Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian shelling and drone attacks strike Kherson region; Ukraine to celebrate first Christmas in December | Russia
Key events
Poland’s new foreign minister has called on European countries to rearm in the face of Russian threat, arguing that wars are “not decided by tactical engagements but by industrial capacities”.
Radosław Sikorski, who took over as foreign minister this month, made the comments in an interview after returning from his first official visit to Ukraine.
As the west, we are 20 times richer than Russia, but if Russia puts its economy on a wartime footing and we continue on a peacetime basis, they can outproduce us. Wars are not decided by tactical engagements but by industrial capacities, and we are behind the curve.
During his trip Sikorski met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and prime minister Denys Shmyhal, as well as the country’s foreign and defence ministers.
Ukrainian air defences destroyed all but one of the 15 drones launched by Russia overnight, mostly in the south of the country.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram: “As a result of air combat, Ukraine’s Air Force and defence forces destroyed 14 shaheds in Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Khmelnytskyi regions.”
The drones were launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov in Russia, it added.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia. No damage or casualties have been reported by military and civilian authorities.
Waves of Russian shelling and drone attacks struck the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Saturday, killing one person and injuring seven, officials in the region said, Reuters reports.
Russian forces also shelled a power station closer to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, injuring five workers and knocking out electricity to the town of Kurakhovo.
Russian forces a year ago abandoned positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region but constantly shell areas there from new positions on the eastern bank. Ukrainian troops have established beachheads on the eastern bank.
Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a drone attack killed a man in the town of Stanislav, southeast of the city of Kherson, which for the past year, has been under Ukrainian control but subject to constant Russian shelling.
The city came under several Russian attacks throughout the day, including one sustained assault on residential areas in the early evening, and Prokudin said seven residents were hurt.
In the east, Russian shelling of a thermal power station in the town of Kurakhove injured five workers and triggered a power cut, the head of the local administration, Roman Padun, told the Suspilne public broadcaster.
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war.
In our top story, waves of Russian shelling and drone attacks struck the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Saturday, killing one person and injuring seven, officials in the region said.
Russian forces a year ago abandoned positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, but constantly shell areas there from new positions on the eastern bank. Ukrainian troops have established beachheads on the eastern bank.
Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a drone attack killed a man in the town of Stanislav, southeast of the city of Kherson, which for the past year, has been under Ukrainian control but subject to constant Russian shelling.
More on that story shortly. In other key developments:
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Many Ukrainians will on Monday celebrate Christmas Day on 25 December for the first time, after the government changed the date from the Orthodox Church observance of 7 January in a snub to Russia, Agence France-Presse reports. The law signed by president Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own life with their own traditions and holidays”. It allows them to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7”, it added. Christianity is the largest religion in Ukraine, with the Russian Orthodox Church dominating religious life until recently.
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Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova has said she will challenge in the supreme court the decision to disqualify her from running in the Russian presidential election next year, calling it unjustified and undemocratic.
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Poland’s new foreign minister has called on European countries to boost long-term plans for military production after returning from his first foreign visit, to neighbouring Ukraine. “Wars are not decided by tactical engagements but by industrial capacities, and we are behind the curve,” said Radosław Sikorski, in an interview in Warsaw, a few hours after returning from Kyiv on Saturday.
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Financial institutions that support the Russian military-industrial complex are to be blacklisted in the US after president Joe Biden signed an executive order yesterday to deny banks under sanctions access to the American financial system.
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Fighting age Ukrainian men in Estonia could be extradited to their home country and forced to join the war effort amid a shortage of soldiers. Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR reports that the Baltic nation stands ready to support Ukraine in its proposals to conscript Ukrainian men abroad for military service.
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The Communist party of Russia, the second largest party in parliament, has selected a 75-year-old candidate, Nikolai Kharitonov, who won just under 14% of the national vote when he stood against Putin in 2004, to stand in the presidential polls.
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The assassination of the Wagner mercenary army chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was approved by a close ally of Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal has reported after conversations with western intelligence officials and a former Russian intelligence officer.
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Protesting Polish truckers have unblocked the key border crossing of Shehyni-Medyka between Poland and Ukraine, Kyiv’s economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced, hailing an “important improvement”.
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Both Ukrainian and Russian troops are suffering from “exceptional levels of rat and mice infestation” in some sectors of the frontline, according to UK intelligence. The Ministry of Defence says rodent populations have risen due to milder temperatures in recent months and plenty of food.
