Ukraine updates: Russia launches fresh strike on Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and thanked him for Germany's significant bilateral defense assistance and its leadership in uniting partners in support of Ukraine.

"Chancellor Scholz confirmed that the sixth planned IRIS-T air defense system will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of this year," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that the leaders also discussed next year's air defense deliveries and the potential for additional air defense assistance from Germany.

"We agreed on the importance of maintaining the 'Ramstein' format and holding the next meeting of the coordination group," the Ukrainian president said.

US President Joe Biden, who met with President-elect Donald Trump for the first time since last week's election, stressed that it is critical for the United States to continue to support Ukraine as it confronts Russia, the White House said.

"President Biden reinforced his view that the United States standing with Ukraine on an ongoing basis is in our national security interest," Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told a briefing.

During the campaign, Trump has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly without explaining how.

Read more: US: Trump returns to Washington, meets Biden at White House

As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the 1000-day mark, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Germany's support.

"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has been going on for almost 1000 days. You can rely on our unwavering solidarity, President Zelenskyy," he wrote on X.

Scholz also said that Germany would continue its military support for Ukraine in close coordination with European and international partners.

Donald Trump's election victory has raised international doubts about the level of future US support for Ukraine, but Scholz and other German politicians have since pledged on several occasions that German support for Kyiv will not stop.

Ukrainian forces repelled an attempt by Russian troops to penetrate defenses near the northeastern city of Kupiansk, Ukraine's General Staff said.

The General Staff said in a social media post that Russian forces attacked in four waves and deployed about 15 pieces of equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles and a mine-clearing system, but Ukrainian soldiers destroyed all their armored vehicles and eliminated a significant portion of their personnel.

Some of the Russian forces, it said, had donned uniforms similar to those of the Ukrainian military, a practice it characterized as tantamount to a war crime.

Kupiansk, east of Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, was seized by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion in February 2022, but was retaken by Ukrainian troops in a lightning counter-offensive later that year.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed developments in the war in Ukraine in a phone call, the Saudi state news agency reported.

The leaders touched on "cooperation in various fields and other issues of common interest, including the Ukrainian-Russian crisis," the report said, without elaborating.

Russian state news agency TASS reported in October that Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Russia had expressed the kingdom's readiness to act as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.

A bomb planted under a car blew up and killed a Russian serviceman in the occupied Crimean city of Sevastopol. Security sources in Kyiv said it was a Ukrainian hit on a senior naval official accused of war crimes.

Meanwhile, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that it was treating the crime as terrorism. It said an improvised explosive device had detonated, killing a serviceman it did not identify.

According to the source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the explosion had killed Valery Trankovsky, a Russian naval captain in charge of the headquarters of the 41st brigade of Russia's Black Sea missile ships. The source described Trankovsky as a "war criminal" responsible for launching cruise missiles from the Black Sea at civilian targets in Ukraine.

Russia has used warships from its Black Sea Fleet as well as strategic bombers to launch missile attacks on targets across Ukraine, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. Russia denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his stance on arms deliveries to Ukraine. "I am against the fact that the weapons supplied by us can be used to fire far into Russian territory," Scholz said in his government statement to the Bundestag, adding that he would stand by his refusal to supply Ukraine with the Taurus cruise missile.

Speaking to parliament, Scholz said that Germany is doing the most for Ukraine in Europe, but in this role it must also prevent an escalation. Everything must be done to ensure that "we do not become a party to the war," he said.

At the same time, he vowed that Germany would continue to back Ukraine's fight against Russia. "We have a responsibility to ensure that (Ukraine) won't be left alone," Scholz told parliament.

Scholz sees Germany and France as playing a central role in Europe in supporting Ukraine. "We have to make sure that Ukraine has good prospects as a democratic, sovereign nation," Scholz said. 

He also made it clear: "There must be no decisions that ignore Ukraine's position; it can rely on our country and our solidarity."

However, the Chancellor argued that despite the high financial cost of supporting Ukraine, investments and social services should not be neglected. "In my view, it cannot and should not be the case that support for Ukraine leads to cuts in pensions, care and health," Scholz said.

The future of transatlantic and global security is being decided in Ukraine, according to the country's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha.

He told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their meeting in Brussels that the war in Ukraine is at its critical moment.

"Ukraine’s defense cannot be put on hold and wait... We need to speed up all critical decisions," he said.

Before meeting Sybiha, Blinken met with top NATO, EU and British officials in Brussels as the outgoing Biden administration sought to cement support for Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump's return as president.

The outgoing US administration would "continue to shore up everything we're doing for Ukraine" to ensure it can fight effectively next year or negotiate peace with Russia from a position of strength, Blinken said, adding that US President Joe Biden is going to "use every day" to strengthen NATO and support Ukraine. 

A profane insult radioed to Russian warships by the Ukrainian border guard from Snake Island in the Black Sea early in Russia's invasion of Ukraine cannot be registered as a trademark in the EU because it is a political slogan, the EU General Court has said.

The phrase used, "Russian warship, go f--k yourself," has become a national slogan in Ukraine that now embellishes billboards, T-shirts, coffee mugs and even a postage stamp.

In a statement, the court said: "The Court observed that a sign is incapable of fulfilling the
essential function of a trade mark if the average consumer does not perceive, in its presence, the indication of the origin of the goods or services, but only a political message."

Wednesday's ruling upholds that of a lower tribunal.

The incident occurred when two Russian warships, including the now sunken Black Sea flagship Moskva, approached the tiny island and ordered the Ukrainian guards there to surrender or die.

Russia ended up seizing the island but abandoned it months later as what it called a "goodwill gesture" — something that Ukraine has called into doubt in view of the heavy losses Russia sustained in its bid to defend it.

Despite its tiny area of just 0.205 square kilometers (0.079 square miles), Snake Island is strategically significant for Russia, as control of it would allow a total blockade of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa.  

North Korean soldiers sent to Russia by Pyongyang are taking part in combat operations
against Ukraine alongside their Russian allies, South Korea's spy agency has said, a view in line with that of the US State Department.

"The National Intelligence Service estimates that North Korean troops dispatched to Russia have moved to the Kursk region over the past two weeks," the agency said in a statement, adding that they were already participating in combat.

Part of Russia's army has been deployed to the far western Russian region bordering Ukraine in a bid to dislodge Ukrainian troops who have seized territory there over the past months in a daring incursion.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media said Pyongyang had ratified a mutual defense treaty with Russia signed in June by the two countries' leaders.

The treaty provides for each to come to the other's aid in case of an armed attack.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted two incoming cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles from a total of six, and 37 drones from at total of 90 across the country on Wednesday, the air force said, as Russia launched multiple attacks, including on Kyiv.

Ukraine's military lost track of 47 more drones,while two more left its airspace heading towards Russia and Belarus, and two more remained in the airspace as of Wednesday morning, it said.

No casualties or major damage were reported in Kyiv, which suffered its first Russian missile attack since August, though it has faced almost nightly drone attacks.

The combined attack using drones and missiles was the first combined aerial assault on the capital in more than 70 days, authorities said.

Russia last struck Kyiv with missiles on August 26 when it launched a massive attack across the country that officials said deployed more than 200 drones and missiles.

Seven people died in Kyiv in that attack.

 A separate drone attack on Wednesday in the southern region of Kherson killed a 52-year-old woman, the head of the Black Sea territory announced.

Following talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces will meet with a "firm response."

Blinken said he and Rutte discussed the fact that North Korean forces have been "injected into the battle, and now, quite literally, in combat which demands and will get a firm response."

Earlier, a US State Department spokesman said most of the 10,000 troops sent by North Korea to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine were fighting alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have seized territory over the past months in a daring incursion.

The presence of North Korean troops in Russia raises several geopolitical questions, including that of China's response to Pyongyang's bid to curry favor in Moscow without apparently seeking permission from Beijing.

Blinken also said he had talked with Rutte about ongoing support for Ukraine, with future US involvement in such aid considered to be in jeopardy under the incoming Trump presidency.

The outgoing administration would "continue to shore up everything we're doing for Ukraine," he said.

"President Biden fully intends to drive through the tape and use every day to continue to do what we have done these last four years, which is strengthen this alliance," Blinken said.

 

Wednesday's missile attacks have been preceded by a week of strikes as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues in its third year.

On Monday, a Russian strike on , the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, killed a 32-year-old woman and her three young children, while injuring 14 other people.  

Over the weekend, both sides carried out record overnight drone attacks. 

In other news, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to talk with EU and NATO representatives in Brussels on Wednesday about further support, amid fears on the part of Kyiv's allies that the US might reduce or withdraw its aid under the incoming Trump presidency.

The outgoing Biden administration has said it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion (€8.5 billion) of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.

Ukraine's national power grid operator Ukrenergo imposed limits on electricity supply for businesses on Wednesday for the first time since late August.

It said the limits, made necessary by "significantly" lower imports and lower generation, would be temporary.

"The restrictions will be in place during the day. In the evening, after the equipment is fixed, the restrictions will be lifted," Ukrenergo said on the Telegram messenger app.

Ukraine's largest private power generator and distributor DTEK said restrictions would apply to Kyiv, the Kyiv region, Odesa, Dnipro and the Donetsk regions.

"The reasons: a shortage (of electricity) in the power grid due to previous shelling by Russia and a drop in temperature," DTEK said on Telegram.

Russia has deliberately targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure during its invasion and has stepped up missile and drone attacks on energy facilities as winter approaches, raising fears that Ukrainians could suffer unbearable cold because of a lack of adequate heating.

According to Ukrainian officials, the country relies mainly on three nuclear power plants for all its energy, with half its previous generating capacity destroyed.

Russia has launched renewed missile attacks on Ukraine , with the president's chief of staff warning that the capital, Kyiv, was also under attack.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now," Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

Ukraine's air force previously warned that a missile had entered the country's airspace and was headed for Kyiv. 

Reuters' witnesses reported hearing blasts in the city.

"Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are working. Stay in shelters!" the Kyiv city administration said on Telegram.

The attacks involved cruise missiles launched from strategic aircraft as well as ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military said.