Ukraine’s top general says the country is preparing for a Russian invasion from the north
Moscow has announced the creation of two “creative front brigades” tasked with raising the “vulnerable” morale of troops deployed in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
The Defense Ministry’s daily updated intelligence cites reports in the Russian media stating that “the ranks will include opera singers, actors and circus performers” in hopes of raising the courage of soldiers who have been dulled by “high casualty rates” and ” poor leadership” on the battlefield.
Defense officials posted on Twitter: “Fragile morale almost certainly remains a key vulnerability in much of the Russian armed forces.
“However, soldiers’ concerns focus on the very high casualty rate, poor leadership, pay problems, lack of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about the objectives of the war. The efforts of the creative brigades are unlikely to substantially address these concerns.”
In other news, a top Ukrainian general has warned of another Russian attack from the north.
Major General Andrii Kovalchuk said Ukraine is preparing for another round of attacks, adding that the country needs more military support to fight Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Zelensky demands international tribunal to prosecute ‘all those who have provoked war’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the formation of an international tribunal to prosecute “all those who have provoked war”.
“The Kremlin and those who help its leadership wage war against Ukraine must be held accountable, including propagandists and strategists who have “imposed” its ideology on society,” The Kyiv Independent quotes Mr Zelensky as saying.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 4:00 PM
Watch: NASA Reports Russian Space Capsule Docked to ISS Leaking Fluids
NASA reports that the Russian space capsule docked at the ISS is leaking fluids
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 3:30 PM
Thousands are without water and power as Russian rocket fire hits Ukraine
Russia launched a spate of rocket attacks on Friday, with strikes in at least four cities, including Kiev, knocking out power across the country.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 3:00 PM
Zelensky uses World Cup final to denounce war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has used the World Cup final to denounce war.
“This World Cup has proven time and time again that different countries and different nationalities can decide who is the strongest in fair play, but not in playing with fire – on the green field of play, not on the red battlefield,” Zelensky said in an English language . video statement released hours before the final in Qatar between Argentina and France.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 2:30 PM
Russian shelling targets Kherson city centre
Russian forces shelled the center of Kherson, the major city from which Russian soldiers withdrew last month in one of Moscow’s biggest battlefield setbacks in Ukraine.
Three people were injured in Sunday’s attacks, said the president’s deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko. The southern city and surrounding region have been subject to frequent attacks since the Russian withdrawal.
Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said Russia had carried out 54 rocket, mortar and tank attacks the previous day, killing three people and injuring six.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 2:00 PM
One killed, four wounded by shelling in Russian region, governor says
One person was killed and four people injured in shelling in southern Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine on Sunday, the region’s governor said.
“Our air defense system was activated over Belgorod and the Belgorod region,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
“Four people are known to have been injured. Medical teams are taking them to hospital,” he said.
A poultry farm was damaged and windows in several residential buildings and cars were hit, he added.
Three witnesses told Reuters that loud bangs were heard in the city on Sunday.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 1:30 PM
Scholz opens first liquid gas terminal in Germany
Chancellor Olaf Scholz opened Germany’s first liquefied natural gas terminal on Saturday, saying the speed at which it was commissioned is a signal that Europe’s largest economy will remain strong.
The top three officials in the government – Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner – attended the inauguration at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven as a sign of the importance Germany attaches to several new LNG terminals it is adding to the building is after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The terminals are part of a drive to avoid an energy crisis, which also involves temporarily reactivating old oil and coal plants and extending the life of Germany’s last three nuclear power plants, which would be shut down at the end of this period. year, until mid-April.
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 1:00 PM
Kiev blackouts in pictures
People are using flashlights to navigate darkened Kiev after Russian attacks on electricity infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital.
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 12:30 PM
Editorial: Next year could be the turning point in the conflict in Ukraine
The West is right to give Zelensky a blank check to defend his country, because the cost of a new Russian domination of Eastern Europe would inevitably be much higher.
Read our latest editorial on Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine:
Emily AtkinsonDec 18, 2022 12:00 PM
It is time for a negotiated peace in Ukraine, says Kissinger
The time is approaching for a negotiated peace in Ukraine to reduce the risk of another devastating world war, but dreams of Russia breaking up could unleash nuclear chaos, veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger said.
Mr. Kissinger, an architect of the Cold War policy of détente toward the Soviet Union as Secretary of State under Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has met Vladimir Putin several times since he first became president in 2000.
“The time is approaching to build on the strategic changes already made and integrate them into a new structure to achieve peace through negotiation,” Kissinger wrote in The spectator.
“A peace process should connect Ukraine with NATO, however it is expressed. The alternative of neutrality no longer makes sense,” Kissinger wrote in an article titled “How to avoid another world war.”
Emily AtkinsonDecember 18, 2022 11:30 am
