Here's what's happening on Friday, December 20:
Fighting
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Police in Ukraine said they killed three people and injured three others in the northeast of Kharkiv in Ukraine. It added that more than 10 houses were destroyed in the attack.
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Ukraine launched six ATACMS long-range missiles manufactured by the United States and four United Kingdom-made Storm Shadow missiles in the southern Russian region of Rostov, Russia's defense ministry said. The Russian military has downed all ATACMS and three out of four Storm Shadows, the ministry said, adding that Moscow would respond to the attacks.
- At least 100 North Korean soldiers those sent to support Russia's war in Ukraine have been killed since they joined the war in December, a South Korean politician said. Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to reinforce Russian forces, including the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory this year.
Politics and diplomacy
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is ready to compromise with Ukraine in possible talks with Donald Trump to end the war and that he is not in the mood to start talks with Ukrainian officials.
- Putin has issued a decree allowing foreign buyers of Russian gas to pay in rubles at certain Russian banks, not through the US-approved Gazprombank, until April 1, in an attempt to pass. penalties.
- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy he said he needed Europe and the US to build a lasting peace, as he met with EU leaders in their last meeting before Trump's inauguration.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Trump have agreed that Russia's war on Ukraine has gone on “for too long”. Scholz told Trump by phone that he would continue to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression as long as necessary.
- The European Union will provide an additional 30 billion ($31.09bn) in financial aid to Ukraine in 2025, EU Council President Antonio Costa announced after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.
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A Moscow court has ordered a suspect to kill a senior citizen Russian General Igor Kirillov sent to pre-trial detention for two months. The suspect, a native of Uzbekistan, was charged with terrorism resulting in the death of a person.
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Russia and its allies will remain a threat to Europe even after the war in Ukraine ends, Finland's defense minister, Antti Hakkanen, has warned. Finland is Russia's neighbor, sharing a more than 1,300km (800-mile) border that is currently closed to all travelers as Helsinki accuses Moscow of pushing migrants into Europe.
- A military court in Russia has jailed two people for 21 years, accusing them of plotting an attack on the Ukrainian government. Viktoria Shinkarchuk, a former civil servant in the Belgorod region on the border with Russia, was found guilty along with Alexander Kholodkov, the TASS news agency reported.
Cyber-war
- Russia has carried out a major cyberattack on Ukrainian government registries, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna said, adding that this led to a temporary suspension of work. Registries contain important information about Ukrainian citizens such as births, deaths, marriages and property ownership.