Ukraine updates: Russia launches 'massive' missile attack

Russia launched a fresh missile attack on Ukraine on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in several cities accross the country.

In the capital Kyiv, authorities reported loud explosions in several parts of the city and urged residents to take shelter.

"The attack on the capital continues,'' Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. He later added the metro in the city has suspended services and stations should be used as shelters.

Water supplies were also disrupted Klitschko said. "Due to damage to energy infrastruture, there are interruptions to the water supplies in all areas of the capital."

Russia was "massively attacking" Ukraine," Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region said.

In the central city of Kryvyi Rih two people were killed and at least five wounded in the attack. 

"A Russian missile hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih. The stairwell was destroyed. Two people were killed. At least five were wounded, including two children. All are in hospital," Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.

There was no immediate word of more casualties elsewhere.

Local officials said infrastructure had been hit in the eastern region of Kharkiv, the Black Sea region of Odesa, and Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine.

Kharkiv's Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, "There is colossal damage to infrastructure, primarily the energy system."

"I ask you to be patient with what is happening now. I know that in your houses there is no light, no heating, no water supply," he wrote on Telegram. 

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the "indiscriminate terror" that Russia's latest missile attacks were inflicting on Ukraine.

"These bombings constitute war crimes and are barbaric. All those responsible shall be held accountable," Borrell said in a statement, as a ninth package of EU sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine have entered into legal force.

Here are the other top stories related to the war in Ukraine on Thursday, December 16:

Stoltenberg says Putin is 'planning for a long war' in Ukraine

Russia is readying for a protracted war in Ukraine and Kyiv's NATO backers must keep sending weapons until President Vladimir Putin realizes he "cannot win on the battlefield," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

He warned there was no sign Putin had "given up his overall goal of controlling Ukraine."

"We should not underestimate Russia. Russia is planning for a long war," Stoltenberg said.

According to alliance chief, Putin is ready to be in this war for a long time and to launch new offensives.

"Most likely this war will end at the negotiating table, as most wars do," Stoltenberg said, insisting any solution should ensure "Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation."

Canada lends Ukraine $500 million following bond sale

Canada is loaning Ukraine $500 million (€470 million) following the sale of Canadian bonds allowing individuals and other entities to support Kyiv, Canada's Finance Department said on Friday.

The loan, transferred through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), follows the sale of bonds costing $100 or more to Canadians, investors, institutions and other buyers, the government said in a statement.

Individual Canadians bought $50 million worth of the bonds since they were issued November 29, it added.

Ottawa's sale of its Ukraine Sovereignty Bond was the world’s first bond dedicated to Ukraine, according to the government.

Croatian lawmakers reject training Ukrainian troops

Croatian lawmakers narrowly rejected allowing up to 100 Ukrainian troops to be trained in the country as part of an EU mission over the next two years. 

The decision was put to a parliamentary vote after a public disagreement between Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovich, who supported the idea, and President Zoran Milanovic, who did not.  

It needed a two-thirds majority to pass, and just missed this hurdle, despite broad support among those who voted. 

107 of a possible 151 MPs voted, 97 in favor and 10 against — 101 votes were needed.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine begun in February, the European Union agreed in October to set up the Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), and appointed a Polish general to lead training that will mostly take place in Poland.

Modi calls Putin, Russian leader 'outlines' Moscow's position on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Issues such as political and economic cooperation were under discussion, but also "at the request of Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin outlined his principled assessments of Russia's line towards Ukraine," the statement said.

On Thursday, Putin said that Russia was exploring alternative trading partners, including by sharply increasing gas exports to China, in the wake of Western sanctions.

The phone call between Putin and Modi focused on mutual investments and strategic partnerships in areas such as energy, agriculture, transport and logistics, the Kremlin said.

Ukraine grid operator warns of longer repair time

Ukraine's power grid operator, Ukrenergo said it would take longer to repair the power grid after Friday's attack compared with previous ones.

"Priority will be given to critical infrastructure facilities: hospitals, water supply facilities, heat supply facilities, and sewage treatment plants," it said.

Authorities have introduced emergency power cuts across the whole country in wake of the Russian attack. 

The metro system in the capital Kyiv, would remain out of service for at least the whole of Friday.

"Due to damage to the power system and emergency power outages, subway trains will not run until the end of the day today," Kyiv city officials announced in a statement online. They said that the stations would serve as civilian underground shelters instead.

Kyiv residents in winter coats crammed into underground metro stations as air raid sirens rang out in the early hours of the morning.

"I woke up, I saw a rocket in the sky," Kyiv resident, 25-year-old Lada Korovai said. "I saw it and understood that I have to go to the tube."

Ukraine says nearly all missiles shot down in Kyiv attack 

Kyiv city administration said the capital had withstood "one of the biggest rocket attacks'' launched by Russian forces since they invaded Ukraine nearly 10 months ago.

"About 40 missiles were recorded in the capital's airspace," regional authorities said in a statement on social media. 

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 37 of 40 incoming Russian missiles in the Kyiv area, Mykhailo Shamanov, spokesperson for the Ukrainian capital's military administration said.

"Due to damage to energy infrastructure, there are interruptions to water supplies in all areas of the capital," said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on social media.

Russia's Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday that if the United States delivers sophisticated Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, such systems and any crews that accompany them would also be a legitimate target for the Russian military.

Washington rejected that threat.

Emergency power outages introduced across Ukraine

Emergency power shutdowns had been introduced across Ukraine to enable repairs after damage to energy facilities, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, said.

He did not say which facilities had been hit.

The central city of Poltava and parts of Kyiv were among the areas where power was knocked out.

Russia has been attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure since October, causing repeated power outages across the country at the start of winter.

Deadly Ukrainian shelling in Luhansk

Eight people were purportedly killed and 23 wounded in the village of Lantrativka in the separatist region of Luhansk. 

Leonid Pasechnik the Russian-installed administrator of the region, called the strikes "barbaric."

Moscow is battling to take full control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Russia claims to have annexed the two regions in the east of Ukraine. The claims have been rejected by most countries as illegal.

Ukraine has said Russian forces are suffering huge losses in brutal dug-in warfare in the east. 

More DW content on the war in Ukraine

European Union leaders ended approved new sanctions on Russia despite disagreements over easing the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers through European ports.

The European Parliament declared the Holodomor, the deliberately induced famine in Ukraine 90 years ago, a genocide. The legislature "recognizes the Holodomor, the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine caused by a deliberate policy of the Soviet regime, as a genocide against the Ukrainian people," it said.

The United States Senate passed a bill authorizing a record $858 billion (€806 billion) in military spending next year. It also allocates $800 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine in 2023 as Russia's invasion drags on.

jsi, lo/es (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)