+++ 14:41 Qatar: Russia sends six children back to Ukraine +++

According to Qatar, Russia is allowing six more Ukrainian children to return to their homeland. The children had been staying with relatives in Russia or in Russian-occupied territory, says an insider involved in organizing the return. They traveled to Ukraine via Moscow. Negotiations on this have been underway since April under the mediation of Qatar, as Reuters learned from an insider. In October, four children were able to return to their home country.

+++ 14:27 London: Russia controls largest part of Marjinka near Donetsk +++According to British estimates, Russianunits have recently made progress in the battle for the town of Marjinka in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. "Russia now probably controls most of the built-up area," the British Ministry of Defense announced, citing intelligence. "However, Ukrainian forces retain control of smaller areas on the western edge of the city." Marjinka is located almost 30 kilometers southwest of the city center of Donetsk and has been contested since 2014. The town had around 9,000 inhabitants before the war, but is now almost completely destroyed.

+++ 14:00 Polish security adviser warns of attack on NATO in next three years +++ThePolish National Security Agency estimates that Russia could attack NATO in less than 36 months. Jacek Siewiera, head of the National Security Office, told the Polish website Nasz Dziennik earlier this month. Since the beginning of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has regularly threatened Poland and the Baltic states with military force. Siewiera therefore considers it necessary to further arm the Polish army.

+++ 13:30 Security expert sees Ukraine already weakened by dispute +++According to security expert Christian Mölling, thedispute in the USA over further support for Ukraine is already weakening the country's defense capabilities. Mölling says in the "Stern" podcast "Ukraine - the situation" that the uncertainty is having an impact on the way Ukraine can fight and plan. "This is already having an impact on Ukraine," said the Research Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations about the fierce battle for the continuation of US aid. As the most important supporter and supplier of armaments, the USA has a "major spillover effect". In addition, the uncertainty is also an important message for Russia.

+++ 13:00 Everything seemed fine then: 29 years ago, Moscow guaranteed Ukraine's sovereignty +++Unfortunately, thesignature was not worth the paper: 29 years ago today, Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum - guaranteeing Ukraine's territorial integrity. In return, it gave up its nuclear weapons. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Eastern European country had inherited 176 strategic and more than 2,500 tactical nuclear missiles. This meant that Ukraine had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, just behind the USA and Russia. According to former US ambassador to Kiev Jeffrey Payett, the memorandum contains "no security guarantees" from the US and the UK, only a commitment to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and borders. However, Article 4 contains a clear commitment "to provide assistance if Ukraine is the victim of an act of aggression or threat of aggression where nuclear weapons are used".

+++ 12:14 For Ukraine: Finland plans to produce significantly more artillery ammunition +++Finlandplans to increase its artillery ammunition production in the coming weeks in order to arm Ukraine. This was reported by the "Kyiv Independent", citing statements by Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen. The announcement comes amid fears that the EU will not keep its promise to supply Ukraine with one million shells by March 2024, while Russia is currently increasing its defense budget. "We have concluded negotiations on how Finland will further increase its ammunition production to arm Ukraine," says the minister. "The plan to significantly boost ammunition production is currently being published. The aim is to support Ukraine even more than before."

+++ 11:44 Iran's president plans meeting with Putin in Moscow +++ Iran'sPresident Ebrahim Raisi and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin plan to meet for talks in Moscow on Thursday. The Iranian news agency Tasnim reports that an exchange on economic cooperation between the two countries and talks on developments in the Gaza war are planned. In the face of international sanctions, Iran and Russia have recently expanded their economic and military cooperation. According to Western findings, the Islamic Republic is also supporting Moscow with so-called kamikaze drones in the war of aggression against Ukraine. Tehran denies this.

+++ 11:15 "The situation in Avdiivka has gotten worse" +++Fierce fighting has been raging inAvdiivka for weeks. Ukrainians and Russians are sometimes only a few hundred meters apart. Over the past few hours, the situation for the Ukrainian troops has apparently come to a head, as ntv reporter Jürgen Weichert reports. At the same time, Kiev is looking to Washington with concern.

+++ 10:44 "F... you!"- Award-winning British journalist curses Polish truckers +++++Theaward-winning British author and filmmaker John Sweeney curses Polish truckers who block the border with Ukraine. Following a knee operation, the journalist, who reports on the war in Ukraine, is currently in a hospital in Kiev and is not getting an urgently needed splint for his leg because of the blockade, as he complains on X. If this is happening to him, a relatively rich foreigner, then it is happening to all kinds of people all over Ukraine. "It's not just about me. It's a whole country that is being stifled in the fight against Russian fascism." The author of "Killer in the Kremlin" goes on to say to the truck drivers: "You are doing the Kremlin's work. You are disgustingly selfish." And his repeated summary: "F... you!"

+++ 10:16 Transport costs multiplied: Polish blockade also affects many German companies +++Theblockade of Polish freight forwarders on the border with Ukraine is affecting many German companies. For some, delivery times have recently tripled and transportation costs have doubled or quadrupled, says Stefan Kägebein, Regional Director of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, to Redaktions-Netzwerk Deutschland. "There are also already reports of production interruptions due to a lack of goods and raw materials." The damage runs into the millions.

+++ 09:55 Yermak: At least two dead after shelling of Kherson +++ Polishtransport companies have been blocking several important border crossings to Ukraine since the beginning of November. Freight forwarders are complaining of "unfair competition" from Ukrainian companies after the EU suspended a number of conditions for border transportation due to the Russian attack on Ukraine. Freight traffic has therefore largely come to a standstill.

According to Ukrainian reports, at least two people were killed in Russian shelling of the city of Kherson. One person was also injured, presidential advisor Andriy Yermak announced via Telegram. Kherson is located in the south of Ukraine. Russian troops have regularly shelled the city since they withdrew from it to the other side of the Dnipro River at the end of last year.

+++ 09:20 Putin: Mass repression must not be repeated +++According toRussian President Vladimir Putin, Russia must never repeat the mass repression of the Soviet era. This was reported by the Guardian, citing Russian agencies. "It is important for us that this does not happen again in the history of our country," Putin told the Kremlin-controlled Human Rights Council. He was referring to the mass repression during the Soviet Union, which claimed millions of lives. However, Putin's Russia itself is currently taking unprecedentedly harsh action against political opponents.

+++ 08:45 Ukraine reports destruction of Russian ammunition depot in Luhansk +++TheUkrainian secret service reports the destruction of a Russian ammunition depot and armored vehicles near the occupied city of Svatove in the Luhansk region. This was reported by the "Kyiv Independent" with reference to the SBU. Svatove, which has been occupied since June 2022, is located just 15 kilometers east of the front line. The SBU publishes images on Facebook of a drone apparently dropping two explosive devices on the roof of the depot.

+++ 08:02 Kiev: Russians who killed surrendering Ukrainian soldiers are now dead +++According to Ukrainian reports, theRussian soldiers allegedly responsible for the killing of surrendering Ukrainians have now been killed themselves. "I can confirm that the group of Russian occupiers who committed this crime ceased to exist in the course of further military actions," "Kyiv Post" quotes statements by a military spokesman on state television. A video published on Telegram at the weekend allegedly shows the shooting of two Ukrainian soldiers by Russian attackers - shortly after they had surrendered.

+++ 07:35 This is what the current frontline looks like +++TheUkrainian defenders are under pressure in several places on the approximately 1200-kilometre-long frontline in Ukraine: Russian troops have been attacking at Avdiivka, Kupyansk and now again at Bakhmut for weeks. No major gains have been made so far. The Ukrainians are pressing ahead with their own advances in various places, such as near Robotyne, on the Dnipro or in the forest outside Kreminna. "They are trying to surprise the Russian troops outside their center of gravity areas," says Austrian military expert Colonel Markus Reisner to ntv.de. The aim is therefore to "force the Russians to move their tactical and operational reserves. This is intended to reduce the pressure on the most heavily contested areas."

+++ 06:58 NGO: Prisons in occupied territories are a "black hole" - thousands of civilians missing +++Russiais holding thousands of civilian Ukrainian hostages, according to estimates by human rights activists. "I am very afraid that among the 8,000 missing civilians there are also those we will never find," says Olga Romanova, the "Kyiv Independent". She is the exiled director of Russia Behind Bars, a prominent Russian prisoners' rights NGO that has tracked down 460 Ukrainians in Russian prisons. "I vividly remember how the lists of missing civilians quickly dwindled when all these mass graves were discovered after the liberation of Isjum." The prisons in the occupied territories are a "black hole", as it is "almost impossible" to send real lawyers there without connections to the Russian security service. According to her, there are "hundreds of people" who come to Russia to work or visit their families and are now accused of espionage. The Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War is keeping quiet about the number of civilian hostages in Russian custody. Its spokesman, Petro Yatsenko, is quoted in the "Kyiv Independent" as saying that just 140 civilian hostages have returned to Ukraine as part of several prisoner of war exchanges.

+++ 06:29 Despite Putin's threat: Ukraine sends numerous freighters across the Black Sea +++DespiteRussian threats, Ukraine has been transporting around seven million tons of freight across the Black Sea since August, according to its own statements. The goods have been exported on 200 ships, the Ukrainian Minister for Reconstruction, Oleksandr Kubrakov, announced on Telegram. Around five million tons of these are agricultural products. According to Kubrakov, 31 freighters are currently being loaded at three Ukrainian ports, while another 30 are using the corridor created by Ukraine in the Black Sea. Kiev had set up the sea corridor between the ports in the south of Ukraine and the Bosporus after Russia withdrew from the grain agreement in July after almost a year.

+++ 05:58 US senator warns: If Ukraine falls, Putin will "carry on" +++Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi intends to personally appeal to the US Senate today for further support in view of the possible loss of important US military aid at the end of the year. Zelenskyi wants to emphasize the urgency of further US aid and will join a meeting of senators via video, announced the Democratic majority leader in the House of Representatives, Chuck Schumer. He asked everyone to take part in this "important briefing". It was about finding out directly what was at stake. Chumer called on his colleagues to "do the right thing" and push for the release of new funds. If Ukraine falls, Russian President Vladimir Putin will "move on". The director of the National Budget Office, Shalanda Young, had previously warned both chambers of Congress that if the House did not act, the government would have no funds left at the end of the year to purchase more weapons and equipment for Ukraine.

+++ 04:54 Russia reports repulsed drone attacks +++Russiasays it repulsed several Ukrainian drone attacks during the night. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 22 unmanned missiles were destroyed and 13 more were intercepted over the Sea of Azov and the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. However, it happens again and again that Russia speaks of supposedly successfully repelled drone attacks, but then damage becomes known.

+++ 04:04 Price cap for Russian oil exports: EU wants to tighten conditions +++Oneyear after the introduction of the Western price cap for Russian oil exports to third countries, monitoring measures and documentation requirements are to be tightened. This could make it more difficult for shipping companies to circumvent Russia sanctions with impunity in future. Ideally, the tightening of the price cap instrument should be adopted by the end of the year as part of the twelfth EU sanctions package due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. This also includes the proposal to restrict trade in diamonds from Russia.

+++ 02:47 Russia intensifies shelling of Avdiivka +++Accordingto Ukrainian sources, theRussian armed forces are intensifying their attacks on the destroyed city of Avdiivka. "Yesterday and today we have seen a significant increase in artillery fire ... and a large number of mortar shells," said Vitali Barabash, head of the military administration of Avdiivka, on state television. "They are probably waiting for better weather to redeploy some of their equipment, as they used to do, only on a larger scale."

+++ 01:35 Baerbock: EU admission of the Balkan countries in our own interest +++Foreign MinisterAnnalena Baerbock sees the admission of the so-called Western Balkan countries to the EU as an important contribution to Europe's security in view of the Russian war in Ukraine, which has been going on for almost two years. "The countries of the Western Balkans belong fully and completely in our European Union. This is not just an empty phrase, but in our own security interests," explained the Green politician before her departure to Slovenia. She adds: "In view of Russia's imperialism in the middle of Europe, the EU cannot afford any gray areas." The countries of the so-called Western Balkans include Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. All six countries are striving to join the EU, but are at different stages in the process.

+++ 00:57 Putin criticizes treatment of Russians in Latvia +++RussianPresident Vladimir Putin criticizes the treatment of the Baltic state of Latvia with part of the Russian population in threatening terms. "I do not believe that happiness will come to those who pursue such a policy," says the Kremlin leader. Those who treat parts of their population - literally - "piggishly" should not be surprised if this turns against them. According to the TASS agency, Putin said this at a meeting of the Russian Human Rights Council. The Kremlin-controlled council discussed changes to the law on foreigners in Latvia. Of the approximately 1.8 million people in the small EU and NATO country, around one in four is of Russian origin. However, many Russians are not Latvian citizens, but have non-citizen status. In the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Latvia has introduced language tests for these non-citizens to test their everyday knowledge of Latvian. They are threatened with the withdrawal of their residence permit.

+++ 23:47 Orban does not want a decision on Ukraine accession talks at the EU summit +++Accordingto Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU heads of state and government should not attempt to bring about a decision on EU accession talks with Ukraine at the upcoming EU summit. In a letter to EU Council President Charles Michel, Orban writes that "the obvious lack of consensus" would "inevitably lead to failure". The summit will take place on December 14 and 15 in Brussels. Germany is one of the EU states that want to push for the opening of accession talks. This is controversial among the 27 EU countries.

+++ 23:09 Zelensky praises mobile units in the fight against drone attacks +++Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expresses his gratitude to mobile units which, according to him, were very effective in repelling Russian drone attacks. "Last night alone, 18 drones were destroyed in the latest Shahed attack. That is the majority. And most of the destruction was the result of mobile firing groups. This is how it should be. I thank all those who train the warriors of such groups and are committed to providing them with everything they need," the Ukrainian head of state wrote on his evening video update on social media. Last night, the mobile firing squads in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kirovohrad oblasts worked well. "I am personally grateful to you, but also to everyone else who is working every day and every night in the various regions," Selensky continued.

+++ 22:23 Storm washes sea mine ashore in Odessa region +++Accordingto the Ukrainian Navy, the stormy weather washed a sea mine ashore near the town of Prymorske in the Odessa region. According to the Ukrainian newspaper "Kyiv Independent", citing the navy, the mine can be defused by mine countermeasures units of the Ukrainian navy.

+++ 22:03 Several fires break out after drone attack on Kharkiv +++AfterRussian drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, several fires break out in the Kharkiv region. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the military administration of the Kharkiv region, announced this on Telegram, as reported by the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. "The occupiers are launching Shahed drone attacks," writes Syniehubov. The Izium and Chuhuiv districts were targeted, and some civilian infrastructure objects were hit. "Several fires broke out. No casualties have been reported so far," Syniehubov continued.

+++ 21:46 NATO chief Stoltenberg underlines "unwavering support" for Ukraine +++Ina meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underlines Ukraine's unwavering support. The two discuss the latest developments on the front and Ukraine's urgent military needs in the fight against Russia.

+++ 21:28 General Staff: Ukrainian army repels 56 Russian attacks in 24 hours +++TheUkrainian army has repelled 56 attacks by the Russian military in the past 24 hours. There have been a total of 61 battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops. The situation in the east and south of the country remains difficult, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced on Facebook. The Russian troops are also attacking Ukraine with ten Shahed drones and a Ch-59 missile. Six drones and the missiles were shot down, according to the situation report.

+++ 21:02 Ukrainian secret service unmasks FSB agent +++Ukraine's domestic secret service (SBU) takes an agent of the Russian secret service (FSB) into custody. The agent provided Russia with information about the positions of Ukraine's armed forces and coordinated missile attacks on Kiev on New Year's Eve 2022, according to the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform, citing the SBU.

You can read all previous developments here.