Summary of the day
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Here are the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war:
Estonia’s government held an extraordinary meeting on as investigators try to find out what disrupted a Baltic Sea power cable bringing electricity from Finland, which went down just after noon on Wednesday.
A Russian drone attack on the central market in the Ukrainian town of Nikopol injured eight on Thursday morning, local authorities said. Seven of those injured were hospitalised after the strike damaged multiple stalls at the market.
The Ukrainian military said that its air force had carried out a strike on a military industrial facility in Russia’s Rostov region over the past few days. The facility in the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in Russian attacks on Ukraine,
The Ukrainian military said that it shot down 20 drones out of 31 launched by Russia overnight. Of the 31 drones, 11 “imitator-drones” did not reach their targets due to active engagement from the Ukrainian military, it added.
Readiness to support Ukraine “until it wins” has fallen sharply across western Europe at a critical time for the country, a survey has suggested. December polling by YouGov in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and the UK found support for an alternative resolution to the conflict – a negotiated end to the fighting, even if that left Russia in control of parts of Ukraine – is now the preferred option.
Russia and Kazakhstan have sought to temper speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, with the Kremlin urging people to wait for the results of the investigation. Four sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters that a Russian air defence downed the plane.
Russia’s top security agency said that it arrested several suspects accused of involvement in an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate senior military officers, an announcement that follows the killing of a top Russian general last week.
The Russian defence ministry claimed that Russian forces have captured a village of Hihant in eastern Ukraine, the RIA news agency has reported. Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield reports from either side.
Thanks for following the blog today. We’re closing it for now, but we’ll be back tomorrow to keep you in the loop.
Finnish authorities have said that they are investigating an oil tanker that sailed from a Russian port for the “sabotage” of a power cable linking Finland and Estonia that was damaged the previous day.
Reuters reports:
On Christmas Day, the Estlink 2 submarine cable that carries electricity from Finland to Estonia was disconnected from the grid, just over a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
Robin Lardot of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said a probe for “aggravated sabotage” had been opened into the oil tanker Eagle S, that flies under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
Sami Rakshit from Director General of Finnish Customs said:
The assumption at the moment is that it is a shadow fleet vessel and the cargo was unleaded petrol loaded in a Russian port.
The shadow fleet refers to the ships which transport embargoed Russian crude and oil products.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, posted on X:
We monitored the situation closely yesterday.
The risks posed by the Russian shadow fleet must be ruled out.
The Eagle S is bound for Port Said in Egypt and still located in the Gulf of Finland, according to the Marine Traffic website.
Police suspect that the oil tanker’s anchor might have damaged the power cable.
