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11 minutes ago
Pope suggests buying fewer Christmas presents and donating to Ukraine instead
By Delia Gallagher
Pope Francis speaks as Prefect of the Papal Household, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, left, looks on during the weekly general audience Dec. 14, in the Vatican's Paul VI room.
(Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)
Pope Francis has suggested buying fewer gifts at Christmas this year and donating the proceeds to Ukraine instead, as the invasion of Russia nears the ten-month mark.
"Let's have a Christmas with Ukrainians in our hearts," the pope said during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday morning.
"They are suffering a lot, a lot," Francisco added, citing the cold and the lack of food and medicine.
"It's good to celebrate this Christmas.
"But let's spend less, have a more humble Christmas with more humble gifts and send what we save to the people of Ukraine."
12 mins ago
Zelensky claims "all 13" drones were shot down in Kyiv attacks
By Olga Voitovych
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defense shot down "all 13" drones used to attack Kyiv on Wednesday as Moscow launched a barrage of attacks on the capital.
"This morning the terrorists started with 13 Shaheds... All 13 were shot down by our Ukrainian air defense. Well done. I am proud. Dear citizens, let's say thank you to the air defense, and don't forget the sirens," Zelensky said. .
The attacks were "targeted against critical infrastructure in the region and the capital," according to Oleksii Kuleba, head of the Kyiv regional military administration.
Russia has attacked power facilities across Ukraine in recent months, using missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, in an attempt to wipe out the country's energy infrastructure amid a grueling winter season.
15 mins ago
"For Ryazan": The message of the downed drone seems to refer to an alleged attack on an airbase
By Victoria Butneko, Olga Voitovych
Parts of a drone with the inscription "For Ryazan" written in Russian at the site of a building damaged by a drone strike in Kyiv on Wednesday.
(Photo: Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
A drone launched by Russia in attacks on Kyiv on Wednesday carried the message "For Ryazan", an apparent reference to an alleged Ukrainian attack last week on an airbase inside Russian territory.
The message could be seen in a video posted on Telegram by a Kyiv municipal television channel.
Last week, Russian authorities claimed that Ukrainian drones had attacked two airbases and an airfield in Russia, and satellite images and photos indicated that Russian military planes had suffered some damage at one of the bases in the region. Western Ryazan.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has not offered any official comment on the explosions, and the Ukrainian government has not acknowledged adding long-range attack drones to its arsenal.
However, a senior Ukrainian official last week tweeted a cryptic message hinting at the possibility that Kyiv was behind the attacks.
Kyiv bombings: Serhii Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said the number of Russian drones shot down by Ukrainian air defenses over the capital region on Wednesday had risen to 13.
Popko said "two waves" of drones were launched into the city, but did not specify the total number of drones.
Fragments from one of the downed drones hit an administrative building and four other residential buildings were "slightly damaged", it said.
No casualties were reported.
19 mins ago
The drone strikes were launched from the Azov Sea, according to the Ukrainian Air Force
By Olga Voitovych
The Russian drones that bombed Kyiv in a series of strikes on Wednesday morning were "attack unmanned aerial vehicles flying from the eastern coast of the Azov Sea," the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The hinterland of the Azov Sea is situated between mainland Ukraine to the north, Crimea to the west, and the Russian Kuban region to the east.
Ukraine's air defense forces shot down several Iranian-made drones as Kyiv suffered a barrage of Russian strikes that damaged buildings, the capital's military administration previously reported.
Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and missile attacks in the past two months have destroyed key infrastructure across Ukraine.
21 minutes ago
Air defenses shoot down most Russian drones in attacks on Kyiv, Ukrainian official says
By Teele Rebane
Rescuers and police officers examine parts of the drone at the site of a building destroyed by a Russian drone strike Wednesday in Kyiv.
(Photo: Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
Most of the Russian drone strikes against the Kyiv region earlier on Wednesday were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, according to a Ukrainian military official.
Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv regional administration, said on Telegram that the day began with a Russian attack on the capital using Iranian-made Shahed drones.
According to preliminary information, two administrative buildings in the city's central Shevchenkivskiy district were damaged, the Kyiv city military administration said.
Kuleba said that the anti-aircraft alerts were still in force and advised the population to take shelter, since the threat continues.
A bit of context:
Over the past two months, Ukraine has suffered a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed key infrastructure across the country.
According to US officials, the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine in a deal that could be announced as soon as this week.
Kyiv has repeatedly requested this advanced long-range air defense system, highly effective at intercepting cruise and ballistic missiles.
28 minutes ago
A Russian Commander Says You Can't Beat 'NATO Bloc' In Ukraine Without Nuclear Weapons
By Philip Wang
Alexander Khodakovsky attends an interview in Donetsk on February 4 (Photo: Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)
Russia cannot "defeat the NATO bloc" in Ukraine without using nuclear weapons, a Russian commander in the east of the country said on state television Tuesday.
Commander Alexander Khodakovsky of the Russian militia in the Donetsk region told Russia-1 that Moscow's resources are limited.
He also stated that Russia is now fighting the entire Western world, so the next escalation of the Ukrainian war "can only be one - nuclear."
"We don't have the resources to defeat the NATO bloc with conventional means. But for that we have nuclear weapons," Khodakovski said.
The Kremlin has not publicly responded to Khodakovsky's comments.
Last week, President Vladimir Putin warned of the "growing" threat of nuclear war, but said he viewed Russia's nuclear arsenal as a deterrent rather than a provocation.
war in ukraine
