December 6, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Russia could seek a phony off-ramp to the Ukraine war that would not produce a durable peace, and would only allow Russian troops to re-group and attack Ukraine again.

Blinken explained that such a situation could occur if Russia fails in trying to "get the Ukrainian people to throw up their hands," which is possible because of the incredible resilience the Ukrainians have shown.

"This will end, and it will end almost certainly with diplomacy with a negotiation. But what I think we have to see is a just and durable peace. Not a phony peace," Blinken said.

Only about one third of the 300,000 Russian called into active military duty have been fully mobilized, said Blinken, who pointed to the weak capabilities of those who have joined the fighting.

"You get forces that are barely trained, poorly equipped, not winterized, who are thrown into this mix," he said. "And it's terrible. But they're also not, generally speaking, particularly effective units."

Russia’s defense ministry said Monday it has deployed mobile coastal defense missile systems on a northern Kuril island, part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula.

Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.

The Russian Bastion systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles), were deployed on the island of Paramushir, the Russian defense ministry said Monday.

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Russian and Ukrainian authorities have confirmed the exchange of 120 people in a prisoner swap.

According to the Russian defense ministry, 60 Russian servicemen have been returned from "Kyiv-controlled territory."

Returned soldiers will be treated and rehabilitated at the defense ministry's facilities, it said.

Ukraine will receive 60 prisoners in return, said Andrii Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on Telegram.

"This is the best news on the holiday," said Yermak. Of the total, there are 58 men and two women, with 14 prisoners captured during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

Details surrounding the timing of the swap and location have not been released.

Last week, 50 Russian and 50 Ukrainian soldiers were exchanged.

Alleged Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) constitute "nuclear terrorism," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on Tuesday.

"In the last two weeks alone, 33 large-caliber projectiles have been fired at the [nuclear power] station by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Shoigu said, according to a readout of a meeting with the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Russian air defense forces are intercepting most Ukrainian weapons, Shoigu added, but some have still managed to hit objects that affect the safety of the nuclear power plant.

"We classify these attacks by Ukrainian troops as nuclear terrorism," he said.

Shoigu said Russia’s army will continue to protect critical facilities in the captured territories.

Some context: Since falling under Russian control, frequent shelling in and around the plant has raised fears about a nuclear accident. Both sides have accused the other of nuclear terrorism, with Ukraine alleging that the Kremlin is using the nuclear plant as a cover to protect troops and launch attacks.

Last week, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he hoped to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Friday, Grossi said his commitment was to reach a solution "as soon as possible," hopefully by the end of the year, he added.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that there can be "no talk of any withdrawal of ZNPP from Russia or transfer control over it to a third party."

"The station is located on Russian territory and is fully controlled by Russia," said Zakharova on Monday. "We presume that only we are able to ensure the physical and nuclear safety of ZNPP."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited troops in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, according to a post on his Instagram page.

Zelensky’s office shared images and videos of him recording a message in front of a blue and yellow sign, indicating he was in Sloviansk.

The city is around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Bakhmut, which has been under siege from Russia for months.

Zelensky added that he hoped to celebrate the next Armed Forces day "under a peaceful sky" on Independence Square in the center of Kyiv.

Some context: The Donbas comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together cover much of eastern Ukraine.

It is a historically and culturally significant place whose proximity to Russia has dictated much of its turbulent existence, which has been the front line of the country’s conflict with Moscow since 2014.

Montenegro will donate 11% of its military budget to Ukraine, the prime minister's office said Monday. 

The donation, along with "receiving thousands of refugees," shows the Montenegrin government’s "clear determination to support the defence of Ukrainians," the statement from the Office of the Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazović said.

The terms were agreed by Abazović and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who signed a joint declaration on Monday, according to Zelensky’s Telegram channel. 

"Today, we signed the Joint Declaration, which defines the priority areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Montenegro within the strategic course of our country to acquire full membership in NATO," Zelensky said in the Telegram post. 

Abazović said on Twitter that Montenegro "wants peace."

"That is why we express our unequivocal support for Ukraine and its people with a view to safeguarding their integrity, sovereignty and right to a free life," added Abazović.

Moscow Railways has sent three fire trains to help put the "fire out at the airport" in Kursk, western Russia, according to regional officials. 

Earlier on Tuesday, regional governor Roman Starovoit alleged that a drone attack hit an oil tanker near Kursk airfield. Kursk is located about 90 kilometers (60 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

It comes one day after Moscow claimed Ukraine used drones to attack two military air bases deep within Russian territory. Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attacks.

Starovoit said he had held a meeting of the "anti-terrorist commission" and decided to "extend the yellow level of terrorist danger" for 15 days.

In addition, two schools in Khalino and the village of Marshal Zukov had classes cancelled on Tuesday.

Russian shelling was reported overnight in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia and central Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said on Telegram on Tuesday morning.

Critical infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged by the strikes in the suburbs of Zaporizhzhia city, said Oleksandr Starukh, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration. No one was injured, according to preliminary information.

In the nearby Dnipropetrovsk region, shelling continued overnight, said Valentyn Reznichenko, its regional military administration head.

Gas pipelines, power lines and more than 10 homes were damaged in the district of Nikopol, Reznichenko said. 

More than 9,000 families were also left without water near the community of Chervonohryhorivka after the power line supplying the pumping station of the local water utility was cut, he said. Engineers are working on restoring supplies, he added. 

Homes and a gas pipeline were also damaged near the community of Marhanets, he said. No casualties were reported..

The attacks follows Russian strikes Monday on Zaporizhzhia and Nikopol.

A drone strike took place Tuesday at an airfield in Russia's Kursk region, which borders northeastern Ukraine, according to the regional governor.

The alleged strike comes one day after Russia blamed Ukraine for drone attacks on two Russian military airbases. Ukraine has not confirmed the strikes.