A security officer at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was injured when he opened a letter bomb addressed to the ambassador on Wednesday. The security guard was slightly injured, Spanish government official Mercedes Gonzalez told Telemadrid TV.
Following the incident, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ordered all Kyiv embassies abroad to “urgently” tighten security, said a ministry spokesperson.
The President of the European Commission has proposed a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russia’s “crime of aggression” against Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen also wants to use proceeds from Russian funds frozen under Western sanctions to help Ukraine.
Russian forces attempted to advance into eastern Ukraine and drew tank, mortar and artillery fire on Kherson in the south, the Ukrainian military said, as Western allies sought to support Ukraine and its neighbors against Moscow.
Ukraine needs US-made Patriot missile defense systems to protect its civilian infrastructure, which is under heavy attack from Russia, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, adding that he would work with the German government on this issue. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned NATO on Tuesday against supplying Patriot systems to Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The UK has announced a new round of sanctions against 22 Russians, including those who, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were involved in the recruitment of criminals to fight in Ukraine. James Cleverly, the foreign minister, said on Wednesday his department would target a new group of officials, including Denis Manturov, the deputy prime minister, responsible for supplying troops with equipment.
US President Joe Biden’s nominee to be ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, pledged on Wednesday to make the release of detained Americans a priority if confirmed to one of the most important and difficult American diplomatic posts.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said nine people had been killed in fires in the past 24 hours, after breaking safety rules to try to heat their homes after Russian attacks on power stations. “Only the last day there were 131 fires in Ukraine, 106 of them in the residential sector. Nine people died, eight were injured,” the emergency service said.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has arrived in Kyiv for a three-day visit in a show of solidarity with the people and churches of Ukraine. Welby will meet with Ukrainian church leaders, refugees and internally displaced people.
Head of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin discussed nuclear issues and Ukraine in a meeting this month with CIA Director William Burns, the RIA news agency reported. Elizabeth Rood, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Moscow, previously told RIA that Burns “didn’t negotiate anything and he didn’t discuss a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.”
Moscow has promoted the chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Yuriy Chernichuk, to its head, according to the Russian nuclear agency Rosenergoatom. The post has been vacant since October, when Kyiv announced that factory boss Ihor Murashov had been kidnapped by Russian authorities.
Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, said on Telegram early Wednesday morning that Russian strikes in the region overnight hit a gas distribution point, causing a fire that has since been extinguished. There were no injuries or casualties.
One person was killed and another injured in the Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Wednesday, said the regional governor. Yaroslav Yanushevych wrote on the Telegram messaging app that several residential buildings and medical facilities were damaged in the city, which was liberated this month after months of Russian occupation.
Ukraine claims to have killed another 500 Russian soldiers in the past 24 hours, bringing the total combat dead since February 24 to around 88,880. The Armed Forces General Staff said it had removed three more tanks and six armored personnel carriers.
Ukrainian forces shot down three Russian reconnaissance drones in the past 24 hours, according to its armed forces. In a morning bulletin from Ukraine, Armed Forces General Staff spokesman Alexander Štupun said Ukraine had been the victim of a number of missile attacks from aircraft and artillery, notably on Kivsharivka in Kharkiv and Sloviansk in Donetsk.
A teenager was killed in the Russian shelling of a hospital in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine, a presidential aide has said. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had shelled the area with artillery and mortar shells in the past 24 hours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin will use nuclear weapons. He made the comment while speaking via video link at the New York Times “DealBook” summit in New York. It comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was vital to avoid any form of military confrontation between nuclear powers, even if it only involved conventional weapons, the news agency reported. CASS.
Russia’s defense minister said he would focus on nuclear weapons infrastructure in 2023, including facilities to accommodate new missile systems. Sergei Shoigu told a meeting of the department’s board on Wednesday that it would be a priority for Russia next year. “In preparing the list of major construction facilities for 2023, particular attention will be given to construction in the interests of strategic nuclear forces,” Shoigu was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
The city council of Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa has voted to remove and relocate a monument to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia that has been smeared in red paint at least twice. The statue of the city’s founder, which dominates a central square, has been repeatedly vandalized since the invasion of Ukraine that prompted many Ukrainians to reject their country’s historic ties with Moscow, Reuters reported.