Russia bombards Ukraine with missiles on Christmas whilst Putin says ‘prepared for negotiations’

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned he was prepared for negotiations with Ukraine. However, missiles bombarded Ukrainian cities on Christmas eve, resulting in a blackout throughout a number of areas.

Ukraine: Locals stroll previous an industrial constructing that acquired a missile strike, as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues (Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Several cities in Ukraine had been bombarded with Russian missiles on Christmas, whilst Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned he was prepared to carry talks with the Zelenskyy-led nation.

“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them – we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are,” Putin informed Rossiya 1 state tv in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Meanwhile, an adviser to Zelenskyy mentioned Putin wanted to return to actuality and acknowledge it was Russia that didn’t need talks.

“Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens,” the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted.

“Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility,” he added.

Putin wants to return again to actuality.
1. Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing residents. There are not any different “countries, motives, geopolitics”
2. Russia doesn’t need negotiations, however tries to keep away from accountability. This is clear, so we’re transferring to the Tribunal.
— ??????? ??????? (@Podolyak_M) December 25, 2022

“Russia has lost everything it could this year. … I know darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to new defeats. But we have to be ready for any scenario,” he mentioned in a night video deal with on Christmas Day.

According to Ukraine’s high navy command, greater than 10 rocket assaults hit the Kupiansk district within the Kharkiv area, as Russia continued shelling over 25 cities alongside the Kupiansk-Lyman frontline.

Meanwhile, Putin on Sunday mentioned he did not assume the geopolitical battle with the West was approaching a harmful stage.

ALSO READ | Ukraine will endure this winter: Zelenskyy’s defiant Christmas message

THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – which Moscow calls a “special operation” – has triggered the deadliest European battle since World War II.

It has additionally induced the most important confrontation between Moscow and the West for the reason that 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russian assaults on energy stations have left hundreds of thousands with out electrical energy, as Zelenskyy mentioned Moscow would intention to make the previous few days of 2022 darkish and tough.

The Kremlin says it would struggle till all its territorial goals are achieved, whereas Kyiv says it is not going to relaxation till each Russian soldier is ejected from the nation.

BELARUS MISSILES

According to a senior Belarusian defence ministry official’s assertion, Russian-supplied Iskander tactical missile programs, that are able to carrying nuclear warheads, together with S-400 air defence programs have been deployed to Belarus and are ready to carry out their supposed duties.

“Our servicemen, crews have fully completed their training in the joint combat training centres of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” Leonid Kasinsky, head of the Main Directorate of Ideology on the ministry, mentioned in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

“These types of weapons (Iskander and S-400 systems) are on combat duty today and they are fully prepared to perform tasks for their intended purpose,” Kasinsky added.

It isn’t clear how most of the Iskander programs have been deployed to Belarus after Putin mentioned in June that Moscow would provide Minsk with them and the air defence programs.

The information follows Putin’s go to to Minsk on Dec. 19 amid fears in Kyiv he would stress Belarus to hitch a contemporary floor offensive and open a brand new entrance in his faltering invasion.

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Russian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for his or her abortive assault on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in February, and there was a rising flurry of Russian and Belarusian navy exercise in latest months.

The Iskander-M, a cell guided missile system code-named “SS-26 Stone” by NATO, changed the Soviet-era “Scud”.

The guided missiles have a spread of as much as 500 km (300 miles) and might carry standard or nuclear warheads.

That vary reaches deep into neighbours of Belarus: Ukraine and NATO member Poland, which has very strained relations with Minsk.

The S-400 system is a Russian cell, surface-to-air missile (SAM) interception system able to partaking plane, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defence functionality.

Blasts had been heard at Russia’s Engels air base, a whole bunch of kilometres (miles) from the Ukraine frontlines, Ukrainian and Russian media reported on Monday.

There was no quick official affirmation and Reuters was not capable of independently confirm the experiences.

The air base, close to the town of Saratov, about 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, was hit on Dec. 5 in what Russia mentioned had been Ukrainian drone assaults on two Russian air bases that day. The strikes dealt Moscow a serious reputational blow and raised questions on why its defences failed, analysts mentioned.

Ukraine has by no means publicly claimed accountability for assaults inside Russia, however has mentioned, nevertheless, that such incidents are “karma” for Russia’s invasion.

ALSO READ | Blasts reported at Engels air base deep inside Russia: Report

Published On:

Dec 26, 2022