Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,402

These are the cardinal developments from time 1,402 of Russia’s warfare connected Ukraine.

Here is wherever things basal connected Saturday, December 27:

Fighting

• The Ukrainian superior Kyiv came nether a “massive” Russian onslaught aboriginal connected Saturday, according to reports, with aerial defences successful cognition and the subject informing of the impending deployment of missiles. Witnesses said aerial defences were successful enactment successful the city. A subject Telegram transmission said Russian cruise and ballistic missiles were being deployed to people the city.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces captured the Ukrainian colony of Kosivtseve successful the southeastern Zaporizhia region, adding that it had taken much than 23 quadrate kilometres (9sq miles) of territory to unafraid the village.
• Ukraine’s subject has acknowledged that 1 of its units committed errors successful “an unfortunate incident” erstwhile a radical of conscionable 3 infiltrating Russian soldiers deceived Ukrainian forces into abandoning a station successful Huliaipole town, which encompasses Kosivtseve.
• Russian overnight drone attacks damaged vessels nether the flags of Slovakia, Palau and Liberia successful ports successful Ukraine’s Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said successful a connection connected Telegram. Kuleba said that determination were nary casualties successful the attacks.
• Kuleba besides said that a abstracted drone onslaught damaged a locomotive and a freight car astatine the northwestern Kovel railway station, astir 60km (37miles) from the Polish border.
• A blaze ignited by a Ukrainian drone onslaught astatine Russia’s Azov Sea port of Temryuk has been extinguished, a section task unit said. Temryuk larboard handles LPG, lipid products and petrochemicals, arsenic good arsenic atom and different bulk nutrient commodities.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that during the past week its forces had downed 7 British-made Storm Shadow missiles, Russian quality agencies reported.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of utilizing mean flat blocks connected the territory of its state Belarus to onslaught Ukrainian targets and circumvent Kyiv’s defences. “It is unfortunate that Belarus is surrendering its sovereignty successful favour of Russia’s assertive ambitions,” Zelenskyy said.
• Poland deployed combatant jets to intercept a Russian reconnaissance craft flying adjacent its airspace implicit the Baltic Sea and said dozens of aerial objects – believed to beryllium balloons utilized by smugglers – approached its airspace from Belarus overnight, informing that the abstracted incidents during the vacation play whitethorn awesome a provocation by Moscow.

Regional security

• Moscow is apt stationing caller nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles astatine a erstwhile airbase successful eastbound Belarus, a improvement that could bolster Russia’s quality to deed European targets, 2 United States researchers person recovered by studying outer imagery, according to an exclusive Reuters quality bureau report.

• The American researchers said reviews of the Planet Labs imagery revealed a hurried operation task that took spot betwixt August 4 and 12 and showed features accordant with those of a Russian strategical rocket base, the study added.
• Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said that Russia was “somewhat” delaying the export of Russian-made weapons and subject instrumentality to prioritise deliveries to its ain equipped forces, according to Interfax quality agency.

Peace talks

• President Zelenskyy said helium wants to sermon territorial issues, the main stumbling artifact successful talks to extremity the war, with US President Donald Trump successful Florida, arsenic negotiations connected a 20-point bid framework and a information warrant woody adjacent completion.

• Zelenskyy said successful a WhatsApp chat with reporters that a information warrant statement betwixt Ukraine and the US is “almost ready” and that a draught of the 20-point program was 90 percent complete.

• In a abstracted interrogation with the Axios quality site, Zelenskyy said that the US offered a 15-year woody connected information guarantees that could beryllium renewed, and Kyiv wanted a longer-term agreement.
• Zelenskyy was besides cited by Axios arsenic saying that if helium is not capable to propulsion the US to backmost Ukraine’s “strong” presumption connected the onshore contented successful the bid proposal, helium is consenting to enactment the 20-point program to a referendum – arsenic agelong arsenic Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to let Ukraine to hole for and clasp the vote.

• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Kyiv’s mentation of the 20-point program was radically antithetic from what Russia has been discussing with the US, according to Interfax-Russia.
• Ryabkov besides accused Ukraine of trying to “torpedo” the talks, adding that Moscow’s quality to marque the “final push” and scope a woody volition beryllium “on our ain enactment and the governmental volition of the different party”.
• Russia’s Kommersant paper reported that President Vladimir Putin told immoderate of Russia’s apical businessmen that helium mightiness beryllium unfastened to swapping immoderate territory controlled by Russian forces elsewhere successful Ukraine, but that successful exchange, helium wanted the full of the Donbas.

• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Zelenskyy and discussed the latest developments successful the ongoing bid talks, Carney’s bureau said successful a statement. During the call, Carney “emphasised the request to support unit connected Russia to negotiate”, the connection added.

• Putin’s peculiar envoy Kirill Dmitriev participated successful talks with members of the US medication on with the Kremlin’s overseas argumentation adjutant Yury Ushakov, Reuters reported, citing a root adjacent to the talks.

Politics and diplomacy

• North Korean person Kim Jong Un has declared that his federation and Russia had shared “blood, beingness and death” in the Ukraine war, arsenic helium sent President Vladimir Putin New Year’s greetings. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to assistance successful the combat against Ukraine.

• A Moscow tribunal has sentenced a erstwhile Russian diplomat, Arseniy Konovalov, to 12 years successful a maximum-security penal colony for selling secrets to US quality portion connected a posting to the US, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

• Russia’s Kommersant paper said Konovalov worked successful the US from 2014 to 2017 and served arsenic 2nd caput of the Russian Consulate General successful Houston, Texas.