Ukraine updates: Kyiv takes fire from drone attacks

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv was targeted once again by so-called kamikaze drone on Monday. An alert was first declared in the middle of the night.

"The enemy is attacking the capital with 'Shahed' barrage ammunition," the Kyiv military administration wrote on Telegram. "The air defense is working."

Kyiv officials said 18 out of 23 drones were shot down over the city of 3.6 million. A witness in the city told Reuters that they had heard loud blasts during the early hours, but it was not clear if this came from strikes landing or from air defenses downing the drones.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia unleashed 35 drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday as many people slept, hitting critical infrastructure in and around Kyiv in Moscow's third air attack on the Ukrainian capital in six days. 

The Ukrainian military also said that air defenses shot down 30 incoming drones.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's atomic agency Energoatom said that a Russian "kamikaze" drone had flown over a part of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant just after midnight.

"This is an absolutely unacceptable violation of nuclear and radiation safety," Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app.

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Sunday December 19.

Putin: 'fruitful' talks with Lukashenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin described talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko as "very fruitful," according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Russia's president said that he believes both Moscow and Minsk are succeeding at withstanding the pressure of Western sanctions.

"We are coordinating our steps to minimize the influence of the illegal restriction measures on our economy," Putin said. "And we are doing it quite convincingly and effectively."

Putin said that there had been price agreements in the energy sector, without providing further details.

He added that Russia will train Belarusian crews for possible missions with nuclear weapons.

Lukashenko urges unity with Moscow in 'difficult times'

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko urged closer military cooperation with Russia during a rare visit from President Vladimir Putin.

Putin landed in Minsk with his defense and foreign minister in tow, hours after Russian forces launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked emergency blackouts in a dozen regions.

"Difficult times require us to have political will and to focus on getting results on all topics of the bilateral agenda," Lukashenko told Putin.

"The main issues lately have been defense and security issues," he added.

Putin told his Belarusian ally that he hoped to deepen economic ties between the countries during the visit and praised Belarus as "our ally in the truest sense of the word."

Canada to seize assets of sanctioned Russian oligarch Abramovich

The Canadian government said it will start the process to seize and pursue the forfeiture of $26 million from Granite Capital Holdings Ltd, a company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Russian oligarchs are complicit in the "illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine" and Canada "will not be a haven for their ill-gotten gains," Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

Abramovich is a Russian oligarch and politician sanctioned by the UK, EU, Canada, Australia and Switzerland. He owns stakes in Russian steel giant Evraz and nickel producer Norilsk Nickel. He is also the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club. After his British investor visa expired in 2018, he became an Israeli citizen and, in 2021, a Portuguese citizen.

Zelenskyy asks Western leaders for wide range of weapons systems

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Western leaders meeting in Latvia, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to supply a wide range of weapons systems.

"I ask you to increase the possibility of supplying air defense systems to our country, and to help speed up the relevant decisions to be taken by our partners," Zelenskyy asked Sunak during his speech on a video link, addressing a meeting in Riga of leaders of countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force.

The British-led grouping, configured to respond rapidly to crises in northern Europe, is made up of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

"For our defense operations to be more successful we need armoured vehicles, primarily tanks," said Zelenskyy. He asked Norway to supply more of Norway-made NASAMS launchers and missiles and Sweden for Swedish-produced Gripen fighter aircraft, RBS 98 missiles and Archer artillery.

Zelenskyy also asked Denmark to transfer Ceasar howizers to Ukraine, Finland for more ammunition shells, Lithuania for NASAMS as well as Stinger missiles, Latvia for artillery, and Estonia for howitzers and ammunition.

While Western allies, led by the United States, have been supporting Ukraine with funding, military training and deliveries of air defense systems and other weaponry, Kyiv has said still more was needed to sustain its campaign against Russia.

Austria accuses Greek national of spying for Russia

A 39-year-old Greek national of Russian descent has been accused by Austrian investigators of spying for the Russian military intelligence agency GRU.

The man, who allegedly received special military training in Russia, passed information gathered in Austria about the war in Ukraine to various diplomats and intelligence services, the Austrian Interior Ministry said. 

According to the ministry, the man is the son of a former Russian spy who was once stationed as a diplomat in Germany and Austria.

The suspect had been in Moscow shortly before and during the start of the military invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in late February.

Authorities found the man's frequent travel to be suspicious. From 2018 to the start of 2022, he had made a total of 65 trips to countries in Europe, including Russia, Belarus, Turkey and Georgia.

He had also acquired several properties in Vienna, in Russia and in Greece, although officially he had only a small income, the ministry said.

Wagner group sees convicts as expendable — UK Defense Ministry

Russian military proxy group Wagner continues to take a major role in attritional combat around Bakhmut in Donetsk region, the UK Defense Ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.

According to the ministry, the group developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited.

"Individual fighters are likely issued a smart phone or tablet which shows the individual’s designated axis of advance and assault objective superimposed on commercial satellite imagery. At platoon level and above, commanders likely remain in cover and give orders over radios, informed by video feeds from small uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs)," the ministry wrote in the update.

Wagner operatives who deviate from their assault routes without authorization are likely being threatened with summary execution.

According to the update, these brutal tactics aim to conserve Wagner's rare assets of experienced commanders and armored vehicles, at the expense of the more readily available convict-recruits, which the organization assesses as expendable.

UK PM to announce further arms deliveries to Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce a new package of "hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition," according to a statement released ahead of a meeting later on Monday.

Sunak will take part in a meeting with his Baltic, Nordic and Dutch counterparts in Riga.

London aims to keep up its delivery of ammunition with a £250 million ($304 million, €287 million) contract "that will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine throughout 2023."

The statement from the prime minister's office also said that Sunak will call on the UK's allies to maintain or surpass the level of military aid to Ukraine next year.

Putin to visit key ally Lukashenko in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to make his first visit to Belarus since 2019 on Monday.

He will meet with his close ally, strongman Alexander Lukashenko. They are set to discuss their strategic partnership as well as regional and international issues.

Lukashenko, who held onto power following what is widely seen as a fraudulent election in 2020, is reliant on financial support from Putin.

Belarus in return allowed Russian troops to use its land as a launch pad during its initial invasion of Ukraine in February, although the former Soviet state has not joined the conflict.

Hours before Putin's visit to Minsk, the Interfax news agency reported that Russian troops will conduct military exercises in Belarus.

"The final assessment of the combat capability and combat readiness of the units will be given... after the battalion tactical exercises have been conducted," Interfax quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying. It did not mention when and where the drills would take place.

Interfax also reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, that Russia and China will hold joint naval exercises between December 21 and 27. The exercises will include missile and artillery firing in the East China Sea, the ministry said.

dh,ab/ar,fb (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)