Russia using North Korean missiles in ‘desperate’ defiance of UN; saboteurs set fighter jet on fire deep inside Russian territory
Russia is using North Korean ballistic missiles and missile launchers to attack Ukraine, the White House has said. The missiles with ranges of about 900 kilometres (550 miles) were fired by Russia in two attacks on Ukraine within the past week, said the national security council spokesperson John Kirby.
The development highlights calls for Ukraine’s western allies like Germany to supply it with missiles such as Taurus that are capable of comparable long-range strikes and would help Ukraine hit strategic Russian targets.
The US and allies would raise the matter at the UN security council as it represented a breach of UN sanctions against North Korea, said Kirby. “This is a significant and concerning escalation of the DPRK’s support for Russia.” Britain said it “strongly condemns” Russia’s use of North Korean missiles and called it “symptomatic of [Russia’s] isolation on the world stage and a sign of its desperation”.
Russia is also planning to buy short-range ballistic missiles from Iran, a step that would enhance Moscow’s ability to target Ukraine’s infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing US officials.
Ukraine attacked a Russian military unit near Yevpatoria in Russian-occupied Crimea on Thursday, Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said. On Telegram, he said: “Thanks to the air force pilots and everyone who planned the operation for perfect combat work.” Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces shot down Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) published a video it said showed a Russian Su-34 fighter jet being set on fire at an airbase deep inside Russia. HUR did not claim the sabotage, adding “the causes of the plane’s ignition are being determined”.
Andriy Kostin, prosecutor general of Ukraine, in conjunction with the international criminal court, has visited the sites of Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv region.
A Russian missile strike last week killed 32 people in Kyiv, authorities said on Thursday, raising the toll of the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital since the war began.
Russian hackers were inside Ukrainian telecoms company Kyivstar’s system from at least May last year in a cyber-attack that should serve as a “big warning” to the west, Ukraine’s cyber spy chief told Reuters. Illia Vitiuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) cybersecurity department, disclosed details about the hack in an interview with Reuters.
Polish farmers blockaded the Medyka border crossing with Ukraine on Thursday, private broadcaster Polsat News reported, resuming a protest intended to secure government subsidies for corn and prevent tax increases.
The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, will convene a meeting between Nato diplomats and officials from Ukraine on 10 January, after the recent wave of heavy Russian airstrikes.
One civilian was killed and eight wounded on Thursday in a Russian missile strike on Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine, damaging energy company buildings and causing power and water supply cuts, the regional governor said.
Vladimir Putin has issued a decree allowing foreign nationals who fight for Russia in Ukraine and their families to obtain Russian citizenship.
Seventeen Ukrainian journalists imprisoned in the occupied territories have been added to the international list of persecuted journalists whose release is demanded by the European Federation of Journalists.
