Russian President Vladimir Putin set the stage for a protracted war in Ukraine, telling officials it “may be a lengthy process,” while downplaying speculation that a new round of mobilization could take place in Russia.
He also reiterated Moscow’s claim that the war is Ukraine’s fault and that it started in 2014 as a result of what he described as a “coup,” when then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russian government were ousted.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned a nightmare scenario could befall the capital if Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continue.
“Kyiv might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in Hollywood films, when it’s not possible to live in homes considering the low temperature,” he told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the United States and Russia agreed to a prisoner exchange of detained U.S. WNBA star Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner, who was being held in Russia after her conviction on drug charges, was on a flight back to the U.S.
2 Hours Ago
Russian forces have installed multiple rocket launchers at Ukraine’s shut-down Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials claimed, raising fears Europe’s largest atomic power station could be used as a base to fire on Ukrainian territory and heightening radiation dangers.
Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom said in a statement that Russian forces occupying the plant have placed several Grad multiple rocket launchers near one of its six nuclear reactors. It said the offensive systems are located at new “protective structures” the Russians secretly built, “violating all conditions for nuclear and radiation safety.”
The claim could not be independently verified.
The Soviet-built multiple rocket launchers are capable of firing rockets at ranges of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), and Energoatom said they could enable Russian forces to hit the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, where each side blames the other for almost daily shelling in the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets. The plant is in a southern Ukrainian region the Kremlin has illegally annexed.
— Associated Press
3 Hours Ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country aims to bolster sanctions on Russia as Moscow shows no signs of ending its brutal war.
“We are actively working to support and strengthen the next sanctions against Russia – by European, American and other partners,” he said, according to a translation of his nightly address posted to messaging platform Telegram.
He noted that a proposed ninth European Union sanctions package is “in progress.”
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is awaiting more steps its allies can take to crack down on efforts to circumvent sanctions in the financial and energy sectors.
— Jacob Pramuk
4 Hours Ago
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he expects Finland and Sweden will become NATO members soon.
Twenty-eight of 30 countries in the military alliance have ratified the two nations’ entry into NATO, a process that started after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Only Turkey and Hungary have not approved it.
Finland and Sweden have worked to assuage Turkey’s concerns about them joining NATO. Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen has said his country would consider limited arms exports to Turkey — which could resolve a sticking point for Ankara.
Speaking at a news conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, Blinken said the nations have taken “concrete steps” to address Turkey’s concerns.
“All of that is moving forward. And again, I have every expectation that both will formally become members soon,” the top U.S. diplomat said.
— Jacob Pramuk
5 Hours Ago
Pope Francis broke down and cried as he mentioned the suffering of Ukrainians during a traditional prayer in central Rome.
The pope’s voice began to tremble as he mentioned the Ukrainians and he had to stop, unable to speak, for about 30 seconds. When he resumed the prayer, his voice was cracking.
The crowd, including Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri who was right next to the pope, applauded when they realized he was unable to talk and saw him crying.
Francis broke down during a traditional prayer to the Madonna at the foot of a statue on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a national holiday in Italy.
“Immaculate Virgin, today I would have wanted to bring you the thanks of the Ukrainian people (for peace),” he said before being overwhelmed by emotion and having to stop.
When he was able to, he continued: “Instead, once again I have to bring you the pleas of children, of the elderly, of fathers and mothers, of the young people of that martyred land, which is suffering so much.”
— Reuters
5 Hours Ago
Finland’s defence minister Antti Kaikkonen said the sooner Turkey ratifies its NATO membership bid the better and it would consider granting arms export permits to Turkey on a case by case basis.
In an interview with Reuters after meeting his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar in Ankara, Kaikkonen said he could not foresee a timetable for Turkey’s ratification of his country’s NATO membership application.
A leading Turkish politician from Turkey’s ruling AK party said however the speed of ratification lay in Finland and Sweden’s hands and how swiftly they met Turkey’s requests.
The Nordic countries both asked to join NATO this year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but longtime member Turkey refused to endorse their request until a number of demands were met, including taking a tougher stance against Kurdish militants and removing a ban on arms sales.
— Reuters
6 Hours Ago
The Biden administration said it will keep working to release Paul Whelan from detention in Russia, while insisting that the deal to free WNBA star Brittney Griner was not an either-or choice between her and Whelan.
“They have set up a separate set of expectations for Mr. Whelan,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”
The Kremlin has held Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, since 2018, on espionage charges. He and the U.S. deny the charges.
The deal to free Griner in exchange for an infamous Russian arms dealer was “the only deal we could get and now was the only moment we could get it, so we took advantage of that,” Kirby said.
“We’re going to stay focused on Mr. Whelan,” he said, adding that it was not “some choice between the two.”
“There was only one way to get one American home,” Kirby said.
He noted that the U.S. is in contact with Whelan and his family, and said that the negotiations over American prisoners in Russia are separate from the war in Ukraine.
U.S. officials will continue to engage with Russia about Whelan “for as long as they have to until we get a successful outcome,” Kirby said.
— Kevin Breuninger
7 Hours Ago
After its searches of holy sites belonging to Ukraine’s historic Orthodox church, the nation’s security agency posted photos of evidence it recovered — including rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch.
Supporters and detractors of the church debate whether such items are innocuous — or increase suspicions the church is a nest of pro-Russian propaganda and intelligence-gathering.
What’s unambiguous are other photos shared by the agency, known as the SBU, posted as recently as Wednesday — some showing an armed Ukrainian officer standing outside a church building, others showing brawny, camouflaged officers questioning clerics in long beards and cassocks.
They illustrate the increased pressure the Ukrainian government is putting on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with its centuries-old ties to Moscow, as the brutal Russian invasion slogs into the 10th month of a war that has had religious dimensions from the start.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday announced measures primarily targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is one of two major Orthodox churches in Ukraine following a 2019 schism. Even though the UOC declared independence from Moscow in May, such a declaration is easier spoken than accomplished amid the complexities of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Besides, many Ukrainians don’t believe it’s really free from Moscow.
— Associated Press
7 Hours Ago
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that months of worry about Brittney Griner were transformed into a “collective wave of joy and relief” upon the news of her release.
Griner is recognized as one of the best basketball players in the world, having won two Olympic gold medals, a WNBA championship and an NCAA championship.
She has been absent from professional play since she was detained in Feb. 2022 by Russian customs officials and accused of smuggling drugs.
— Christina Wilkie
8 Hours Ago
The brother of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia, said the Biden administration made the “right decision” in securing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner.
The U.S. earlier this year offered a prisoner exchange of Griner and Whelan in return for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a prison sentence in the U.S. Moscow rejected the offer.
The Biden administration eventually exchanged only Griner for Bout.
“The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” Whelan’s brother David Whelan said in a statement, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
David Whelan noted that Griner’s and his brother’s cases “were never really intertwined.”
— Jacob Pramuk
9 Hours Ago
In a statement hailing American Brittney Griner’s release from Russian detention, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sounded a note of remorse over the Biden administration’s failure so far to secure the release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
“While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said in a statement.
“I wholeheartedly wish we could have brought Paul home today on the same plane with Brittney. Nevertheless, we will not relent in our efforts to bring Paul and all other U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad home to their loved ones where they belong,” said Blinken
Whelan was arrested in 2018 on charges of acting as a spy for the United States and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In July of this year, the Biden administration offered to swap convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for both Griner and Whelan. Moscow refused.
Ultimately, Bout was released in exchange for just Griner.
— Christina Wilkie
10 Hours Ago
As the Russia-Ukraine war heads into winter, there has been some expectation that freezing temperatures on the battlefield could bring a lull in the conflict.
Last weekend, a top U.S. intelligence official even said they expected to see a “reduced tempo” in the fighting and that this was likely to continue over the “coming months” with both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries expected to regroup and resupply, and to prepare for counter-offensives in the spring.
There appears to be no signs in a let-up, however — with extremely intense fighting in eastern Ukraine, with the devastation in parts of the region reminiscent of World War I — and both Russia and Ukraine sending out smoke signals that there is no time, and no desire, for a cessation of hostilities.
Read more on the story here: Russia’s Ukraine onslaught shows zero signs of a winter lull as conflict rages
11 Hours Ago
Here’s what Russia’s Foreign Ministry has put out as a statement on the release of Brittney Griner, and the deal that saw Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout exchanged for the U.S. basketball star.
“On December 8, 2022, the procedure for exchanging Russian citizen Viktor Bout for U.S. citizen Brittney Griner, who served their sentences in correctional institutions of the United States of America and the Russian Federation, respectively, was successfully completed at Abu Dhabi Airport. For a long time, the Russian Federation has been negotiating with the United States on the release of V.A. Bout. Washington categorically refused to engage in dialogue on the inclusion of the Russian in the exchange scheme. Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot. As a result of the efforts made, it was possible to agree with the American side on the organization of the exchange of V.A. Bout for B.Griner. The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
— Holly Ellyatt
11 Hours Ago
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap.
Griner, who was given a nine-year sentence for drug possession in August, has spent the last month spent in one of Russia’s notoriously harsh penal colonies. She was traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout who was 11 years into a 25-year sentence.
President Joe Biden signed off on the exchange, which reportedly took place in the UAE. However, the swap did not include businessman Paul Whelan, the other American wrongfully detained in Russia. Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on spying charges that he and the U.S. deny.
Biden tweeted Thursday that Griner was already on a plane home to the States, saying, “moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”
— Holly Ellyatt
12 Hours Ago
Construction of Ukraine’s largest modular town for refugees in Lviv on December 7, 2022. More than a thousand people who fled Russian attacks on Ukraine will be able to live in the two-story city. It will have all the communication facilities necessary for a comfortable winter stay.
– Pavlo Palamarchuk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
12 Hours Ago
Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, Energoatom, claimed Thursday that Russia is planning “another provocation” near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant its forces occupy in southern Ukraine.
Energoatom said on Telegram that Russian forces “stationed several Grad multiple rocket launchers on the territory of the captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” or ZNPP, on Wednesday.
“The invaders placed this weapon near power unit No. 6, right next to the territory of the station’s dry storage of spent nuclear fuel, where they had previously built some ‘defensive structures’, in violation of all the requirements of nuclear and radiation safety,” the agency said.
Energoatom added that “most likely, the provocation is being prepared,” noting that Russia could be planning to shell the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, in particular the Nikopol and Marhanets bridges, “using these Grad launchers directly from the ZNPP site.”
The Zaporizhzhia NPP has been the source of constant tension between Russia and Ukraine during the war, and a source of worry for international nuclear energy experts who have called on both sides to desist from shelling near the plant, fearing a nuclear catastrophe. Power to the plant has repeatedly been knocked out, meaning it has to resort to using diesel generators to power vital cooling functions.