WAR IN UKRAINE: December 12, 2022

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 292

  • Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Dec. 11 warned of "significant" energy cuts this winter after Russia's missile blitz damaged "all thermal and hydroelectric power plants" across the country. Shmyhal estimated that 40 percent of Ukraine's high-voltage network facilities, which transport electricity from power stations to urban areas and towns, were damaged to varying degrees. “Each of us must realize that this winter we will go through significant restrictions on electricity consumption," he said in a Facebook post - Kyiv Independent

  • Just 300,000 residents of the Odesa region remain without power, down from 1.5+ million Saturday after Russian drone strikes on critical infrastructure. “Tomorrow we expect an improvement of the situation” - Odesa region governor Maksym Marchenko said on his Telegram channel

  • Official: Putin could use peace talks with Ukraine as a cover to rearm, recruit troops. Peace talks can "just be a fig leaf for Russian rearmament and further recruitment of soldiers, whether that be from the Wagner Group or trawling prisons in Russia," U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

  • Operations have resumed at the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit energy facilities in the city. The port in the south of the country was closed after strikes on Saturday left 1.5 million people and all non-critical infrastructure without power. Ukraine's president said it could take days to restore electricity, with sub-zero temperatures expected this week. Ukraine's president said it could take days to restore electricity, with sub-zero temperatures expected this week. Odesa is one of three ports being used to ship grain under a UN-brokered deal - BBC

  • The body of a Zambian student who was killed in Ukraine fighting for Russia has been returned to his home country. Lemekhani Nyirenda died in September but Russian officials only informed Zambian authorities last month. The 23-year-old, a student at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, had been serving nine years in prison for a drug offence. He was sent to the frontline by the Wagner mercenary group which was recruiting prisoners.

  • Heavy fighting continued in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces targeted more civilian and energy infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on December 12. Ukrainian forces blasted the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol with more than a dozen explosions lighting up the sky amid conflicting reports of casualties among Russian forces in the area - RFE/RL

  • The German military will begin preparations to deploy a surface-to-air Patriot anti-missile system in Poland in the coming days, dpa has learned from security circles.

  • President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Sunday to discuss Russia’s invasion and recent US efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. Zelensky thanked Biden for an additional $275 million in security assistance, which the Pentagon announced Friday, as well as for the wider and “unprecedented” US support of Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression, according to a statement published on the website of Ukraine’s Presidency. The package announced last week includes weapons and artillery rounds, as well as equipment to help Ukraine boost its air defense - BBC

  • Battered farm trucks that, up until now, most likely carried manure and building equipment across the British countryside are being converted into valuable weapons of war in Ukraine. Ivan Oleksii is a 25-year-old esports analyst originally from Kherson, Ukraine. Still working in the gaming industry, he also works on the team behind Car4ukraine, an organization launched in March that refits civilian pick-up trucks into military-grade fighting vehicles. The Ukrainian purchases the trucks secondhand from around Europe and the military uses them to fight Russian soldiers during Putin's ongoing invasion. Oleksii and his team crowdfund all the money used to buy the trucks. He told Insider Car4ukraine has received approximately 100 vehicles from the UK. Oleksii said that most trucks had only been used for farm work before their transformation - Apple News

Michael Bociurkiwmichael bociurkiw, atlantic council, ukraine peace talks, ukraine counteroffensive, belarus, russia, ukrainian russia war, russia disinformation, odesa, kyiv, kyiv independent, energy, geneva conventions, donetsk, luhansk, donbas, melitopol, grain agreement, ukrainian grain, united nations, unicef, nato, osce, organization for security and cooperation in europe, food and agriculture organization, iaeaComment