Ukraine war latest: Ukraine shoots down 13 kamikaze drones attacking Kyiv

telegraph.co.uk:  "The terrorists began this morning with 13 Shaheds. All 13 were shot down by Ukrainian air defence, according to preliminary information. Well done guys, I'm proud," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Explosions rocked the central Shevchenkivskyi district and two administrative buildings were damaged, but city officials said air defences had prevented serious damage.

Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said the attack was deliberately timed for when it was dark to make it harder to shoot the drones down.

11:27 AM

US Patriot systems in Ukraine would be legitimate target, says Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that US Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorise them to be delivered to support Kyiv.

Washington is finalising plans to send the Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, a decision that could be announced as soon as this week, three US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Patriots would "definitely" be a target for Russia, but that he would not comment on unconfirmed media reports.

The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced US air defence systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

11:06 AM

Kremlin says Christmas ceasefire not on the agenda in Ukraine

Russia said on Wednesday it had not received any proposals about a "Christmas ceasefire" in Ukraine, as fighting looks set to drag on through the winter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russia this week to start withdrawing its troops by Christmas as the first step towards a peace deal after nearly 10 months of war.

Asked on Wednesday whether Moscow had seen proposals for a "Christmas ceasefire," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "No, no such offers have been received from anybody. This topic is not on the agenda."

After a series of lightning Ukrainian counteroffensives which has seen Kyiv regain control over around half of the territory Moscow captured in the first weeks of the war, neither side has made significant territorial gains in the past month.

Military analysts say a winter deadlock could set in, even as fierce fighting continues especially in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where Russian forces are pushing to capture the town of Bakhmut.

Peskov said on Tuesday there would be no peace with Kyiv until Zelensky accepted the "realities" on the ground - namely, Russian control over four Ukrainian regions it annexed in September following "referendums" decried as coercive and illegal by Kyiv, the West and a majority of states at the United Nations.

10:46 AM

Workers attempt to repair damage in the Donetsk region

People are working to salvage what they can in the destruction caused by fighting between Russia and Ukraine in Horlivka in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine.

Local resident Sergei stands amid debris of his apartment in a building heavily damaged in recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Horlivka - REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko© REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Workers remove debris of a residential building heavily damaged in recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Horlivka - REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko© Provided by The Telegraph

10:14 AM

Spend less on Christmas, send the difference to Ukrainians, pope urges

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged people to spend less on Christmas celebrations and gifts this year and send the difference to Ukrainians to help them get through the hunger and cold of winter.

The pope, who has been making appeals for Ukraine at nearly every public event since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, made the unscripted plea at the end of his weekly general audience.

"Brothers and sisters, I tell you, there is so much suffering in Ukraine, so much, so much," he said, adding that he wanted to draw attention to the particular problems Ukrainians will bear in the coming months. He went on to say:

"It is beautiful to celebrate Christmas, but let us lower the level of Christmas spending. Let's have a more humble Christmas, with more humble gifts, and send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who need it.

"They are suffering so much, they are going hungry, they feel the cold and many are dying because there are not enough doctors and nurses available.

"Let's not forget. Christmas, yes. In peace with the Lord, yes. But with Ukrainians in our hearts. Let's make this concrete gesture for them.

09:49 AM

An update from Chornobaivka, Kherson Oblast

Chornobaivka in Kherson Oblast was struck hard during the invasion and the village has been working hard to restore normalcy following Russia's withdrawal. 

Working from morning til night, the village's mayor Ihor Dudar has arranged assistance and support, met with locals, and hopes that every day brings more and more positive news.

Mr Dudhar's work has seen water supplies set up relatively quickly, and assistance centres established where households could receive the basic necessities of life, food and household supplies free of charge. 

Power grids damaged by shelling and demolished homes are currently being renovated. 

In the picture below, he tries to pull shell debris from a puddle nearby. 

The mayor of Chornobaivka Ihor Dudar (L) tries to pull shell debris from a puddle - Artur Widak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images© Artur Widak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

09:21 AM

Germany's Scholz says EU firmly on Ukraine's side

The European Union is united in its support for Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament, adding, with apparent reference to Hungary, that attempts to undermine the bloc's values by blocking foreign policy measures would fail.

"Anyone who thinks he can undermine the values of the EU, to which every member state has committed itself, by blocking its foreign and security policies, will fail," he told legislators on Wednesday.

Budapest earlier this week dropped its objections to an EU loan to Kyiv after the partial unfreezing of financial support for Hungary. The EU had blocked the funds over rule of law concerns.

Support for Ukraine, including sanctions against Russia, would be maintained and intensified for as long as President Vladimir Putin kept up his war against Kyiv, Mr Scholz added.

"Nobody is suffering as much from Russia's war as the Ukrainians - and we stand firmly by their side," he said.

08:52 AM

Ukraine shot down 'all' 13 drones in Kyiv attack, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukrainian air defence systems had shot down 13 Iranian-made kamikaze drones that targeted the capital Kyiv earlier in the day.

Russia "started this morning with 13 Shaheds... all 13 were shot down by our Ukrainian air defence systems," Zelensky said in a video address on social media, referring to Iranian-made suicide drones that Moscow has been accused of deploying against Ukraine targets.

Rescuers and police experts examine remains of a drone following a strike on an administrative building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on December 14 - Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP© Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP

08:19 AM

How Ukraine sank the Moskva

Ukrainian military officials have claimed they were able to hit and sink the Russian flagship Moskva thanks to clouds extending the range of their radar, writes Joe Barnes. 

In the first comprehensive Ukrainian account of the vessel’s sinking, security sources and scientists described how luck and the weather were on the side of Ukraine’s radar operators when they spotted the Moskva off the coast.

Read more here.

07:58 AM

Russian nationalist claims 'crisis of strategic planning', according to MoD

Russia’s invasion is facing a "crisis of strategic planning", according to a well-known Russian nationalist. 

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Igor Kirkin, who spent two months embedded with Donetsk People’s Republic battalion on the frontline, highlighted the “fraught debate about the conduct of the war which continues within Russia’s security community”.

"He said his recent experiences had revealed a 'crisis of strategic planning' in Russia's Ukraine operation,” the MoD’s latest update said. 

"Since his deployment, Girkin has also derided the Russian military's current emphasis upon constructing extensive, positional defensive works, questioning their utility in modern warfare.”

The MoD added that "factional tensions" probably "extend to the top of Russia's military hierarchy".

The MoD went on to say that rumours are circulating that Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of the general staff General, has been fired.

07:42 AM

Britain's ambassador to Ukraine describes Kyiv attacks

Britain's ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, described the blasts she witnessed in Kyiv on Wednesday.

She wrote on Twitter: “Kyiv startled awake by explosions early this morning. I sat in the windowless hallway repeating verbs of motion slowly. I hated learning them at the time. Who knew what a useful decompression exercise they could be.”

07:18 AM

No deaths reported

No deaths have resulted from the drone attacks in Kyiv on Wednesday morning, the spokesperson for Kyiv’s rescue services, Svitlana Vodolaga, said. 

07:09 AM

Kyiv mayor says air defence systems shot down 10 Iranian-made drones

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that air-defence systems shot down 10 Iranian-made Shahed drones early on Wednesday.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the information.

Earlier, Klitschko said that there were explosions in the city's central Shevchenkivskyi district.

06:34 AM

Mystery attack damages key Russian-held bridge

A strategically important bridge supplying Russian forces was partially destroyed in a mystery attack deep behind enemy lines, writes Joe Barnes.

The attack on the bridge over the Molochna River outside the southern city of Melitopol damaged its structure making it unusable for heavy military hardware to cross.

Video footage from the crossing, which connects the Russian-controlled city and the village of Kostyantynivka by the M14 highway, showed no immediate signs of missile damage, hinting any strike could have been carried out by Ukraine’s special forces.

“This is one of the strategically important bridges, like the Crimean bridge,” said Ivan Fedorov, Melitopol’s exiled mayor.

05:12 AM

Zelensky hails liquidation of notorious Kyiv court

Volodymyr Zelensky hailed his dissolution on Tuesday of a Kyiv court as evidence that Ukraine can fight to end a history of corruption and Russia's war at the same time.

"This story has drawn to a close," he said, announcing he had signed a law liquidating the Kyiv District Administrative Court.

Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities had compared the court to a criminal organisation and the chairman was hit with US sanctions on December 9.

05:12 AM

Zelensky: Russia's war an 'ecocide' contaminating Ukraine with dangerous mines

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for long-term assistance in ridding his war-ravaged nation of mines and other unexploded ordnance, which he said now cover an area roughly the size of Cambodia.

In a video address to New Zealand's parliament on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky condemned Russia's war on Ukraine as an "ecocide" that would affect millions of people for years and implored Wellington, as well as other nations to step up aid.

"As of now, 174,000 square kilometres (67,000 square miles) of Ukrainian territory are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance," he told lawmakers.

Mr Zelensky pleaded New Zealand to help lead the clean-up effort as the country's military has extensive experience in mine clearing.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated New Zealand would be willing to help with the clean-up and in rebuilding Ukraine.

05:11 AM

US plans to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine

The US will soon send Patriot missile defence systems to Ukraine, agreeing to a longstanding request from the war-torn country for more effective weapons to shoot down Russian missiles, writes US Correspondent Josie Ensor.

The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russian aerial attacks.

US officials told CNN it will also help secure airspace for Nato nations in eastern Europe.

The official decision is likely to come later this week and could be announced as early as Thursday, according to US media reports.