Important Saturday 16 December at 8.03pm:
– Ukraine announced a massive airstrike on Kiev;
– Ukrainian Army: Russian forces focus on capturing Kupyansk;
– Umerov encouraged local capacity to contribute more to the mobilization;
– Moscow: Two people were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on an occupied village;
– Russia says it shot down 26 Ukrainian drones over Crimea;
– Ukraine has placed Patriarch Kirill on the wanted list;
– According to Ukraine, Russian forces have lost 930 soldiers in the last 24 hours.
Russia has launched a multi-pronged air attack on Kiev
According to the Reuters news agency, a series of explosions were heard early on Saturday morning in the Ukrainian capital as air defense units shot down Russian drones. Explosions were heard on both banks of the Dnieper River which runs through the city. At the moment there is no news of victims or serious damage.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said Russian forces targeted areas near the city center. According to him, to repel the attacks, the air defense had to fire heavily in the Darnytsk district on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, as well as in the historic Podilit district on the opposite bank.
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters reported the explosions shortly after midnight. Over the next 45 minutes, a new series of explosions hit areas near the center of Kiev.
According to eyewitnesses, air raid sirens were heard on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, but also on the western bank the police warned residents of the air attack through loudspeakers.
Authorities also warned of possible rocket attacks in regions of the Kiev region around the capital, where explosions were also reported.
Air raid warnings remained in force for a vast area spanning the central regions of the country.
Ukraine: A combined attack took place
According to the representative of the Ukrainian air defense, the enemy attacked the capital Shahed on Saturday night with drones of Iranian origin, but also used missiles. The attacks occurred in groups of drones, in waves and from different directions, but Ukraine’s air defense destroyed all enemy targets, Sergei Popko confirmed on social media.
He also added that no one was injured in the city due to anti-aircraft fire and falling debris.
The head of air defense noted that this is the sixth air strike on Kiev since the beginning of the month.
“Judging by the weapons used, the enemy seemed to have returned to the tactics of May 2023. Then the Russians were constantly changing and combining the types of weapons used in air strikes. The same scenario was used in the first half of December. Russian forces simultaneously used drones, strategic bomber-launched cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, Iskander missiles, and wave-launched hypersonic ballistic missiles from Kinzhal aircraft.
Umerov urged local authorities to contribute more to the mobilization
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov called on local capabilities to contribute more to the mobilization. According to Umerov, any form of cooperation with local authorities is necessary, including the recruitment of specialists in the army.
“We must change the approach by which we prepare individuals suited to the army for military service and civilians for resistance. All our people must be trained and ready,” Umerov said.
According to Umerov, more needs to be done with the construction of defense facilities, which Ukraine started recently, but much later than the Russian occupiers.
Moscow: Two people were killed in a Ukrainian rocket attack on an occupied village
Two people were killed in a Ukrainian rocket attack on a Russian-occupied village in southern Ukraine, occupation authorities in the Kherson region announced on Saturday.
According to the Russian military, the missile hit the village of Nova Majachka, about 70 kilometers from the city of Kherson.
“Two civilians were killed. Two others were injured,” Moscow-appointed official Vladimir Saldo said.
It claims that the US-made HIMARS missile hit the village during the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Other missiles fired from Kiev were shot down, he said.
Ukrainian Army: Russian forces focus on capturing Kupyansk
Russia is sending more and more forces to capture the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, bringing battalion reserves to the area, Ukrainian army spokesman Volodymyr Fito said.
Kupyansk was liberated by Ukrainian forces last September, but Russian forces have since been trying to retake it, as it is a major logistics center for the Russian occupation forces.
According to Fito, Russia sent a significant amount of equipment and troops to attack Kupyansk. Technology is protected more than life force, Fito added.
Ukrainian military personnel aboard a Gepard anti-aircraft vehicle of German origin, used to shoot down drones. Author/Source: SCANPIX / AFP
Russia: Air defense shot down 26 Ukrainian drones over Crimea
On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of 26 drones released by the Ukrainian Armed Forces over occupied Crimea.
According to the Russian military, between half past nine and eleven on Friday evening it was possible to prevent a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on objects in Crimea.
“Russian air defense systems destroyed 26 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Crimean peninsula,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine has placed Patriarch Kirill on the wanted list
Ukrainian authorities have added Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to the wanted list.
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, whose civil name is Vladimir Gundyaev, is accused of having violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine, of having justified armed aggression and of having planned and prepared a war of aggression, has announced the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
If the religious leader arrives on the territory of Ukraine, he will be taken into custody, the ministry said on its website.
The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, has collected evidence against Kirill, who is “a member of the inner circle of Russia’s top military and political leadership and… one of the first to publicly support a war on large scale against Ukraine.”
Ukraine is a majority Orthodox country, but after the war began it accelerated its efforts to cut ties with all Orthodox institutions linked to Russia.
In October, Ukrainian lawmakers voted to ban the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, accusing its clergy of collaborating with Russia.
According to Ukraine, Russia lost more than 900 soldiers in 24 hours
Ukrainian Armed Forces’ assessment of Russian losses so far in the war since the start of Russia’s large-scale military offensive on February 24, 2022, provided by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Saturday:
– inhabitants approximately 344,820 (compared to the previous day +930);
– 5720 tanks (+14);
– infantry fighting vehicles 10,667 (+13);
– 8100 artillery systems (+1);
– mobile missile launch systems (MLRS) 920 (+0);
– air defense systems 605 (+0);
– aircraft 324 (+0);
– helicopters 324 (+0);
– operational tactical drones 6238 (+12);
– cruise missiles 1609 (+1);
– cars and other vehicles, including fuel trucks approximately 10,710 (+11);
– ships/boats 22 (+0);
– submarines 1 (+0)
– special equipment 1190 (+1).
Ukraine does not publish data on its losses as regularly and has not publicly explained the methodology by which it counts Russian war losses.
2023-12-16 05:07:00
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