MOSCOW, Dec 28 within the framework of a special military operation of Ukrainian saboteurs and military, as well as foreign mercenaries; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States, through diplomatic channels, «at length explained» that they did not plan to send their specialists to Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems.
The course of the operationOn Wednesday, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group in the Vladimirovka region in the DPR, the Russian Defense Ministry said. In the Donetsk direction, the Russian military destroyed more than 80 Ukrainian servicemen and 10 pieces of equipment.
On the Kupyansky and Krasnolimansky directions Kyiv lost 200 people in a day. In the Krasnolimansky direction, artillery fire hit four company tactical groups of the 25th airborne, 80th and 95th airborne assault brigades of the troops of Ukraine, as well as the 103rd territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Novolyubovka, Nevskoe LPR, Terny DPR , as well as Serebryansky forestry, noted in the RF Ministry of Defense.
According to the agency, Russian missile troops and artillery destroyed a warehouse with weapons and military equipment of the Ukrainian military in the Zaporozhye region. In addition, five command posts of the Ukrainian military in the Kharkiv region and the DPR, 72 artillery units in firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 97 districts were hit.
The Russian Armed Forces in the Ugledar region in the DPR destroyed more than 70 Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries, as well as seven pieces of equipment per day. The Russian armed forces destroyed two American-made M777 artillery systems and a German-made FH-70 howitzer in the DPR during a counter-battery fight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Russian artillerymen destroyed three combat vehicles of the Ukrainian Grad MLRS and three Msta-B howitzers, as well as one D-20 and D-30 gun each, during the last day, the Russian Ministry said .
Ukrainian saboteurs blew up a pedestrian bridge in Pologi, Zaporozhye region, regional authorities reported.
International events and statementsSebastian Lecornu, head of the French Ministry of Defense, arrived in Kyiv, where he held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Alexei Reznikov. Lecornu held a meeting with a Ukrainian Defense Ministry working group to discuss Paris's military support for Kyiv.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country is working on new deliveries of CAESAR artillery mounts to Ukraine, their number is being discussed with partners.
Lecornu, following a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, said that he «studied the needs of the Ukrainian army,» noting that France would continue to support it in 2023.
So far there is no «peace plan» for Ukraine, and a plan that does not take into account today's realities with the territory of the Russian Federation and its new regions cannot be «peaceful», said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.
Before the agreement between Russia and the United States and the treaty governing the state of the countries of Eastern Europe, the admission of Ukraine to NATO would mean an immediate «threat to life», said Balazs Orban, an adviser to the Hungarian Prime Minister.
The United States, through diplomatic channels, has «explained at length» that it does not plan to send American specialists to Ukraine with its Patriot air defense systems, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. He also clarified his recent words that the statements of «unnamed officials» of the United States about a «decapitation strike» on the Kremlin, in fact, are a threat to the physical removal of the President of the Russian Federation: he specifically wanted to draw attention to this «anonymous leak» that was heard on against the backdrop of militant statements by the Kyiv leadership.
The New York Times writes that the United States is helping Ukrainian forces target areas where Russia is launching drones.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out the possibility of her participation in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. She also admitted that she does not know exactly how the conflict in Ukraine could end.
CyberwarUkraine has become the West's springboard for testing cyber developments against Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview. He added that the Russian IT infrastructure makes it possible to effectively counter computer attacks.
According to the diplomat, Kyiv has actually lost its digital sovereignty, Ukraine's «cyber troops» are, in fact, a NATO tool, and Western IT companies support Kyiv's malicious actions in the information space against Russia.
Voluntary Ukrainian hackers, Internet activists and SMM specialists working in cyberspace against Russia are not 1000, but several thousand and even more, said a member of the hacker group RaHDIt («Evil Russian hackers») on condition of anonymity.
They arrange DDoS attacks in RuNet — for example, on Yandex.Taxi and the Russian Railways website, they produce malicious advertising, the agency's interlocutor added. He stressed that Russian hackers will always find better weapons against Ukrainian defense in cyber warfare.