Russia Ukraine news - live: Zelensky visits frontline as Putin says fighting ‘extremely difficult’

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has made an unannounced visit to the frontline in the the city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have been in battle with Russian troops for months.

It’s been reported that Zelensky met with troops and handed out awards as the war continues on.

Bakhmut has faced months of bombardment and has suffered a lot of damage as a key target for Russia in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. So far Ukrainian forces have held back Russia’s advance.

It comes as new footage shows Russian president Vladimir Putin likely trying to “deflect responsibility” for failures in the war in Ukraine.

The UK Ministry of Defence on Tuesday shared how Putin was filmed on 16 December “meeting with a number of senior military officers including Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov”.

It added how the “choreographed” meeting was likely intended to “demonstrate collective responsibility for the special military operation” and “deflect Putin’s responsibility for military failure, high fatality rates and increasing public disatisfaction from mobilisation”.

On the war front lines, a Russian artillery offensive struck 25 towns and villages around Bakhmut and Avdiivka along with another northeastern town Kupiansk.

Key Points

• Putin says fighting ‘extremely difficult’ in areas he annexed illegally

• Reports of Putin using Belarus in Ukraine war ‘stupid’, says Moscow

• Downing Street denies Rishi Sunak preparing to ‘water down’ support for Ukraine

• Putin trying to ‘deflect responsibility for military failure’ says MoD

11:15 , Lucy Skoulding

US Congressional leaders unveiled a $1.7 trillion spending package early today that includes another large round of aid to Ukraine, a nearly 10% boost in defense spending and roughly $40 billon to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The bill includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding.

Lawmakers are working to stuff in as many priorities as they can into what is likely to be the last major bill of the current Congress.

They are racing to complete passage of the bill before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday. Lawmakers leading the negotiations released the details of the bill shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Read the full story.

11:00 , Lucy Skoulding

The United States and its allies clashed with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine — and the U.S. accused the U.N. secretary-general of “yielding to Russian threats” and failing to launch an investigation.

At a contentious Security Council meeting Monday on the resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers, the United States and Iran also accused each other of responsibility for stalled negotiations on the Biden administration rejoining the agreement that former President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018.

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani insisted Iran’s negotiating team exercised “maximum flexibility” in trying to reach agreement and even introduced an “innovative solution to the remaining issues to break the impasse.” But he claimed the “unrealistic and rigid approach” of the United States led to the current stalled talks on the 2015 agreement, known as the JCPOA.

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Soldiers wearing festive costumes give gifts to children on Ukraine's frontline

10:45 , Lucy Skoulding

A new video shows soldiers giving gifts to children for Christmas on Ukraine’s frontline.

Ukraine accelerating ‘de-Russification’ efforts

10:30 , Lucy Skoulding

On the streets of Kyiv, Fyodor Dostoevsky is on the way out. Andy Warhol is on the way in.

Ukraine is accelerating efforts to erase the vestiges of Soviet and Russian influence from its public spaces by pulling down monuments and renaming hundreds of streets to honor its own artists, poets, soldiers, independence leaders and others — including heroes of this year’s war.

Following Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24 that has killed or injured untold numbers of civilians and soldiers and pummeled buildings and infrastructure, Ukraine’s leaders have shifted a campaign that once focused on dismantling its Communist past into one of “de-Russification.”

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10:15 , Chris Stevenson

Ukrainian officials have said this morning that five people have been killed in the eastern Donetsk and southern Kherson regions, with eight wounded, and that 21 missiles had knocked out power in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Those numbers come in the wake of an attack by Russia on Monday using "kamikaze" drones, which were motly aimed around teh capital Kyiv. The unmanned aircraft fly towards their target, then plummet and detonate on impact.

Ordinary citizens ‘secret weapon' in fight against Putin

09:54 , Lucy Skoulding

The pain inflicted by his torturers was so severe that Volodymyr Zhemchugov tried to bite through the drip keeping him alive in order to blow bubbles of air into his veins and kill himself.

The Soviet-era soldier turned Ukrainian partisan was being held in a prison hospital by Russian-backed proxies. It was 2015 in the eastern city of Luhansk.

Vladimir Putin had recently illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula, war was raging between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists in Donbas.

And in the middle of this, 52-year-old Zhemchugov had been captured after accidentally crawling over a mine while trying to sabotage a power line to a Russian-backed camp. Both his hands had been blown off and he had been blinded.

Despite the pain, the darkness, and the horrific conditions, the veteran partisan fighter refused to comply. He survived long enough to be released in a prisoner swap and, seven years later, after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zhemchugov is finally getting his revenge.

“As a citizen of occupied territory I had all the contacts of people there, and so I started to build a network of saboteurs when Putin invaded Ukraine,” Zhemchugov, a Russian speaker, tells The Independent from Kyiv where he is now based.

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War ‘hardly mentioned’ on Putin’s visit to Belarus

09:15 , Lucy Skoulding

Putin visited Belarus on Monday to meet with the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

However the war in Ukraine was hardly mentioned, according to reports from Reuters.

This is despite the fact Russia used Belarus as a launchpad for its attack on Kyiv back in February. Russian and Belarusian military activity has been present there for months now.

Serhiy Nayev, the Ukrainian joint forces commander said he believes the talks would focus on discussing “further aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular, in our opinion, also on the ground”.

But no journalists invited to ask either Putin or Lukashenko questions asked about the war.

Lukashenko has said his country will not be drawn into the war.

Putin said: “Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone. There is simply no expediency in this … It’s not a takeover, it’s a matter of policy alignment.”

Ukraine ‘erasing Russian influence from public spaces'

08:30 , Lucy Skoulding

Ukraine is trying to erase any Soviet or Russian influences from its public spaces as the war continues.

It has pulled down monuments and renamed hundreds of streets to celebrate its own people, including poets, artists, soldiers and independent leaders.

It’s even chosen names to honour heroes from the current war.

The Associated Press reported: “Streets that honoured revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin or the Bolshevik Revolution were largely already gone; now Russia, not Soviet legacy, is the enemy.

“It’s part punishment for crimes meted out by Russia, and part affirmation of a national identity by honouring Ukrainian notables who have been mostly overlooked.

“Russia, through the Soviet Union, is seen by many in Ukraine as having stamped its domination of its smaller south-western neighbour for generations, consigning its artists, poets and military heroes to relative obscurity, compared with more famous Russians.

“If victors write history, as some say, Ukrainians are doing some rewriting of their own – even as their fate hangs in the balance. Their national identity is having what may be an unprecedented surge, in ways large and small.

“President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has taken to wearing a black T-shirt that says: “I’m Ukrainian.””

Full statement from Ministry of Defence on Putin

07:49 , Lucy Skoulding

Sharing the full statement, the UK Ministry of Defence said today: “On 16 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Joint Headquarters of the Special Military Operation.

“Putin was filmed meeting with a number of senior military officers including Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu.

“He invited proposals for next steps of the Special Military Operation. Commander of the Russian Group of Forces in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin, was one of those who presented a report.

“In this choreographed meeting Putin likely intended to demonstrate collective responsibility for the special military operation.

“This display likely aimed to deflect Putin’s responsibility for military failure, high fatality rates and increasing public dissatisfaction from mobilisation. The televised footage was probably designed to also dispel social media rumours of General Gerasimov’s dismissal.”

Putin’s military HQ visit aimed at deflecting responsibility for failure in war - MoD

07:06 , Lucy Skoulding

The British defence ministry has called Vladimir Putin’s visit to the joint headquarters of the special military operation choreographed and aimed at deflecting the Russian president’s responsibility for a failure.

“In this choreographed meeting Putin likely intended to demonstrate collective responsibility for the special military operation,” the ministry said.

Russia violating most conventions of warfare, says top Ukrainian minister

06:34 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s defence minister has said he will start acting on some of the violations Russia has committed in its war against the country.

“Russia spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the delusional idea of conquering Ukraine and became a terrorist state, violating most conventions on the rules of warfare. I will focus everyday on some of those violations,” Oleksiy Reznikov said today.

Reports of Putin using Belarus in Ukraine war ‘stupid’, says Moscow

05:57 , Arpan Rai

Reports suggesting Vladimir Putin is going to push Belarus into a more active role in Ukraine war are “groundless” and “stupid”, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone,” Mr Peskov said.

However, the US has refuted the claims from Moscow, calling it the “height of irony”.

“The reported claim from president Putin that he has no intention of, as you said, absorbing anyone in his talks with president – with Lukashenka, look, I think a statement like that has to be treated as the height of irony coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment, right now, to violently absorb his other peaceful next door neighbor,” state department spokesperson Ned Price said last night.

“We’ve heard these statements from President Putin. At the same time, since the earliest days of this conflict and the weeks preceding this conflict, we have seen the Lukashenka regime essentially cede its sovereignty, cede its independence to Russia.” he said in a press briefing.

The top US state department officials said that the world saw Russian forces “mass inside what should have been sovereign Belarusian territory.”

“We’ve seen attacks launched from what should be sovereign Belarusian territory. And now we hear these comments from president Putin and from Lukashenka, but I think the track record speaks much louder than anything these two leaders could say,” he said.

Downing Street denies Rishi Sunak preparing to ‘water down’ support for Ukraine

05:26 , Arpan Rai

Downing Street has rejected suggestions Rishi Sunak is preparing to water down Britain’s support for Ukraine as “categorically untrue”.

The prime minister is in Riga meeting other Western leaders to discuss the war-torn country.

But reports he has asked for an assessment of the progress of the war and how UK military supplies are being used led have to fears the Conservative leader was taking an overly cautious approach.

His official spokesman said: “Certainly any suggestion of watered down support for Ukraine is categorically untrue.

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Downing Street denies Rishi Sunak preparing to ‘water down’ support for Ukraine

Putin orders stronger defence against ‘traitors, spies and saboteurs’

05:16 , Arpan Rai

Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered the strengthening of his coutry’s borders and instructed security services to step up defences against “traitors, spies and saboteurs”, according to state media.

Reports also said that Mr Putin told the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) it must protect people in the Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia in September, promising agents “modern equipment and weapons” for the cause.

“[The border] must be reliably covered,” the RIA news agency quoted him as saying. “Any attempts to violate it must be thwarted quickly and effectively using whatever forces and means we have at our disposal, including mobile action units and special forces.”

Read the full story here:

Putin orders stronger defence against ‘traitors, spies and saboteurs’

White House will continue to ‘closely monitor' Russia after Putin’s visit

05:06 , Arpan Rai

The White House will continue to monitor Russia’s activities in Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belarus, spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“Look, we continue to monitor Russia’s force posture closely. That’s something that we have been doing and will continue to do, including a Belarus – in Belarus, and remain in close contact with Ukraine as they valiantly defend themselves against Russia aggression. So we’re continuing to do that,” the top White House official said in a press briefing last night.

She was answering the question on the Biden administration’s concerns that there might be additional collaboration between the two countries as Mr Putin visited his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and if Minsk may be providing additional military support to Russia.

Ms Jean-Pierre said the US has long been concerned by Belarus’s role in Russia’s aggression. “Belarus has enabled Russia’s war against Ukraine, providing support for Russia and allowing Belarusian territory to be used as a staging ground for Russian forces,” she told the reporters.

Fears Belarus could enter Ukraine war as Putin meets Lukashenko

04:46 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin is in Belarus along with his defence and foreign ministers, as fears grow in Kyiv that Moscow wants to push its closest ally into a new ground offensive in Ukraine.

Sitting alongside Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko before their talks in Minsk, Mr Putin is said to have emphasised the close military-technical ties between the allies.

Mr Putin was allowed to use Belarus as the launchpad for his offensive against Kyiv when the invasion of Ukraine began in February – although Lukashenko has repeatedly said his nation, which relies heavily on Moscow for support, will not enter the war given how unpopular such a move could prove in his country.

Ukrainian joint forces commander Serhiy Nayev had said he believed the talks would address “further aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular, in our opinion, also on the ground”.

Read full story here:

Fears Belarus could be pulled into Ukraine war as Putin meets Lukashenko

IMF clears four-month deal for Ukraine to help promote donor financing

04:28 , Arpan Rai

The International Monetary Fund has approved a four-month programme for Ukraine to help the besieged country maintain its economic stability using donor financing after Russia invaded it in February.

The Program Monitoring with Board involvement (PMB) was cleared by the IMF’s management on 9 December and discussed by its executive board yesterday. The IMF will help Ukraine implement prudent policies and “catalyse” external financing..

"Large and predictable external financial support will be critical for the success of the authorities strategy, and frontloaded disbursements would help address strains in early 2023," IMF first deputy managing director Gita Gopinath said in a statement.

"At the same time, the PMB seeks to promote transparency and preserve hard-won gains from past fund-supported programs, including in the areas of independence of the National Bank of Ukraine and, more broadly, governance and anti-corruption," Ms Gopinath said.

Bakhmut ‘hottest spot’ in war as Russia lost almost 99,000 soldiers - Zelensky

04:24 , Arpan Rai

Eastern town Bakhmut continued to be the hot spots of the war with Russian and Ukrainian forces defending inches of land in the almost 11 month old siege, Volodymyr Zelensky said, addind that Vladimir Putin has lost around 99,000 soldiers so far.

“Bakhmut is the hottest spot on the entire frontline - more than 1300 km of active hostilities. Since May, the occupiers have been trying to break our Bakhmut, but time goes by and Bakhmut is already breaking not only the Russian army, but also the Russian mercenaries who came to replace the wasted army of the occupiers,” he said in his nightly address.

Mr Zelensky added: “Just think about it: Russia has already lost almost 99 thousand of its soldiers in Ukraine. Soon there will be 100 thousand of the occupiers’ casualties. For what? No one in Moscow can answer this question. And they won’t.”

“They wage war and waste people’s lives, other people’s lives, not of their loved ones, not their own lives, but the lives of others only because a group in the Kremlin can’t admit mistakes and is terribly afraid of reality. But reality speaks for itself,” the war-time president said.

Putin says fighting ‘extremely difficult’ in areas he annexed illegally

04:00 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin said his troops are facing a “highly difficult” situation in four territories of eastern Ukraine where the fighting has dominated the war for months and is only peaking in the harsh winter. He also asked his forces to identify traitors and spies.

“Yes, it is difficult for you now. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult,” Mr Putin told forces during Moscow’s Security Services Day.

He also instructed his security officials to defend Russian borders, increase control of society, and maximise their “use of the operational, technical and personnel potential” to thwart risks from abroad and internal traitors.

“It is necessary to severely suppress the actions of foreign special services, quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs,” Mr Putin said.

03:23 , Arpan Rai

Good morning, welcome to our coverage of the Ukraine war on Tuesday, 20 December.