Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:02 Ukraine in the coming days will officially open with the European Commission the process of assessing its legislation for compliance with EU legislation - a screening process, Zelensky said in an evening video message. “We are also preparing to work on the negotiating framework for Ukraine - we expect it in the spring. The negotiation process will not be easy, but the main thing is that historically we have decided: Ukraine will always be part of our common European home,” the president emphasized.
21:40 Publics write that Russian air defense shot down its own Su-25 aircraft. Commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Nikolai Oleshchuk confirmed the information, emphasizing the non-involvement of Ukrainian air defense in the destruction of the Russian attack aircraft.
19:58 The Russian Freedom Legion took responsibility for the operation in the Belgorod region. They confirmed the destruction of the Russian platoon stronghold.
19:35 During the day, the Russian army attacked Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk region, three times with kamikaze drones and twice with heavy artillery. The infrastructure facility was damaged, but no people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Lysak.
18:53 A shooting battle took place in the Belgorod region near the village of Terebreno, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. He blamed the Ukrainian Armed Forces for this. In turn, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed the fact of military clashes, saying that the attack was carried out by “opponents of the Kremlin regime.” As a result of the attack, a platoon stronghold of Russian troops was destroyed. An unexpected attack on the positions of Russian army units caused a panic reaction among the personnel of the local garrison, and on the orders of Russian commanders, chaotic artillery fire was opened on the surrounding villages, Ukrainian military intelligence claims.
16:31 Ukrainian media write, citing sources, that today’s attack on the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region was a joint special operation of the SBU and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to them, at the airfield where the 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces is stationed, at the time of the attack there were up to 20 Su-34 aircraft, three radar stations and other equipment. As a result of the strike, enemy equipment was significantly damaged.
Other sources say that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense was involved in the drone attacks on the Lipetsk and Volgograd regions; the consequences of the strike are still unknown.
15:16 The Russians fired at the civilian infrastructure of Krasnopolye, Sumy region, from a self-propelled artillery unit. One shell hit a private house, killing a person, the prosecutor's office said.
13:24 The Russian army shelled the center of Kherson, one person was killed, OVA reported.
12:59 The enemy has activated sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the Sumy and Kharkov regions, the State Border Service reported. One of the last groups was exposed in the Sumy region - the saboteurs were driven beyond the state border.
11:27 There is growing dissatisfaction among Russian power engineers brought to Zaporizhzhya NPP due to unfulfilled promises regarding the duration of business trips - instead of two months, they have to work for six months or longer, since it is difficult to find those who want qualified specialists to replace them, reports the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
At the same time, the occupiers are increasing pressure on Ukrainian citizens working at nuclear power plants to force them to obtain Russian passports and sign contracts with Rosatom. Ukrainian specialists are subject to psychological pressure, selectively, without warning, are deprived of access to work places, and their passes are revoked. Among Ukrainian workers who refuse to sign contracts and receive Russian passports, Russian intelligence services are trying to sow distrust in each other by encouraging anonymous denunciations, in particular through telegram bots.
11:02 The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has suspended the war sponsor status of the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank. The day before, Reuters reported that Austria lifted its veto on the 12th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation in exchange for Ukraine’s agreement to exclude the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International from the Ukrainian blacklist of war sponsors. And Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak reported that the EU will officially adopt the 12th package of sanctions against Russia next week.
09:59 Putin said that Russia has no interest in fighting with NATO: neither geopolitical, nor economic, nor military. According to him, Moscow is allegedly interested in developing relations with the countries of the Alliance.
09:04 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of December 17:
- personnel - about 346,070 (+1250) people,
- tanks - 5739 (+19),
- armored combat vehicles - 10,692 (+25),
- artillery systems - 8137 (+37),
- MLRS - 923 (+3),
- air defense systems - 609 (+4),
- aircraft - 324 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 6278 (+40),
- cruise missiles - 1610 (+1),
- ships/boats - 22 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 10,766 (+56),
- special equipment - 1194 (+4).
08:36 Over the past 24 hours, the Russians carried out 174 strikes on 21 settlements in the Zaporozhye region. As a result of the shelling of the village of Gulyaipolskoye, two people were wounded, said the head of the OVA, Yuri Malashko.
07:58 Over the past 24 hours, 89 military clashes took place at the front, reported the General Staff in the morning report . In particular, in the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 17 enemy attacks east of Novobakhmutovka, Stepnoy, Avdeevka and another 13 attacks in the Nevelsky and Pervomaisky districts of the Donetsk region. Another 14 enemy attacks were repelled in the Kupyansk direction (near Sinkovka, Kharkov region and Stelmakhovka, Lugansk region).
In addition, in the Liman direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled attacks in the Serebryansky forestry area of the Lugansk region and east of Ternov, Donetsk region; on Bakhmutsky - near Bogdanovka, Ivanovsky, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka, Donetsk region; on Maryinsky - in the districts of Marinka, Pobeda and Novomikhailovka of the Donetsk region; on Zaporozhye - west of Novopokrovka and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.
07:42 During a night attack, one of the downed enemy Shahed drones fell in a residential area in the Odessa region and exploded. A fire started that spread to private homes and a warehouse of a private sports institution. Rescuers quickly put out the fire, and a dead person was found in one of the houses, said Oleg Kiper, head of the Odessa Police Department.
07:13 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems allegedly destroyed and intercepted 35 “Ukrainian drones” at night. over the Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions. Russian publics report that in the Rostov region there were explosions in the area of the Morozovsk military airfield, where Su-24, Su-24M, and Su-34 front-line bombers were stationed.
07:01 At night, air defense destroyed all 20 attack UAVs and one X-59 guided missile, the Air Force command reported. Russia attacked with Shahed-type attack drones from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Crimean Cape Chauda areas. In addition, the enemy used an Iskander-K cruise missile and a Kh-59 guided missile, which were fired from Crimea and the occupied territory of the Kherson region. The Iskander-K missile did not reach its target, all other air targets were shot down within the Odessa, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Khmelnytsky regions.
December 16
23:22 European leaders understand that Ukraine may lose US military support and will have to be compensated, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. "Of course, we talk about it. We clearly understand that, probably, sooner or later we will have to compensate for something that may no longer come from Washington,” he noted.
Pistorius also admitted that there are areas in which this will be difficult to do: in particular, it will not be possible to quickly increase the volume of weapons production.
22:03 First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that Ukraine missed the opportunity to conclude a beneficial peace agreement, and “now any possible deal will reflect its capitulation.”< /span>
18:59 Zelensky said that he held the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief: “Different issues, different aspects of defense. Military questions. Veterans' questions. Brigade questions. Issues of fortifications. Issues of weapons production. We are working separately to implement all our agreements with partners on new weapons production.”