Published December 23, 2023
In his daily address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the air force pilots who shot down three Russian fighter jets Friday in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the soldiers, adding, “May every Russian pilot be well aware of our response to every Russian killer — none of them will go unpunished.”
The fate of the Russian pilots and crew members was not immediately clear.
Ukrainian and Russian troops are facing an adversary of another kind on the ground, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence update on Ukraine — “exceptional levels of rat and mice infestation in some sectors of the front line.”
The rodents will “likely” seek shelter in vehicles and defensive positions,” the ministry said, which could also affect soldiers’ morale, according to the report.
The update said the jump in the rodent population is likely the result of this year’s mild autumn, “along with ample food from fields left fallow due to the fighting.”
The British ministry said the rodents could gnaw the cables of military equipment, just as they did in the same region during World War II.
Unverified reports indicate, the ministry said, that Russian troops are already beginning to experience a growing number of cases of illness, which the Russian troops blame on the rodents.
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SOURCE: www.voanews.com
RELATED: Ukraine’s Air Force launches 12 strikes on enemy positions – General Staff
Published December 23, 2023
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in its morning update published on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.
“As many as 75 combat clashes took place on the front lines throughout the day. In total, the enemy carried out 1 missile attack and 50 airstrikes, as well as 57 MLRS attacks on the positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine and populated areas. As a result of Russian terrorist attacks, unfortunately, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged,” the report says.
According to the General Staff, Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine with 23 Shahed-136/131 UAVs yesterday. Ukraine’s air defense forces destroyed 19 combat UAVs.
The following settlements came under Russian airstrikes: Kostobobriv, Chernihiv region; Synkivka, Kharkiv region; Katerynivka, Toretsk, Lastochkyne, Avdiivka, Heorhiivka, Marinka, Novomykhailivka, Donetsk region; Robotyne, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region; Krynky, Kherson region.
About 110 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions were subjected to enemy artillery fire.
“In the past day, aircraft of the Defense Forces struck 12 areas where enemy personnel, weapons and military equipment were concentrated. Moreover, the air defense forces downed three Su-34 fighter-bombers. Missiles forces hit five Russian manpower, weapons and military equipment clusters, two command posts, and two ammunition depots,” the General Staff said.
As reported, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have eliminated more than 351,350 Russian invaders since February 24, 2022.
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SOURCE: www.ukrinform.net
RELATED: How Ukraine can win the war against the Russian ‘Goliath’
Higher morale and change in tactics could pave the way for victory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country will fight on until the Russian military completely pulls out of its territory. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images)
Published December 23, 2023
KYIV — At first glance, the Ukrainian capital in late November was as lively and buoyant as ever, with restaurants bustling and department stores decked out in Christmas decorations.
But I was quickly reminded that the country was in the middle of a war with Russia. A nighttime curfew had been imposed while soldiers guarded strategic points in the city. When there was a threat of an air raid, ear-piercing sirens rang out.
In the early morning of Nov. 25, I was awakened by an air raid alert while on a train from Poland. Russia had launched a major attack on the capital with 75 drones, one of the largest such strikes since it invaded Ukraine in late February 2022.
During a nine-day stay in Kyiv, I would occasionally seek shelter in the hotel’s basement late at night due to air raid warnings. While in the country, I spoke with nearly 40 people, ranging from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to soldiers on the ground. What I wanted to find out the most was whether Ukraine would continue its fight against Russia or seek a cease-fire.
No one I talked to called for a cease-fire, although it was clear that people wanted the fighting to stop. In a group interview with Nikkei and other news media, Zelenskyy acknowledged that the country was facing a serious shortage of weapons and that its counteroffensive had stalled. Many Ukrainians I met have family members or friends serving on battlefields.
Still, the overwhelming majority were reluctant to seek a cease-fire because of Russia’s repeated past betrayals. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Russia has broken cease-fire promises about 20 times since 2014.
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SOURCE: www.asia.nikkei.com
