Russia Ukraine war live: Zelensky says army needs to mobilise 500,000 more troops

After Russia fired its first hypersonic missile in months last week, according to the British Ministry of Defence, The Independent explains what the Killjoy missiles are and why they could prove lethal over the next few months.

Ukrainian officials have been discussing the possibility of reopening Boryspil International Airport, closed for war reasons, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday

It comes after A Boeing 777-300 operated by local airline Skyline Express took off from the airport with no passengers or cargo on board.

The so-called “technical flight” was a sign the infrastructure remains in working condition and safety can be granted despite constant Russian air attacks.

Zelenskiy said reopening of the airport would mean a victory for Ukraine, its economy in particular.

“I will say frankly, we ask this question to our colleagues, and we know exactly what we need for it,” he said a presser in Kyiv.

A video shared by the airport on Tuesday showed a plane taking off and part of runaway, with no sign of damage.

Italy’s cabinet on Tuesday passed a law decree that allows it to continue supplying until the end of 2024 “means, materials and equipment” to Ukraine to support its war effort against Russia, a defence ministry statement said.

Supplies will include not only weapons but also power generators and “everything needed to support military operations in defence of unarmed civilians,” the statement said, adding the government would ask parliament to confirm the decision.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has said there has been an extensive failure by Russia to take adequate measures to protect civilians in Ukraine and that there were indications that Russian forces had committed war crimes.

“There has been extensive failure by the Russian Federation to take adequate measures to protect civilians and protect civilian objects against the effects of their attacks,” Mr Turk said at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesdat.

He added that his office’s monitoring indicated “gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and war crimes, primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation”.

Pesident Vladimir Putin said that Russia would be prepared to talk to Ukraine, the United States and Europe about the future of Ukraine if they wanted to, but that Moscow would defend its national interests.

Putin, who sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, has repeatedly said he would be prepared to talk about peace, though Western officials say he is waiting for the US presidential election in November before making a genuine effort.

“In Ukraine, those who are aggressive towards Russia, and in Europe and in the United States – do they want to negotiate? Let them. But we will do it based on our national interests,” Putin told a meeting of the defence leadership in Moscow on Tuesday.

“We will not give up what is ours,” Putin said, adding that Russia did not intend to fight with Europe.

Russia fired its first hypersonic missile in months last week, according to the British Ministry of Defence.

Hypersonic missiles are thought to represent the next generation of arms. Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonics, classified as AS-24 Killjoys by Nato, make up the body of the Kremlin’s stockpile.

The Kinzhals can travel at exceptionally high velocities – up to ten times the speed of sound, which is around 8,000mph. By comparison, a subsonic cruise missile like the US Air Force’s Tomahawk rocket moves at a relatively sluggish 550mph.

Kinzhals are typically carried by MiG-31K fighter jets and can hit targets as far away as 1,250 miles, their speed, mid-flight manoeuvrability and ability to fly at low altitudes making them difficult to track using radar on the ground and therefore near-impossible to stop.

Perhaps most alarmingly, the Kinzhal can carry a nuclear warhead as well as a conventional explosive, a strategy it has been feared Russia could resort to as its war becomes ever-more desperate and drawn-out than expected due to the heroic resistance put up by the locals, well armed by their international allies.

This comes just a month after he said Russia and Ukraine were evenly matched in tactical and technological capabilities on the battlefield.

Asked if he thinks the battlefield situation between both sides is now a stalemate, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi replied with a “no”, according to Ukraine’s RBC media.

“This is a war. I can’t say what I plan or what we should do. Otherwise, it will be a show, not a war – the cost of which is human lives. This cannot be discussed in any way,” he said on Monday.

The U.S. Senate will not vote on a package to provide more aid to Ukraine and bolster US border security before early next year, chamber leaders said on Tuesday.

“Our negotiators are going to be working very, very diligently over the December and January break period, and our goal is to get something done as soon as we get back,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.

The White House has warned that by the end of the year US aid will run out to help Ukraine retake territory occupied by Russia since the 2022 invasion.

The Biden administration’s request for another $61 billion in support has been bogged down in Congress, where Republicans say it must be paired with tougher immigration controls along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced a sceptical reception from Republicans when he visited Washington last week to drum up support.

The chamber’s No. 2 Republican, John Thune, also said a deal would not be reached before January. “Democrats have run out the clock to the point where getting a substantive border security deal passed before Christmas is impossible,” he said on the Senate floor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted at an end-of-year press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Here are the key points from the conference:

– Ukraine’s military has asked for additional 450,000-500,000 people to be mobilised

The Ukrainian leader told a news conference in Kyiv that top military and government officials were due to discuss “this very sensitive issue of mobilisation” and that parliament would then consider it.

– Zelensky hopes for speedier prisoner exchanges with Russia

The two sides held a number of prisoner swaps from the early months of the war but their intensity slowed in 2023 and the last one took place in early August.

– Zelensky is working on his relationship with a Ukrainian army chief

His remarks come amid weeks of speculation about tensions between the Zelensky and top military commander Valery Zaluzhny.

– Ukraine to produce one million drones next year

Ukraine has been working to increase its domestic weapon production since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

– Zelensky confident foreign aid will continue

“We are working very hard on this, and I am certain the United States will not betray us,” Zelensky said during a televised press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

At his end of year press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, President Zelensky said that the army had asked for 500,000 more troops to be mobilised.

The Ukrainian leader told his end-of-year news conference it was a “highly sensitive” issue that the military and government were discussing before sending to parliament.

Ukraine, which initially saw tens of thousands of volunteer fighters queuing up to defend their country from Russia’s invasion, is now trying to conscript more men to replace those currently at the front.

There have been discussions behind closed doors for weeks on how to improve the draft process. Some Ukrainians have reacted angrily to social media videos showing draft officers handing out call-up papers at gyms and resorts.

Ukraine‘s troop numbers are not known, but it has said in the past it has around 1 million people under arms. Russia has been expanding its army during the war and said on Tuesday it planned to boost its ranks to 1.5 million service members.

“I said I would need more arguments to support this move. Because first of all, it’s a question of people, secondly, it’s a question of fairness, it’s a question of defence capability, and it’s a question of finances,” Zelensky said.