The Ukraine has struck a Russian Naval ship at the Crimea resulkting in damage to that warship…
The Ukraine doubled down on draft more soliders ….
There ssems to be a doubts on any talk of settlement of the conflict with Putin running for another term in office vote in March….
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The Ukrainian air force said it struck Russia’s Novocherkassk navy ship during an air attack on Feodosia in Crimea, controlled by Russia. Ukraine said the ship had been destroyed, but Russia said it was only damaged. Footage circulating on several Russian news outlets on Telegram showed powerful explosions and fires over a port area.
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The Ukrainian army chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi said he was not satisfiedwith the work of military draft offices that are responsible for mobilising troops to keep up the war effort against Russia. His comments came a day after Ukraine’s parliament published the text of a draft law containing reforms to the army draft programme, including lowering the age of men who can be mobilised to 25 from 27.
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Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defence minister, said he wanted “to express deep gratitude” to the British government “for providing basic training to Ukraine’s combat air pilots”.
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Russia claimed that its forces had stopped Ukraine’s counteroffensive and are now pushing forward on all fronts.
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Japan’s Mitsui & Co has decided to pull its employees out of Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, citing several sources. The decision is yet another blow for the project. Fearing the backlash from US sanctions targeting the project, foreign shareholders have suspended their participation.
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The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will hold talks with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia’s foreign ministry has said. The ministers plan to discuss bilateral ties as well as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza….
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European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs High Representative Josep Borrell stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a limited territorial victory in Ukraine and will continue the war “until the final victory.” Borrell reported on December 24 that Putin would not be satisfied with capturing a “piece” of Ukraine and allowing the rest of Ukraine to join the EU. Borrell added that Putin will not “give up the war” and called on the West to prepare for a “conflict of high intensity for a long time.” Borrell’s statements are consistent with ISW’s assessment that Russia is not interested in a ceasefire or good-faith negotiations with Ukraine but retains its maximalist goals of a full Russian victory in Ukraine.
*Sorry had to adjust the count….