Friday, December 8, 2023
1201 GMT — Russia accused the US of making "billions of dollars" at the expense of ordinary Ukrainian citizens' lives, urging Kiev to understand that Americans are always concerned with themselves.
"Ukraine must understand that it is not the main concern of the US. The main concern for the United States has always been the Americans themselves. And even at the cost of a large number of lives of those same Ukrainians," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing in Moscow.
Peskov's response came when he replied to a question about comments made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken following a meeting on Thursday with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said 90 percent of Washington's security assistance for Ukraine has been spent on US manufacturers and producers in the US.
"Very eloquent confession," Peskov said of Blinken's comment, adding that it is a continuation of Washington's US-centric policy, which is being carried out "at the cost of the lives of Ukrainians" in the case of Ukraine.
It is the Americans who earn billions and billions of dollars from expensive energy resources, from the gas they supply to Europe, from oil. It is the Americans who provide themselves with jobs, increased tax collections, loading their production with orders for shells, military equipment, and soon... It’s a pity that this is still not understood in Kiev.
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1436 GMT — Finland's supreme court blocks extradition of Russian terrorism suspect to Ukraine
Finland will not extradite to Ukraine a Russian man suspected of terrorism in Ukraine, Finland's supreme court ruled, citing the risk of inhumane prison conditions in Ukraine.
Russian national Yan Petrovsky was taken into custody by Finnish authorities in August after a Ukrainian court issued an arrest warrant for the man who is suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation in Ukraine, Finnish court documents seen by Reuters showed.
Social media channels linked to Russia's Wagner Group mercenaries said in August that Petrovsky was a top fighter in Rusich, a far-right subunit affiliated to Wagner. Rusich identified Petrovsky as a founding member and leader of the unit who has been under European Union and United States sanctions since last year.
1436 GMT — IOC confirms Russian athletes can compete at Paris Olympics with approved neutral status
Some Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the IOC said, in a decision that removed the option of a blanket ban over the attacks against Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee's decision confirms moves it started one year ago to reintegrate Russia and its military ally Belarus into global sports, and nine months after it urged sports governing bodies to look at ways to let individual athletes compete.
1159 GMT — EU leaders know of Ukraine's 'existential' need for aid: senior official
European Union leaders are conscious of how "existential" financial aid is to Ukraine and will honour their commitments, a senior official said, less than a week before a summit where billions in aid for Kiev hang in balance.
With most of Ukraine's revenue going to finance the war, the country relies heavily on economic assistance from the West to keep going.
"We know how existential it is. European leaders are responsible people - at least 26," said the official who is involved in preparing the summit. "They will stick to their commitments."
1117 GMT — Ukraine says 500 settlements without power as energy consumption hits record
Ukrainian energy consumption hovered near record highs, increasing strains on the fragile power sector as nearly 500 settlements faced blackouts due to Russian shelling, air strikes and bad weather, officials said.
Ukraine, an exporter of electricity before Russia's February 2022 attack, has been forced to turn to emergency power imports from neighbouring Romania and Poland this week to meet demand, grid operator Ukrenergo said.
"The power system remains in a difficult situation. At the moment, there is no free capacity at power plants."
0945 GMT — 'Unrealistic' Russia would engage in talks on Ukraine's terms: Kremlin
The Kremlin said that the idea Russia would engage in peace talks with Ukraine on Kiev's terms in 2024 was unrealistic.
It was responding to a media report which said Washington wanted such a scenario to unfold.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the idea "absolutely unrealistic."
0916 GMT —Ukraine says downed 14 out of 19 Russian cruise missiles
Kiev said that Russia had launched more than a dozen cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight in Moscow's latest aerial barrage that left two dead and several wounded.
Officials in Kiev say Russian forces stockpiled drones and missiles for attacks on Ukraine's struggling energy grid over winter.
"Nineteen cruise missiles X101/X555 were launched. And we have not a bad result from our air defences — 14 destroyed cruise missiles," Yuriy Ignat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's air force, told state media.
He said the missiles were downed over the Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk regions and that they were targeting civilian infrastructure.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the attacks had left two people dead and seven people injured in Dnipropetrovsk and the eastern Kharkiv region.
0550 GMT — EU to give members authority to halt Russian gas imports
The European Union is poised to give its member states the power to halt gas imports from Russia and Belarus, the Financial Times reported.
Any member state will be able to block companies from Russia and Belarus from obtaining space in their gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals, the FT reported, citing a draft legal text proposed by Brussels.
EU member states could have the authority to "partially or, where justified, completely limit" access to infrastructure to gas operators from Russia and Belarus, in order to protect their vital security interests, the newspaper said.
0351 GMT — Russia conducts multiple strikes on Kharkiv: Ukraine
Several Russian missiles hit the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, wounding one person and damaging residential buildings, Ukrainian authorities have said.
"The occupiers hit Kharkiv six times," the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Synegubov, wrote on Telegram, adding that one person had received medical treatment on the spot.
The districts of Kholodnohirskyi and Shevchenkivskyi were hit and residential buildings in the area were damaged, he said.
Initial information suggested the projectiles were S-300 missiles, he added.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, counted "at least five strikes" and one person wounded.
0047 GMT — Russian forces use aviation, keep pushing on Avdiivka: Ukraine
Russian forces have relied heavily on aerial attacks in their slow-moving campaign to win control of eastern Ukraine and resorted to new smaller attack groups in pressing to capture the beleaguered town of Avdiivka.
"For the second day in a row, occupying forces have been actively using kamikaze drones and aviation. And the number of combat clashes has significantly increased," Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun told national television.
Russian losses were mounting sharply in terms of both men and equipment in the southern theatre of operations, he claimed.
Ukraine's General Staff, in its evening bulletin, said its forces had rebuffed 15 attacks in Avdiivka and nearby villages, in addition to 34 attacks reported in its morning account.
Media outlet Espreso TV said Russian forces were pressing from the north but had made no inroads into the "industrial zone" outside the city centre.
0024 GMT — Ukrainian mortar units fire at Russian positions on Zaporizhzhia front line
Ukrainian mortar units in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region fired at Russian positions from short range on the front lines as intense fighting between Moscow and Kiev continued.
"We are repelling the all-out attacks launched by Russia against us. We protect our positions and support the advances made by our infantry," a Ukrainian soldier, codenamed Riki, told Anadolu Agency.
Riki, who serves in the 65th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said they protect the infantry while the infantry protects them, indicating that everyone on the frontline was working in a coordinated manner.
Expressing that his team used Mod. 63 120mm mortars produced in Italy, Riki said it was possible to hit a target up to 7 kilometres away, and a team of at least three or four people is needed to operate the mortar.
A Ukrainian captain, codenamed Jupiter, said mortar ammunition has decreased due to their heavy use and that they are waiting for help with mortar ammunition.
"The Mod. 63 mortar is a very suitable weapon to carry. Today, we fired at a target approximately 1,900 metres away," said Jupiter.
For our live updates from Thursday (December 7), click here.
