Ukraine updates: Kyiv urges support to protect grain exports

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday commended the Ukrainian military, saying the nation should be "grateful to those who defend our country" amid Russian attacks and severe winter conditions.

In a video address, the president described ongoing intense battles in Donetsk and Kharkiv and "extremely challenging weather" from Kyiv in the north to Odesa in the south. 

He also noted that there were power outages in 400 settlements across 10 regions. 

A severe snowstorm struck the Black Sea coast on Sunday, leading to major power outages and blocking roads in central regions.

In Russia-annexed Crimea, nearly 500,000 people faced power cuts, said Oleg Kryuchkov, a senior Moscow-installed official.

Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure with airstrikes to exert pressure. Kyiv anticipates a similar Russian approach this winter.
 

Russia appears to be transferring arms from other regions after losing a number of SA-21 air defense systems in Ukraine, according to UK intelligence.

"Exceptional Russian air transport movements through November 2023 suggest that Russia has likely moved strategic air defense systems from its Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad, to backfill recent losses on the Ukraine front," the British Defense Ministry said.

This could be a sign of Russia's diminishing arsenal, according to the intelligence update.

"As its most westerly outpost and bordered on three sides by NATO member states, Russia sees Kaliningrad as one of its most strategically sensitive regions," the Ministry said.

"The fact that the Russian Ministry of Defense appears willing to accept additional risk here highlights the overstretch the war has caused for some of Russia’s key, modern capabilities."

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine grinds into its second winter, a growing number of Russian soldiers want out, according to secret recordings obtained by The Associated Press of soldiers calling home from the battlefield.

"There's no 'dying the death of the brave' here," one soldier told his brother from the front in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. "You just die like a f***ing earthworm."

Another fighter told a relative that what's happening in Ukraine is "simply genocide."

"If this s*** doesn't stop, then soon we'll be leading the Ukrainians to the Kremlin ourselves," he added.

"This is just a huge testing ground, where the whole world is testing their weapons," he went on. 

Another soldier, known as Roman, told a friend about the difference in treatment for professional soldiers versus conscripted fighters like him.

“They are replaced, they have rotation, they are given leave, their clothes are washed and ironed, they wash in the bathhouse, they have no problem with food, they have no problem with water. It's not like this for us. It once came to the point that there were puddles, it had rained, and the guys scooped up all the puddles and drank.”

"We survive because we are on edge all the time," Roman continued. "Even guys from our own side don't come close, especially at night. When we are on duty, we warn everyone that we will shoot at anything that rustles."

The soldier described how his cousin was killed by a shell that took out a dozen soldiers. His family managed to get his body, or at least half of his body, back to Russia, but the other 11 soldiers lay unclaimed in Ukraine.

Russia said on Sunday that it had thwarted a major Ukrainian drone attack with at least 20 drones shot down over Russian regions, including Moscow.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Ukrainian drones were shot down over regions including Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk.

One person was injured in Tula when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, the region's governor Alexei Dyumin said.

"A mass drone attack was attempted overnight," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Ukrainian drones were shot down in several areas of the Moscow region, Russian officials said.

Flights were delayed or cancelled at Moscow's main airports due to the drone strikes, The Kommersant newspaper reported.

Ukraine's air force said Sunday it had destroyed eight of nine attack drones launched overnight by Russia.

The military said the attack was launched from the southeast.

It came a day after what Ukrainian officials said had been Russia's largest drone attack of the war, which hit targets including the capital, Kyiv — and wounded five people.

Ukraine has warned in recent weeks that Russia will target critical infrastructure in a winter aerial campaign, as it did last year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more air support to protect its routes for the passage of ships carrying grain.

"There is a deficit of air defense — that is no secret," Zelenskyy told the Grain from Ukraine summit in Kyiv.

The food security summit was attended by several senior officials from European countries, including Swiss President Alain Berset and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

Zelenskyy said there were agreements in place with other countries to accompany vessels to protect them from damage from war.

"I have agreements with several countries about the powerful accompaniment of convoys by Ukrainians, but using [foreign] equipment," he said.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's sea ports as well as Danube river ports after Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Ukraine is one of the largest wheat exporters in the world, with both developing countries and developed countries relying on its exports.

Separately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged support in a letter to Zelenskyy that she shared on social media platform X, saying the Commission would make €50 million available for "quick repairs and upgrades of infrastructure in Ukraine's ports."

rm/sri (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa) 

Oleksandr Matsievskiy, a Ukrainian soldier was commemorated with a statue in his northern hometown after a video capturing his final moments went viral. 

The widely circulated video showed him saying "Slava Ukraini" — a popular expression of resistance to Russia's February 2022 invasion — in his last moments before being shot dead. 

He was also awarded a medal after his death.

In the video, he is seen standing seemingly unarmed but then collapsing after apparently being shot by a Russian bullet. 

Ukraine has accused Russia of killing Matsievskiy and has started investigating his death.