“Fastest way to peace”: NATO chief called for more weapons for Ukraine

Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin must be convinced that he will not achieve his goal of taking control of Ukraine. Designated Ukrainian attacks on targets in Russia Stoltenberg as legitimate.

“Every country has the right to defend itself. Ukraine too,” he said. In the case of the Ukrainian attacks, the context must also be seen. These are massive Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure aimed at depriving Ukrainian civilians of water, heating and electricity in winter.

The Ukrainian army only announced on Thursday evening that it had attacked Russian bases in the vicinity of the industrial and port city of Berdyansk. Around 50 Russian soldiers were “liquidated” in the process, the General Staff said in Kyiv. The military in Kyiv did not provide any information about the weapon systems used to attack Berdyansk. The city on the Azov Sea lies almost 100 kilometers behind the current front lines. On Thursday, Ukraine was attacked by rockets from Russia in several regions far into the west of the country.

Video: Ukraine attacked again

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that most regions of the country are suffering from power outages after the massive Russian missile strikes. “But that’s nothing compared to what could have happened if it weren’t for our heroic anti-aircraft and air defense forces,” Zelenskyy said in a video address Thursday night. Air commandos in central, southern, eastern and western Ukraine repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones during one of the largest Russian airstrikes since the war began in February.

“This year has two more days, maybe the enemy will try again to make us celebrate the New Year in the dark,” Zelenskyy warned of further attacks. “But no matter what they plan to do, we know one thing about ourselves: we will persevere.”

morale of the people intact

Zelenskyi sharply condemned Russia’s actions. With each further rocket attack, this moves closer to an international tribunal. “With every missile attack like this, Russia is only driving itself further into a dead end,” he said a few hours after the latest large-scale Russian attack. “And every rocket only confirms that it all has to end with a tribunal, that’s exactly how it will be,” says Zelenskyj. In his talks with foreign heads of state and government, the Ukrainian leader is trying to win their support for an International Criminal Court modeled on the Nuremberg Tribunal, before which politicians and the military from Moscow are to answer for the war of aggression against Ukraine.

The journalist Denis Trubetskoy said Thursday evening in ORF’s “ZiB2” that the Russians were not able to break people’s morale with rocket attacks and drone attacks. In a Skype video call to Kyiv recorded before the broadcast, he did not describe the mood in Ukraine as good, but as “normal”.

Video: Interview with Denis Trubetskoy

However, Ukrainian presidential adviser Alona Werbytska reported that 15,000 people are currently missing in Ukraine, “among them many civilians”. The fate of these people is completely uncertain, said the ombudswoman. “We don’t know what happened to them,” she said. “Are they also in Russian captivity, have they been abducted from Russian-occupied areas or have they perhaps been killed long ago?

After the discovery of a Ukrainian missile on Belarusian territory, the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv offered to cooperate in the investigation of the incident. A ministry statement released Thursday evening said the agency was ready for an “objective investigation into the incident.” State media in the Belarusian capital Minsk had reported that a missile launched by the S-300 air defense system had fallen on Belarusian territory on Thursday morning.

US President Joe Biden signed the multi-trillion budget on Thursday evening, which includes 45 billion dollars a (42.26 million euros) in support for Ukraine. Great Britain also wants to continue sending billions of dollars to Kyiv. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said £2.3 billion in military aid would flow next year. This corresponds to the amount transferred this year.