Ukraine-Russia war live: More than 1,000 people evacuated from Krasnodar amid Kyiv’s drone barrage
Russia was forced to down 18 Ukrainian drones fired at Krasnodar overnight, authorities said
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More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from Krasnodar, Russia, as Ukraine launched dozens of drones over the border.
Russia evacuated 1,200 residents from the region as Vladimir Putin’s troops were forced to down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight, Krasnodar’s governor said.
It comes as Moscow fired 108 deadly glide bombs - KABs - at Ukrainian positions on Friday, Kyiv authorities said.
They are old-fashioned “iron” aerial bombs of the sort that were dropped by bombers during the Second World War.
In Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, a 12-year-old boy was killed alongside two elderly women after a separate Russian overnight missile attack.
“Again, a terrifying enemy attack on Kryvyi Rih. In the middle of the night, when the city slept,” the city’s governor Serhiy Lysak said.
The two women killed in the attack were 75 and 79. Mr Lysak also said two buildings were destroyed and 20 more were damaged.
It comes after leaked documents revealed more than 70,000 Russian soldiers have died since the invasion began in February 2022.
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Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ rests on decisions by allies
Ukraine‘s “victory plan” in the war against Russia will rest on quick decisions being taken by allies this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Zelenskiy told a joint press conference with von der Leyen that Ukraine planned to use a proposed multi-billion dollar European Union loan for air defence, energy and domestic weapons purchases.
‘The West should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine’, Russia says
Russia said on Friday that the West should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and sponsoring “terrorist activity” if it wanted to send a signal it was serious about seeking an end to the war.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that a peace plan put forward by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had nothing to do with settling the conflict.
Full details of Zelensky’s “victory plan” are yet to be disclosed but he is due to present it to US President Joe Biden and to address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.
In response, Ms Zakharova told reporters that the plan looked like a self-interested gambit from the Ukrainian leader whom Moscow accuses of trying to drag the West into a full-blown war against Russia.
The European Union set to announce €35bn loan for Ukraine
The European Commission is set to announce a €35 billion ($39 billion) loan to Ukraine as part of a G7 scheme to raise $50 billion on the back of future profits from frozen Russian state assets, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing three people.
Ursula von der Leyen arrives in Kyiv
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to discuss Europe’s support, winter preparedness for defence and progress on the G7 loans.
She wrote on X: “My 8th visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure.”
‘We have some sense of contours of Zelensky’s victory plan’, US ambassador to Ukraine says
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky plans to present his fully completed victory plan first to US president Joe Biden.
In an interview with The Kyiv Independent, she said that while she has some idea of its framework, she looks forward to reviewing the plan’s details to work together on its implementation.
When asked about her expectations from it, she said: “President Zelensky has been very clear that he is going to show this plan first to President Biden. He and his team have been true to that. We have some sense of the contours of this plan, and of course, we’re working hand in glove with the government to support your victory in many different ways. It’ll be very positive for us to receive the details of the victory plan and be able to work together to follow up on this.”
She was also asked if the US remained committed to supporting Ukraine’s complete victory, which would include reclaiming all territories, including Crimea, and fully defeating Russia militarily. Ms Brink said: “Our position has been very clear as articulated by the president, as articulated by Secretary Blinken when he was just here last week in Kyiv. We support Ukraine and its victory in its win against Russia’s aggression.
“Now our support is in support of a vision of Ukraine – sovereign, independent, democratic, prosperous, integrated into Europe and into Nato. So that vision is a vision from Ukrainians, and it’s a vision of the future that we support. That’s our position. We’re leaving the details of the war, the details of when and how to negotiate up to your democratically elected president.”
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