Ukraine updates: Russia says dozens of drones goal Moscow

Russia and Ukraine have intensified drone attacks against each other, sending out unprecedented numbers of the uncrewed aircraft.

The Ukrainian port city of Odesa was the main target of Russia’s attacks.

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US President Joe Biden will lobby the incoming Trump administration to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia, the White House’s national security adviser said on Sunday.

Biden and Trump will meet at the Oval Office next Wednesday to discuss the transition process.

“The President will have the chance to explain to [President-elect] Trump how he sees things, where they stand,” and talk to Trump about how he would take on these issues once in office, Jake Sullivan said in an interview on CBS show Face the Nation.

A key topic will likely be Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan said. 

Sullivan also said the White House plans to spend its remaining $6 billion (€5.6 billion) of Ukraine funding before the end of Biden’s term in January.

The Biden administration’s prime goal was “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” Sullivan said.

The Kremlin said it sees “positive signals” from the election of Donald Trump as US president.

“During his campaign, Trump spoke of achieving things through deals, that he could make a deal that would lead to peace,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“At least he is talking about peace. He’s not talking about confrontation, he’s not talking about wanting to deal Russia a strategic defeat. And that distinguishes him in a favorable way from the current administration.”

However, Peskov said that it is nevertheless hard to predict “to what extent he’s going to stick to statements that he made on the campaign trail.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said he was “ready” to hold talks with Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a landmark defense pact with North Korea, as reports suggest that Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine.

The Kremlin published the signed law ratifying the treaty on its website on Saturday evening.

Putin struck the deal during a visit to North Korea in June, which the Russian leader hailed as a “breakthrough document.”

The pact obliges both states to provide military assistance “without delay” in the case of an attack on the other.

It also commits them to cooperate to oppose Western sanctions and coordinate positions at the United Nations.

South Korea, Ukraine and the West have said that North Korea has deployed around 10,000 troops to Russia.

Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Sunday that the North Korean soldiers were currently being readied for the front line, citing intelligence reports. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, the most in any single night-time attack of the war so far.

“Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

He then noted how Russian forces had used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, around 600 strike drones, and nearly 20 missiles of various types on Ukraine over the past week.

He then called for Kyiv’s allies to increase supplies to help protect the country’s skies, in an apparent message to US President-elect Donald Trump who has vowed to reduce support to Ukraine and negotiate a speedy end to the war once he takes office in January.

“Such terror cannot be stopped with words, and the killing of children and the loss of loved ones cannot simply be forgotten,.” Zelenskyy said. “Security from terror is impossible without bold decisions — this is clear for every country. Without justice, there is no lasting peace, and it is quite realistic for Ukraine to achieve it.” 

Russian  forces captured the Ukrainian village of Vovchenko, the Defense Ministry in Moscow claimed.

“Units of the Centre armed group have liberated the town of Voltchenka,” the ministry said, using the Russian spelling of the Ukraine village Vovchenko.

It is not possible to verify the claim. Ukraine rarely admits any loss of territory until weeks afterward.

Vovchenko is located in the eastern Donetsk region, on the Vovcha River, around five kilometers (three miles) from the industrial city of Kurakhove.

Kurakhove has become the new Bakhmut, which Russia captured in May 2023 following a monthslong war of attrition.

Russia said it had downed 70 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including 34 around the Russian capital Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the attack had occurred between 7 am and 10 am local time on Sunday (0400 and 0700 GMT/UTC).

The other regions targeted were Tula, Bryansk, Kaluga, Oryol and Kursk regions, the ministry said.

The Moscow attack was the largest in the region since Russia began its offensive in Ukraine in 2022.

The drone strikes forced the temporary closure of three Moscow airports, injured a 52-year-old woman and set two homes on fire in a village in the Moscow region, officials said.

The United Kingdom’s chief of defense Admiral Tony Radakin said Russia was paying an “extraordinary price” for President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Radakin said Moscow’s forces suffered an average of around 1,500 dead and injured per day in Ukraine during October, telling the BBC that it was the worst month for losses since the conflict began.

“Russia is about to suffer 700,000 people killed or wounded — the enormous pain and suffering that the Russian nation is having to bear because of Putin’s ambition,” he said. 

Radakin said that while Russia was making gains and putting pressure on Ukraine, the losses were “for tiny increments of land,” while the country’s huge increased defense spending was “an enormous drain” on the economy.

Ukraine’s air defense downed 62 out of the record 145 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said.

The air force said it lost track of 67 drones, adding that 10 drones left Ukraine’s airspace in the direction of Russia, Moldova and Belarus.

Ukraine launched at least 34 drones targeting Moscow early on Sunday, forcing the temporary closure of the capital’s airports, Russian officials said.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 12 of the drones were destroyed in the Ramenskoye and Kolomensky districts of the Moscow region, as well as in Domodedovo city, southwest of Moscow. 

“At the moment, 32 drones flying to Moscow have been destroyed,” Sobyanin added, before another Russian official increased the number to 34.

“According to preliminary information, there is no damage or casualties at the site of the fall of the debris,” Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. “Emergency services are on the sites.”

Ramenskoye, some 45 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, was last targeted in Ukraine’s biggest attack on Moscow in September, when  Russia destroyed 20 drones.

Rosaviatsia, Russia’s federal air transport agency, said on Telegram that temporary restrictions were introduced at Domodedovo and Zhukovo airports to protect civilian aircraft. Later, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport also said it had temporarily stopped taking flights. 

Several buildings caught fire in Russia’s Kaluga and Bryansk regions after overnight drone attacks by Kyiv’s forces, Russian regional governors said.

“Emergency services and firefighters are on the site,” Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Russian border region of Bryansk, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense units had destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 over Bryansk.

Ukraine’s military wrote on Telegram that the drone strike caused a large fire and at least eight explosions.

Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region, said a non-residential building in the region was on fire following the drone strikes.

Ukraine has often said its drone attacks on Russian territory are aimed at infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts.

At least two people were injured and buildings were damaged in an overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.

“The enemy has once again launched a massive attack on our region,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region said on its social media account.

The agency said garages with cars and property were on fire and that residential buildings and shops were damaged.

Oleh Kiper, governor of the region on the Black Sea coast, said, without providing further detail, that the attack caused some fires.

Video footage posted by the emergency services showed residents gathered in front of a building watching as firefighters combed through a pile of building debris.

Reports suggest North Korean troops are preparing for combat alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Kyiv’s top military commander said.

“We have numerous reports of North Korean soldiers preparing to participate in combat operations alongside Russian Forces,” Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Facebook.

He was speaking after a conversation with Christopher Cavoli, a senior US general who heads the US European Command.

Syrskyi said the situation in frontline sectors in the war against Russia remained “difficult and show signs of escalation.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged “unwavering” support for Ukraine, on the first visit by a top Brussels official to Kyiv after Donald Trump’s win. 

“The clear purpose of this visit is to express European Union support to Ukraine — this support remains unwavering,” Borrell told journalists.

“This support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against Russian aggression.” 

During the US presidential election campaign, Trump cast doubt on maintaining US military and financial aid to Ukraine and said he could pressure both sides to cut a quick deal to end the war. 

“Nobody knows exactly what the new administration is going to do,” Borrell said, pointing out that incumbent Joe Biden still has two months in the White House to make decisions. 

The EU diplomat, who himself leaves office next month, called for additional weapons, training and more speedy deliveries to Ukraine from its allies.

Europe together has spent around $125 billion (€117 billion) on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has delivered more than $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW-Kiel).

mm/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)