Heavy smoke billows from Russia's Kursk Airfield after drone attack
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Russian missiles have hit the Kherson region 51 times in the past day, killing two civilians and injuring another, said the head of the region’s military administration.
Yaroslav Yanushevych posted on Telegram: “The Rashists [Russians] hit the peaceful settlements of the region with artillery, MLRS, tanks, and mortars.”
According to him, civilian infrastructure objects and residential buildings were damaged due to Russian shelling.
The attack on Kherson comes amid a fresh wave of missile attacks from the Russian side. The attacks arrived shortly after explosions at two Russian airfields on Monday, with Ukraine penetrating hundreds of kilometres into Russia's air space.
A third Russian airfield was attacked by a drone strike on Tuesday setting ablaze an oil storage tank in the Kursk region.
Russian forces continued the shelling of towns and villages in the region, the Ukrainian military said late on Tuesday, killing six in Donetsk.
Pope Francis compares Russian invasion to Nazi operation
Pope Francis compared the war in Ukraine to a Nazi operation that killed some two million people, mostly Jews, in the first years of World War Two.
Speaking to Polish pilgrims at his weekly general audience, Francis noted that the Catholic University of Lublin, in Poland, had recently commemorated the anniversary of Operation Reinhard.
It was the code name for a secret operation in a part of occupied Poland which the Germans called the “General Government” area, that included territory now in Ukraine.
“May the memory of this horrible event arouse intentions and actions of peace in everyone,” he said, specifically mentioning the operation, saying it was one of “extermination”.
He then went off script to add: “And history is repeating itself. We see now what is happening in Ukraine.”
More than 1,000 cultural sites in Ukraine destroyed , says Ministry of Culture
Over 1,000 cultural sites in Ukraine have been destroyed since Russia’s invasion, said the Ministry of Culture.
Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said that the figure included mostly libraries and clubs that were “either damaged or completely destroyed”.
The nation’s main challenge is the decline of production in the creative industries, he added, as people are forced to look elsewhere for work.
‘No question of Russian involvement’ in alleged German coup, says Kremlin
Russia has denied any involvement in an alleged coup in Germany.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the incident was nothing to do with them.
They were drawn to comment after German police carried out raids across the country and arrested 25 members of a group called the Reich Citizens movement.
The group allegedly planned to storm the parliament building, the Reichstag, and seize power, said officials.
David Harding has the full story:
Among those arrested in Germany as an alleged plotter was a Russian citizen
More than 92,000 Russian soldiers so far, says Ukraine
Ukraine said that more than 92,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since 24 February.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said 92,740 Russian soldiers have died, including 540 troops over the past day.
In addition, 2,935 tanks had been destroyed and 5,909 armoured combat vehicles.
Vietnam seeks to reduce reliance on Russian arms
For decades, Russia has been Vietnam's main suplier of weapons and defence systems, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the top buyers of Russian arms.
But that is changing as Vietnam strives to become more self sufficient, obtain advanced gear that Russia can't provide, and faces Western pressure to reduce arms purchases from Moscow amid its invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.
Now Vietnam is looking to suppliers from Europe, East Asia, India, Israel and the US.
It has also boosted its domestic military industry with support from Israel and other partners, and hopes to export weapons, analysts and officials said.
Nguyen The Phuong, a former defence researcher at Vietnam National University, said there had even been internal discussions in October about whether the country should sell weapons to Russia - although no decision on that was seen as imminent.
The Russian embassy in Hanoi and Vietnam’s defence and foreign ministries had no comment.
Vietnam is one of the world's 20 biggest buyers of weapons amin on-and-off tensions with China, with an annual budget for arms imports estimated at $1bn and set to grow, according to GlobalData, a provider of military procurement intelligence.
Kremlin says US defence budget “confrontational” towards Russia
The Kremlin said that a US military aid spending bill providing $80m (£657m) to Ukraine approved by US lawmakers on Tuesday was “confrontational” towards Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The document that has been adopted is of an extremely confrontational nature in relation to our country.”
The Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, authorises the additional spending for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, an increase of $500m (£410m) over US President Joe Biden’s request earlier this year.
The bill also suspends some restrictions on contracts for munitions to support Ukraine.
It is expected to pass the Senate and House of Representatives this month, and be sent to the White House for Biden to sign into law.
Reuters
Watch: Zelensky gives state medals to wounded soldiers in Kyiv
Zelensky gives state medals to wounded soldiers in Kyiv
Over 300 children considered missing in Ukraine
A total of 333 children are considered missing in Ukraine since Russian invaded the country on 24 February.
“The Children of War children’s search portal data as of 7 December 2022: 333 children – missing, 13,112 – deported, 8,017 – found,” the Ombudsman’s Office posted on Facebook.
Russians hit Kherson region 51 times in past day, killing two civilians
Russian forces hit the Kherson region 51 times in the past day, killing to civilians and injuring another, said the head of the region’s military administration.
Yaroslav Yanushevych posted on Telegram: “The Rashists hit the peaceful settlements of the region with artillery, MLRS, tanks, and mortars.”
According to him, civilian infrastructure objects and residential buildings were damaged due to Russian shelling.
Belarus moves military gear amid fears of attack on Ukraine
Belarus plans to move military equipment and forces on Wednesday and Thursday in what it said was a counter-terrorism exercise, amid fears that Russia may mount a new attack on Ukraine from the territory of its Belarusian ally.
“During this period, it is planned to move military equipment and personnel of the national security forces,” the state BelTA news agency cited the country’s Security Council as saying.
“The movement of citizens (transport) along certain public roads and areas would be restricted and the use of imitation weapons for training purposes is planned.”
There was no information on what parts of the country could be affected.
Belarus has said it will not enter the war in neighbouring Ukraine, but President Alexander Lukashenko has in the past ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border, citing threats to Belarus from Kyiv and the West.