Zalensky in the US…Ukraine Update…288 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine.

Russian President Vladamir Putin, meanwhile, held a government award ceremony in the Kremlin, which celebrated one of the fiercest war proponents state-run media network RT’s chief Margarita Simonyan, who thanked him for “whacking the cannibals” in Ukraine.

In an address to mark Security Forces’ Day in Russia, Putin made a rare admission that conditions were “extremely difficult” in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia had illegally claimed to annex in September. “Yes, it is difficult for you now,” he said in a speech. “But the people living there, the citizens of Russia, are relying on you, on your protection. And it is your duty to do everything necessary to ensure their safety.”

Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe.

• “The East is holding out because Bakhmut is fighting.This is the fortress of our morale,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post. “In fierce battles and at the cost of many lives, freedom is being defended here for all of us.”
• In his speech, Putin called for the surveillance work of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, to be “strengthened” to combat any “new threats” that could emerge across Russia’s borders.
• Russia is conflicted about launching a new offensive in Ukraine, a senior U.S. State Department official said Tuesday. Some Russian officials are eager to capture more Ukrainian territory and others are concerned about whether Russian forces have the necessary equipment and ammunition to undertake such a military operation, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. “Certainly there are some who I think would want to pursue offensives in Ukraine,” the official said. “There are others who have real questions about the capacity for Russia to actually do that.”
• Russia is facing “very significant shortages of ammunition,” which is “increasingly a problem” for Kremlin forces,” the senior State Department official said. Russia has recruited hundreds of thousands of new fighters from its population but large numbers of those civilians do not have military training, said the official. “These are often not cohesive units.” Even as winter weather worsens, Ukrainian forces remain committed to fighting, the official said. “The Ukrainians themselves show no intention of slowing down within the constraints of the weather,” he said.
• A gas pipeline explosion in Russia on Tuesday killed three workers and put the pipeline, which supplies Ukraine, out of service, according to a local official and Russian media reports. Oleg Nikolayev, head of Chuvashia, the region where the accident took place, said gas had flared up as four people were working on the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline. Only one survived. The export pipeline carries gas from Russia to Ukraine. Nikolayev said it remained unclear when the pipeline would resume operation; a former official in Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told Russian media outlet RIA Novosti repairs could take three days.

• Russia intends to send Iran “advanced military components” in exchange for more than 300 kamikaze drones Iran has supplied Russia, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament Tuesday. The move would undermine “both Middle East and international security” so “we must expose that deal,” he added. Wallace also said Britain is helping Ukraine to “better coordinate and synchronize their air defense,” helping the Ukrainian military target incoming Russian or Iranian-made drones.
• Russia and China are using shared techniques to undermine NATO, Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to the transatlantic alliance, warned. The two countries are “increasingly sharing a toolkit” that includes threats to energy supplies and cybersecurity, she said in an interview with the Financial Times.
• U.S. lawmakers unveiled a roughly $1.7 trillion deal to fund the U.S. government through most of 2023, a measure that would include an additional $44.9 billion in emergency military and economic assistance for Ukraine. They have until the end of Friday to approve the financial package.
• Canada started the process of seizing $26 million from a company owned by Roman Abramovich, the sanctioned Russian oligarch, the federal government said Monday. It’s the first time Ottawa has used new powers that allow it to seize assets belonging to sanctioned people. “Putin’s oligarchs are complicit in Russia’s illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. “Canada will not be a haven for their ill-gotten gains.”

• Zelensky’s visit to embattled Bakhmut on Tuesdaybrought him into the vicinity of artillery barrages.
• Russian officials said Tuesday that Ukranian shells had hit a village near Kursk, Russia. Houses were damaged, the regional governor wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the claim.
• Putin’s visit to a military headquarters last week was “choreographed” to demonstrate “collective responsibility” for the war, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The meeting, on Dec. 16 at the Joint Headquarters of the Special Military Operation, Russia’s euphemism for the invasion of Ukraine, “likely aimed to deflect Putin’s responsibility for military failure, high fatality rates and increasing public dissatisfaction from mobilisation,” the ministry’s daily update said.
• The self-declared breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic has reportedly clashed with other Russian occupation authorities over basic administration procedures, indicating there are tensions and a lack of cohesion between the various Kremlin-backed administrations, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War think tank said…..

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Update….Zelensky on the ground at Joint Base Andrews around 12:45 PM EST….