KYIV: Global economic powers pledged to bolster Kiev's military capabilities with a focus on air defense as Russian missiles, cannons and drones pounded targets in Ukraine after Europe's worst air strike since World War Two. There is no end in sight to the great struggle.
The Group of Seven pledged to "meet Ukraine's urgent needs" after President Volodymyr Zelensky requested modern tanks, artillery and long-range weapons to counter Russia's devastating invasion.
Zelensky urged G7 leaders in a virtual meeting to withdraw their proposal to hold a special global peace summit dedicated to bringing peace to their country.
Also Read: Bakhmut was "destroyed," as Russia continues to advance in eastern Ukraine.
The summit will focus on the implementation of Kiev's 10-point peace plan, which demands, among other things, that Russia withdraw all its troops from Ukraine and that Kiev not make any territorial concessions.
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Monday he would be "open minded" about supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles to target Russian drone launch sites if Russia continues to target civilian areas. Will be prepared, which has affected the infrastructure.
On Sunday, US Vice President Joe Biden told Zelensky that strengthening Ukraine's air defense was a top priority for Washington. The US also delivered the first batch of power equipment to Ukraine as part of an aid package agreed last month.
With the arrival of winter, Russia is "deliberately trying to starve Ukrainians to death," according to a senior US official. "At this time, our strategy is to help Ukraine defend itself against these targeted attacks on its energy infrastructure for civilian use as it could result in a humanitarian catastrophe."
Despite Moscow's denials, the war resulted in the displacement of millions of people and the death of thousands of non-combatants.
Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council predicted that "intolerable conditions" could result in a second wave of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees entering Europe this winter.
According to Ukrainian military and civilian officials, Russian artillery shelled more than 20 settlements near the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut in recent fighting, and there was a "massive shelling" of the southern city of Kherson, which was captured by the Ukrainian military last month. was freed. on Monday.
Also Read: 'We have to be prepared for a long-lasting war,' for what IAF Chief is pointing?
Zelensky also urged G7 leaders to assist Ukraine in obtaining an additional 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is needed as the energy shortage leaves millions of people without electricity in the bitter cold.
Sergei Kovalenko, director of YASNO, the company that provides Kiev with electricity, said on his Facebook page that there was still a significant restriction on the amount of electricity the city could use.
On Monday, the Black Sea port of Odessa in Ukraine resumed operations, halted two days earlier after Russia attacked two power plants using drones made in Iran. According to grid operator Ukrainergo, power is gradually being restored to about 1.5 million people.
Separately, EU foreign ministers agreed to add a further 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) to a fund to be used to pay for military support for Ukraine, after it was largely depleted. This may include more amount in future.
Moscow describes the conflict as a "special military operation" against security threats posed by its neighbour. There are no ongoing peace talks, and there is no indication that the fighting will ever end. This is referred to as an unfair, imperialist land grab by Ukraine and its Western allies.
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, the United States still does not have a "constructive" stance on the conflict in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin will not hold his customary televised year-end news conference this month, which he has used to demonstrate his command of issues and firmness in the face of setbacks for Russian forces.
On Tuesday, both Russia and Ukraine acknowledged the challenging nature of the battlefield in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region and insisted they had successfully repelled each other's attacks.
Moscow is vying for full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, two of the four regions it has claimed annexation through votes that have been rejected by most countries as being unconstitutional.
Also Read: Putin's big statement on nuclear attack
Donetsk was "a little over 50%" under the control of Russia and its allies on Tuesday, according to Russia-installed administrator Denis Pushilin.
It is not clear which areas of Donetsk are under the control of Russia and Ukraine as there has been fierce fighting in the area recently. Regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko said on his Telegram channel that three civilians had been killed and 16 wounded in the Donetsk region during the past 24 hours.
According to a senior US military official, Russia was using rounds with a high failure rate that were 40 years old because it was using so much ammunition. Ukrainian troops are suffering a terrible toll as a result of the fighting.
At a military hospital in eastern Ukraine, Oleksii, a 35-year-old army doctor who declined to give his full name, told Reuters that there are days when there are a lot of severely wounded patients—four or five amputations at once.
Unconfirmed reports of an assault on a bridge in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol that is thought to be crucial to Russia's defence of territory it holds in the south, including Crimea, surfaced on social media.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official stationed in the Zaporizhzhia region, shared video of what he claimed was the bridge on his Telegram channel and attributed the damage to Ukrainian "terrorists." The exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, also posted video of what appeared to be the same bridge being damaged.
