Saturday, December 14

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The evacuation group ‘White Angels’ transports an elderly woman from the city of Pokrovsk, amidst the Russia-Ukraine war on Dec. 13, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Russia deals ‘massive blow’ to Ukraine’s thermal power plants, energy company says. “DTEK thermal power plants were attacked. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties,” the company said. The plants’ equipment was “seriously damaged,” with energy sector employees already working on repairs.

Russia mulls attacking Ukraine with Oreshnik nuclear-capable missile this weekend, FT reports. The unnamed official said that Russia wanted to use the weapon to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters, but the Oreshnik “does not change the rules of the game on the battlefield.”

Russia advances toward Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Ukraine makes progress near Kupiansk, Estonian intelligence says. Ukrainian forces are enjoying success in the Kupiansk sector, where two Russian bridgeheads that emerged during the crossing of the Oskil River were destroyed, Estonian intelligence said.

Ukraine resisting Russian encirclement attempts at 4 Donetsk Oblast villages, military says. The statement comes as analysts raise concerns about a growing risk of Ukrainian units being encircled in the area.

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EU defense commissioner takes shelter in Kyiv amid massive Russian aerial strike. Andrius Kubilius, the newly appointed European defense commissioner, spent the morning of Dec. 13 in a shelter in Kyiv during a large-scale Russian missile attack, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said on X.

Putin orders ‘emergency support’ for struggling Russian coal industry.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for urgent measures to support the country’s coal companies, which face multibillion-dollar losses and risk mass bankruptcies, The Moscow Times reported on Dec. 12.

Ukraine not ready for negotiations without strong Western support, Yermak says. Regarding U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated promises to quickly end the war, Yermak said, “There is no plan yet, and we have not seen it for sure. We know that several opinions and positions are being discussed.”

Ukraine reportedly strikes oil depot in Russia’s Oryol Oblast. Ukrainian drones reportedly struck an oil depot in the city of Oryol overnight on Dec. 14, causing a large fire. Governor Andrey Klychkov later said that 11 drones were downed over the Oryol region.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches one of the largest aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid

Russia launched at least 93 missiles, including those supplied by North Korea, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Eighty-one were shot down, including 11 intercepted by Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets.

Photo: State Emergency Service/Telegram

How Kadyrov became so powerful, and why Chechnya remains vital for survival of Putin’s regime

In December 1994, Russian troops launched a brutal and eventually unsuccessful military campaign against Chechen rebels, effectively beginning the First Chechen War.

Photo: Artem Geodakyan / AFP via Getty Images

Breakaway churches, spiritual awakenings, prayers in captivity

For a decade, the world has seen how Russia has scarred Ukraine’s landscape with tens of thousands of bombs and missiles. The spiritual wounds — and awakenings — experienced by millions of Ukrainians are less visible.

Photo: Chris Jones / The Kyiv Independent

How will Russia’s war in Ukraine end? The good, the bad, and the ugly scenarios

After nearly three years of heavy battles and mass strikes, Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is showing signs of accelerating toward what could be its final act, for now at least.  

Photo: Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images

Can You Hear Me? The invisible battles of Ukrainian military medics

International response

EU to impose first sanctions on Russian intelligence over disinformation campaigns, Bloomberg reports. The proposed measures target more than a dozen individuals and three entities, including Russian intelligence officers and media entrepreneurs, according to Bloomberg. The sanctions aim to counter destabilizing operations globally.

Trump tells Macron, Zelensky he wants European troops monitoring Ukraine ceasefire, WSJ reports. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wants European troops to monitor a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 12, citing undisclosed official sources.

Macron expected to raise possibility of peacekeepers in Ukraine at upcoming EU summit, RFE/RL reports. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to raise the possibility of deploying European soldiers to Ukraine at the upcoming EU leaders’ summit on Dec. 18-19, if a ceasefire deal is eventually reached between Russia and Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Dec. 13, citing EU diplomats.

Biden administration sharing information on Ukraine war with Trump’s team ahead of potential peace talks, NBC reports. Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration have held discussions with White House officials as part of the incoming administration’s ongoing effort to establish a ceasefire once Trump is inaugurated in January, NBC News reported on Dec. 13, citing sources familiar with the talks.

Italy willing to join potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, defense minister says. “I hope to talk about peace, about peacekeeping, as soon as possible in Ukraine, but also in Gaza and Lebanon,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told journalists in Madrid when asked about the possibility of Rome deploying peacekeepers in Ukraine.

War will be ‘resolved in next few months,’ Trump’s Ukraine peace envoy believes, plans to ‘listen’ ahead of peace talks. “I truly believe this will be resolved in the next few months,” Kellogg said in an interview on Fox Business. “The only person who can do this is President Donald Trump, and he will do it. They’re tired of killing each other out there. This is time,” Kellogg added.

Dutch Supreme Court dismisses Russia’s appeal in Naftogaz’s $5 billion arbitration case. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has rejected Russia’s appeal, upholding a decision by the Hague Arbitration Court requiring Russia to pay $5 billion in compensation to Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz for misappropriated assets in occupied Crimea, Naftogaz reported on Dec. 13.

In other news

Russia appears to be withdrawing military assets from Syria, satellite images suggest. At least two AN-124 heavy military transport planes were spotted at Khmeimim air base, located in Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, with their nose cones lifted, signaling readiness to load cargo, according to satellite images collected by Maxar.

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