WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Seven killed, 144 wounded in Russian missile strike on Ukraine's Chernihiv
Seven people including a 6-year-old girl were killed, 144 wounded, and 41 were in hospital after a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.
"I am sure our soldiers will give a response to Russia for this terrorist attack," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, delivered early on Sunday at the end of a visit to Sweden. "A notable response."
He said that of the 144 people injured, 15 were children, and named the girl killed as Sofia. Fifteen others were police officers, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. Klymenko said most of the victims were in vehicles, crossing the road, or returning from church.
Regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said 41 people were in hospital on Saturday.
Zelenskiy said the strike on Chernihiv, a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145 km (90 miles) north of Kyiv, coincided with the Orthodox holiday of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Debris was scattered across a square in front of the damaged theatre and surrounding buildings, where parked vehicles were heavily damaged. A 63-year-old who only gave her first name, Valentyna, showed the damaged balcony in her apartment opposite the theatre.
"It is horrific. Horrific. There were wounded, ambulances and broken glass in here. Nightmare. Just nightmare," she said.
The roof of the neoclassical theatre was torn off by the strike.
Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities far from the frontline with missiles and drones as part of the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
People leaving church and others passing by were among those hurt when the missile hit the theatre, where a meeting was taking place, Chaus said.
Law enforcement agencies were looking into how Russians became aware of the event, which he said included business and community representatives but Ukrainian media reported involved drone manufacturers. Both sides have widely used drones on the battlefield.
An event organizer said all the participants, including engineers, members of the military and volunteers, were asked to go to an air raid shelter in the theatre when the alarm sounded, but some people went outside.
"All those who took shelter remained safe," Maria Berlinska, a co-founder of the Dignitas Fund, whose fundraising includes money for drones for the frontline, said in a Facebook post.
A wounded woman said her friend pulled her out of one of the damaged buildings after a part of the ceiling fell on her head.
The streets were stained with blood trails and strewn with scraps from first-aid supplies that had been used to treat the wounded.
** Ukraine's long F16s training process has begun -defence minister
Training had begun for Ukrainians to operate U.S. F16 fighter jets but it would take at least six months and possibly longer, Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, two days after a U.S. official said F-16s would be transferred to Ukraine once its pilots were trained.
Reznikov said in a TV interview that six months of training was considered the minimum for pilots, but it was not yet known how long it would take to train engineers and mechanics. Ukraine wants the sophisticated U.S.-made warplanes so it can counter the air superiority of Russia, whose forces invaded the country in February 2022.
"Therefore, to build reasonable expectations, set a minimum of six months in your mind, but do not be disappointed if it is longer," he told Kanal 24 anchor Andriana Kucher, who shared the interview on her YouTube channel.
A U.S. official said on Thursday that Washington had approved sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russia as soon as pilot training was completed.
Reznikov said he would not give details on where and when the training was taking place.
The training included technical language training, as the usual basic English level was insufficient, he said.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine attacks Russian military airfield – MOD
A military air base in Western Russia came under attack from an explosives-laden drone on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported. Military officials added that while the attack was thwarted, one aircraft still sustained damage.
In its statement, the ministry detailed that the incursion took place at about 10am Moscow time. According to the statement, the “Kiev regime” was behind the “terrorist attack” in Novgorod Region.
The UAV was detected by the airfield’s personnel and destroyed by small arms fire, the ministry revealed. “A fire broke out on the airfield as a result of the terrorist attack, which was swiftly extinguished by firefighting units,” the statement said.
While the incident did not cause any casualties, one plane was damaged.
Later in the day, the ministry added that one drone had been brought down over Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine, with electronic warfare systems thwarting a similar attack over Moscow Region.
According to military officials, neither incident caused casualties or damage on the ground.
Numerous drone attacks have been attempted on Russian territory over the past several months, with UAVs shot down even over Moscow. The Russian authorities have accused Kiev of staging the attacks. The Ukrainian leadership, while stopping short of claiming responsibility, has hinted that it was indeed behind the aerial incursions.
Back in May, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed it had foiled a drone attack on a military airfield near the city of Ivanovo in central Russia.
Last December, several UAVs targeted Dyagilevo and Engels military airfields, located 500km (310.7 miles) and 700km (435 miles) from Ukrainian territory, respectively. Six people were killed on the ground, with two planes receiving minor damage as a result, according to officials.
** US officials admit they missed opportunity for Ukraine peace – Politico
American officials have told Politico that they may have “missed a window”to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking anonymously, they conceded that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley “had a point” when he offered a grim pronouncement on Kiev’s chances for victory last year.
More than two months into Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, Kiev has failed to capture more than a handful of hamlets and villages in Zaporozhye region, and has lost at least 43,000 men and nearly 5,000 pieces of equipment in the process, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. Although the Ukrainian government still insists it can retake all of its claimed territory by force, Washington is increasingly unsure.
“We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a US official told Politico on Friday, adding that “Milley had a point.”
Speaking in New York in November, Milley said that a military victory would likely be unachievable for Ukraine, and that Kiev could use the wintertime pause in fighting to enter negotiations with Moscow and avoid any further losses.
His comments reportedly angered Kiev and caused panic in the White House, which rushed to reassure the Ukrainian leadership that it would continue to support President Vladimir Zelensky’s maximalist aims – which include retaking Crimea, an historic Russian territory that voted to rejoin the Russian Federation in 2014.
Media reports suggest that Washington has been divided on the idea of peace talks since at least last year, with President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken vehemently rejecting negotiations, against the wishes of some members of the military and intelligence agencies. This split persisted as Ukraine geared up for its counteroffensive, with reports indicating that despite Biden’s and Blinken’s optimism, the Pentagon knewKiev wasn’t ready for the operation, and the CIA expected it to end in failure.
Pessimism is now spreading in the White House, another anonymous official told Politico, saying that the Biden administration is increasingly asking itself “If we acknowledge we’re not going to do this forever, then what are we going to do?”
Milley has continued to suggest a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “If the end state is ‘Ukraine is a free, independent, sovereign country with its territory intact’... that’s gonna take a long, long time, but you can also achieve those objectives — maybe, possibly — through some sort of diplomatic means,” he told the Washington Post this week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that any negotiations will be held “not with Zelensky, who is a puppet in the hands of the West, but directly with his masters.” The Kremlin also maintains that any potential peace deal will have to recognize the “new territorial reality” – that the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye will not be ceded back to Ukraine.
Reuters/RT
