Russia Drone Attacks hit Six Areas In Central Kyiv:

After drone attacks hit six areas in central Kyiv by Russia and its eastern suburbs early Saturday, injuring four people and damaging apartments and other residential buildings, according to Kyiv’s military administration chief Tymur Tkachenko. Emergency crews responded quickly as fires broke out in several locations. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Ukrainian forces are still defending their positions in the northeastern city of Kupiansk and hunting down Russian sabotage groups. His comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kupiansk was “fully in our hands”. Syrskii dismissed the statement, saying the scale of Russian misinformation about the city was “astonishing”. Russia had seized Kupiansk in the initial weeks of its 2022 invasion, but Ukraine recaptured it later that year. In another frontline update, Russia claimed its troops cleared Ukrainian forces from 6,585 buildings in the city of Pokrovsk during heavy fighting last week. Ukraine, for its part, reported hitting Russia’s Saratov oil refinery and the Saky airbase in occupied Crimea. A series of explosions and a fire were recorded at the refinery, Ukrainian officials said. Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that its air defence systems destroyed 136 Ukrainian drones overnight. The continued use of drones on both sides reflects their growing importance in the conflict. Back in Kyiv, a major political shake-up unfolded as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned hours after anti-corruption authorities searched his home. Yermak had been leading Ukraine’s team in tense U.S.-backed peace talks and strongly opposed proposals that he believed would favour Moscow. Zelenskyy said he would consider a replacement and stressed the importance of unity, saying, “Our work goes on. Our struggle goes on.” His administration is under increased pressure as recent corruption investigations have already led to the resignations of Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers. Internationally, the peace negotiations have taken on new urgency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia expects to receive a list of agreed points in the proposed peace plan before a U.S. delegation arrives in Moscow next week. Moscow is operating under the assumption that it is negotiating only with Washington. In Europe, discussions continue on using frozen Russian assets to financially support Ukraine. Belgium’s approval is crucial since most of the assets are held with Belgium-based Euroclear. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned EU leaders that using the assets could jeopardise ongoing peace efforts. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, however, argued that supporting Ukraine with these funds is becoming “increasingly urgent”. Regional tensions rose further after explosions hit two Russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Black Sea near Türkiye’s Bosphorus Strait. The tanker Kairos caught fire after what officials described as an “external impact”, but all 25 crew members were rescued. A second tanker, Virat, was also reported damaged in a separate incident. On the diplomatic front, Russia failed to win enough votes to rejoin the UN shipping agency’s governing council, marking another setback after a similar defeat in the UN aviation agency. In the U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to skip next week’s NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, an unusual move at a critical time for Ukraine peace talks. Security concerns are growing in Europe. Poland arrested two Ukrainians and three Belarusians accused of working for foreign intelligence services. Germany also reported a record number of drone sightings over military bases in October. In South Africa, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, resigned from parliament following allegations she lured men to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will visit India on December 4–5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NEWS