Key developments on Dec. 21-22:
- For the primary time, Ukraine assaults Russian positions utilizing solely floor, FPV drones
- Over 12,000 civilians killed in Ukraine throughout Russia's full-scale warfare, UN says
- Two Russian airports droop flights after Ukrainian drones goal Kazan, media, officers report
- Slovak PM Robert Fico meets with Putin in Moscow
- Full restoration of state registries anticipated inside weeks, Justice Ministry says after main cyberattack
Ukrainian forces efficiently attacked Russian positions utilizing solely floor and first individual view (FPV) drones as an alternative of infantry, a military spokesperson claimed on Dec. 20.
Talking on national TV, Sergeant Volodymyr Dehtiarov, spokesperson for the Khartiia Brigade of the Nationwide Guard of Ukraine, stated “dozens of models of robotic and unmanned tools” supported by surveillance drones have been used within the assault close to the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv.
Dehtiarov stated the drones included floor methods geared up with machine weapons, and kamikaze FPV drones.
He didn’t specify when the assault occurred.
Commenting on the reviews, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated the assault highlighted the distinction in angle in the direction of entrance line troops proven by Moscow and Kyiv.
"Ukrainian officers have repeatedly highlighted Ukraine's efforts to utilise technological improvements and uneven strike capabilities to offset Ukraine's manpower limitations in distinction with Russia's willingness to just accept unsustainable casualty charges for marginal territorial positive aspects," the ISW stated.
Russian military losses in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine have exceeded 750,000 Russian troopers, and are anticipated to surpass 1 million Russian troops inside six months, U.Okay. Underneath-Secretary of Protection Luke Pollard stated on Dec. 19.
The U.Okay.'s newest estimate is consistent with figures from Ukraine's Normal Workers, which, as of Dec. 19, sits at 768,220 troops misplaced because the begin of the warfare. The figures don’t specify killed or wounded, although the general consensus is that it consists of useless, wounded, lacking, and captured.
"It’s extremely doubtless that they’ve sustained vital fight casualties, while solely attaining restricted tactical positive aspects," Pollard told British parliamentarians on Dec. 19.
Russia has gained floor in jap Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in current months however at the price of heavy casualties.
Russian losses reached record highs in November and December, with a each day excessive of two,030 troops misplaced in November, marking the very best each day loss because the starting of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russian losses exceeded 45,000 troops and $3 billion price of kit in November.
President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in a uncommon assertion that Ukraine had misplaced 43,000 troopers on the battlefield because the begin of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukraine is growing quite a few new forms of drone methods.
Army tech builders created a brand new unmanned floor car (UGV) with the flexibility to hold explosives and drive underneath armored automobiles, the undertaking's spokesperson, Viktoriia Kovalchuk, told Enterprise Insider on Oct. 25.
The UGV, named Ratel S or Honey Badger, was developed as a part of the Brave1 authorities initiative.
The initiative was launched in April to spend money on protection tech improvements that may be utilized by the Ukrainian army, in addition to function a platform to attach the business's stakeholders.
"The principle thought is that the robotic (Ratel S) is used as a cell warhead that carries anti-tank mines or different explosive gadgets," stated Kovalchuk, including that it might probably run for 40–50 minutes at a mean pace or for as much as two hours at a slower pace.
The Kyiv IndependentMartina Sapio
Over 12,000 civilians killed in Ukraine throughout Russia's full-scale warfare, UN says
Over 12,340 civilian deaths have been recorded in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Underneath-Secretary-Normal of the United Nations Workplace for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Izumi Nakamitsu stated throughout a U.N. Safety Council assembly on Dec. 20.
The U.N. report on casualties comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates threats towards Ukrainian cities, together with threatening on Dec. 19 to launch an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) towards Kyiv.
The Workplace of the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded civilian casualties in Ukraine from Feb. 24, 2022 to Nov. 30, 2024, Nakamitsu said. Over 12,340 civilians have been killed and greater than 27,836 have been wounded throughout that interval.
The U.N. discovered that in 2024, aerial bombs and long-range weapons prompted a better variety of casualties than within the earlier 12 months, Nakamitsu stated.
Aerial bombs killed 341 civilians and wounded 1,803 between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, based on information from the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The figures signify a threefold enhance in deaths and sixfold enhance in accidents from 2023.
The OHCHR additionally discovered that 42% of Ukrainian civilian casualties within the month of November resulted from Russian assaults with long-range weapons, a "vital enhance" from prior months.
Russia intensified aerial strikes towards densely populated Ukrainian cities in October and November 2024. Drone strikes surged to record levels and Russia dropped at least 100 guided bombs per day practically day-after-day between Nov. 1-20.
Repeated assaults towards residential neighborhoods in giant cities, together with Kharkiv, Odesa, and Sumy, led to excessive numbers of killed and injured victims.
Russia on Nov. 21 launched an Oreshnik missile towards town of Dnipro, supposedly as a response to the U.S. and the U.Okay. lifting restrictions on Ukraine's long-range strikes inside Russia.
Putin has since used threats of Oreshnik strikes to intimidate Ukraine and scare off Western support for Kyiv.
Nakamitsu stated that Russia's escalating assaults are trigger for "grave issues."
The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko
Two Russian airports droop flights after Ukrainian drones goal Kazan, media, officers report
An airport within the Russian metropolis of Kazan has suspended flights after Ukrainian drones hit a number of buildings, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Dec. 21.
In line with the outlet, eight drones attacked town within the morning hours, with 5 of them hitting residential buildings throughout three districts of town.
Russian impartial information outlet Meduza reported that 4 of the eight drones crashed into two high-rise residential buildings and one right into a low-rise residential constructing.
Russian state media Kommersant reported that the airports of each Kazan and the neighboring metropolis of Izhevsk had suspended flights.
The Kazan mayor's workplace has stated that colleges have been "selectively" evacuated, based on Meduza.
No casualties have been reported presently.
Russian state media outlet Tass reported {that a} drone trying to assault an industrial plant "missed its goal," based on the press service of the governor of Tatarstan, the republic by which Kazan is situated.
Kyiv has intensified its drone strike marketing campaign on Russian territory, concentrating on army and industrial amenities to weaken Russia's warfare effort in Ukraine.
On Nov. 25, drones operated by Ukraine's army intelligence company (HUR) struck an oil depot within the western Russian metropolis of Kaluga. These assaults observe Ukraine's first use of U.S.-made ATACMS missiles towards Russia and subsequent launches of UK-made Shadow missiles, made attainable after Washington eased long-range assault restrictions.
The Kyiv IndependentBoldizsar Gyori
Slovak PM Robert Fico meets with Putin in Moscow
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Kremlin on December 22, based on the state-owned TASS information company.
This marked his first go to to Moscow since returning to energy in 2023.
The journey was reportedly deliberate a couple of days earlier, with discussions doubtless centered on Russian gasoline provides, although particulars will emerge after the assembly.
Fico turns into the third European chief to go to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, following Austria’s Karl Nehammer and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
This go to comes as Slovakia seeks to safe a gasoline provide deal for 2024, regardless of Ukraine's agency stance towards renewing its gasoline transit settlement with Gazprom.
At a previous European Union summit, Fico criticized Ukraine’s place, saying, "We’re demonstrably going through a gasoline disaster due to President Zelensky."
Slovakia has a long-term contract with Russia's state-owned power large Gazprom and estimates various preparations might value an extra €220 million ($228.73 million) in transit charges.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek
Full restoration of state registries anticipated inside weeks, Justice Ministry says after main cyberattack
The Justice Ministry has confronted "severe challenges" after the most important cyberattack in months focused state registries, however a full restoration is anticipated inside two weeks, First Deputy Justice Minister Mykola Kucheryavenko stated on Dec. 22.
In feedback to the Kyiv Impartial, Kucheryavenko stated that the exact date of the total restoration of the registries could be extra clear within the coming days.
"The aggressor's actions have been aimed toward destabilizing the work of the state registries," Kucheryavenko stated. "The targets of the assault weren’t achieved."
The cyberattack focused a number of authorities companies on Dec. 19, together with state registers overseen by the Justice Ministry, Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna said. Officers say the cyberattack had been ready for months. Ukraine launched a legal investigation.
The Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) suggested on Dec. 20 Russia's army intelligence company (GRU) might be behind the cyberattack on Ukraine's authorities companies.
The previous Justice Minister, Denys Maliuska, advised Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that almost all of the data Russia stole was "already freely obtainable," although closed a register have been additionally affected.
"This is likely one of the most closed register the place data is saved, by which there isn’t a secret, it could appear — that somebody was born or married," Maliuska advised Ukrainska Pravda.
"However on the similar time, there’s a secret that’s strictly protected by legislation — the key of adoption," he added.
Kucheryavenko stated that "preliminary estimates no data from the registries has been misplaced," including that the ministry has backup copies of the information.
Behind the scenes of the fierce battles on the entrance line, each side are preventing a cyberwarfare essential to the warfare efforts.
The Kyiv IndependentVolodymyr Ivanyshyn