Right here is the place issues stand on Sunday, December 21:
Combating
- The loss of life toll from a Russian missile assault on Ukraine’s port metropolis of Odesa rose from seven to eight, with not less than 30 others wounded, in line with Ukrainian authorities.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the scenario in Odesa as “harsh” and accused Russia of making an attempt to dam Kyiv’s entry to the Black Sea.
- The Ukrainian chief additionally mentioned that he’s trying to exchange the top of the Southern Air Command, Dmytro Karpenko, over the Russian strikes on Odesa.
- Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba mentioned Russian forces additionally attacked the close by port of Pivdennyi on Saturday, hitting a number of reservoirs.
- Ukraine’s navy mentioned its particular forces carried out a drone assault on a Lukoil oil rig within the Caspian Sea on Friday, together with the Russian navy patrol ship Okhotnik. The navy additionally mentioned that the Filanovsky oil rig, which had been focused twice this month, was broken within the strike.
- The Ukrainian navy additionally mentioned it destroyed two Russian fighter jets at an airfield within the occupied Crimean peninsula.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned its forces took management of the villages of Svitle and Vysoke, situated in Ukraine’s jap Donetsk area and the northeastern Luhansk area, respectively.
Diplomacy and ceasefire talks
- Zelenskyy mentioned the USA proposed a brand new format for talks with Russia, comprised of three-way talks on the degree of nationwide safety advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US.
- The Ukrainian chief expressed scepticism that the talks would end in “something new”, however added that he believes that US-led talks have the most effective probability of success.
- He added that he would help trilateral discussions in the event that they led to progress in areas equivalent to prisoner swaps or a gathering of nationwide leaders. “If such a assembly might be held now to permit for swaps of prisoners of struggle, or if a gathering of nationwide safety advisers achieves settlement on a leaders’ assembly… I can’t be opposed. We might help such a US proposal. Let’s see how issues go,” he mentioned.
- Zelenskyy additionally pushed again towards requires Ukraine to carry elections because the struggle drags on, stating that voting can’t happen in Russian-occupied areas and that safety situations should first enhance. “It’s not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will happen,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
- Zelenskyy urged European leaders to approve a measure to grab frozen Russian property and use them to fund Ukraine’s struggle effort, saying that doing so will strengthen Ukraine’s leverage on the negotiating desk. The Worldwide Financial Fund has estimated that Ukraine will want about 137 billion euros ($161bn) in 2026 and 2027, because the calls for of the struggle proceed to pressure the nation’s financial system.
- Russian particular envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks together with his US counterpart, Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, within the metropolis of Miami.
- “The discussions are continuing constructively. They started earlier and will proceed right this moment, and also will proceed tomorrow,” Dmitriev mentioned
- Russian Minister of Overseas Affairs Sergey Lavrov attended a summit in Cairo, held to advance nearer cooperation between Russia and African nations, and attended by greater than 50 international locations. Lavrov pitched Russia as a “dependable accomplice” to African international locations in areas equivalent to safety and nationwide sovereignty.
Weapons
- Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksandr Kamyshin introduced a cope with Portugal on the joint manufacturing of maritime drones, saying it could assist “defend Europe from the ocean”.
