Russia have come under attack.
Speaking to members of his personal human rights council on Wednesday, Putin claimed that Russia would not use nuclear weapons first in any conflict, denied that Russian troops were deserting en masse from the field of battle, and claimed he would not need to mobilise more troops, a process that has caused considerable upheaval in Russia.
As for the slow process of the special military operation, then, of course, it can be a long-term process,” Putin said.
But then you mentioned that new territories had appeared. This is such a significant result for Russia … The Azov Sea has become an internal Russian sea. Even Peter I had fought for access to the Azov Sea.”
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported “very fierce” fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut where Russian troops continue to strike the eastern Donetsk region.
The US on Wednesday denounced “loose talk” on nuclear weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin mused on rising risks of nuclear war but said Moscow would not strike first.
For any updates or feedback you wish to share, please feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
Russian shelling killed 10 people and wounded many others in the town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of an “apocalypse” scenario for the city this winter if Russian airstrikes on infrastructure continue. Russia has fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid, Interfax Ukraine news agency said.
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia’s war in Ukraine could turn into a “long-term process”. Speaking to members of his personal human rights council on Wednesday, Putin sought to defend an invasion in which Russian troops have been forced to retreat and even airbases deep inside Russia have come under attack.
Putin also claimed that Russia would not use nuclear weapons first in any conflict and denied that Russian troops were deserting en-mass from the field of battle. He claimed that the Russian military would not need to mobilise more troops, a process that has caused considerable upheaval in Russia.
The risk of nuclear weapons being used in the Ukraine conflict has lessened thanks to international pressure on Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published Thursday. “One thing has changed for the time being: Russia has stopped threatening to use nuclear weapons. In response to the international community marking a red line,” Scholz said in the interview with Germany’s Funke media group.
Talks between Russia and the United States on securing an exchange of high-profile prisoners are making only sporadic progress, a top Russian diplomat said in comments published on Thursday. The two countries have been examining ways of conducting an exchange to enable jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan to go free. Moscow has made it known it would like convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout to be included in any deal.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Russia is attempting to “freeze” the fighting in Ukraine over the winter to prepare its forces for a renewed assault early next year. Stoltenberg urged Nato allies to continue sending weapons to Kyiv over the winter, adding that the conditions for a peaceful settlement to the war are “not there now”.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said 31 “suspicious packages” had been sent to Ukrainian missions in 15 countries. In the past week, Ukraine says its embassies and consultants across Europe have received “bloody” packages, some containing animal eyes, in what Kyiv has described as a “campaign of terror and intimidation”.
A road accident in the temporarily occupied eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk has left 16 people dead and several injured, according to a Russian-backed official and state media. The accident involved a minibus and a truck, whose passengers included soldiers, and took place between Torez and Shakhtarsk, emergency services told the Russian state-owned news agency Tass.
Ukraine’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, has called on the country’s western allies to boycott Russian culture. Writing in the Guardian, Tkachenko argues that a halt to performances of the music of Tchaikovsky and other Russian composers until the end of the war would be “pausing the performance of his works until Russia ceases its bloody invasion”.
The European Commission has proposed a ninth package of sanctions on Russia, including adding almost 200 additional individuals and entities on the sanctions list. In a statement, the head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, accused Russia of “deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure” and of continuing to “bring deaths and devastation to Ukraine”.
The US has made clear to Ukraine its “concerns” about any escalation of the war with Russia, the White House’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said. Kirby said the principle behind the war in Ukraine was one of sovereignty, and “unlike the Russians, we respect Ukrainian sovereignty”. Kirby’s comments came after Kyiv appeared to launch a pre-emptive strike on bombers on two Russian airbases far from the frontlines earlier this week.
The Kremlin has said a US military aid spending bill providing $800m to Ukraine approved by lawmakers on Tuesday was “provocation towards our country”. The Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, authorises the additional spending for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, an increase of $500m over President Joe Biden’s request earlier this year.
Britain has ordered “several thousand” NLAW anti-tank weapons to replace the 7,000 donated to Ukraine in the past year. Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, said the NLAWs played “a decisive role” in pushing back the Russian invasion, but Labour has complained that the deal took nearly 10 months to sign and the replacements will take three years to make.
BP should donate its “wartime profits” in Russia to the reconstruction of Ukraine or ministers should impose a special windfall tax on the oil company to force it to do so, British MPs have told parliament. The British oil supermajor has a 19.75% stake in Rosneft, one of the Kremlin’s most important oil assets and signalled its intent to exit Russia nine months ago, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
At least 441 civilians were killed by Russian forces during the first weeks of the war in Ukraine, according to a report by the UN’s human rights office. Many of the bodies documented in the report bore signs that the victims may have been intentionally killed, the report by the Office of the high commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.
An Orthodox priest accused of leaking information on Ukrainian defence positions to Russia has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office. The priest from Lysychansk, in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, had been informing the Russians about the positions of Ukrainian troops since April, it said in a statement on Telegram.
