Russia-Ukraine updates: Death toll from Kryvyi Rih rises to 4
All the updates from December 17 as they happened.
This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, December 17.
This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, December 17.
- Rescuers have recovered the body of a one-year-old boy from the rubble of a residential building after a Russian attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, raising the death toll to four.
- Ukrainian local authorities say air raid sirens wailed across the country, including the capital, Kyiv, a day after Russia carried out large-scale attacks on critical infrastructure.
- President Vladimir Putin has sought proposals from the commanders of his armed forces on how Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine should proceed during a visit to the operation’s headquarters.
- The latest round of European Union sanctions against Moscow will just exacerbate problems within the bloc, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said after the EU decided to blacklist nearly 200 more people and bar investment in Russia’s mining industry, among other steps.
- A shield is being set up over a storage site for spent nuclear waste at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to protect it from shelling and drones, a Russian official said.
Here are the latest updates:
Zelenskyy appeals again for weapons to defend Ukraine’s airspace
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again appealed to Western allies to provide Ukraine with the means to defend its airspace.
“Find an opportunity to give Ukraine reliable protection of the sky, a reliable air defence shield. You can do it,” he said in his nightly address.
“When this happens, the main form of Russian terror – missile terror – will become simply impossible.”
EU, Azerbaijan sign Black Sea electricity deal
Azerbaijan has agreed to supply the EU with electricity via a subsea cable, as the bloc diversifies its energy supply away from Russia.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the bloc was definitively “turning its back” on reliance on Russian fossil fuels and diversifying towards “reliable energy partners” after green-lighting construction of a 1,195-kilometre (742 mile) cable under the Black Sea.
She noted the scheme would enable electricity supplies to flow through to neighbouring states including Moldova and Ukraine, and aid modernisation of the latter’s energy network.
Construction on the subsea cable is due to start next year, linking Azerbaijan to Hungary via Georgia and Romania, although it is not expected to come on stream before 2029.
Ukraine restores power to six million people in last 24 hours
Ukraine has restored power to almost six million people in the last 24 hours after widespread Russian attacks against the electricity generating system, Zelenskyy has said.
“Repair work continues without a break after yesterday’s terrorist attack,” he said in a video address.
145,000 tonnes of wheat shipped to Asia: Ukraine
Four vessels containing a combined total of 145,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat have left the port of Odesa on their way to Asia, the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that a bulk carrier containing 71,000 tonnes of wheat is among the four vessels and is bound for Indonesia.
There are 23 vessels being processed, the ministry said, with 734,000 tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products on them.
“Three ships are moving along the grain corridor loaded with 166 thousand tonnes of agricultural products,” it said.
The statement added that “92 vessels are awaiting inspection by the JCC (the Joint Coordination Centre) in the Bosphorus,” but said that the “queue continues to grow to the artificial restriction of registration for inspection by the Russian Federation”.
Germany opens first floating gas terminal to reduce dependency on Russia
Germany has opened its first floating terminal of liquified natural gas (LNG) one month after completing construction in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven.
Built to reduce the country’s dependency on Russian gas, the terminal in Lower Saxony was completed in a short period of time.
Germany hopes to have 30 billion cubic metres of import capacity by the end of next year.
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February left Germany, which for decades prospered from plentiful piped Russian gas, looking for alternative sources of energy.
Russia ‘concerned about vulnerability of Crimea’: UK Ministry of Defence
Russia’s campaign of air strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure has largely consisted of air- and maritime-launched cruise missiles but has almost certainly also included Iranian-provided drones, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In its latest intelligence update, the ministry said the Iranian-provided uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) were being launched from Russia’s Krasnodar region, whereas previously, they were primarily launched from locations within occupied Crimea.
The ministry said the change of launch site is likely due to Russian concerns about the “vulnerability” of Crimea.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 17 December 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/qvaiWq0n01
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/d9jqkHomEZ
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 17, 2022
Popular pedestrian bridge in Kyiv damaged by Russian airstrikes reopens
A popular pedestrian bridge in central Kyiv has reopened after it was damaged by Russian air attacks on the Ukrainian capital in October, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced.
The bridge, known by locals as the “Glass Bridge” or “Klitschko Bridge”, connects two central parks in Kyiv.
Kyiv pedestrian bridge was reopened for visitors after a three-month reconstruction. A Russian missile attack damaged it on 10 Oct
All 18 floor glass units & 143 side glasses were replaced and the bridge was covered by anti-icing materials.https://t.co/AhKwZNdYI0 pic.twitter.com/os22cLayOa
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 17, 2022
Ukraine to restore electricity after Russian missiles batter power grids
Ukraine is working to restore electricity and water supplies after Russia’s latest wave of attacks pitched multiple cities into darkness and forced people to endure subzero temperatures without heating or running water.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the metro service was relaunched early Saturday and the water supply had been restored.
However, a third of Kyiv residents were still without power, Klitschko added.
Power was also restored throughout the eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said, after the strikes left Ukraine’s second city without electricity.
Ukrenergo had warned the extent of the damage in the north, south and centre of the country meant it could take longer to restore supplies than after previous attacks.
Russia slams Moldova’s ban of television channels as ‘political censorship’
Russia has denounced a decision by neighbouring Moldova to temporarily ban six television channels as “political censorship”.
The small ex-Soviet state of Moldova accused the channels of airing “incorrect information” about the country and Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
The channels – some of which broadcast in Moldovan and some in Russian – are closely tied to politician and businessman Ilan Shor, who fled the country in 2019 after the election of pro-Western President Maia Sandu.
Shor, in exile in Israel, has backed protests in Chisinau demanding that Sandu’s government resign.
“We consider this ban as an unprecedented act of political censorship, as an abuse on the principle of media pluralism and a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of access to information, to which the political leadership of the Republic regularly declares its adherence,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“In light of the unprecedented consequences of its implementation for the Russian-speaking part of the country’s population, we also qualify it as a cynical infringement of the rights of national minorities.”
The ban will start on Monday and last for the duration of a state of emergency that Moldova declared after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” the country.
Moldova close to ending dependence on Russian gas
Moldova has reached a short-term energy deal that would help wean one of Europe’s poorest countries off its dependence on Russian natural gas, a senior official says.
The former Soviet republic of 2.5 million people, which faces soaring inflation from Russia’s war on neighbouring Ukraine, has traditionally been heavily reliant on Russian gas.
But Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said state gas firm Moldovagaz would buy 100 million cubic metres (3.5 billion cubic feet) of gas from domestic supplier Energocom this month. It would be the first time that Moldova has not consumed any of the gas it has bought from Russia, he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“Since last year, we have promised to make reserves and find an alternative to stop being dependent on a single source,” Spinu wrote. “I managed to do it.”
It was unclear where Energocom was buying the gas.
The gas bought from the Russian state giant Gazprom is currently being provided to Transdniestria, a breakaway region of Moldova that is loyal to the Kremlin. Moldova is exchanging it for electricity.Kyiv installs Christmas tree despite Russian strikes on capital
Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko posted on Twitter that the main Christmas tree in the Ukrainian capital is being installed a day after Russia carried out another wave of missile strikes on Ukraine, including Kyiv.
Last month, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Ukrainian news outlet RBC-Ukraine the city’s Christmas trees will still be installed amid the war.
“No one is going to cancel the New Year and Christmas,” Klitschko told the network. “We cannot let Putin steal our Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s main Christmas Tree is being installed, as always, on Sofiyska Square in Kyiv.
No Christmas market this time around… but you can charge your gadgets at the place🎄 pic.twitter.com/grX4wkMIZb— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) December 17, 2022
Death toll in Kryvyi Rih from Friday missile strike rises to four
The death toll from Friday’s Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine has risen to four, Reuters reports.
Rescue workers recovered the body of a one-year-old boy from the rubble of a residential building, the regional governor said on Saturday.
“It is difficult to write about something like this,” Valentyn Reznichenko said on the Telegram messaging app. He said a total of four people had been killed.
The strike was part of a wave of missile attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure that officials in Kyiv said was one of the largest since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In the southern city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces freed from Russian occupation last month, a 36-year-old man was killed inside his car after Russian forces shelled the area, the regional governor said.
‘Unrealistic’ to talk with Russa, Ukrainian presidential adviser says
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says it’s “unrealistic” to talk about a peace deal with Russia while urging allies to deliver more weapons to Ukraine.
“Do not get distracted talking about unrealistic plans: you cannot come to an agreement with RF [the Russian Federation],” Podolyak said on Twitter.
“War must end only with its defeat,” he added.
Do not get distracted talking about unrealistic plans: you cannot come to an agreement with RF. War must end only with its defeat. Therefore, paraphrasing Hemingway: "Greeting to arms!". In required proportions of artillery, armored vehicles, drones and long-range missiles.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) December 17, 2022
Russia says it hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, military targets
Moscow says “high-precision” weapons have hit Ukrainian military and energy facilities.
“As a result of the strike, the transportation of weapons and ammunition of foreign production has been thwarted,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said of Friday’s attack. Ukrainian plants producing weapons, military equipment and ammunition have been disabled, it said.
The statement was made a day after Ukraine was subjected to a barrage of missiles that cuts power to multiple cities and caused water shortages.
Gas terminal completion shows Germany can move fast: Scholz
The speed with which Germany managed to build and link up its first floating gas terminal to replace lost supplies of Russian gas should serve as a model for a new, pacier German economy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said at the terminal’s opening.
The 90 kilotonne Hoegh Esperanza, a shipborne regasification terminal, will in future be able to supply enough gas for 50,000 households for a year. Further floating liquid natural gas terminals will follow.
“Many said it would be impossible to get it built this year,” a yellow-jacketed Scholz said as he was buffeted by a stiff North Sea winter bluster. “When we work together we can do things at great speed: that’s Germany’s new tempo.”
Ukrainian shells kill three civilians, authorities in Russian-controlled area say
Ukrainian rockets have killed three civilians in the Russian-controlled town of Shchastia in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province, according to Russian-appointed regional authorities.
In a post on Telegram, the officials said US-made HIMARS rockets also wounded five people and destroyed four houses.
Russia installs shield over Zaporizhzhia nuclear storage site
A shield is being set up over a storage site for nuclear waste at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine to protect it from shelling and drones, a Russian-installed official says.
Video footage published by Vladimir Rogov shows workers mounting a screen of what appears to be some kind of transparent sheeting on wires above dozens of concrete cylinders about 5 metres (16 feet) high.
“For now, it will protect against shrapnel and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] dropped from drones, but later on, it will be substantial,” he said.
Russia says EU’s new sanctions will just cause more problems for the bloc
The latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine will only worsen problems within the bloc, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
EU leaders agreed this week to provide 18 billion euros ($19bn) in financing to Ukraine next year and hit Moscow with a ninth package of sanctions. The latest measures include blacklisting nearly 200 more people and barring investment in Russia’s mining industry.
“The current ‘package’ will have the same effect as all the previous ones – exacerbation of socio-economic problems in the European Union itself,” Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
She called on Brussels to cancel all restrictions on Russian exports of grain and fertilizer.
Air raid alert announced across Ukraine
Air raid sirens wailed across Ukraine a day after Russia carried out a massive missile attack on critical infrastructure.
“Please go to the shelters!” Kyiv city’s military administration said on Telegram.