Because the struggle enters its 658th day, these are the principle developments.
Right here is the scenario on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
Combating
- Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-occupied elements of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia area, mentioned Russian forces had “advanced significantly forward northeast of Novopokrovka”. The village lies some 20km (12 miles) east of Robotyne, which Kyiv mentioned it recaptured in August. Balitsky mentioned Russian forces have been “not only holding the line but are gradually moving forward”. Ukraine acknowledged battles within the space. “The defence forces repelled three enemy attacks in the areas north of Pryutne and west of Novopokrovka of the Zaporizhia region,” the military mentioned in its each day report.
- The Ukrainian Air Pressure mentioned it shot down 9 of 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia at a number of areas of Ukraine.
- One individual was killed and 4 others injured throughout 24 hours of Russian bombardment of the southern Kherson area, in keeping with Oleksandr Prokudin, the pinnacle of the regional navy administration.
- Ukraine claimed to have captured a tactically necessary hill within the jap Donetsk area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced on social media that his troops had taken the foothold, which offers a vantage level over the entrance line close to Pivdenne, a mining city to the northwest of the Donetsk metropolis of Horlivka.
- A significant outage at Kyivstar, the operator of Ukraine’s largest cell community, left 24.3 million folks with out cell protection and potential air raid alerts after what seemed to be the biggest cyberattack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the nation. “War is also happening in cyberspace. Unfortunately, we have been hit as a result of this war,” Chief Government Officer Oleksandr Komarov advised nationwide tv. Ukraine mentioned it was investigating doable Russian state involvement and Kyivstar mentioned it hoped to revive providers by Wednesday.
- A declassified US intelligence report assessed that 315,000 Russian troops had been killed and injured within the struggle in Ukraine – practically 90 p.c of the personnel Moscow had when the battle started – a supply acquainted with the intelligence advised the Reuters information company. The report additionally assessed that Moscow’s losses in personnel and armoured automobiles to Ukraine’s navy had set again its navy modernisation by 18 years.
Politics and diplomacy
- United States President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy met on the White Home to debate the “vital importance” of continued US help for Ukraine after US Republicans, who need to hyperlink funding for Ukraine to new border safety measures, blocked billions of {dollars} of assist.
- At a press convention following the assembly, Biden reiterated the necessity to preserve navy help for Ukraine, saying Republicans who stood in the way in which would hand a “Christmas gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “If we don’t stop Putin … [he] will keep going,” Biden mentioned.
- Zelenskyy, in the meantime, mentioned about 600,000 Ukrainians have been preventing Russian forces and that the nation’s troops had been profitable within the Black Sea in addition to in establishing a brand new hall for grain exports. He mentioned the objective in 2024 was to “take away Russia’s air superiority”.
- The Ukrainian president earlier appealed on to the US Congress over new funding and mentioned that whereas he had bought “positive” alerts from the assembly, he would deal with motion moderately than phrases. Home of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, didn’t seem to have been swayed. “What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win and with none of the answers that I think the American people are owed,” Johnson mentioned.
- Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had mentioned Russia could be closely watching the assembly between the 2 leaders. Peskov mentioned that additional US navy help to Ukraine could be a “fiasco”, claiming the billions of {dollars} in earlier help had not helped Ukraine on the battlefield.
- Zelenskyy emphatically rejected as “insane” strategies that Ukraine ought to hand over a few of its territory to safe a peace take care of Russia. “It’s a matter of families and their history. We are not going to give up territories to terrorists,” Zelenskyy advised reporters.
- Poland’s newly-elected prime minister, Donald Tusk, mentioned Warsaw would demand the “full mobilisation” of the West to assist Ukraine. “There is no alternative,” he mentioned.
- The US introduced a wave of new sanctions concentrating on greater than 250 people and entities in international locations together with Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates, because it tries to additional isolate Russia over its full-scale invasion.
- Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) who Russia detained in October, was slapped with further costs of “spreading false information about the Russian army”. RFE/RL’s performing president and board member Jeffrey Gedmin mentioned the community “strongly condemned” the transfer. “It is time for this cruel persecution to end,” he mentioned.
Weapons
- The US introduced a brand new $200m navy help bundle for Ukraine together with ammunition for the Excessive Mobility Artillery Rocket Methods (HIMARS), high-speed anti-radiation missiles and artillery rounds. It’s separate from the bundle at the moment stalled in Congress. “Unless Congress take action to pass additional aid, this will be one of the last security assistance packages we will be able to provide Ukraine,” the Biden administration mentioned in an announcement.
