Key events
In homes and schools around Bosnia, young people this December have been preparing gift boxes they hope will put a smile on the faces of their peers living through war in Ukraine – as such presents did for many of their parents a generation ago.
The Associated Press reported:
Responding to an appeal launched by a small Sarajevo museum, hundreds of Bosnian children have been filling small boxes with warm clothes, toys, candies and other simple gifts to be delivered to the children of Ukraine in time for the New Year.
For parents and educators who are helping them select what to send, the experience has awakened rare happy memories from the time when they were on the receiving end of the kindness of strangers while growing up in constant fear of death.
“When I told my dad that we will prepare gifts for children in Ukraine, he told me how happy such gifts had made him (and his friends) feel when they received them,” during the Bosnian war, said Sara Nur Spahic, while helping label the gift boxes for Ukraine that have been steadily piling up in recent weeks in her primary school in Sarajevo.
“I hope the children in Ukraine will be equally happy,” the 11-year-old added.
Macron says Europe should limit dependence on US for security
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for Europe to reduce its reliance on the US and develop its own defence capabilities while taking a more assertive role within Nato.
Speaking to reporters on his return to Paris from a summit in Amman, Jordan, Macron stressed that he doesn’t see his push to develop European defence as an alternative to Nato.
A stronger Europe, Macron said, will allow the continent to become more autonomous within the alliance, acting “inside Nato, with Nato but also not depending on Nato,” the Wall Street Journal cited the president as saying.
An alliance isn’t something I should depend on. It’s something that I should choose, something I work with … We must rethink our strategic autonomy.”
In case you missed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s address to US Congress earlier, the Ukrainian president said his country is still “alive and kicking” despite Russian “tyranny”.
Zelenskiy made a bid to persuade Republican lawmakers to continue to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
“It is a great honour for me to be at the US Congress and speak to you and all Americans. Against all doom-and-gloom scenarios, Ukraine did not fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking,” he said. “We defeated Russia in the battle for the minds of the world.”
Watch video of the highlights below.
Russian officials injured in Donetsk – reports
A former Russian deputy prime minister and a pro-Moscow official were injured when Ukrainian forces shelled the eastern city of Donetsk on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said.
Donetsk, controlled by pro-Moscow troops, is in the industrial Donbas region, the centre of recent bitter fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
One of the injured men was Dmitry Rogozin, a former Russian deputy prime minister, who is giving military advice to two occupied regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims as its own, an aide told Tass news agency, his life was not in danger.
Also hurt was Vitaly Khotsenko, the head of government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, his press secretary told Russian news agencies.
The Guardian has not been able to verify these reports independently.
Summary: What Zelenskiy told congress
In an address to US congress made 12 days before Republicans take the House, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy – who was in the US on his first foreign visit since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 300 days ago – emphasised that US aid will help Ukraine to secure a victory that will make the world safer.
He started by saying that the US, Europe and Ukraine had together “defeated Russian in the battle for minds of the world”.
Zelenskiy was also blunt about wanting more aid, saying that while he was grateful for commitments so far, it was not enough. He also called on the US to place further sanctions on Russia, and bring the people behind the war to justice. He used the words bipartisan repeatedly, and bicameral, at least once, and sought to assure Republican and Democrat lawmakers that aid for Ukraine was worthwhile, and that the country was a responsible steward of assistance.
“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” he said.
Zelenskiy repeatedly referred to battles in world war two, which was likely strategic – a reminder that what is at stake is global politics, not just Ukraine’s freedom.
He quoted Franklin D Roosevelt’s during the second world war: “The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory,” adding, “I tell you: The Ukrainian people will win, too: absolutely.”
As he ended his speech, the thanked American families – the taxpayers funding US aid to Ukraine – saying, “Now, at this special Christmas time, I want to thank you, all of you. I thank every American family which cherishes the warmth of its home and wishes the same warmth to our people.”
Zelenskiy joked about the Patriot system during his press conference with Biden:
Zelensky’s joke at the press conference:
“After we get the Patriot, we’re going to signal that we want another Patriot.” ? pic.twitter.com/bjx1hLStgW— Вікторія Сірко ?? (@VikaSirko) December 21, 2022
What is the Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system?
Among the defence aid announced by Biden on Wednesday is the formidable Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system.
Zelenskiy said the US promise to provide the system was an important step in creating an effective air shield.
“This is the only way that we can deprive the terrorist state of its main instrument of terror – the possibility to hit our cities, our energy,” Zelenskiy told a White House news conference, standing next to Biden.
The Patriot system is “a defensive system, it’s not escalatory, it’s defensive” Biden told reporters.
“We’d love not to have them used, just stop the attacks.”
The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced US air defense systems and offers protection against aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicle.
Writing yesterday in the Guardian, Jack Watling, senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, looked at the transformational benefits as well as the risks involved in the decision to send the weapons to Ukraine:
Some fear that giving certain military support to Ukraine risks wider escalation, but this was not the basis for US reluctance to send Patriot systems. The US has significantly fewer of them than its own operational analysis suggests are necessary to defend its forces in the Indo-Pacific.
Moreover, there is continuing demand for missiles from existing users, from Sweden to Saudi Arabia: the latter expends a significant number of missiles each month in defence of its critical national infrastructure. Missile manufacturing levels, meanwhile, are low.”
‘Your money is not charity’, Zelenskiy tells US Congress
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the US Congress that aid to Ukraine was an investment in democracy and “not charity” as he invoked American battles against the Nazis in World War Two to press for more assistance for his country’s war effort.
Zelenskiy’s comments on Wednesday come as Republicans – some of whom have voiced increasing scepticism about sending so much aid to Ukraine – are set to take control of the US House of Representatives from Democrats on 3 January.
Some hardline Republicans have even urged an end to aid and an audit to trace how allocated money has been spent.
“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Zelenskiy told a joint session of the US Senate and House of Representatives, speaking in English.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It is currently 7.30am in Kyiv. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be with you for the next hour.
On Wednesday evening in Washington DC, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed members of the US Congress in person, on his first foreign visit since the outbreak of the war.
We’ll bring you the key developments from Zelenskiy’s visit as well as news from the ground in Ukraine.
In the meantime, here is recent news:
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A former Russian deputy prime minister and a pro-Moscow official were injured when Ukrainian forces shelled the eastern city of Donetsk on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said. Donetsk, controlled by pro-Moscow troops, is in the industrial Donbas region, the centre of recent bitter fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has pledged to give his army anything it asks for, promising no financial limits on what the government would provide in terms of equipment and hardware. Speaking in Moscow after meeting with Russia’s top military officials, Putin said there were no “funding restrictions” for the military.
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Putin also acknowledged that the call-up of 300,000 reservists he ordered in September had not gone smoothly, the latest in a series of recent comments in which he has admitted the challenges his army is facing. “The partial mobilisation that was carried out revealed certain problems, as everyone well knows, which should be promptly addressed,” he said.
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The UN will allocate an additional $20m from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund to support more than 300 civil society organisations and volunteer groups. “These groups have always been the backbone of the humanitarian response in Ukraine and even more since the war started in late February,” said Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.
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In an overwhelming vote of 93-2, the US Senate confirmed the appointment of Lynne M Tracy as the new US ambassador to Russia on Wednesday. Tracy, a career diplomat of the US foreign service, “will be tasked with standing up to [Vladimir] Putin”, the Associated Press quoted the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, as saying.
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