Live blog: Missile downed over Belarus may be Russian ploy - Kiev

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Missile downed over Belarus may be Russian ploy: Ukraine

Ukraine has suggested that a missile Belarus shot down over its territory might have been a move by Moscow aimed at bringing Minsk into the war.

"The Ukrainian side does not exclude a deliberate provocation on the part of... Russia, which laid such a route for its cruise missiles to provoke their interception in the airspace over the territory of Belarus," said a defence ministry statement.

Belarus summons Ukrainian ambassador to protest after Ukrainian missile incident

Belarus has summoned Ukraine's ambassador after saying that it had shot down a Ukrainian air defence missile over its territory, the Belarus Foreign Ministry said.

"We have demanded that Ukraine carry out a thorough investigation into all the circumstances of the missile launch, bring those responsible to justice and take comprehensive measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future. Which could lead to catastrophic consequences for everyone," ministry spokesperson Anatoly Glaz said.

Russia strikes key infrastructure with missiles across Ukraine

Russian missiles have hit Ukraine in the biggest wave of strikes in weeks, damaging power stations and other critical infrastructure during freezing winter weather.

Russia fired 69 missiles on Thursday at energy facilities and Ukrainian forces shot down 54, Ukrainian military chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said. Local officials said attacks killed at least two people around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The strikes also wounded at least six people across the country, although the toll of the attacks was growing as officials assessed the day's events. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attacks “senseless barbarism.”

Putin oversees commissioning of new Russian navy warships

Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw the commissioning of new warships and vowed to further strengthen his country's navy.

“We will speed up and increase the volumes of construction of ships of various projects, equip them with the most modern weapons, and conduct the operational and combat training using the experience received during the special military operation,” Putin said, on Thursday referring to Russia's 10-month-old campaign in Ukraine.

The newly commissioned vessels included a corvette, a minesweeper and the Generalissimus Suvorov nuclear submarine. The submarine armed with Bulava nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles is the sixth submarine of the new Borei-class to join the Russian navy. “It will ensure Russia's security for decades ahead,” Putin said.

Russia claims it shot down drone near Engels air base

A Russian regional governor has said that air defences had shot down a drone near the Engels air force base, home to long-range strategic bombers.

"Air defence systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle in the Engels region," Saratov Governor Roman Busargin wrote in a message on Telegram on Thursday.

Russia says Ukraine has already tried to attack the base twice this month, killing at least six Russian servicemen, although it said there was only slight damage to two aircraft.

The base-one of two that host Russia's airborne nuclear forces is located near Saratov, 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometres from the frontlines in Ukraine.

Poland ready for Russian oil ban

Poland is prepared for a Russian ban on oil sales to countries implementing a price cap, the climate minister said, with the country having cut its intake of Russian crude and secured alternative supplies from producers such as Saudi Arabia.

The Group of Seven (G7) nations and allies including Poland this month agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude. In response, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from February 1 for five months to nations abiding by the cap.

"We are prepared to process all types of crude oil, this is our advantage," Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa told a news conference on Thursday.

No particular signs Russia wants peace in Ukraine: Italy's Meloni

There are no particular signs that Russia wants peace in Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said, urging continued international backing for Kiev.

Meloni on Thursday said holding firm on support for Ukraine was a key precondition for maintaining a balance of power on the battlefield and hence creating the conditions for peace.

Speaking at an end-of-year news conference, Meloni also said she intends to visit the Ukrainian capital before the one-year anniversary of the Russian incursion, which began on February 24.

Kiev's initiative to oust Russia from UNSC 'completely perverted'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said Kiev's initiative to deprive Moscow of UN Security Council permanent membership and to exclude it from the UN is built on a "completely perverted logic".

"The logic is completely perverted. Then, following this logic, we can assume that all the decisions that were taken in the Security Council from the moment when the Soviet Union disappeared, and Russia rightfully took its place, are illegitimate from the point of view of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, or what? Well, if our presence there is illegitimate, then the decisions are illegitimate?" she said on Thursday.

Zakharova added that "it's like reading some fiction," and "has nothing to do with international law, reality, or diplomacy."

Ukrainian air defence missile lands in Belarus - report

A Ukrainian S-300 missile fell onto the territory of Belarus, according to Belarus' state-run BelTA news agency.

The Minsk defence ministry was investigating whether Belarus' air defence systems had shot down the rocket or if it was a misfire.

In November, an S-300 believed to have been fired by Ukrainian air defences landed in Poland. BelTA said there was no information about casualties. 

Ukraine reports 'massive' Russian missile attack 

A fresh barrage of Russian strikes has battered Ukraine, wounding at least three people including a teenager in Kiev and cutting electricity in the west.

Blasts were reported across the vast country including in the Ukrainian capital, the second city of Kharkiv in the east and the western city of Lviv on the border with Poland. 

Most of Lviv, where Russian strikes are still rare, was left without electricity, its mayor Andriy Sadoviy said.

90% of Ukraine's western city of Lviv without power after strikes: mayor

Most of Ukraine's western city of Lviv was left without electricity after fresh Russian missile strikes morning, the city's mayor said. 

"Ninety percent of the city is without electricity," Andriy Sadoviy said on social media, also warning of potential water cuts. "We are waiting for more information from energy experts. Trams and trolleybuses are not running in the city."

Zelenskyy: Ukrainians haven't lost their humanity

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainians to hug loved ones, tell friends they appreciate them, support colleagues, thank their parents and rejoice with their children more often.

"We have not lost our humanity, although we have endured terrible months," he said.

"And we will not lose it, although there is a difficult year ahead."

Zelenskyy has been pushing a 10-point peace plan that envisages Russia fully respecting Ukraine's territorial integrity and pulling out all its troops. But the Kremlin rejected the plan, repeating its stance that the Kiev government must accept Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.

For live updates from Wednesday (December 28), click here.