“Road to Peace” – NATO chief calls for more arms shipments to Kiev

“Every country has the right to defend itself. Ukraine too,” he said. In the case of the Ukrainian attacks, the context must also be seen. These are massive Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure aimed at depriving Ukrainian citizens of water, heating and electricity in winter.

Ukraine attacks Russian bases
The Ukrainian army only announced on Thursday evening that it had attacked Russian bases near the industrial and port city of Berdyansk. The General Staff in Kiev announced that about 50 Russian soldiers had been “liquidated”. The army in Kiev has not provided any information about the weapon systems used to attack Berdyansk. The city on the Sea of ​​Azov is located almost 100 kilometers behind the current front lines. On Thursday, Ukraine was attacked by missiles from Russia in several regions far to the west of the country.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that most regions of the country are experiencing power outages following the massive Russian missile strikes. “But that’s nothing compared to what could have happened if it weren’t for our heroic anti-aircraft and air defense forces,” Zelenskyy said in a video address Thursday night. Air commandos in central, southern, eastern and western Ukraine repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones in one of the largest Russian airstrikes since the war began in February.

“We Will Hold On”
“This year has two days left, maybe the enemy will try again to make us celebrate the New Year in the dark,” Zelenskyy warned of further attacks. “But whatever they’re up to, we know one thing about ourselves: we’ll persevere.”

Zelenskyi strongly condemned Russia’s actions. With every further missile attack, this gets closer to an international tribunal. “With every missile attack like this, Russia is only driving itself further into a dead end,” he said a few hours after the last large-scale Russian attack. “And every missile just confirms that it all has to end with a tribunal, which is exactly how it will be,” Zelenskyy said. In his talks with foreign heads of state and government, the Ukrainian leader is trying to win their support for an International Criminal Court modeled on the Nuremberg Tribunal, where politicians and the army from Moscow must answer for the offensive war against Ukraine.

‘Russians fail to break people’s morals’
Journalist Denis Trubetskoy said in ORF’s “ZiB 2” on Thursday evening that the Russians were unable to break people’s morale with rocket attacks and drone strikes. In a Skype video call with Kiev recorded before the broadcast, he described the mood in Ukraine not as good, but as ‘normal’.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Alona Werbytska reported that 15,000 people are currently missing in Ukraine, “many of whom are civilians”. The fate of these people is completely uncertain, according to the ombudswoman. “We don’t know what happened to them,” she said. “Are they also in Russian captivity, were they abducted from Russian-occupied territories, or maybe they were killed a long time ago?

Ukrainian missile on Belarusian territory
After finding a Ukrainian missile on the territory of Belarus, the Ministry of Defense in Kiev offered to cooperate in the investigation of the incident. A statement from the ministry released Thursday evening said the agency was ready for an “objective investigation into the incident”. State media in the Belarusian capital Minsk had reported that a missile launched by the S-300 air defense system had fallen on Belarusian territory on Thursday morning.

US President Joe Biden signed the multi-trillion budget on Thursday evening, which includes $ 45 billion (42.26 million euros) in aid to Ukraine. Britain also wants to continue sending billions of dollars to Kiev. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said £2.3 billion in military aid will flow next year. This corresponds to the amount transferred this year.