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Summary
Here is a summary of key events so far today.
A Russian missile attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital damaged residential buildings and a children’s hospital, with Kyiv’s mayor reporting that at least 53 people, including six children, were injured. Ukraine’s air defence systems downed all 10 ballistic missiles targeting the capital at about 3 am, he said on Telegram.
Debris hit several residential buildings in the Dniprovskyi district. At least 20 people were taken to hospital, including two children. Thirty-three civilians received treatment on the ground, the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said.
In a statement on the Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight, Ukraine’s president, Voldymyr Zelenskiy, said: “There will be a response. Certainly.” Posting on X, he said: “Russia has proven once again that it is a heinous country that fires missiles at night, trying to hit residential areas, kindergartens and energy facilities during the winter. There will be a response. Certainly.”
Zelenskiy paid a surprise visit to Norway and said his critical priority was to strengthen Ukrainian air defence. At a summit with Nordic leaders, he said: “Today we talked and will talk about such specific things that can save thousands and thousands of Ukrainian lives, as well as increasing pressure on the aggressor,” as he called for more support for Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Hungary will stick to its stance that the EU must not start membership talks with Ukraine but should aim for a strategic partnership instead, its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said. He also reiterated that the issue should be taken off the agenda of the bloc’s EU leaders summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, as Hungary will not approve the start of accession talks with Ukraine. Hungary opposes granting Ukraine more financial aid and has threatened to veto plans to advance its EU membership bid.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told the European parliament ahead of the summit: “As the war drags on, we must prove what it means to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Her commission wants the summit to take a decision this week to start EU membership talks with Ukraine once it meets the four outstanding conditions previously set out.
Zelenskiy has said the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, had no reason to block Ukraine’s EU membership. Most of the EU’s 27 members want to open talks on Ukraine’s accession at a summit this week and agree billions of euros in further support for Kyiv in its war against Russia’s invasion. But both moves are being blocked by Hungary.
The US president, Joe Biden, has warned the Republicans that they would give Russia a “Christmas gift” if they failed to provide additional military aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy travelled to Washington on Tuesday to plead for money to back Ukraine in its war with Russia, but he faced a sceptical reception from key Republican lawmakers. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, would not agree to support Biden’s request to give Ukraine $61.4bn, with objectors insisting on White House concessions on border security as a condition for a deal.
Biden announced an additional $200m military aid package and, amid concerns that the war had reached a stalemate, insisted that Ukraine has made significant progress. “I will not walk away from Ukraine, and neither will the American people,” Biden said.
Zelenskiy has insisted he received a “positive signal” during his trip to Washington this week that the US would continue its support and assistance to Ukraine – despite suggestions that it could be losing support from its staunchest ally. He said he was confident of the US’s backing. Citing conversations with “congressmen, senators, representatives of both parties, with administration of the president and with him personally, from the speaker of the United States” he said: “I received a positive signal concerning support of Ukraine and assistance from the side of the United States.”
Norway will donate 3 billion crowns ($273 million) to Ukraine , prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre told a joint press conference with Zelenskiy on Wednesday. The funds are part of a package agreed previously by Norway’s parliament, of 75 billion crowns (£5.5bn) over 5 years.
Denmark’s government will present a new support package for Ukraine worth €1bn (£860,000) to parliament on Thursday, prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday at a press conference with Nordic leaders and Zelenskiy in Oslo.
Ukraine’s biggest mobile network operator, Kyivstar, aimed to restore some of its services later on Wednesday after an “unprecedented” cyber-attack, the company’s chief executive, Oleksandr Komarov, said. Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency told Reuters it was investigating the possibility that Russian security services were behind the attack. Moscow had no immediate comment.
Updated
