Kiev suffers “largest drone attack ever” by Russia with “five injured”
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Russia has fired dozens of drones across Ukraine as its winter campaign of attacks on civilian infrastructure appears to be underway.
Ukrainian air defense and mobile groups of drone hunters said they shot down 30 of 31 Russian drones in 11 regions across the country.
Shortly after midnight, a series of explosions occurred in the Ukrainian capital Kiev as air defense units attacked Russian drones.
“This is the sixth airstrike on Kiev since the beginning of the month,” said Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down six drones fired into occupied Crimea overnight.
According to police, a Ukrainian city councilor detonated two grenades at a village meeting, injuring up to 26 people, while the event was livestreamed on Facebook.
In Transcarpathia, Ukraine, a man was filmed standing near a door and pulling grenades from his jacket before throwing them to the ground.
Several explosions followed, leaving the room full of smoke and bodies on the floor. It is not clear why he carried out the attack.
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Hungary will veto Bulgaria's accession to Schengen unless it abolishes the gas transit tax
Hungary will veto Bulgaria's entry into Europe's passport-free Schengen zone unless it abolishes a transit tax on Russian gas, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The veto threat follows Thursday's agreement by all 27 EU member states except Hungary to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine despite Russia's invasion and bypass Prime Minister Viktor Orban's complaints by persuading him to leave the room.
Orban's defiance in Brussels gave him some brownie points in Moscow, with which his nationalist government maintained regular contacts even during the Ukraine war and which still supplies landlocked Hungary with most of its gas.
Citing Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, the ministry said Hungary had made it clear to Bulgaria that it would veto the country's accession if the tax remained in place on Hungary's main gas import route.
“We have made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they continue to do so for a long time, if they endanger the security of Hungary’s energy supply for a long time, we will veto their accession to Schengen.”
He said Hungary would lift its veto once the transit tax was abolished.
While Western European countries have made great efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas, Hungary receives 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia, mostly via Bulgaria and Serbia, under an agreement signed in 2021.
Szijjarto said Bulgaria's move, which he said violated European regulations, jeopardized security of supply not only in Hungary, but also in Serbia and North Macedonia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives on Thursday for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Tom Watling16. December 2023 2:15 p.m
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Former FBI agent sentenced to more than four years in prison for aiding Russian oligarch
Charles McGonigal, 55, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to four years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering conspiracy in August.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 1:45 p.m
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The fight for £43bn of EU aid to Ukraine after Hungary's Orban blocked it – and why it's so important
A few hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated that the EU had finally agreed to start accession negotiations, a deal that came after Mr Orban agreed to leave the room as the remaining 26 nations voted.
However, Mr Orban told Hungarian state television on Friday that he could still block the years-long process of admitting Kiev into the bloc later if he believes it undermines Budapest's interests.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 1:15 p.m
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A symbolic victory for Kiev in EU membership – but the real concern about Western aid remains
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's one-man mission to block important European funds, coupled with a similar impasse in the US Congress, poses a major problem for Ukraine, writes Askold Krushelnycky.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 12:45
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Ukraine puts the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on its wanted list
According to a post on the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's wanted list, Patriarch Kirill is now “a person hiding from the investigative authorities.” Kiev's security services accused him of fueling the war.
Kirill, seen in the photo wearing his clerical robes, has been listed as “missing” on the ministry’s website since November 11.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 12:15
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Russia and Ukraine exchange drone strikes after EU funding stalls
Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of attempted drone strikes last day, just hours after Hungary vetoed 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in EU funding for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 30 of 31 drones fired overnight against 11 regions of the country.
Russia also said Friday evening that it had foiled a series of Ukrainian drone strikes.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 11:45
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Sadiq Khan rejects call to send scrapped Ulez cars to Ukraine
Sadiq Khan has reportedly rejected a call to send cars to be scrapped under his controversial Ulez plan to Ukraine.
The mayor of Kiev had pushed for the vehicles to be transported to his war-torn country, where he said they could be used for “many life-saving and transportation purposes.”
However, according to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Khan said the proposal would fall short of a “legal threshold” that requires Londoners to benefit.
(PA)
Tom Watling16. December 2023 10:58
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Putin wants to run for president as an independent candidate
Vladimir Putin will run for president again as an independent candidate with a broad but not party-based support base, the state-backed RIA news agency quoted two senior pro-Kremlin lawmakers as saying on Saturday.
Putin, who has been in power as either president or prime minister for more than two decades, has announced he will seek another six-year term in March next year, where he is expected to win the election.
He will not run as a candidate for the ruling United Russia (UR) party, despite having its full support, but as an independent candidate, said Andrei Turchak, a senior official of the UR party, according to RIA.
Sergei Mironov, a senior politician from the Just Russia party who supports Putin, was also quoted by RIA as saying that Putin would run as an independent and collect signatures in support of him.
For the 71-year-old Putin, the election is a formality: with the support of the state, state media and almost no public dissent, he is certain to win.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual press conference in Moscow
(via Portal)
Tom Watling16. December 2023 10:30
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Ukraine fires multiple drones into Crimea, Russia claims
According to the Kremlin, Ukraine fired six drones at Russian positions in occupied Crimea overnight.
A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed all drones fired by Ukraine.
“An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using an aircraft UAV on objects in Crimea has been stopped,” the statement said.
“Another six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in action by air defense systems.”
These claims could not be verified.
Tom Watling16. December 2023 10:00
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Europe must arm itself in the face of new threats, says the German minister
Europe must strive to better defend itself as new military threats could emerge by the end of the decade, even as security ally the United States shifts its focus to the Indo-Pacific, the German defense minister said.
Russia is significantly increasing its weapons production to maintain the invasion of Ukraine while threatening the Baltic states of Georgia and Moldova, Boris Pistorius said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag.
Meanwhile, the United States is likely to reduce its military involvement in Europe as it turns more attention to the Indo-Pacific.
“We Europeans must become more committed to ensuring security on our own continent,” Pistorius said, pointing out that it would take time, however, for the region to increase its own arms production.
“We have about five to eight years to catch up in terms of the armed forces, industry and society,” he said.
Europe is aware that it may also have to compensate for US aid to Ukraine if Washington cannot agree on new funding, he added.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (r.) meets with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov in Kiev
(AFP via Getty Images)
Tom Watling16. December 2023 09:30