Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy visits front-line city of Bakhmut

The Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he visited the besieged city of Bakhmut on Tuesday. The city in eastern Ukraine has been at the center of months of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Zelenskyy's office said he met military officials and handed out awards to Ukrainian servicemen, who have been holding back a fierce Russian military campaign for the city.

Zelenskyy later in the day said he was proud of troops because their "bravery proves that we will endure and will not give up what's ours."

"Ukraine is proud of you. I am proud of you! Thank you for the courage, resilience and strength shown in repelling the enemy attacks," he added.

Bakhmut has remained in Ukrainian hands during the almost 10-month war, thwarting Moscow's goal of capturing the Donetsk region.

Taking Bakhmut would rupture Ukraine's supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which are key Ukrainian strongholds in the province. 

Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian private military company, are reported to be leading the charge in Bakhmut.

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, December 20: 

Zelenskyy reportedly heading to Washington

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to visit Washington Wednesday, several US news organizations citing anonymous sources, reported.

If the trip goes ahead it would be Zelenskyy's first time outside Ukraine since Russia's invasion began in February.

He is expected to meet US President Joe Biden and address the US  Congress.

The trip could still be called off due to security considerations.

Zelenskyy's trans-Atlantic trip comes as US lawmakers are set to vote on a year-end spending package that includes roughly $45 billion (€42 billion) in emergency assistance to Ukraine. Washington is also preparing to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine.

Russia to give Iran advanced military components in exchange for drones, says UK

Russia intends to give Iran advanced military components in exchange for hundreds of drones, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Tuesday.

"Iran has become one of Russia's top military backers," Wallace told the UK Parliament as part of a statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"In return for having supplied more than 300 kamikaze drones, Russia now intends to provide Iran with advanced military components, undermining both Middle East and international security," Wallace said.

The UK, US and the European Union have sanctioned Iranian military figures over drone deliveries to Russia.

Iran has acknowledged supplying Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine. 

Poland will not extend Russian oil contract

State-controlled Polish refiner PKN Orlen will not extend a contract for Russian oil which expires in January 2023.

A second long-term contract will also be discontinued once sanctions are introduced, the refiner said.

"PKN Orlen will not extend the long-term contract, which expires in January 2023," the company said.

"The only binding contract for the supply of Russian oil in 2023 will cease to be implemented when the sanctions are introduced, for which we are prepared," it added.

100,000 computer specialists left Russia

Around 100,000 Russian information technology specialists have left their homeland since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine began.

"In fact, if we look at both waves of departures, up to 10% of employees of IT companies have left the country and have not come back," Russia's Digitalization Minister Maxut Shadayev said.

However, he said that 80% of those people are still employed by Russian companies and that he was against banning these Russians from working from their current locations.

A first wave of emigration occurred shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin's declaration of war in February; a second after he ordered a partial mobilization of reserve troops in Russia.

The government and parliament are now discussing a law that would prohibit expatriates from continuing to work for Russian companies.

Blast hits Russia-Ukraine gas export pipeline

A blast has ripped through the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod gas exporting pipeline, which leads from Russia through Ukraine, Russian news media reported.

The regional Emergency Ministry in Russia's Chuvash Republic where the accident took place, near the Volga city of Kazan, said it had received a call about a fire at a gas pipeline, without naming the pipeline. 

It said that, according to preliminary information, no one has been injured in the incident.

The pipeline, which brings gas to Europe from Russia's Arctic, was built in the 1980s. It enters Ukraine via the Sudzha metering point, currently the main route for Russian gas to reach Europe.

Germany slams Iran over drones for Russia

Germany has criticized Iranian arms deliveries to Russia and objects to the supplying of weapons that have aided Moscow, prolonged the conflict and caused more harm on Ukraine.

Antje Leendertse, Germany's ambassador to the UN, told the United Nations Security Council, "Iranian combat drones have given Russia additional means to attack civilian infrastructure and terrorize Ukrainian civilians." 

Leendertse urged the council to heed Kyiv's pleas to investigate Tehran's role in the conflict.

The United States has accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of "apparently yielding to Russian threats" by not sending officials to Ukraine to inspect loitering munitions debris collected by the Ukrainians.

Russia has denied its forces have used drones supplied by Iran and said, as a result, there is no mandate for the UN to send investigators to Ukraine.

Iran has acknowledged it had supplied Moscow with such flying robots, but said they were delivered before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which got underway on February 24.

UN chief Guterres said the accusation that Iran had supplied Russia with drones used in Ukraine was being looked at "in the broader picture of everything we are doing in the context of the war to determine if and when we should" send officials to investigate.

Putin says situation in annexed regions 'extremely difficult'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the situation in four territories of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed was "extremely difficult."

"The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult," Putin told the Russian security services on their professional holiday.

Putin also said that "maximum composure, concentration of forces" was required of Russia's counterintelligence operations. 

"It is necessary to strictly suppress the actions of foreign intelligence services, to quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs," he added.  

Putin in September announced the Russian annexation of four territories in the east and south of Ukraine after Moscow proxies held referendums there. The annexations contrevent international law and have been denounced as a sham by Kyiv and the West.

Zelenskyy says Russia will soon have lost 100,000 soldiers in Ukraine

Russian forces have already lost nearly 100,000 soldiers since the invasion of Ukraine began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address.

"So far it's close to 99,000 soldiers, in a few days the occupier's losses will increase to 100,000," Zelenskyy said. "And for what? No one in Moscow has an answer to that and will not [in the future] have it."

Tuesday marks the 300th day of the war in Ukraine. Russia attacked the neighboring country on February 24.

IMF approves program for Ukraine to help promote donor financing

The International Monetary Fund said it has approved a four-month program for Ukraine aimed at maintaining economic stability following Russia's invasion of the country, and helping promote donor financing.

It said the so-called Program Monitoring with Board involvement (PMB) was approved by the IMF's management on December 9 and discussed by its executive board on Monday, adding that it will help Ukraine implement prudent policies and "catalyze" external financing.

"Large and predictable external financial support will be critical for the success of the authorities’ strategy, and frontloaded disbursements would help address strains in early 2023," IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in a statement.

Gavin Gray, the IMF's mission chief for Ukraine, said the IMF estimates the country will need between $40 billion (€37.8 billion) and $57 billion (€53.8 billion) in external financing in 2023.

The IMF will not make any loans itself but hopes the PMB will help boost confidence among donor nations to support Ukraine.

Guterres 'not optimistic' but 'strongly hopeful' about possible peace talks

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he is "not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future" but he "strongly" hopes for an end to the conflict in 2023.

During his annual end-of-year press conference in New York, Guterres called for everything possible to be done to halt the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II.

More DW content on the war in Ukraine

Europe and the United States have provided billions of euros worth in support to Ukraine. German researchers are trying to calculate an accurate figure of the military aid the country has received.

On Monday, the EU reached an agreement on a gas price cap at €180 per megawatt hour. However, concerns remained about its impact on gas supplies in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. You can read more about it here.

lo, rm, dh,jsi/ar, sms (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)