Ukraine war: Minister Shoigu admits serious mistakes - Putin orders a minute's silence

Created: 12/22/2022, 5:05 am

By: Patrick Mayer, Bettina Menzel, Franziska Schwarz, Fabian Müller

Ukraine reports alleged successes in the fight against the Russian attackers.

Vladimir Putin announces new weapon systems for his army.

The news ticker about the military fighters.

• High

  Russian losses

  in the

  Ukraine war

  : Putin orders a minute's silence for dead soldiers.

• Large

  Russian artillery position

  destroyed?

  Ukrainian army reports alleged military success.

• US government

  supplies Kiev

   Patriot anti-aircraft

  system : military aid over US$1.85 billion.

• This

  news ticker

  on the military situation in the

  Ukraine war

  is constantly updated.

Update from December 21, 10:40 p.m .:

Vladimir Putin allegedly promised unlimited financial resources for the Russian army in a speech to officers this Wednesday.

The Moscow ruler went on to say that Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine, although not everything is working yet.

But: The 70-year-old left open which military goals he specifically means, which the

and ZDF, among others, emphasized in their analyzes of the statements made by the Kremlin boss.

It also remained unclear what the new weapon systems should be, which Russia's president also announced.

Artillery attack by the Ukrainian armed forces?

Two people are said to have died from shelling in Donetsk

Update from December 21, 9:30 p.m .:

At least two people died in an artillery attack by Ukrainian forces on the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday evening, according to information from the region.

"The number of injured is still being determined," the Tass agency quoted a representative of the administration deployed by Russia as saying.

Several parts of the city were shelled by Ukrainian rocket artillery.

Considerable damage was caused.

The information could not initially be independently verified.

The center of Donetsk is less than ten kilometers from the front line.

High Russian losses in the Ukraine war: Putin orders a minute's silence for dead soldiers

Update from December 21, 9:15 p.m .:

Vladimir Putin announced new weapon systems and more soldiers for the war against Ukraine at a meeting with high-ranking military officials.

There are no financial limits set by the government for this.

According to Moscow, 15,000 representatives of the Russian army attended his speech live on site in the hall or digitally.

Russia's military machine works, not perfectly everywhere, but work is being done on it, explained the Kremlin boss: "Everything that the fighters need has to be modern, comfortable and reliable.

We have no funding restrictions.

The state and government provide whatever the army requests.

Everything."

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Everything the fighters need must be modern, comfortable and reliable.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

According to ARD's "Tagesschau", Putin called for more "successes" in Ukraine from the generals.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced plans to increase the Russian army by 350,000 to 1.5 million soldiers.

To put this in perspective: The scenically huge Russian Federation has an estimated 144 million inhabitants.

In his speech, Shoigu also acknowledged problems at the front.

"At the beginning of the partial mobilization, we had difficulties in notifying and calling up the reservists.

We had to eliminate the errors in the ongoing process,” explained Schoigu.

However, Putin stressed that Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine.

“What is happening is a tragedy for everyone.

But it is not the result of our politics.

On the contrary: it is the result of the policies of other states," said the 70-year-old - and ordered a minute's silence for killed Russian soldiers.

After Vladimir Putin's speech: minute's silence for Ukrainian soldiers killed in Ukraine © IMAGO/Sergey Fadeichev

Large Russian artillery position destroyed?

Ukrainian army reports alleged military success

Update from December 21, 7.30 p.m .:

The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have destroyed a larger Russian artillery position.

At a field airfield near Kakhovka in the Cherson region in the south of the country, about 30 different artillery systems and anti-aircraft weapons including ammunition and fuel were assembled by the occupying forces, the Ukrainian general staff reported on Wednesday.

No further information was initially available about the extent of the destruction.

The information could not initially be verified independently.

US government delivers Patriot anti-aircraft system to Kyiv: military aid worth over $1.85 billion

December 21 update, 6:30 p.m.:

The US government will deliver the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine for the first time.

It is part of a new $1.85 billion military aid pact for the country attacked by Russia, the US State Department said on Wednesday.

This brings total U.S. military aid to Ukraine to $21.9 billion since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The White House previously announced that the US government would officially announce the Patriot delivery and additional military aid during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington.

"We will support Ukraine for as long as necessary so that Kyiv can continue to defend itself and, when the time comes, takes the strongest possible position at the negotiating table," the foreign ministry said.

In addition to the Patriot anti-aircraft system, the new package includes additional air defense support, additional ammunition and essential equipment.

The Patriot air defense system can repel aircraft, cruise missiles, drones and missiles even at a greater distance.

It is likely to complicate Russia's missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

Autocrats among themselves: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (left) and Moscow ruler Vladimir Putin.

© IMAGO/Pavel Bednyakov

Update from December 21, 5:30 p.m.:

Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko consulted in Minsk.

According to an assessment by US analysts, the Russian president did not get very far with his military concerns with the Belarusian ruler.

Apparently bodies of civilians found in Kherson Oblast: Ukrainian minister raises allegations

Update December 21, 2:46 p.m.:

Apparently, the bodies of seven civilians were found in a mass grave site in the recently liberated village of Pravdyne in Kherson Oblast.

This was announced by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Wednesday, as reported by the

.

The information could not be independently verified.

A young girl was among the dead found.

The Ukrainian politician accused on Twitter that the Russian troops did not comply with the Geneva Convention.

"They just kill," he wrote in a post on the short message service on Wednesday.

The report could not be checked independently at the moment.

Putin on Russian military: Kremlin chief wants to improve "combat readiness" of nuclear forces

Update from December 21, 2:15 p.m .:

According to President Vladimir Putin, Russia wants to further expand the potential of its military, including the combat readiness of its nuclear forces.

"The armed forces and the combat capabilities of our armed forces are constantly increasing every day," Putin said at a televised meeting on Wednesday.

"Of course we will continue this process." The "combat readiness" of the nuclear forces should also be improved.

At the beginning of January, the Russian Navy's frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" will also have the new hypersonic missile Zirkon, Putin said at the meeting with high-ranking officers.

The rocket is unparalleled anywhere in the world.

It belongs to a new group of weapons that Moscow has been developing in recent years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a video conference in the Kremlin.

(Iconic image) © IMAGO/Mikhail Klimentyev/Tass

Over 70 Russian attacks in just one day on Ukraine's Kherson Oblast

Update from December 21, 2:05 p.m .:

Russia apparently attacked Kherson Oblast over 70 times on Tuesday alone, killing one person and wounding six others.

This was reported by Yaroslav Yanuschevych, the governor of the region, although the information could not be independently verified.

The attacks were carried out with artillery, mortars, tanks and rockets.

Two people were injured in Russian attacks on Monday.

Putin is apparently planning a "task force" for further mobilizations in Russia

Update from December 21, 12:34 p.m

.: Official voices from Russia are currently denying further partial mobilization, but Putin is planning a “task force, although he declared the matter over”.

This is reported by the portal

.

Accordingly, the Russian President has now signed a directive intended to facilitate the logistics of such.

High-ranking military officers are designated as members.

The information could not be checked independently.

Aside from the "officials," the task force will also include "war correspondents" who will report on the "military special operation," as the Ukraine war is officially called in Russia, the report said.

Partial mobilization by Putin: Russia denies new recruitments

Update from December 21, 10:32 am

: Putin's partial mobilization in September resulted in some Russians fleeing the country.

Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, has now said that Moscow "does not currently consider further recruitment necessary".

This is reported by the

portal .

The question was never discussed in the Council meetings.

The information could not be independently verified.

Putin troops are probably advancing in Bakhmut: "Street fighting continues"

Update from December 21, 9:19 a.m.:

According to British intelligence, Putin's forces have entered the embattled city of Bakhmut.

"Russian infantry is now likely to have gained a foothold in the eastern industrial areas of the city and at times advanced into the city's residential areas," the Ministry of Defense in London said.

"Street fights continue".

The Russian troops are both regular military and mercenaries from the Wagner group.

Since the fighting for the cities of Lysychansk and Sievjerodonetsk in July, there have been few battles in urban areas, according to London officials.

Such battles required well-trained infantry.

"This type of combat is unlikely to favor poorly trained Wagner fighters and the Russian Army's mobilized reservists," the ministry said.

For five months the Russians have been bombing the town of Bakhmut, the focal point of the fighting in Dombass.

(Archive image) © IMAGO/Nicolas Cleuet / Le Pictorium

Weapons deliveries in the Ukraine war: USA want to provide Patriot air defense system

December 21 update, 7:32 a.m

.: Washington wants to deliver the Patriot air defense system to Kiev to defend against Russian air attacks.

US President Joe Biden will announce this at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House said.

Update from December 20, 9:29 p.m

.: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the current situation at the front in Moscow on Tuesday with the occupation chiefs he appointed for the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

As the day before, Putin emphasized the extremely difficult situation in the two regions, as reported by the state news agency Tass.

In the talks with the Donetsk occupation chief Denis Puschilin and his Lugansk colleague Leonid Paschetschin, Putin first wanted to deal with "vital issues" about the supply of water, heating and health services to the civilian population in the two occupied areas, it was said.

"Only after that will we move on to security issues."

Picture taken on December 20: Zelenskyy visiting the front line in Bakhmut © STRINGER/UKRAINE PRESIDENCY/AFP

Ukraine war: Putin meets with occupation chiefs of occupied territories

The city of Donetsk in particular, the center of which is less than ten kilometers from the front line, has repeatedly been hit by Ukrainian artillery attacks.

Putin recently gave the Russian security forces the task of better protecting the population of the "new areas" of the Russian Federation.

These "new territories" refer to the occupied regions in the south and east of Ukraine, which Russia annexed in violation of international law.

Ukraine's military, in turn, has set itself the goal of liberating these regions, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed back in 2014.

Russia is probably moving more troops: More soldiers on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border

Update from December 20, 7.40 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian media reports, the Russian military has again started moving stronger troop formations to the Belarus-Ukraine border.

In addition to tanks, armored personnel carriers and transporters, various military equipment was also brought near the border, Ukrajinska Pravda and the Unian agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Belarusian hacker collective "Hajun Project".

The group follows all the actions of the Russian troops stationed there.

The observers assumed that it was either a transfer of Russian troops from the north and center of Belarus or a short-term transfer to joint maneuvers with the Belarusian army on the border with Ukraine.

The units that have been moved to the border are currently not strong enough for offensive actions, it said.

Ukraine-News: Russia moves troops to Belarusian-Ukrainian border

The Ukrainian military leadership has suspected for some time that Russia could again try to advance into Ukraine from Belarus.

At the beginning of the war ten months ago, a Russian combat group advancing from Belarus had reached the outskirts of Kyiv, but was then fiercely fought by the Ukrainians and forced to retreat.

Update from December 20, 5:05 p.m .:

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet high-ranking military representatives on Wednesday to set his army’s goals for the coming year, almost nine months after the start of the Ukraine war.

At the meeting, in which around 15,000 people take part via video conference, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is to provide information "on the status of the military special operation" in Ukraine and on arms deliveries to the armed forces.

Ukraine war: Putin wants to set goals for the coming year with military representatives

In recent months, Russia has suffered major setbacks in its major military offensive against Ukraine, which it began in February.

Among other things, the Russian army had to withdraw from the north-eastern region of Kharkiv and from the city of Cherson in the south of the country during the war in Ukraine.

In the past few months, Moscow had mobilized around 300,000 reservists.

The partial mobilization was marked by mistakes and attacks, which the Kremlin also acknowledged.

Thousands of Russian men fled the Russia-Ukraine war abroad.

Putin himself said on Tuesday that the situation in the four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine that Moscow claims to annex is "extremely difficult".

Ukraine war: Putin sees "new threats" and announces "modern weapons" in annexed areas

Update from December 20, 2:50 p.m .:

A twelve-meter high Christmas tree was inaugurated in the center of Kiev – as a symbol that Ukraine does not want to let Russia “steal” the holidays.

"We will not give them (the Russians) a chance to steal the most important holidays, New Year and Christmas, from our children," Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at the inauguration of the tree.

The artificial tree is decorated with white doves of peace and illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag - blue and yellow.

The lights are powered by a generator.

"We christened it the 'Christmas tree of Ukraine's invincibility'," Klitschko said, adding that everything is being done to ensure that Ukrainian children can have a happy holiday despite the difficult times.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko (left) takes a selfie during the inauguration of the Christmas tree in Kyiv.

© Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Ukraine-News: Zelenskyj visits Bakhmut and honors soldiers

Update from December 20, 1:32 p.m

.: Selenskyj visited the hard-fought city of Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian President spoke to military officials there and presented the soldiers with awards.

Russian forces have been trying to take the city since the summer - so far without success.

According to Selenskyj, Bakhmut is currently the center of the fighting on the front in the east of the country - the visit is considered Zelenskyj's most dangerous front visit to date.

Update from December 20, 12:02 p.m

.: After the recent Russian drone attacks, the city of Kiev, which has a population of three million, continues to struggle with the power supply, despite constant repairs.

Parts of the subway system were now at a standstill again, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram.

The cause is "strong voltage fluctuations".

Klitschko announced the day before that only 50 percent of the electricity requirement could be covered.

Putin wants to “quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs” in the Ukraine war

Update from December 20, 10:19 a.m

.: In his appeal to the Russian security forces, Putin also called for “maximum concentration” in Russia’s counterintelligence.

It is necessary to "strictly suppress the activities of foreign intelligence services and quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs".

In September, Putin announced the annexation of four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Moscow officials had previously held “referendums” there, which the West and Ukraine called fraud.

At no time did Russia have control over all areas of the four Ukrainian regions.

Last month there was a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kherson.

Ukrainian military intelligence on the first days of the war: "We got so many tips"

Update from December 20, 9:29 a.m

.: A statement by Vadym Skibitsky, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service HUR, caused a stir.

"We received so many tips, practically every Ukrainian with a telephone reported where Russian soldiers were currently deployed," he said in an interview with

about the first days of the war.

Allies even asked whether Ukraine received the data in "real time," he said.

However, Skibitsky emphasized the Kremlin's "main mistake": the Russian invasion was probably postponed three times.

First report from December 20th

: Kiev - How many people die in the Russian attack on Ukraine?

For security reasons, the two sides are not providing precise information on the losses of the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces.

Western military officials recently estimated the number of Russian soldiers killed and wounded at well over 100,000.

Zelenskyj on killed Russian soldiers: "So far there are almost 99,000"

Volodymyr Zelenskyj made a similar statement.

"So far there are almost 99,000 soldiers, in a few days the occupiers' losses will increase to 100,000," said the Ukrainian President in his most recent video address (December 19).

"And for what?

No one in Moscow has the answer and will not (in the future) have it,” he added.

Putin sees "new threats": Kremlin chief appeals to Russian security forces

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding more action from his country's security forces, especially to protect the citizens of the "new territories", as he calls the areas of Ukraine annexed by Moscow in violation of international law.

"Today we have a dynamically changing situation in the world, new risks and threats bring increased demands on Russia's entire security system," Putin said in a video address on Tuesday night (December 20).

The reason for the speech was the so-called Day of the Security Forces of Russia.

In fact, the situation in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions is difficult, Putin stressed.

"But the people living there, all Russian citizens, hope for their protection." Russia will therefore "equip new units with the latest technology and weapons, as well as with experienced personnel".

Russia has occupied large parts of these areas and is now trying to defend them against Ukrainian counterattacks.