Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces ready for ‘large missile attack’ as US vows North Korea troop response
US secretary of state Antony Blinken warns North Korean troops deployment ‘will get a firm response’
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin’s forces are ready to launch a massive attack on Ukraine, the head of Kyiv’s national security council has warned, as the country braces for large-scale missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Blasts were heard over Kyiv on Wednesday as Ukraine accused Russia of launching its first missile attack on the capital since August and urged residents to take cover as air raid sirens blared in multiple regions.
But Ukraine security chief Andrii Kovalenko warned the the attacks on Wednesday – involving cruise and ballistic missiles – were less intense than those Moscow was equipped to carry out in the future, as it continues to stockpile cruise missiles. Russia’s plans are known and understood, and Ukraine will counter, he insisted.
It came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken travelled to Brussels, meeting Nato chief Mark Rutte and Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
Vowing that the Biden administration will bolster Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Mr Blinken also warned that Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops “demands and will get a firm response”.
ICYMI: The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp.
His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager.
As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead.
The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.
The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp. His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager. As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead. The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.
Ukraine claims Russia suffered 1,770 casualties in past 24 hours
Ukraine claims to have inflicted another day of near-record casualties upon Vladimir Putin’s forces, after claiming two consecutive record days earlier this week.
Kyiv’s military said Russia had suffered 1,770 losses over the past 24 hours, as well as the destruction of 24 tanks, 49 armoured vehicles and 56 artillery systems.
Russia claims control of settlement in Donetsk, state media reports
Russia’s defence ministry claims its forces have taken control of the settlement of Rivnopil in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti has reported.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim. Russia frequently asserts control over areas it is yet to seize, however Moscow’s troops have been making steady – albeit grinding – gains in Ukraine’s east in recent months, at a cost of heavy losses.
Trump’s new defence secretary says women should not have combat roles
Finnish investors to buy Helsinki Arena from sanctioned Russians
A group of Finnish investors have agreed to buy Finland’s flagship sports and events venue from its sanctions-hit Russian owners – after the city of Helsinki threatened a forced takeover.
The Helsinki Arena has stood idle for two years since sanctions were imposed on Russian investors following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and Helsinki said last year that Russian-Finnish energy billionaire Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg would face expropriation unless they voluntarily sold the arena.
The capital city initiated a forced takeover on Monday and a deal was announced by the Finnish Foreign Ministry the next day.
The Finnish buyers, grouped under Trevian Asset Management Ltd and led by Heikki Viitikko, a previous ice hockey club owner, said it took them two years to negotiate the deal with lawyers working for the Russian owners.
“Yesterday, we were finally able to sign the deeds,” Trevian chief executive Reima Sodervall told Reuters, adding that the deal would still require an exceptional permit from the European Union to be approved because of the sanctions.
South Korea says North Korean soldiers are fighting Ukraine forces
South Korea's spy agency has warned that North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia are engaging in combat against Ukraine.
Following reports of 10,000 North Korean soldiers arriving in Russia, some are claimed to have been stationed in Kursk, the region attacked by Ukraine in August.
Experts have told The Independent that they believe Vladimir Putin may now be amplifying his efforts to take back territory in Kursk ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Polish security services detain Belarusian suspected of attempted arson
Polish special services have detained a Belarusian citizen suspected of committing acts of sabotage by attempting to set fire to a building in Gdansk.
Poland believes its role as a hub for supplies to Ukraine has made it a key target for spies who are trying to gather information on support for Kyiv’s war effort and engage in acts of sabotage.
In January and May, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) arrested citizens of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus whom it accused of carrying out arson attacks on buildings in Gdansk, Gdynia and Marki, and preparing similar attacks in Wroclaw.
“This is another arrest in the investigation into the activities of an organised criminal group that, at the request of foreign special services, carried out acts of sabotage, in particular arson,” the agency said on Wednesday.
The prosecutor’s office has charged the detained Belarusian citizen with participation in an organised criminal group and committing acts of sabotage, diversion or terrorist crimes on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. A court ordered his detention for three months.
Blinken meets Nato chief in Ukraine talks ahead of Trump transition
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has met Nato chief Mark Rutte in Brussels as the outgoing Biden administration seeks to cement support for Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s return.
Mr Blinken is expected to discuss in Brussels how US allies can take greater leadership over support for Ukraine with Washington’s future role uncertain.
Following his meeting with Mr Rutte at the alliance’s headquarters, Mr Blinken is later expected to meet Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
He will also meet top EU officials and British foreign secretary David Lammy in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ukraine claims to shoot down missiles and 37 Russian drones launched in overnight attacks
Ukraine’s air force said it has shot down two cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and 37 Russian drones as regions across Ukraine were targeted in overnight attacks.
A further 47 Russian drones were lost in different regions of Ukraine, while two left Ukraine’s airspace oin the direction of Belarus and Russia, Kyiv said.
Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Chernihiv were among the regions targeted, Ukraine’s air force said.
Blasts in Kyiv as Russia stages first missile attack since August, Ukraine says
Blasts rang out over Kyiv on Wednesday morning after officials said Russia launched its first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since August and urged residents to take cover.
The scale of the strike and extent of any damage were not immediately clear. The attack involved missiles launched by strategic bombers as well as ballistic missiles, the military said. No casualties or damage have been reported so far.
“Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the president’s office wrote on Telegram.
The missile strike came after what officials said was a drone attack. Kyiv has faced Russian drone attacks almost nightly for weeks. Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said a drone was still flying over central Kyiv in the morning.
“Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. Stay in shelters!” the Kyiv city administration wrote on the Telegram messenger.
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