Russia defends rocket attacks on Ukraine utilities…..
Letter bombs arrive against Ukrainian and American Embassies in Spain….
Russia steps back from Kherson even as they keep up rocket attacks….
Ukraine keeps asking for NATO entre….
Here’s what we know:
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, claimed Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target. The United Nations has said the strikes could amount to war crimes.
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Lavrov defends strikes, even as six million people in Ukraine remain without power.
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Russian shelling again cuts power to Kherson.
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The U.N. seeks $51.5 billion in aid, driven in part by the war in Ukraine.
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Concern grows about Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia.
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For Putin’s opponents, exile from Russia proves a boon….
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It’s unclear why Spain was targeted. The country’s security services said an investigation is ongoing and that all the letters appeared to originate from inside the country. Madrid has been a steady supporter of Ukraine during the war, providing arms and taking in 130,000 refugees.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has signed a new contract worth up to $1.2 billion with Raytheon Missiles and Defense to send six air defense missile systems to Ukraine. Raytheon also announced plans to manufacture Patriot missiles in Europe for the first time, partnering with missile developer MBDA to produce the weapons in Germany. Securing additional air defense systems is a top priority for Kyiv as it defends its citizens and key infrastructure from a barrage of Russian missile attacks that have devastated the power grid.
Key developments
- The United Nations called for a record $51.5 billion in funding for 2023, citing “shockingly high” emergency needs, including the Ukraine war. Emergency relief official Martin Griffiths cited the war, the coronavirus pandemic and climate change as factors that have contributed to a year of “suffering,” and he warned of “an acceleration” of those crises in 2023.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Ukraine war has “shattered peace in Europe.” At the Berlin Security Conference on Thursday, he also called for more arms support to Kyiv and for its allies to “stay the course.” He warned of Europe’s “dangerous dependency” on Russian natural gas and economic reliance on other “authoritarian states,” including China.
- Ukraine pressed NATO on membership, but the alliance gave no guarantees. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Wednesday, Kuleba expressed regret over the 2008 decision to defer the country’s membership in the transatlantic military alliance, calling it a “strategic mistake.” However, despite reiterating support at the meetings, NATO officials and diplomats did not set a timeline for when Ukraine might join the alliance, saying instead the focus was on aiding the country through the winter and the war.
- Ukraine’s power outages have forced its residents to light fires for light and cooking, leading to at least nine deaths and eight injuries across Ukraine in the past day, the State Emergency Service reported late Wednesday. As winter cold bites, residents are seeking heat and light to cook and stay warm without electricity, which is leading to accidents. Of the 131 fires reported, 106 were in residential buildings, the Emergency Service said, warning that fires and explosions in residential buildings are becoming more frequent.
Battleground updates
- Fifty Ukrainian soldiers were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia, Ukraine’s security services said Thursday. It was unclear how many Russian prisoners were freed in return. Ukrainians who fought at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol were among those released, Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said in a Telegram post.
- Russia has pulled back some troops around the city of Kherson, Ukraine’s military said in an update Thursday morning. Some soldiers and military equipment have left the town of Oleshky, across the Dnieper River from the city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces recaptured last month. Russian troops have withdrawn from other nearby river towns, the military said, even as Russian shelling of Kherson and its suburbs continues.
- On the front lines in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, Russia is losing manpower and equipment and making scant operational gains, according toanalysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank. This indicates Moscow has “fundamentally failed to learn from previous high-casualty campaigns concentrated on objectives of limited operational or strategic significance,” they said. “The costs associated with six months of brutal, grinding, and attrition-based combat around Bakhmut far outweigh any operational advantage that the Russians can obtain from taking Bakhmut.”
- Ukraine’s armed forces say there’s still a threat of Russian missile strikes on energy and critical infrastructure across Ukraine. According to Zelensky, about 6 million people across the country and in Kyiv are disconnected from electricity. Russian forces carried out 20 airstrikes on Ukrainian troop positions on Wednesday and shelled the recently liberated city of Kherson, Ukraine’s military said in a battlefield update. The reports couldn’t be independently verified by The Washington Post…..