War in Ukraine, last minute | Russia claims to have shot down four US-made missiles on its territory

The Russian army has assured that it has shot down four American-made Harm missiles on its territory, in the Belgorod-border region.

War in Ukraine Life under the bombs of the last inhabitants of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka
War in Ukraine Russian torture chambers for children in Kherson

The Russian army has assured that it has shot down

four American-made Harm missiles

on its territory, in the Belgorod region -bordering Ukraine-.

"Four American Harm anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace of the Belgorod region," the Russian Defense Ministry has indicated in the usual report it has provided on Telegram since the

war in Ukraine began.

Meanwhile, Kiev suffered a drone attack early this Monday as part of the

war in Ukraine

, according to Kiev's military administration, which has asked the population to heed the air strike alert.

"The enemy is attacking the capital," the city administration said on Telegram.

"So far, 9UAVs have been shot down in Kiev

airspace,

" she added.

update narration

21:13

Putin calls for closer military ties with Belarus after attack on kyiv

Russian President

Vladimir Putin

assured on Monday that Moscow is not going to absorb Belarus, during a visit to Minsk to meet with his counterpart

Alexander Lukashenko

, an important ally with whom he advocated strengthening their military ties.

"Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone. It simply doesn't make sense," Putin said at a press conference with Lukashenko after their meeting in

Minsk.

The Russian president stated that after a "substantial" dialogue, Russia and Belarus agreed to strengthen their cooperation in "all areas", especially in defense matters.

These are "common measures to guarantee the security" of the two countries, the "mutual delivery of arms" and the manufacture of weapons, Putin said.

Russia

will continue to train the Belarusian military to operate aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Lukashenko stated that Russia can do without his country, but Belarus cannot do without Moscow.

"And if someone thinks that they could separate us today, that they could drive a wedge between us, they will not succeed," added the Belarusian leader.

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20:46

Putin says Russia "has no interest" in absorbing Belarus

Russian President

Vladimir Putin

said on Monday that Russia "has no interest" in absorbing Belarus, its closest ally and which is heavily dependent on Moscow for oil and gas supplies.

"Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone. It simply doesn't make sense," Putin told a news conference with his Belarusian counterpart,

Alexander Lukashenko

, after their talks in Minsk.

The Russian leader highlighted the close ties between the two countries, which he described as

"the closest allies" and as "strategic partners"

who "effectively" resist Western sanctions.

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20:17

Putin and Lukashenko talk about cooperation and are silent about the Ukrainian conflict

The presidents of Russia and Belarus,

Vladimir Putin and Alexandr Lukashenko

, today discussed relations between the two countries but kept silent about the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, in which Minsk could be directly involved due to pressure from Moscow.

"We have just summarized all our work in an expanded format and found that we have moved a little away from government issues. But we have rectified and discussed the entire complex of Russian-Belarusian relations.

Social and economic issues,

" the president said at a press conference. belarusian.

Lukashenko thanked his Russian counterpart for visiting him in Belarus, Putin's first trip to this country since 2019. The Belarusian president expressed the hope that

"people will value our decisions."

For his part, Putin stressed that both countries "safely and effectively minimize the

influence of sanctions on their economies."

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19:41

The Joint Expeditionary Force in Riga reiterates its support for Ukraine "as long as it takes"

The representatives of the ten countries that make up the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) pledged this Monday in Riga to continue supporting Ukraine in the

political, military, humanitarian and economic

fields for "as long as it takes".

The statement by the UK-led group, which includes European countries from the Nordic and Baltic areas, came after Ukrainian President

Volodimir Zelensky

addressed the summit via video link to call for more arms shipments.

The leaders of the JEF countries also condemned the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, calling them

war crimes

, stressing that there can be no "credible" peace talks as long as Russia continues its aggressive war. .

"We welcome President Zelenski's willingness to a just peace," they stressed.

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19:26

The EU agrees a cap on the price of gas if it exceeds 180 euros

The energy ministers of the 27 have finally reached an agreement on Monday to establish a cap on the price of gas in the European Union.

The mechanism, which has taken months to outline, will be activated if two conditions are met.

The first, that

the price of gas exceeds 180 euros per MWh for at least three consecutive days

in the TTF of the Netherlands, the main market on the continent.

The second, that the differential paid between the final price on the Amsterdam stock exchange for gas and a reference of several world indicators of liquefied gas (LNG) also exceeds 35 euros during those three days.

Actually, as the Czech minister,

Jozef Sikela

, responsible for the meeting, explained, those 180 euros "are not a limit in themselves."

The mechanism is a dynamic broker that revolves around that differential of 35 euros per MWh, which is the maximum that operators will be able to offer if the tool is in force.

This means that the price of gas will continue to be linked to supply and demand, but with limits, so it cannot happen like in the summer.

Prices may be very high, very high even if the circumstances worsen again and the volume available is reduced, but they cannot freely move away from the reference in the markets.

"The price can continue to rise but it will not skyrocket thanks to that premium," Sikela celebrated.

Read the complete information from Pablo R. Suanzes from Brussels.

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19:02

Albares places peace in Ukraine as the objective of the Spanish presidency of the EU

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has assured this Monday that one of the objectives of the Spanish presidency of the European Union is "for

peace to return to Ukraine

", which will also mean "for peace to return to Europe". .

Albares has closed the presentation in Barcelona of the 2022 CIDOB International Yearbook, in which the Minister for Foreign Action of the Generalitat,

Meritxell Serret, has also intervened.

The minister recalled that neither Spain nor any NATO country is part of this war, a conflict "that neither Ukraine,

nor -Volodimir-Zelenski, nor his government

wanted " as it is "a war of aggression".

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18:08

Putin, in Belarus for the first time since 2019

The Russian president arrived today in Belarus,

Moscow's main ally in the Ukrainian campaign

, amid growing rumors of a new Russian offensive that could more directly implicate Minsk.

"Our objective today is to take stock of the work of our governments in different fields, first of all, the economic one,"

Vladimir Putin

said at the beginning of the meeting with Lukashenko.

Given the spread of information about the preparation of a

new phase of hostilities

, in which the Belarusian troops would also participate, the Kremlin was also forced to come out.

"These are baseless and absurd

speculations

," said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, on Monday.

To send a reassuring message, Minsk also announced today the

end of the surprise exercises

launched last week to verify the combat capability of the country's Armed Forces.

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17:55

Guterres does not see a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia possible in the short term

The UN Secretary General,

António Guterres

, assured this Monday that he is not optimistic regarding the possibility that Russia and Ukraine will hold peace negotiations in the near future.

"I think the military confrontation is going to continue and I think we will still have to wait for a time when serious peace negotiations are possible," Guterres said asking at a news conference.

We have no illusions that a true peace negotiation

is possible in the immediate future," he insisted.

Although he said he was not optimistic for now, the head of the United Nations stressed that the war will have to end negotiated, since

there is no military solution

to this conflict.

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4:55 p.m.

The German Government and the gas importer Uniper sign the rescue agreement

The German government and the country's largest gas importer, Uniper, signed a framework agreement on Monday for the implementation of the package agreed last September for the rescue of the company,

in financial trouble due to the interruption of Russian gas supply.

Once the European Commission (EC) gives the go-ahead to the measure, the German state will become the majority shareholder of the company through a capital injection worth

8,000 million

euros, said the Ministry of Economy in a statement.

To this will be added a capital increase for an amount of

25,000 million

euros, with the aim of facing the million-dollar losses that will foreseeably continue to occur in 2023 and 2024.

Uniper's rescue will be financed from the German Financial Stability Fund, reactivated in October by the Government to deal with the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and endowed with

200,000 million

euros in credits.

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4:30 p.m.

Macron thanks the troops for their professionalism in "interactions" with Russia

The President of France,

Emmanuel Macron

, today thanked the French troops for their "professionalism" in the "interactions" with "Russian aircraft and vessels" with "sometimes enemy behavior", during a visit to an aircraft carrier on the occasion of the Christmas holidays.

Back from witnessing the World Cup final in Qatar and before traveling to the Iraq security summit held in Jordan this Tuesday, the French president visited the "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, accompanied by the Minister of Defence,

Sébastien Lecornu

, to share a Christmas dinner with the military.

Macron praised French troops for their

"sacrifice" and "courage"

and stressed that international missions are important for "many reasons", such as strengthening the "defensive and deterrent posture" of France and its allies.

"I congratulate you for the professionalism that you have shown in the different interactions with

Russian aircraft and vessels

, with sometimes enemy behavior," he stressed.

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16:01

Energoatom denounces that a drone flew over the South Ukraine nuclear power plant last night

The Ukrainian state company Energoatom denounced today that a drone flew over the South Ukraine nuclear power plant last night and warned the international community of the risk of an attack by Russian troops

on Ukrainian nuclear facilities.

"Tonight, December 19, at 00:46, a 'Shahed' kamikaze drone was recorded flying over the territory of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, in the vicinity of the nuclear facility," Energotaom said in a message on Telegram collected by the Ukrinform agency.

He stresses that "this is an

absolutely unacceptable violation

of nuclear and radiological safety."

He adds that by reporting the fact of the flight of

an attack drone

over the site of the nuclear power plant, Energoatom appeals to the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) and to the entire international nuclear community.

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15:39

Hungary accuses a Croatian oil company of taking advantage of the war to raise prices

The Hungarian government accused the Croatian oil company Janaf on Monday of increasing

the transit rate of crude oil by 80% by

2023, taking advantage of the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The Croatian oil company has made an unfair proposal, since it asks for a transit price (of crude oil) 80% higher by 2023 than this year," Foreign Minister

Péter Szijjártó denounced

before Hungarian media in Brussels.

According to the minister, the Croatian oil company "takes advantage of the war situation", since the three countries that receive Russian crude through the

Druzhba pipeline

(Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) could find themselves in "a very vulnerable situation" if it is interrupted unexpectedly supply that way.

These three countries have received an exemption from the European Union embargo on the

importation of Russian crude

, as they have no outlet to the sea and are highly dependent on oil from that country.

Szijjártó announced that he will ask the oil company to present another "honest" offer, adding that the

Adria pipeline

is the only alternative to Druzhba for these three countries.

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15:20

The Russians attacked last night with Iranian drones, according to Zelensky

Russian troops attacked Ukraine last night with 34 "Shahed" drones from a new Iranian-supplied batch of 250 units, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelensky

said today .

"Tonight Ukraine was again attacked by

Iranian drones. 34 'Shahed

'. I say both the number and the name, and quite concretely. This is "Shahed" from a new batch received by Russia from Iran. 250 units: that is the total number of "Shahed" that the terrorist state has now received," he said, quoted by the Ukrinform agency.

In a virtual speech before the meeting of the leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Riga, Zelensky stressed that Russian missiles and Iranian drones are constantly used by Russian forces for

attacks aimed mainly at the Ukrainian energy sector.

Thus, in just one recent massive attack against Ukraine, more than

20 million Ukrainians

were affected , and cities of millions of inhabitants and most of the Ukrainian regions were left completely without electricity, he said.

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2:37 p.m.

The EU will issue 80 billion in bonds in the first half of 2023 to boost the economy and help Ukraine

The European Commission intends to issue up to 80 billion euros of long-term European Union bonds during the first half of 2023 under its unified financing approach to help Ukraine and to finance the

recovery of the economy

, it has announced. this Monday.

In accordance with this approach, the Commission, on behalf of the EU, will henceforth issue only "EU Bonds" instead of separately denominated bonds for

individual programs

such as SURE and Macrofinancial Assistance (MFA).

The programs that will be financed through the unified approach in the first half of next year will be the recovery plan 'NextGenerationEU', with

70,000 million,

and the new program 'Macro-Financial Assistance +' for Ukraine, with about

10,000 million

euros .

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2:15 p.m.

OPEC sees the end of the war in Ukraine as possible in 2023

The Organization of

the Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC) enters 2023 with the expectation that world demand for oil will continue to increase in a context of uncertainty where it sees the end of the war in Ukraine as possible.

Among the "challenges" that crude producers will face, in its last analysis of the year the organization highlights the

negative impact on the economy

and energy consumption that is expected from the monetary policies of the main central banks.

The rises in interest rates as a measure to curb inflation "will be cause for concern for countries with

high levels of sovereign debt

", recall OPEC experts.

This is a factor that, together with the "rigidity of the labor markets" and the

problems in the supply chains,

puts downward pressure on energy consumption and, therefore, on oil prices.

"However, the resolution of the geopolitical conflict in Eastern Europe (the Russian invasion of Ukraine) and the relaxation of

China's zero Covid policy

could offer some upside potential," OPEC stresses.

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1:40 p.m.

Putin arrives in Belarus to meet Lukashenko

El presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, ha aterrizado en Minsk el lunes por la tarde para mantener conversaciones con el presidente bielorruso, Alexander Lukashenko, ha informado la agencia de noticias estatal rusa TASS, según recoge Reuters.

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13:11

Un dron 'kamikaze' ruso sobrevuela una central nuclear ucraniana

KYIV, 19 dic (Reuters) - La agencia atómica de Ucrania ha alertado este lunes de que un dron 'kamikaze' ruso ha sobrevolado una parte de la central nuclear del sur de Ucrania justo después de la medianoche.

"Se trata de una violación absolutamente inaceptable de la seguridad nuclear y radiológica", ha dicho Energoatom.

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13:10

Rusia acusa a Estados Unidos de aumentar su presencia "sobre el terreno" en Ucrania

Rusia ha acusado a Estados Unidos de implicarse "cada vez más" en el conflicto ucraniano y aumentar su presencia "sobre el terreno", lo que amenaza con una confrontación directa entre Moscú y Washington. "Tras el sonado fracaso en Afganistán, Estados Unidos se involucra cada vez más en un nuevo conflicto", ha dicho la portavoz del Ministerio de Exteriores ruso, María Zajárova.

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13:07

El ejército ruso ataca Kiev con drones: "Nuestra ucrania está gritando"

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12:27

Rusia afirma haber derribado cuatro misiles de fabricación estadounidense cerca de Ucrania

El ejército ruso ha asegurado que ha derribado cuatro misiles Harm de fabricación estadounidense en su territorio, en la región de Belgorod -fronteriza con Ucrania-. "Cuatro misiles antirradar estadounidenses Harm fueron derribados en el espacio aéreo de la región de Belgorod", ha indicado el Ministerio ruso de Defensa en su informe de Telegram.

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12:07

Austria acusa al hijo de un exdiplomático ruso de espiar para Moscú

Las autoridades austríacas sospechan que el hijo de un antiguo diplomático ruso estuvo espiando durante años para Moscú y que recientemente realizó informes sobre la posible reacción de países extranjeros ante la invasión de Ucrania, informa hoy el Ministerio del Interior.

El sospechoso, de 39 años de edad y actualmente en libertad, habría estado en contacto con diplomáticos de varios países y viajado a Moscú poco antes y después del comienzo de la agresión a Ucrania a finales del pasado febrero.

"Gracias a las meticulosas investigaciones del servicio de Protección del Estado y a la estrecha cooperación internacional, fue posible localizar a un espía ruso. Agradezco a los investigadores su gran dedicación", ha declarado el ministro del interior, el conservador Gerhard Karner, en un comunicado.

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