Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: Putin threatens large strike on Kyiv if Ukraine will get nuclear weapons

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralised by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.

Ukraine has urged the international community to react to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to strike government targets in Kyiv, accusing him of “blackmail” intended to test the incoming Trump administration.

Putin had said Russia could use its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile to attack “decision-making centres” in Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s firing of Western missiles at Russian territory.

“We expect those countries that have urged everyone to avert the expansion of the war to react to the statements voiced by Putin today,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

Tykhyi described Putin’s rhetoric as “blackmail” aimed at discouraging Kyiv’s partners and testing US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to seek a swift end to the conflict without specifying how.

Russia launched 132 drones to attack the country overnight, Ukraine’s air force said in an early morning update.

Of the 132 drones, 88 drones were downed by the air force, 41 were “lost”, likely due to electronic warfare, and one drone returned to the Russian territory, according to the statement on Telegram.

This is the second-highest number of drones fired by Russia on Ukraine this week. On Wednesday, Russia attacked Ukraine with at least 188 drones.

Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia’s invasion in the “nearest future”, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.

Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine’s proposed conditions to end the war.

However Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow’s participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organised by Ukraine.

“Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future,” Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.

China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.

A major fire broke out at an industrial facility in Russia’s Rostov border region this morning after the area came under a Ukrainian drone attack, officials said, with media reports indicating the target was an oil depot.

Ukrainian forces had launched a “massive attack” and at least 30 drones were downed or destroyed by Russian air defences, acting governor Yuriy Slyusar said.

He later confirmed a “major fire at an industrial facility” in the region’s Kamensky district, with more than 100 emergency workers at the scene.

The Kyiv Independent has reported a large fire at an oil depot in Rostov Oblast overnight, citing local media.

Large clouds of smoke were seen over the FDKU Atlas oil depot in the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky District of Rostov oblast, it said.

The Russian president also commended the US president-elect as a “real man” after an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in July.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia suffered only minimal damage from Ukrainian strikes on its territory using longer-range US-made ATACMS.

Putin was speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, following a summit with leaders of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries.

Fragments from downed Russian drones struck buildings in two Kyiv districts and injured one person late last night, officials said.

Emergency services showed pictures of rubble strewn about inside and outside a pediatric clinic in the city’s Dniprovskyi district on the east bank of the Dnipro River.

A security guard at the facility was taken to hospital. Adjacent buildings also suffered damage.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone fragments had struck an infrastructure site in the Sviatoshynskyi district on the west bank of the river.

An air raid alert remained in effect in the capital more than an hour after it was declared.

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv were to acquire nuclear arms.

The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.

“If the country which we are essentially at war with now becomes a nuclear power, what do we do? In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it. We’ll be watching their every move”, Putin said during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.

“If officially someone were to transfer something, then that would mean a violation of all the non-proliferation commitments they have made,” Putin said.

Putin also said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb”, a conventional bomb laced with radioactive material in order to spread contamination. In that case, Russia would respond appropriately, he said.

Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that Ukraine might use such a device.

Explosions were heard across the country as damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in cities in the west, south and centre of the country.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “vile escalation”.

“Energy infrastructure is once again targeted by the enemy’s massive strike,” Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko said on Facebook.