War in Ukraine: Patriot systems to be operational soon - fierce fighting for Bachmut
Created: 2022-12-27Updated: 2022-12-27 06:36
By: Sandra Kathe, Caspar Felix Hoffmann, Niklas Kirk, Daniel Dillmann
Russia's ex-president Medvedev speaks up.
Meanwhile, Ukraine awaits the readiness of the Patriot air defense systems.
The news ticker.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine:
The city of Bakhmut remains heavily fought even on the public holidays.
Kremlin strengthens troops:
Russia sends more troops to Belarus in the Ukraine war.
Editor's note:
Read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in our new ticker.
The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.
They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
+++ Update from Tuesday, December 27, 6:25 a.m .:
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to the
Associated Press
, the Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine are expected to be operational in about six months, once all the necessary preparations have been completed.
According to Kuleba, the US government has drawn up an action plan to have the Patriot missile battery operational in less than six months.
The training usually lasts up to a year.
A Patriot gun stationed in Poland.
The United States has promised Ukraine the air defense systems.
(Archive photo) © Christophe Gateau
Meanwhile, fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut continues.
Russian invading forces and Ukrainian defenders continued fighting around the frontline town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
The general staff in Kyiv said that several advances by Russian units had been repelled.
The city of Bakhmut is considered the so-called cornerstone of the front in eastern Ukraine.
A breakthrough at this point would allow Russian troops to penetrate deep behind the Ukrainian lines.
The city has since been expanded into a fortress by the defenders.
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Ukraine war: spokeswoman for Ukraine expects approaching large-scale attack
+++ 8.55 p.m .:
Due to visible preparations by Russian armed forces, the defense forces of Ukraine are assuming another massive attack on the country’s territory.
This was said by the spokeswoman for the defense forces in southern Ukraine, Nataliya Humenyuk, on Ukrainian television on Monday (December 26).
To justify the suspicion, she referred to several missile carriers at sea and visible preparations that visibly resembled those seen last December.
"It's obvious that the Russians are preparing for something," the Ukrinform news agency quoted
Humenyuk as saying
, in addition to a large-scale maneuver, several smaller targeted attacks are also conceivable.
She stressed that Ukraine is ready to respond to attacks, but called not to underestimate the opponent.
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Heavy fighting in the Ukraine war: over 200 attacks on Bakhmut in just one day
+++ 5.10 p.m .:
Even on Christmas Day, there are still fierce battles in the Ukraine war, especially on the front lines near Bakhmut and Avdiivka north of Donetsk.
The online medium
Ukrainska Pravda
reported on Monday (December 26) that 28 armed conflicts and 225 artillery attacks had taken place within one day.
The online newspaper cites information from the Ukrainian military spokesman Serhii Cherevatyi.
While Russian troops continued to put great pressure on the Ukrainian defenders, the latter also repelled several attacks "through courage and coordination" very successfully, killing 90 attackers and injuring 110 others in the same time.
For Cherevatyi there is reason to hope that the Russian attacks could possibly decrease somewhat in the coming days.
There is also a “certain momentum of certainty of victory” on the Luhansk fronts.
Ukraine war: Ukrainian troops before liberation of further parts of Luhansk?
+++ 3.35 p.m .:
According to the governor of the Luhansk region of Ukraine, Serhiy Haidai, another advance by Ukrainian troops on the war fronts in the region could be imminent.
The politician told the
Kyiv Independent
news platform that Ukraine's military is "not far" from the occupied city of Kremmina.
The small town is only a few kilometers north of the larger cities of Lysychansk and Sievjerodonetsk, which were also occupied.
Ex-President Medvedev on nuclear weapons: 'The only thing stopping our enemies today'
Update from Monday, December 26, 6:56 a.m .:
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev commented
on the role of “the West” in the Ukraine war in an article in the Official Journal
Rossijskaya .
"The only thing stopping our enemies today is the realization that Russia will be guided by the principles of state policy... nuclear deterrence.
And in the event of a real threat, it will act accordingly, ”Medvedev is quoted by
SZ.de
with reference to the article.
The West is caught between a "burning desire to humiliate, insult, dismember and destroy Russia as much as possible and the desire to avoid a nuclear apocalypse."
The arsenal of nuclear weapons that Russia has is estimated by experts to be around 6,000 warheads.
Ukraine war: ex-commander criticizes military leadership
Update, 6:54 p.m .:
A former commander of the Russian army has strongly criticized the Kremlin’s plans for the Ukraine war.
The leadership of Vladimir Putin is characterized by "stupid stubbornness," wrote Igor Girkin on his Telegram channel.
Girkin is a staunch Russian nationalist and former separatist commander in the breakaway Donetsk region.
He is actually behind Russia's attack on Ukraine, but has recently repeatedly criticized the military leadership in Moscow.
According to a report by the Newsweek news portal, his current criticism was sparked by Russia's plans to launch a new offensive in the Donbass region.
"My prediction: This attempt to break through the enemy's long-established lines will fail."
Russia is expanding troops in Belarus
First report:
Minsk – A fire broke out in an oil refinery in Belarus.
The fire in the "Naftan oil refinery" near the city of Wizebsk in the northwest of the country was discovered on Sunday morning (December 25, 2022).
This was reported by the Belarusian Ministry of Emergencies. The news portal Ukrainska Pravda from Ukraine reported on this.
The fire was extinguished shortly after it broke out.
No people are said to have been injured in the accident.
A cause of the fire has not yet been announced.
A commission has been set up to take care of the investigation.
Ukraine News: Will Belarus still be a party to the war?
Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Belarus had recently become the focus of public attention again.
The country north of Ukraine is considered a close ally of Russia.
President Vladimir Putin recently visited ruler Alexander Lukashenko in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
In the meantime, Russia is strengthening its troops stationed in Belarus in the Ukraine war.
This is reported unanimously by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) and the Ukrainian military.
Moscow is moving more battalions to the Ukrainian border with Belarus.
While the ISW still considers a Russian attack on Ukraine from Belarusian soil to be unlikely, the danger must be taken seriously.
The construction of a field hospital is seen as an indication of a planned offensive.
Russia had set up such military hospitals near the border shortly before the start of hostilities in the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
"Field hospitals are not necessary for exercises and can be an indication of the preparation for combat operations," said the ISW.
Ukraine News: Lukashenko meets Putin in Moscow
The ruler in Minsk, in turn, arrived in Moscow on Saturday for a state visit.
There Lukashenko again stressed that his country would not take part in a war against Ukraine.
Due to the numerous cooperations with Moscow, Belarus is seen in Kyiv just as much as a warring party, just as Moscow sees the role of the West.
Lukashenko's state visit is part of an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The union of states from the former Soviet republics emerged from the collapse of the USSR a good 30 years ago.
The end of the month also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Union.
(dil/dpa)
