Ukraine Daily
Friday, December 9
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Locals receive humanitarian aid in Bakhmut, Donetsk region on Dec. 8, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Ihor Tkachov / AFP) (Photo by IHOR TKACHOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Energoatom: Russia places Grad rocket launchers next to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reactor. Russian forces have placed Grad multiple launch rocket systems on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s territory next to the spent nuclear fuel storage units near the plant’s sixth reactor, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator Energoatom reported on Dec. 8. The Grads will likely be used to strike the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets on the opposite side of the Dnipro River, using the reactor and fuel storage as a “shelter” from return fire, according to Energoatom.
ICRC visits Ukrainian, Russian POWs, inspects living conditions. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported on Dec. 8 that it had met with the prisoners of war held in the custody of both countries to inspect their living conditions and provide them with books, personal hygiene items, blankets, and warm clothing. “We are able to check how prisoners of war are being treated and to make sure families receive updates,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.
Zelensky: Russia’s ‘mine terror’ will have to be resisted for many years. President Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded four police officers who were killed while demining liberated areas of Kherson Oblast on Dec. 7. According to Zelensky, Cherkasy Oblast police chief Mykhailo Kuratchenko received the Hero of Ukraine award, while police officers Ihor Melnyk, Serhii Nenada, and Vadym Perizhok were awarded with the Order for Courage.
Series of explosions reported at air base in occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Three powerful explosions were heard at an air base in Russian-occupied Berdiansk on Dec. 8, Viktoriia Halitsina, head of the city military administration, told Suspilne. Fifteen smaller explosions followed, resulting in a large fire, according to Halitsina. Ambulances and rescue services are on their way to the scene, she added.
ISW: Kremlin has likely not abandoned its maximalist goals in Ukraine despite Dmitry Peskov’s comments on Russian territorial objectives. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged for the first time that Moscow’s current territorial objective is to seize four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts fully, the Institute for the Study of War reports. When responding to a journalist‘s question regarding the Kremlin’s original objectives for war on Dec. 8, Peskov said that one of their main goals in Ukraine was to “protect residents of southeastern Ukraine and Donbas.”
Media: Turkish company to supply Ukraine with electricity via Romania, Moldova. Turkish energy company Karpowership intends to provide Ukraine with electricity through floating power plants in Romania and Moldova, Anadolu news agency reported, citing the company’s president, Zeynep Harezi.
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The little victims: Russia’s war killed these children.
According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Russia’s war has killed at least 443 children and injured 855 as of Dec. 8. Some 330 children are considered missing, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
Photo: Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukraine war latest: Kremlin threatens new missile strikes on Ukrainian energy.
Russia’s Dec. 5 attack on Ukraine, killed four and hit energy sites in at least three regions. The state grid operator Ukrenergo warned that Ukraine still faces a “significant” energy deficit as the weather gets colder.
Photo: Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images
SBU finds Russian passports, propaganda at premises of Moscow-affiliated church.
The Security Service of Ukraine said that it had found Russian passports, anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and a stolen collection of icons during searches at the premises of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Ukrainian branch.
Photo: SBU
The human cost of Russia’s war
Russian attacks kill 15 people, injure 17 over past day. Over the past day, Russian attacks targeted Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Sumy, and Mykolaiv, killing 15 people and injuring 17.
Prosecutor General’s Office: Bodies of 3 civilians allegedly killed by Russian troops discovered in Mykolaiv Oblast. The bodies of three civilians allegedly killed by Russian troops with traces of torture were discovered in the liberated settlement of Novopetrivka in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Dec. 8.
Governor: 1 killed and 2 wounded in Russian shelling of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that one person was killed and two were injured in Russian shelling of the eastern city of Toretsk on Dec. 8.
General Staff: Russia has lost 93,080 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Dec. 8 that Russia had also lost 2,937 tanks, 5,911 armored fighting vehicles, 4,528 vehicles and fuel tanks,1,925 artillery systems, 395 multiple launch rocket systems, 211 air defense systems, 281 airplanes, 264 helicopters, 1,603 drones, and 16 boats.
International response
Associated Press: US to announce additional $275 million in military aid to Ukraine. The U.S. is sending $275 million in military aid to Ukraine, including large amounts of ammunition and high-tech systems that can be used to detect and counter drones in its ongoing war with Russia, U.S. officials who spoke on conditions of anonymity told the Associated Press.
Slovak FM: ’For those who say that ‘we want peace, negotiations’, we always say that we already went through it with Hitler.’ Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kačer commented during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Dec. 8. Kuleba announced that Slovakia would send 300 electric generators to Ukraine to help the country overcome the energy crisis caused by Russian attacks. The generators are set to be delivered in December. Kačer said that the country is considering launching production of 120 and 155-mm projectiles for Ukraine.
France sends 100 generators to Ukraine. France has dispatched 100 generators to help Ukraine get through the winter, according to Deputy Energy Minister Farid Safarov and Benjamin Roehrig, deputy chief of Mission at the French embassy in Ukraine.
Dutch prosecutors won’t ask Russia to extradite its proxies who downed MH17. The Dutch Public Prosecution Office will not request Russia to extradite the Russian proxies convicted for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and killing all 298 people on board, its spokeswoman said.
In other news
Ukrainian court issues arrest warrant for ex-central bank chief. The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has issued an arrest warrant for Kyrylo Shevchenko, a former chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Anti-Corruption Action Center reported on Dec. 8.
Ukrainian documentary film on MH17 to premiere at Sundance Film Festival. The world premiere of “Iron Butterflies” by Ukrainian director Roman Liubyi will take place at the U.S. largest independent film festival in January 2023. “This film is dedicated to the passengers and crew of the MH17 flight and all of the victims of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine…it is our response to the murderers and liars, from us as Ukrainian citizens and as citizens of the World,” Liubyi said.
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