Live blog: Ukraine blames Russia for hacker attack

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

1531 GMT –– Ukraine pointed the finger at Russia's secret service over a massive hacker attack that disrupted services for the country's main phone operator.

Kyivstar, which has 24.3M customers, said it was "still working" on restoring service. Ukraine's SBU security service said it had opened a criminal investigation and sent agents to the company's offices.

"The special services of the Russian Federation may be behind this hacker attack," the SBU said in a statement. Kyivstar, which has 24.3 million customers, blamed it on Russia's invasion without giving further details on the connection between the two.

"This is a war, it takes place not only on the battlefield, it also takes place in virtual space and unfortunately, we are affected as a result of this war," Kyivstar's general director Oleksandr Komarov said on national television.

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1858 GMT –– Zelenskyy visits Capitol Hill and the White House with US aid for Ukraine at risk

Zelenskyy's visit to Washington came at a grim time, much changed from the hero's welcome he received last year. President Joe Biden's request for an additional $110 billion US aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs is at serious risk of collapse in Congress as Republicans are insisting on linking it to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry. “The fight we're in is a fight for freedom," Zelenskyy repeatedly said in the meetings, according to lawmakers.

1853GMT ––US intelligence assesses Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 casualties - source

A declassified US intelligence report assessed that the Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, or nearly 90% of the personnel it had when the conflict began, a source familiar with the intelligence said. The report also assessed that Moscow's losses in personnel and armored vehicles to Ukraine's military have set back Russia’s military modernization by 18 years, the source said.

1534 GMT ––Ukraine deal possible by Christmas if Congress delays recess: Senator Murphy

Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy says the Senate can reach a deal on Ukraine aid and border security by Christmas if the Congress delayed its upcoming recess to keep working on an agreement.

1456 GMT –– Germany backs opening EU membership talks with Ukraine: Official

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will support opening EU membership talks with Ukraine during a European leaders’ summit later this week, a senior official said.

“Germany supports opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. We also support granting candidate status to Georgia, provided that it continues with the necessary reforms,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

EU leaders are scheduled to meet in Brussels for a two-day summit on Thursday and Friday to discuss EU enlargement policy, financial and military support to Ukraine, and the latest situation in the Middle East.

1318 GMT ––Russia claims further advances in northeast "Our units have advanced significantly forward northeast of Novopokrovka," the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said on Telegram.

Ukraine said Russia had launched a "massive offensive" with armoured vehicles in another part of the front near Avdiivka in the east.

1001 GMT –– Western aid can't help Ukraine — Kremlin

The United States cannot turn the tide of war in Ukraine by pumping tens of billions more dollars into the country, the Kremlin said, ahead of planned talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US leaders.

Zelenskyy will make his case for more US aid for Ukraine's war against Russia during talks in Washington later with US President Joe Biden and Congressional leaders at a time of increasing doubts among many Republican lawmakers.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would "very closely" follow Zelenskyy's meetings in Washington.

"It is important for everyone to understand that the tens of billions of dollars pumped into Ukraine did not help it gain any success on the battlefield," Peskov told a regular news briefing.

"The other tens of billions of dollars that Ukraine wants to be pumped into its economy will also be doomed to the same fiasco... This cannot change the situation on the battlefield, but it also can't change the advance of the 'special military operation"," he said.

1009 GMT –– Poland's Tusk aims to persuade leaders to continue supporting Ukraine

New Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says his government will mobilise to keep the world committed to helping Ukraine.

Tusk said it hurts him to hear Ukraine's president to have to keep trying to persuade world leaders about the need to continue supporting Kiev's struggle against Russian offensive.

He said it will be a priority for his coalition government to persuade leaders that they need to continue to help Ukraine defend itself, and that is also in the interests of the free world.

Tusk was making his policy speech in parliament a day after lawmakers chose him as the new prime minister.

0911 GMT –– About 100 lorries pass through unblocked Ukraine-Poland crossing, Kiev says

About 100 lorries have passed through a road crossing on Ukraine's border with Poland since Polish truck drivers lifted a blockade there on Monday, Ukrainian deputy infrastructure minister Serhiy Derkach said.

He said Kiev hoped blockades would also be lifted at three other border checkpoints where lorries are backed up because of protests over Ukrainian trucking firms' access to the European Union.

Broadcaster Polsat News reported on Monday that the local Polish mayor had taken action to lift the blockade at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing because he feared the blockage would hurt local jobs.

"About 100 vehicles have already passed through and we are working on opening other crossings," Derkach told Ukrainian television.

0829 GMT –– Russia forces claim 'advanced significantly' in south Ukraine

Russian forces in southern Ukraine have "advanced considerably" around the village of Novopokrovka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow's occupational authorities said.

Moscow's offensive has dragged on for another winter since the start of the military operation in February 2022, but the front has barely moved in eastern and southern Ukraine this winter.

"Our units have advanced significantly forward northeast of Novopokrovka," the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said on Telegram.

Novopokrovka lies some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Robotyne –– which Kiev said it recaptured in the summer but has since struggled to hold on to.

Balitsky said Russian forces are "not only holding the line but are gradually moving forward."

Russia has controlled large swathes of the Zaporizhzhia region since the start of its offensive launched last year. But the main regional centre of Zaporizhzhia remains under Ukrainian control.

0509 GMT — Zelenskyy makes plea for US aid to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy goes to Congress and the White House on Tuesday to press for more US military aid in battling the Russian offensive, but the Republican Party shows little sign of listening to his increasingly desperate pleas.

For much of the nearly two years that Ukraine has resisted President Vladimir Putin's onslaught, the United States has led a Western coalition sending billions of dollars in weaponry and ammunition.

But Republicans are ever-more openly rejecting the need to fund Ukraine, saying that President Joe Biden needs to devote more attention to domestic security, particularly to stopping irregular migration over the US-Mexican border.

The Republicans are also questioning whether Ukraine should keep fighting at all.

Zelenskyy, who arrived fresh from a diplomatic push with world leaders at the inauguration of Argentine President Javier Milei over the weekend, will meet Biden at the White House. They will also hold a joint press conference.

Biden is a key supporter of Zelenskyy, framing the Ukrainian war effort as part of a global struggle between democracies and aggressive autocracies.

But on Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy will face his real test when he addresses Republican and Democratic senators, and meets the new Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

0511 GMT — EU explores Ukraine funding outside bloc’s shared budget: report

European Union diplomats are discussing technical proposals to raise emergency funding for Ukraine outside of the bloc's shared budget, the Financial Times has reported.

0408 GMT — Russia says it downed Ukraine-launched missile over Belgorod region

Russia's air defence systems destroyed a Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile over the Belgorod region that Ukraine launched, the Russian defence ministry has said.

The ministry, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, said the attack took place at around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT).

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine in Russia's southwest, said there was no casualties or damage, according to preliminary information.

The Tochka-U missile, which carries the NATO reporting name Scarab B, is a short-range Soviet tactical ballistic missile.

0413 GMT — IMF OKs $900M in funds for Ukraine

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursal of $900 million in aid to Ukraine on Monday.

"Ukraine’s 48-month EFF (Extended Fund Facility) arrangement, with the access of SDR 11.6 billion (equivalent to $15.6 billion, or about 577 percent of quota), was approved on March 31, 2023 and forms part of a $122 billion support package for Ukraine," the IMF said in a statement.

The EFF continues to provide a "strong anchor" for the authorities’ economic program, and its implementation has been broadly on track despite the extremely challenging backdrop, it added.

The move came ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at IMF headquarters in Washington.

For our live updates from Monday (December 11), click here.