Because the warfare enters its 657th day, these are the primary developments.
Right here is the state of affairs on Tuesday, December 12, 2023.
Preventing
- The Ukrainian army mentioned Russian forces unleashed an enormous new offensive on the jap Ukrainian metropolis of Avdiivka, simply northwest of the Russian-occupied metropolis of Donetsk. Army spokesperson Oleksandr Stupun informed Ukrainian tv that combating had been intense with 610 artillery shellings reported close to Avdiivka over the earlier 24 hours. There was no rapid remark from Russia on the combating within the space. About 1,500 individuals stay in Avdiivka out of a pre-war inhabitants of some 32,000.
- 4 individuals had been injured after Russia attacked Kyiv with eight long-range ballistic missiles within the early hours of the morning. The missiles had been shot down by Ukrainian air defences and folks had been harm after being hit by the particles or shards of glass.
- In a separate Russian assault, Ukrainian air defences shot down 18 Shahed drones aimed on the south.
Politics and diplomacy
- Talking on the primary day of his go to to Washington, DC, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned that failing to keep up help for Ukraine would play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy is because of meet President Joe Biden and Home of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday as Republicans within the US Congress resist further Ukraine funding.
- Zelenskyy additionally met Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva, hours after the fund’s govt board authorised a brand new $900m disbursement for Ukraine. Georgieva and Zelenskyy spoke for practically an hour on the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC. Zelenskyy thanked the IMF for its help. Georgieva famous that the board, aside from one nation, was unanimous in its help for Ukraine.
- Zelenskyy described his transient chat with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the sidelines of the inauguration of Argentinian President Javier Milei on Sunday as “frank”. Orban has threatened to dam extra European Union monetary help for Kyiv and is against Ukraine becoming a member of the group. EU leaders will talk about Ukraine’s membership at a summit on Thursday.
- Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) mentioned it had arrested 18 “agents and accomplices” of Ukraine’s particular companies it claimed had been a part of a community of assassins concentrating on pro-Russian figures in occupied Crimea and jap elements of Ukraine. Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
- The EU added six individuals and 5 entities to their Iran sanctions record over their alleged help for Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The sanctioned embrace the Shahed drone-maker Shakad Sanat Asmari, its CEO, deputy CEO and chief scientist. Different corporations concerned in drone manufacturing had been additionally focused.
- Russia’s central election fee mentioned March’s presidential election would come with voting in 4 areas of Ukraine that it partly occupied and annexed final yr. Ukraine, which rejected the annexation together with most members of the United Nations Common Meeting, has already mentioned that any Russian vote within the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson areas can be null and void, and that it’s going to prosecute any observers despatched to observe voting.
Weapons
- The UK mentioned it transferred two minehunters to Ukraine. The transfer is a part of a brand new Maritime Functionality Coalition, led by the UK and Norway, geared toward offering long-term army help to bolster maritime safety within the Black Sea.
- US nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby mentioned Washington was prone to announce further army support for Ukraine earlier than the tip of the month within the expectation that Russia was prone to goal Ukraine’s vitality services because the climate will get colder.