Putin troops attack 'Bakhmut Fortress' again - fire breaks out on Russia's only aircraft carrier

Created: 2022-12-23 05:06

By: Franziska Schwarz

Photo from December 21: Gerasimov, Putin and Shoigu (from left) © Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin Pool/Imago

The penalties for "traitors" should be "as severe as possible," according to Moscow.

A Putin confidant laments his injuries from the shelling.

The news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war.

• Putin's defense minister

  visits the

  front

  : Russian media published footage of the visit.

• Fighter losses

  in the

  Ukraine war

  : Ukraine reports current figures for Russia.

• Tougher penalties

  for

  "saboteurs"

  : Duma deputies vote for law.

• This

  news ticker

  on the military situation in the

  Ukraine war

  is constantly updated.

Update from December 22, 9:02 p.m .:

Russian troops tried again to attack the frontline town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

The attackers repeatedly advanced to the outskirts of the city, the general staff in Kyiv said.

In heavy fighting, the attackers could be beaten.

At Bachmut, two goals were achieved, as it was further said.

For one thing, the city's defenses could not be penetrated.

On the other hand, the Russian attackers suffered heavy losses, as Serhij Tscherevatyj, spokesman for the Ukrainian Army Group East, said.

"And these are incredible casualties for a 21st century army," the spokesman said.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi made a surprise visit to the frontline town and declared it a “Bakhmut Fortress”.

Ukraine War: Fire breaks out on Russian aircraft carrier

Update from December 22, 2:45 p.m .:

According to the state news agency Tass, a fire broke out on board the only aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy, Admiral Kuznetsov.

The aircraft carrier is currently located at the port of Murmansk.

However, it was a local fire that has since been extinguished, Tass reported, citing emergency services.

No one was hurt and 20 people were evacuated, the report continued, making it clear that the fire was not related to any action in the Ukraine war.

Ukraine war current: Putin's defense minister visits the front - Russian media publish recordings

Update from December 22, 1:25 p.m .:

According to information from Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke to soldiers during a visit to the front in Ukraine and thanked them for their service in the Ukraine war.

The Ministry of Defense published footage on Thursday in the Telegram online service showing Shoigu inspecting barracks and walking through trenches.

Shoigu checked the conditions for the deployment of personnel and military equipment "at the forefront", the ministry said.

He also checked the positions of the military units and the housing and heating conditions.

Ukraine war current: Ex-Rokosmos boss apparently injured in rocket fire

Update from December 22, 11:39 a.m

.: Ex-Roskosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin was affected in the Ukraine war.

"I'm injured, a three by four millimeter splinter penetrated above the right shoulder blade," he wrote on Telegram.

After that he had to have an operation.

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Fancy a voyage of discovery?

My space

Roskosmos is a Russian space agency.

Rogozin is a politician known for his imperialist stance.

According to media reports, he was celebrating his birthday when projectiles hit a bar in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

Ukraine war: Putin minion involved in missile attack - "I'm hurt"

Rogozin, whose political beginnings lie in the extreme right-wing party "Rodina" ("Homeland") and who was photographed by the media giving the Hitler salute during the nationalist "Russian March", later made a career under Putin - first as ambassador to NATO , then as Deputy Prime Minister and finally as Roskosmos boss.

After his replacement in July 2022, there was speculation that Putin would appoint him governor-general of the conquered Ukrainian territories.

Rogozin, meanwhile, has set up a group of volunteer military advisers called the Tsar Wolves.

He posed several times when handing over equipment to soldiers at the front.

Update from December 22, 10:22 a.m

.: Neither of the two warring parties is honest on this subject for obvious reasons: the information should therefore be treated with caution.

The Ukrainian military has now announced that Russia has already lost more than 100,000 soldiers in the violent conflict of the Ukraine war.

According to reports, Russia's losses in the Ukraine war exceed the mark of 100,000 soldiers

More than 100,400 Russian soldiers have been "eliminated", according to the current Russian losses in the war in Ukraine.

According to independent media, this may mean that they were killed or injured so badly that they had to withdraw from military service.

Russia recently spoke of “only” around 6,000 soldiers killed in its own ranks.

Meanwhile, independent Russian media have already identified more than 10,000 Russian dead by name.

Ukraine itself does not name any of its own casualties in the daily military reports on the current situation in the Ukraine war.

The President's Office in Kyiv had recently spoken of more than 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed.

Current war in Ukraine: Putin's military suffers from a lack of trainers - Belarus has to step in

Update from December 22, 8.44 a.m

.: Putin's armed forces are suffering from a lack of trainers for their recruits and are therefore now resorting "on a large scale" to help from the ally Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko.

This is the assessment of the British secret service in its most recent public update on the Ukraine war.

The reason: many of the Russian trainers died in the battles in the Ukraine war or there.

The British secret service sees the development as an indication of how strained Putin's armed forces are at the moment.

Ukraine war current: sabotage and attacks on Russian soil

First report from December 22nd

: Moscow - In the past few months there have been a number of incidents in the Ukraine war, including explosions at important military bases and infrastructure facilities on Russian soil.

Moscow blames Ukraine for this.

Tougher penalties for 'saboteurs' in Ukrainian war - Duma deputies vote for law

The Russian lower house has now passed tougher penalties for "saboteurs".

A corresponding law had been passed by the deputies, the Duma announced on Wednesday (December 21).

The law provides for up to life imprisonment for domestic and foreign "saboteurs".

The new law should "protect our country and our citizens from threats of terrorism and sabotage," the Duma said.

Its chairman Vyacheslav Volodin also referred to the ongoing "special military operation" in Ukraine, as the Russian attack on the neighboring country is officially called in Russia.

The penalties for "saboteurs" should be "as severe as possible," he demanded.

The new law now has to be passed by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Putin sees "no financial restrictions": Kremlin chief calls for faster rearmament

At an extended meeting of the Defense Ministry, Kremlin chief Putin also called for more speed in the upgrading and modernization of the armed forces.

There are "no financial restrictions" on further upgrading of the army, Putin said.

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also proposed increasing the force by around 350,000 soldiers to 1.5 million men.

He also called for new units to be set up in north-west Russia on the border with potential new NATO states Sweden and Finland.