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Ukraine-Russia news – live: Putin launches wave of missiles at Kyiv as air force ‘suffers big losses’

Russia has unleashed a new barrage of missiles on Ukraine, with citizens heading to shelters across the country and air defences springing into action.

Air raid sirens sounded in the capital Kyiv and across the entire country in what Ukrainian officials have been calling the latest wave of Russian missile strikes.

“Missiles have already been launched,” air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat announced.

Meanwhile, the Russian military has lost over 60 fixed-wing aircraft in the conflict with Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has revealed in its Latest Defence Intelligence update.

Russian aircraft are also conducting significantly less missions per day, probably tens of missions, compared to a high of 300 per day at the start of the war.

This decrease is likely a result of the threat of Ukrainian air defences, limitations on the flying hours available, and increasingly worse weather.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian military has shared a video of a charred hangar full of destroyed Russian equipment at an undisclosed location, saying the site had effectively become a “mass grave” after it was blown up.

The defence ministry said the incident should serve as a warning to other Russians who come to fight in Ukraine.

Key Points

  • Russia has lost more than 60 aircraft so far, UK claims

  • Hangar used by Putin’s troops turned into 'mass grave', says Kyiv

  • Russian troops fighting hard in Putin’s next target Bakhmut

  • Russian sorties down to 10 per day from 300 per day in March, says MoD

  • More than 91,000 Russian soldiers killed in war - Ukraine

  • Russia launches new missile attacks, Ukrainians head for shelters

Two killed in Russian missile strikes in Ukraine

13:00 , Eleanor Sly

Russian missiles hit buildings in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

They destroyed several houses and killed at least two people, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, did not give any further details of the attacks.

A city official said that buildings had been hit in the suburbs of the city of Zaporizhzhia and that several Russian missiles had been shot down.

The governor of the Kyiv region said that air defences were at workd in the region, and told residents to stay in shelters.

An energy provider announced that power had been affected and was out on the northern region of Sumy in the latest missile strikes.

India signals it will continue to buy oil from Russia

12:34 , Eleanor Sly

India will prioritize its own energy needs and continue to buy oil from Russia, its foreign minister signaled Monday, as Western governments press Moscow with a price cap to squeeze its earnings from oil exports.

Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar made the comments after holding talks with his visiting German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, in which they discussed bilateral relations and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jaishankar said it isn’t right for European countries to prioritize their energy needs but “ask India to do something else.”

“Europe will make the choices it will make. It is their right,” he told reporters.

Read more here:

India signals it will continue to buy oil from Russia

Russia launches new missile attacks, Ukrainians head for shelters

12:07 , Eleanor Sly

Russia unleashed a new barrage of missiles on Ukraine on Monday, causing people to head to shelters across the country as air defences went into action.

Air raid sirens blared in the capital Kyiv and across the whole country in what Ukrainian officials described as the latest wave of Russian missile strikes since its invasion in February.

“Missiles have already been launched,” air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said.

There was no immediate word of any damage or casualties but officials were quoted by Ukrainian media as saying that explosions could be heard overhead in some areas as aid defence systems went into action.

“Don’t ignore the alarm,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff.

Reuters

Nurses must drop pay demands to ‘send clear message to Putin’, cabinet minister says

11:42 , Eleanor Sly

Nurses and ambulance drivers are helping Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine by demanding big pay rises, a cabinet minister has said. The comments triggered widespread ridicule.

Nadhim Zahawi switched tack in the battle to avert pre-Christmas NHS strikes by claiming that the industrial action would expose a “divided” UK when a united front is needed over Russia’s “illegal war”.

“This is a time to come together and to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that we’re not going to be divided in this way,” said the Tory party chair.

Rob Merrick reports:

Nurses must drop pay demands to ‘send clear message to Putin’, cabinet minister says

Germany’s Scholz warns against new Cold War as Russia says 9 killed in Luhansk shelling

11:12 , Eleanor Sly

Russian-backed military officials in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region have said that nine people were killed on Monday after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk in the east of the region.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, civilians have been suffering from a wave of shelling from Russia, who have targeted key energy infrastructure as well as civilians.

As the war rages on, leaders have warned against creating a new Cold War by dividing up the world.

Eleanor Sly reports:

Germany’s Scholz warns against new Cold War as Russia says 9 killed in shelling

German chancellor warns against a new Cold War

10:43 , Eleanor Sly

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellorm, has warned the West to avoid creating a new cold war by dividing the world into blocs.

Mr Scholz shared his views in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine, published on Monday.

In the piece, the German chancellor called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships.

Mr Scholz singled out China and Russia as two countries that pose a threat to a multipolar world.

He said the west must stand up for democratic values and protect open societies whilst also avoiding “the temptation to once again divide the world into blocs,” reports Reuters.

“This means making every effort to build new partnerships, pragmatically and without ideological blinders,” he added.

“Germans are intent on becoming the guarantor of European security that our allies expect us to be, a bridge builder within the European Union and an advocate for multilateral solutions to global problems,” he wrote.

India shared a list of products with Moscow for access to Russian market

10:22 , Eleanor Sly

India gave a list of Indian products to Moscow for access to Russian markets, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Monday, as his country seeks to narrow a growing trade deficit with Russia at a time when Moscow faces acute shortages of some crucial materials following Western sanctions.

Reuters reported last week that Moscow had sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery, including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, as sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeeze its ability to keep vital industries running.

Russia has been India’s largest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceuticals. But with India’s purchases of Russian oil soaring and coal and fertiliser shipments also strong, the South Asian nation is looking for ways to rebalance trade.

“We have given Russians a set of products which we believe we are very competitive in and which we feel should be getting access to the Russian market,” Jaishankar told reporters in a briefing with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who is on a visit to India.

Reuters

Nine killed in shelling of Russian-held town in eastern Ukraine

09:59 , Eleanor Sly

Russian-backed military officials in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region have said that nine people were killed on Monday.

This comes after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

Ukrainians hid orphaned children from Russian deportation

09:32 , Eleanor Sly

Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, health staff at a children’s hospital in the south started secretly planning how to save the babies.

Russians were suspected of seizing orphan children and sending them to Russia, so staff at the children’s regional hospital in Kherson city began fabricating orphans’ medical records to make it appear like they were too ill to move.

“We deliberately wrote false information that the children were sick and could not be transported,” said Dr. Olga Pilyarska, head of intensive care. “We were scared that (the Russians) would find out … (but) we decided that we would save the children at any cost.”

Read more here:

Ukrainians hid orphaned children from Russian deportation

Russian oil cap begins, trying to pressure Putin on Ukraine

09:04 , Eleanor Sly

Western countries have begun to impose a $60-per-barrel price cap and ban on some types of Russian oil, part of new measures aimed at stepping up pressure against Moscow over its war on Ukraine.

The European Union, along with Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and the United States agreed to the price cap - which comes into effect today - on Friday. The move has prompted a rejection from Kremlin and also criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — whose government say they want the cap to be half as high.

The 27-country European bloc has also imposed an embargo on Russian oil shipped by sea.

The Ministry of Defence’s Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine

08:25 , Eleanor Sly

Russia has now lost more than 60 fixed-wing aircraft in its war with Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

Russian aircraft are apparently conducting significantly less missions each day. This is thought to be tens of missions rather than highs of 300 per day at the start of the war.

This decrease is thought to be likely due to Ukraine’s strong air defences, limitations on the flying hours available, and the worsening winter weather.

08:16 , Eleanor Sly

Russia’s war against Ukraine running at ‘reduced tempo’

07:53 , Eleanor Sly

The head of US intelligence has said that Russia’s war in Ukraine is running at a “reduced tempo”, and suggested that the prospects for Ukrainian forces could improve over the coming months.

Avril Haines alluded to past allegations by some that Vladimir Putin’s advisers could be shielding him from bad news about the progress of the war, adding that the Russian president “is becoming more informed of the challenges that the [Russian] military faces”.

“But it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture at this stage of just how challenged they are,” said the US director of national intelligence, speaking late on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

Read more here:

Russia’s war against Ukraine running at ‘reduced tempo’, US intelligence chief says

Russian sorties down to 10 per day from 300 per day in March, says MoD

07:03 , Arpan Rai

The number of sorties by Russian aircraft into Ukraine has come down drastically to tens of missions per day compared to up to 300 seen in a day in March, the British defence ministry said today.

“In recent months, the number of sorties conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine has reduced significantly.

Russian aircraft now probably conduct tens of missions per day, compared to a high of up to 300 per day in March 2022,” the ministry said today in its latest intelligence update.

It added that Vladimir Putin has now lost over 60 fixed-wing aircraft in the conflict, likely including an additional Su-24M FENCER fighter-bomber and a Su-25 FROGFOOT ground attack aircraft last week.

“The decrease in sorties is likely a result of continued high threat from Ukrainian air defences, limitations on the flying hours available to Russian aircraft, and worsening weather,” according to the defence ministry.

The Russian air force will likely continue at a low rate of ground attack operations through the poor winter weather as Russia’s ground attack tactics are largely reliant on visual identification and unguided munitions, it added.

Ukraine shoots down Russian helicopter, four drones - official

06:40 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian forces have continued to repel Russian attacks in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts over the weekend, the general staff of country’s armed forces said today.

In the past 24 hours, the Russian attacks included seven missiles, 32 airstrikes and over 50 MLRS against Ukrainian positions.

The counterattack from Ukrainian forces included 18 strikes on the areas of concentration of troops, weapons and military equipment and one strike on the positions of Russia’s anti-aircraft missile system over the same period, the top military office said.

One Ka-52 helicopter and four UAVs have also been shot down, the general staff office said.

More than 51,000 Russian war crimes, crimes of aggression recorded so far- Ukraine

06:28 , Arpan Rai

The Russian military has committed 51,161 war crimes and crimes of aggression in Ukraine since the start of the war, the Ukrainian prosecutor general said yesterday.

The office of the prosecutor general added that 18,585 crimes against Ukraine’s national security have also been recorded by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

Russian troops fighting hard in Putin’s next target Bakhmut

06:03 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian forces are holding positions on the battle’s frontline in eastern Ukraine, including near Bakhmut in Donetsk.

Russian forces have made the city — 89km away from the capital region of Donetsk — their next target as they advance through the eastern region.

Russian forces pressed for improved tactical positions to advance on Bakhmut and on the town of Avdiivka, just inside Ukrainian-controlled territory, the Ukrainian military said.

From the Kremlin, it has been confirmed that the Russian troops are conducting successful operations in the Bakhmut area and have pushed back Ukraine’s attacks in the Donetsk direction.

At least 25 settlements have been shelled along front lines in the south, including Kherson and Nikopol, on the Ukrainian-held side of the Kakhovka reservoir, opposite the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Overnight, Russian forces have hit industrial and energy infrastructure with rockets, Anatoliy Kurtev, the secretary of the Zaporizhzhia city administration today.

Earlier on Saturday, the British defence ministry had claimed that Russia is likely planning to encircle the Donetsk oblast town of Bakhmut with tactical advances to the north and south.

The capture of the town would have limited operational value but it can potentially allow Russia to threaten Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the ministry added in a daily intelligence update.

Nurses must drop pay demands to ‘send clear message to Putin’, cabinet minister says

05:28 , Arpan Rai

Nurses and ambulance drivers are helping Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine by demanding big pay rises, a cabinet minister has said. The comments triggered widespread ridicule.

Nadhim Zahawi switched tack in the battle to avert pre-Christmas NHS strikes by claiming that the industrial action would expose a “divided” UK when a united front is needed over Russia’s “illegal war”.

“This is a time to come together and to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that we’re not going to be divided in this way,” said the Tory party chair.

Read the full story here:

Nurses must drop pay demands to ‘send clear message to Putin’, cabinet minister says

Reduced blackouts in Kyiv from today amid ongoing ‘difficult’ situation

05:22 , Arpan Rai

Power blackouts in the Ukrainian capital region will be restricted to certain areas from today as planned “stabilisation” cutoffs aim to get the grid working again, said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.

This is an improvement on the previous blanket blackouts across Kyiv but the situation in the war-hit region remains “difficult”, he said.

Blackouts have been planned for three other regions – Odesa, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine‘s south and east – the country’s largest power supplier DTEK said.

However, Ukraine has seen some success in restoring power to the eastern city of Kherson, where 85 per cent of customers have now been provided with electricity, the regional governor said.

Kherson was rendered largely without power in November after Russian soldiers abandoned the city, having occupied it for around eight months.

Sumy oblast attacked 64 times throughout Sunday - officials

05:01 , Arpan Rai

Russian troops struck Sumy oblast in northeast Ukraine at least 64 times till 9pm yesterday, regional officials said on Telegram.

At least four hromadas — an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories — came under Russian shelling and firing, said the head of the Sumy oblast military administration, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi.

“Russians shelled Yunakivka hromada from 120-mm calibre mortars. 35 mortars blew up at the outskirts of the village, which is close to the state border. There were no casualties,” he said.

Another five strikes were targeted at Nova Sloboda hromada, damaging civilian houses in the vicinity, he said.

The Russian attacks also destroyed outbuildings and power transmission lines.

More than 91,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war - officials

04:44 , Arpan Rai

Around 91,150 Russian soldiers have been killed in Vladimir Putin's invasion on Ukraine till Sunday, officials in Kyiv said.

The Russian losses also include 2,922 tanks, 5,892 armoured combat vehicles, 1,908 artillery and 395 multiple launch rocket systems as the war enters its 285th day.

A total of 210 air defence systems and 281 military jets along with 263 helicopters and 1,573 drones have also been taken down by Ukraine, its ministry of defence said yesterday.

Putin wants to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror, says Zelensky

04:28 , Arpan Rai

Russia is looking to use winter against Ukrainians, Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that enduring the harsh weather is akin to defending everything.

“The fourth day of this winter is coming to an end. The winter, which will obviously be difficult. But still, it is worth perceiving this winter not as a test, but as time - time that brings us closer to the main thing - to victory. Each of these 90 winter days,” Mr Zelensky said in his address last night.

He added: “The enemy really hopes to use winter against us: to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror. We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is. And we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything.”

“Russia still has missiles and an advantage in artillery. Yes, but we have something that the occupier does not have and will not have. We defend our home, and that gives us the strongest motivation possible. We fight for freedom, and that always multiplies any force. We defend the truth, and this unites the whole world around Ukraine,” he said.

Hangar used by Putin’s troops turned into 'mass grave', says Kyiv

04:13 , Arpan Rai

A hangar being used by Russian forces in Ukraine appears to have come under direct attack that destroyed the equipment inside and killed soldiers inside, officials in Kyiv said, describing the site as a “mass grave”.

A video showing the hangar was shared by the Ukrainian defence ministry, with tanks and military trucks reduced to charred scrap, and wreaths hung on the tin doors.

“Requiem for the Russian who turned into good ones in a split second. All in one hangar. In one of the Kamaz vehicles, you can even see the boots that remained there and burned to the driver’s seat, close to the gas and brake pedals. They probably tried to leave and didn’t make it,” a man wearing a Ukrainian military uniform said.

He added: “You see, they stuck the wreaths there. What’s the point now? You had no reason to come here at all. Think before you go to Ukraine, dear ones. Sooner or later, everything will end for you as it did for them.”

03:22 , Arpan Rai

Good morning, welcome to our coverage of the Ukraine war on Monday, 5 December.