Putin modifies Iranian drones for cold weather
Russia’s suicide drones labeled as 'barbaric' by Michael Danby
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Vladimir Putin has launched Iranian drone strikes on Ukrainian cities for the first time in three weeks after ordering them to be modified to operate in freezing temperatures. There had been no attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) since November 17, with experts suggesting it was because the Shahed-136 drones could not operate in the cold weather. However, a report published by the Institute for the Study of War think tank cited Ukrainian Air Force Command Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat as stating attacks had resumed yesterday.
Mr Ilnat “suggested that Russian forces had faced complications using the drones due to icing issues in colder weather”.
The report added: “Ukrainian Southern Command Spokesperson Natalia Humenyuk stated on December 7 that Russian forces resumed the use of the Iranian-made drones intending to exhaust Ukrainian air defences in various areas of activity and open areas of the front in Ukraine.
“Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces deployed Shahed-136 drones in attacks on Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhia Oblasts.”
It was likely drone attacks against Ukraine would be stepped up in the next few weeks, the report warned. The ISW had previously said Russian forces are increasingly reliant on Iranian-made weapon systems due to the depletion of the Russian military’s high-precision weapons arsenal.
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KEY EVENTS
Putin: Nuclear threat’s rising and Russia’s not gone mad
Vladimir Putin warned yesterday the risk of nuclear war was growing – but claimed Moscow’s arsenal was a “deterrent factor”.
The Russian leader said the Kremlin had not “gone mad” while bragging his weapons were more advanced than the West’s.
And he argued his nuclear sabre-rattling was “not a factor provoking an escalation of conflicts, but a factor of deterrence”.
The tyrant predicted fighting in Ukraine would be “long” but described gains in southern and eastern Ukraine as “a significant result for Russia,” noting the “Sea of Azov has become Russia’s internal sea”.
He added that: “Peter the Great fought to get access to the Sea of Azov.”
‘Merchant of Death’ arms dealer Viktor Bout’s legacy facilitating demise and destruction
One of the world’s most prolific arms dealers is to be set free in a prisoner exchange for the detained American basketball player Brittney Griner.
In a statement at 8.30am EST at the White House, President Joe Biden updated the press on the WNBA star’s condition, saying that “she is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home.”
Griner was arrested at Moscow airport in February 2022 for possession of cannabis oil and reportedly sent to a penal colony, with President Biden describing her as being “unjustly detained in Russia” and “held under intolerable circumstances.”
Putin forced to patch up elite tank unit with new conscripts after bloodbath in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has been forced to use mobilised conscripts to plug holes in the 1st Guards Tank army after the elite unit suffered heavy losses in Ukraine.
The latest Ministry of Defence intelligence briefing states: “Elements of Russia’s 1st Guards Tank Army are likely deployed along the defensive line near the Luhansk Oblast town of Svatove.
“The supposedly elite 1GTA took heavy casualties earlier in the war, including during the retreat from Kharkiv oblast in September 2022.
“It has now been partially reinforced with mobilised reservists, although remaining well below its authorised strength of 25,000 personnel.
“Russia has now completed continuous trench systems along the 60km between Svatove and the Russian border.
“Despite the length of these works, however, the depth of the defence remains unclear.
“The effectiveness of the 1GTA and other formations’ defensive operations will largely depend upon the extent of mutually supporting fullback-positions.”
Kremlin says its up to Ukrainian President Zelensky to end the conflict
Russia has said it is up to Volodymyr Zelensky to end the conflict in the country, hinting at the terms Kyiv has continued to reject.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky knows when it may end, it may end tomorrow if he wishes so.”
Russia has insisted Ukraine must accept its conditions to end the fighting, which is now in its tenth month.
The Kremlin has demanded Ukraine recognizes Crimea — a Ukrainian peninsula which Moscow annexed in 2014 — as part of Russia.
It also wants Kyiv to recognise other land gains made by Moscow.
But Ukraine has repeatedly rejected those conditions, insisting the war will end when the occupied territories are retaken or Russian forces leave them.
Putin vows to continue targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, warning growing global criticism would not stop the strikes.
He told recipients of state awards, including the “Hero of Russia” medal: “There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. Yes, we do that. But who started it?”
The Russian President said the strikes were in response to the recent attack on the Crimean Bridge.
Putin also accused Ukraine blowing up power lines from the Kursk nuclear power plant and of cutting water supply to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
“Not supplying water to a city of more than a million people is an act of genocide,” he said, accusing the West of “complete silence” on these claims and of bias against Russia.
‘The world must react’
The prize is seen as a strong rebuke to the authoritarian rule of Putin.
Mr Matviichuk added: “We have received this award during a war that started in 2014, and which has escalated into a bloody and cruel conflict.”
Jan Rachinsky, chairman of the International Memorial Board, who also arrived in Oslo Thursday to receive the prize, said the situation in Ukraine reminded him of the conditions in Russia during World War II, and what his own relatives then experienced: Lack of electricity, heat, food.
He said: “The most important message from us is that the world must react more strongly to violations of human rights.”
No peace in Ukraine without justice, says Matviichuk
There will be no lasting peace in Ukraine until there is justice and human rights, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties said Thursday as she arrived in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow human rights campaigners from Belarus and Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “thinks he can do exactly what he wants,” Oleksandra Matviichuk told reporters upon arrival at the Oslo airport. “There will be no lasting peace in our region until we achieve justice.”
Mr Matviichuk said: “Human rights and peace are inextricably linked. A state that systematically violates human rights does so not only against its own citizens, but against an entire region, an entire world. Russia is a great example of this,” she said according to the Norwegian news agency NTB.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was shared by jailed Belarus rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the laureates “have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
Brussels vows to ‘keep pressure high on Kremlin’ as Putin accused of ‘escalating’ war
The European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has recommitted the European Union’s support to Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen Moscow take advantage of the cold weather by weaponizing energy supplies and attacking power systems to freeze out Ukrainians.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of once again “escalating the war”.
“He sent rockets to destroy Ukrainian power plants, to disrupt electricity, heating and water supplies for millions of civilians across Ukraine.”
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Ukraine ‘not afraid of Russians’
Mr Clarke added: “It was Kyiv’s decision and Kyiv’s weapons.
“For their part, the attacks have had the sort of response the Ukrainians must have hoped for and they have demonstrated, yet again, that they are not frightened of the Russians, whatever threats the Russians make.”
Drone attacks ‘very harmful to Putin’s reputation’
Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian soil have triggered “anger and deep disquiet” in the country – and damaged Vladimir Putin’s reputation, a UK-based academic has said.
Professor Michael Clarke, from the University of Exeter, said: “Ukrainian attacks on three airfield facilities deep inside Russia have caused small amounts of damage in themselves but appear to have been very harmful to Putin’s reputation inside Russia.
“There is anger and deep disquiet at the way some old, Soviet-era drones, appear to have penetrated Russian air defences so easily.
“The State Dept and now the White House have made it very clear that they had nothing to do with this attack.”
Ben Wallace strengthens ‘special US-UK defence relationship’ with Pentagon visit
Defence secretary Ben Wallace has met with US counterpart Lloyd Austin to discuss ways of boosting Ukraine’s war effort.
Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder said: “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III met UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace at the Pentagon to discuss US-UK defense cooperation.
“The leaders discussed the recent developments Russia’s unprovoked and brutal attack on Ukraine as well as ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, including through the provision of security assistance.”
Mr Ryder added: “Secretary Austin commended the UK’s continued work to help meet Ukraine’s most urgent needs.”
The readout added: “Secretary Austin and Secretary Wallace committed to continuing to work closely together and deepening the special US-UK defense and security relationship.”
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Russia “razing Donbas to the ground”, claims Ukraine
Russian forces are “razing Donbas to the ground”, with a series of pictures showing Bakhmut in flames.
The pictures, taken by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov, show the devastation being wrought on the strategically important eastern town.
The Defense of Ukraine twitter account, which shared the photographs, commented: “The ruscists are razing Donbas to the ground.
“They say war is peace, and destruction is liberation.”
Putin modifies Iranian drones for cold weather to hit cities across nation
Vladimir Putin has launched Iranian drone strikes on Ukrainian cities for the first time in three weeks after apparently ordering them to be modifying to operate in freezing temperatures.
There had been no attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) since November 17, with experts suggesting it was because the Shahed-136 drones were unable to operate in the cold weather.
However, a report published by the Institute for the Study of War think tank cited Ukrainian Air Force Command Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat as stating attacks had resumed yesterday.
Mr Ilnat “suggested that Russian forces had faced complications using the drones due to icing issues in colder weather”.
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