Ukraine war in live ticker: +++ 07:48 Russian oil exports fall in December +++

21.12.2022

Ukraine war in live ticker
+++ 07:48 Russian oil exports down in December +++

Russian oil exports fell after the EU embargo and Western price caps came into effect. So far in December they are down eleven percent from the previous month to around 560,000 tonnes per day, Russian daily newspaper “Kommersant” reported.

+++ 07:18 Mercenary boss Selenskyj offers negotiations +++
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, who is influential in Russia, is delivering the Ukrainian presidential talks. That reported American Think Tank for the Study of War. On Telegram, Prigozhin posts videos in which he claims to have arrived in Baku — the city Zelensky visited on Tuesday. ISW writes that the mercenary boss is using the videos to undermine Putin’s status as a leader in the war — perhaps accidentally. Unlike Zelenskyy, Putin does not have the courage to look ahead. At the same time, ISW points out that Prigozhin’s offer to negotiate should not be taken too seriously, as he has no official position in Russia.

+++ 07:04 America delivers patriots to Ukraine +++
The US government wants to provide Ukraine with the Patriot Air Defense System to defend against Russian airstrikes. US President Joe Biden will make an official announcement this Wednesday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington, the White House has confirmed.

+++ 07:01 Zelenskyj arrival confirmed +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Washington on Wednesday for his first foreign trip since the start of Russia’s war of aggression. The US government confirms the relevant reports. At the same time, Zelenskyy tweeted that he was visiting the United States to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities. He will also address Congress.

+++ 06:50 Putin wants to set war goals for 2023 +++

Russia’s ruler Putin is meeting with top military officials today to set his military’s goals for the coming year, according to the Kremlin. At the meeting, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was to provide information on the “state of military special operations” in Ukraine and the supply of weapons to the armed forces. About 15,000 people participated in the conference via video. Russia continues to call its invasion of Ukraine a “special operation,” not a “war.”

+++ 05:11 Selenskyj on the way to America +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on his way to the US. This is reported by several American media. According to CNN, a meeting with US President Joe Biden is scheduled at the White House. Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has not yet confirmed that Zelenskij will address Congress. However, he called for MPs to “be physical”.

+++ 02:41 Reports: US plans to supply Patriot anti-aircraft defense systems to Ukraine +++
Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that the US government will provide the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. Multiple US media reports, planned delivery During the possible visit of Zelenskyj It will be announced Wednesday in Washington. With the Patriot system (“phased array surveillance radar to intercept the target”), infrastructure and population centers can be significantly better protected, while the independence of the Ukrainian armed forces on the ground increases. Depending on the location, it may extend beyond the Russian border.

+++ 00:01 Russia’s oldest civil rights organization +++ is to be shut down
The Russian Ministry of Justice is applying to the court to close down the Soviet-era Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG). To justify it, the ministry points out that MHG operated illegally outside the Moscow region. The Moscow Helsinki Group is registered as a regional non-governmental organization. It is now disbanded as NGO members have joined the process in other regions. The group, founded in 1976, was persecuted during Soviet times, and official pressure was later relaxed.

+++ 23:04 American media: Selenskyj wants to go to Washington on Wednesday +++

According to US media reports, Zelenskyy plans to visit Washington on Wednesday in his first foreign trip since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against his country. According to the news channel CNN, a meeting with US President Joe Biden is scheduled at the White House. A visit to Congress is also planned. Zelenskyy has not left Ukraine since Russia’s war of aggression against his country began on February 24. The United States has been Ukraine’s main backer in the nearly ten-month-old war.

+++ 22:24 Zelenskyj: will liberate all parts of Ukraine +++
President Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s desire to fully liberate all areas under Russian occupation. “We will do everything possible and impossible, expected and unexpected so that our heroes can succeed,” he says in his daily video address. The troops must achieve “what all Ukrainians expect”. Selenskyj listed the areas to be liberated. “This is our Luhansk region, this is our southern Ukraine, this is our Crimea,” he says. “Ukraine will not give up anything of its own to the enemy.”

+++ 21:51 Putin discusses with group leaders +++
In Moscow, Putin discussed the current situation on the frontlines with the occupation leaders he has appointed to the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. As earlier in the day, he stressed the extremely difficult situation in both regions, state news agency Tass reported. In talks with Donetsk occupation leader Denis Puschilin and his Lugansk counterpart Leonid Paschetschin, Putin first wanted to tackle “key issues” about the provision of water, heating and sanitation services to civilians in the two occupied regions, it said. Only then will we move on to security issues. Putin recently instructed Russia’s security forces to better protect the people of the “new regions” of the Russian Federation. “New Territories” refers to the occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.

+++ 21:16 Kyiv reports Russian tank attacks near Pakmut +++
Fierce fighting erupted again in the region after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the eastern city of Baghmut. “The enemy is continuing its efforts in offensive operations against Bakmut and Avdiyvka,” said civil servants in Kyiv. Among other things, tank attacks, artillery attacks and isolated Russian airstrikes have been reported from the region. North of it, Russian troops were trying to gain better positions near Kubzhansk. There, the Russian military used “its full spectrum” of artillery against at least 15 settlements.

Read the previous developments of the war in Ukraine Here.