Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s forces unleash new offensive as UK sends fresh weapons to Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier has described to The Independent the “very difficult” situation facing those fighting in Avdiivka, a small town in eastern Ukraine that has become the flashpoint of the frontline.

Serhiy Zhuykov, a Ukrainian section chief and sniper currently stationed nearby to the town, said: “We try to stay but there are many, many Russian attacks on our army. It is difficult, very difficult.”

A British Ministry of Defence update from this morning suggested that as much as 40 percent of combat engagements across the frontline at the moment are occurring near Avdiivka.

Russia will hold its presidential election in four annexed regions of Ukraine, Interfax news agency quoted the country’s central election commission as saying on Monday.

Russia claimed last year to have annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, though it does not control all their territory. Moscow has imposed martial law in the areas of the four regions that it does control.

President Vladimir Putin confirmed last Friday, in comments to Russian soldiers who have fought in Ukraine, that he will run again for president in the election due in March 2024.

Live: Grant Shapps and Norwegian defence minister launch Ukraine capability coalition

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine.

Below is a look at the aftermath of a Russian ballistic missile strike on a southeastern district of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

A series of loud explosions rang out in Ukraine’s capital just after 4 am local time this morning, according to accounts of events on Telegram, as the city was under its nightly curfew, followed by air raid sirens.

The Ukrainian air force said all eight missiles were intercepted.

But the Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that in the Darnytskyi district of eastern Kyiv the debris of an intercepted missile fell without catching fire.

The aftermath of that can be seen on the video below.

One person was injured during the nightly attack, though it is unclear if that person was residing in the Darnytskyi district.

Workers on Saturday (9 December) dismantled the Soviet-era monument of Red Army General Mykola Shchors from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, as a gesture of the country’s “‘de-Communisation” process.

The Ministry of Culture gave permission to take down the statue and authorities were seen working for hours to dismantle the statue.

A few passers-by watched the proceedings and clapped when workers finished taking down the monument.

Heorhii Lukianchuk, a Kyiv resident, said he ran to witness this “historical moment” and that it will “be on the pages of history books.”

Nearly 40 percent of fighting on the frontline is taking place at times around one town in eastern Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence has said.

During its latest intelligence update, the MoD said nearly “40 percent of all combat engagements have likely taken place” around Avdiivka, a small town in Donetsk Oblast most famous for its larging coking plant.

The Russian forces appear to have prioritised this area, committing up to eight brigades and hundreds of heavy vehicles to capturing the town, but have made only minor territorial gains, measurable in kilometres.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has said it would be “devastating” for both Ukraine and the European Union if EU leaders do not give his country the green light for membership talks at a summit later this week.

“I cannot imagine, I don’t even want to talk about the devastating consequences that will occur shall the (European) Council fail to make this decision,” Kuleba told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky travels from Argentina to Washington DC today, back home in Kyiv, residents are recovering from another night of Russian strikes on the capital.

At least one person was injured as eight missiles were intercepted by air defences. Russia appears to have resumed its campaign of winter strikes that targeted critical infrastructure across Ukraine throughout this time last year.

• Mr Zelensky’s office said he would arrive in Washington today to meet his counterpart Joe Biden and hold a “series of meetings and discussions”. Further meetings are expected on Tuesday. 
• Britain said it had delivered two mine-hunting ships to Ukraine to help maintain a critical route for merchant shipping travelling across the Black Sea.
• Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said on Monday that it had cracked a network of Ukrainian agents in Crimea who were involved in attempts to assassinate pro-Russian figures.
• Slovak truckers will restart a partial blockade of the country’s sole freight road crossing with Ukraine at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Monday, a hauliers’ association said. The protesters want to end Ukrainian truckers’ permit-free access to the EU.