December 6, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Jack Guy and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 2:01 a.m. ET, December 7, 2022
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11:29 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Russian authorities forming territorial defense units at border with Ukraine

From CNN's Katharina Krebs in London

Russia's Belgorod region — which borders northeastern Ukraine — is forming a militia, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Tuesday.

“Literally from the very first days of the start of the special military operation, a large number of residents of the Belgorod region appealed with the need to start preparing and forming territorial defense or self-defense units. We made this decision,” Gladkov said on his Telegram account.

According to the statement, the so-called territorial defense units are formed from those who "for health reasons or within the limits of age cannot be called up, but have combat experience and a great desire, if necessary, to defend their home." 

"Experienced instructors who have gone through a large number of wars and have combat experience are now conducting training and combat rallying of units on the territory of all border regions of the Belgorod region," Gladkov added.

 

3:38 p.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Analysis: Putin faces new questions with no clear answers as airstrikes hit deep within Russia

Analysis from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh

A satellite image shows bomber aircraft at Engels Air Base in Saratov, Russia, on December 4.
A satellite image shows bomber aircraft at Engels Air Base in Saratov, Russia, on December 4. (Maxar Technologies/Reuters)

Moscow’s accusation that Ukrainian drones struck two airbases deep inside Russia has once again raised the febrile question of escalation nine months into the war.

The strikes are an extraordinary breach of Russia’s assumptions that it can protect its deep interior, from which safe harbors its strategic bombers have caused carnage across Ukraine with relative impunity.

These are airbases very far inside Russia, and whatever the truth of the strikes – whether they represent a new long-distance drone capability Ukraine has advertised, or there’s another explanation – this is just not something that was meant to happen when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “10-day invasion” in February. Week by week, there are yet more signs that Moscow’s military machine cannot perform as advertised

The low-tech tools employed in this embarrassment pop the balloon of Russia’s peer status to NATO.

Russian humiliation is usually accompanied with concerns it may escalate the conflict. But it is hard to know what else Russia could do to Ukraine that it has not already done. It has leveled cities, hit civilian infrastructure callously and relentlessly when it can, killed thousands of civilians and yet more troops, and bombed maternity hospitals and shelters marked with the word “children.”

At some point, the labored assumption that Russia has magic, non-apocalyptic buttons left to press will begin to fade.

So what does Russia have left? Chemical weapons are a possibility, but likely have formed a part of the warnings it has received to not use nuclear force. Moscow’s choices appear limited to the more accurate or savage use of the same conventional brutality it is currently throwing at Ukraine’s cities almost daily.

This is the most damaging side effect of how public the exhaustion of Russia’s military has been: There is no real “fear factor” left. 

Read more here.

10:56 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Hungary blocks EU's $18.9 billion support package for Ukraine in 2023

From CNN's Amy Cassidy in London 

Hungary vetoed the European Union’s proposed nearly $19 billion 2023 aid package to Ukraine Tuesday, forcing the bloc to seek alternative solutions.

It marks the latest in long-running standoff, with Brussels withholding funds to Budapest amid a rule-of-law dispute.  

Hungarian Finance Minister Mihály Varga addressed his EU counterparts in a public session Tuesday in Brussels, where he announced “Hungary is not in favor of the amendment of the financial regulation,” referring to the support package proposed by the EU Commission in November. 

"Unfortunately, we were not able to adopt the package as a whole; however, we will not be discouraged," Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura responded in his capacity as president of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council. “Our ambition remains that we will start disbursements of our aid to Ukraine in early January. I would like to task the economic and financial committee to examine alternative solutions” that would be supported by all 26 members states of the bloc.  

It comes as Brussels continues to withhold around $7.9 billion of Covid-19 recovery funds from Hungary as punishment for Budapest’s rule-of-law reforms restricting democratic freedoms. 

9:44 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Local authority reports 2 killed by Ukrainian shelling in city of Donetsk

From CNN's Olga Voitovych

Smoke and flame rise from burning vehicle damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces in a street in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on December 6.
Smoke and flame rise from burning vehicle damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces in a street in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on December 6. (Alexei Alexandrov/AP)

The local authorities in Russian-occupied Donetsk said a third day of shelling by Ukrainian forces has killed two people and injured 10.

The Territorial Defense Forces of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic said on Telegram that the shelling had struck a residential area of Donetsk city.

Unofficial Telegram channels claimed that a power substation near the city had been hit. And a series of photographs posted by the mayor of nearby Horlivka purported to show damage to the Stirol State Enterprise.

Alexei Kulemzin, head of the Russian-backed city administration, said there had been heavy shelling Tuesday from the Ukrainian-held village of Novomykhailivka.

The city of Donetsk fell to pro-Russian separatists in 2014, but Ukrainian forces remain within a few miles of its limits.

8:27 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

"Dangerous packages" sent to Ukrainian embassies in Romania and Denmark, foreign minister says

From CNN’s Eve Brennan and Irina Morgan in London 

More “dangerous packages” have been sent to Ukrainian embassies in Romania and Denmark, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video press briefing on Tuesday. 

Kuleba discussed the "campaign of terror and intimidation" that began last Wednesday against Ukrainian embassies and consulates with "a package with explosives in Madrid," followed by "bloody letters with animal eyes in other capitals." 

"I can only reiterate this for all enemies of Ukrainian diplomacy and Ukraine: You will not succeed at intimidating or stopping us," Kuleba said in the briefing, which was released on Facebook. 

“We have had new instances of dangerous packages sent to our embassies. Today, this was done to our embassy in Romania and the embassy of Ukraine in Denmark,” Kuleba said.

He did not specify whether these packages contained animal eyes like those that have been sent to Ukrainian diplomatic missions in other countries across Europe within the past week. 

“To all those who continue to send these packages and terrorize our embassies, I say please relax, don't waste your time and money for postage. You'll achieve nothing,” he added. 

This brings the total number of cases of threats to Ukrainian embassies and consulates abroad to 23 across 14 countries. 

On Monday, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on Facebook that the total number of cases of threats to Ukrainian embassies and consulates was at 21 across 12 countries. This followed Spanish police seizing packages addressed to the Ukrainian embassies in Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga — all of which contained animal eyes — at a post office in Spain on Monday. 

8:12 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

It's mid-afternoon in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know

Three fire trains have been sent to battle a blaze at an airfield in Russia allegedly caused by a Ukrainian drone strike, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met troops in eastern Ukraine to mark the country's armed forces day.

Here are the latest headlines:

  • Drone hits Russian airfield: A drone strike took place Tuesday at an airfield in Russia's Kursk region, which borders northeastern Ukraine, according to the regional governor, and Moscow Railways sent three fire trains to help put out a resulting fire. The alleged strike comes one day after Russia blamed Ukraine for drone attacks on two Russian military airbases. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attacks.
  • Russian shelling hits southern and central Ukraine: Russian strikes were reported overnight in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia and central Dnipropetrovsk regions. Critical infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged, but no casualties were reported.
  • Zelensky travels to Donbas: Zelensky has visited troops in Donbas in eastern Ukraine to mark Ukrainian Armed Forces Day. The country's "path to independence lies through a free Donetsk, Luhansk and of course, Crimea," said the Ukrainian president.
  • Shoigu accuses Ukraine of "nuclear terrorism": Alleged Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) constitute "nuclear terrorism," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on Tuesday. 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. 
  • Blinken warns against "phony off-ramp": 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.
  • Soldiers exchanged in prisoner swap: Sixty Russian servicemen have been returned from "Kyiv-controlled territory," in return for 60 Ukrainian prisoners, authorities from both sides have confirmed.
  • Montenegro makes Ukraine donation: 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," according to a statement.
7:50 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Russia is "inflicting massive strikes" on Ukrainian military and key infrastructure, says Shoigu

From CNN's Anna Chernova

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with Russian hight level officers in Moscow, Russia, on December 6.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with Russian hight level officers in Moscow, Russia, on December 6. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP)

Russian forces are "inflicting massive strikes" on Ukraine, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday.

The strikes are being carried out with "long-range precision weapons on the military command and control system, enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as related facilities to crush the military potential of Ukraine," said Shoigu.

On Monday, Russia unleashed a wave of drone and missile attacks across Ukraine, targeting the country's energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes caused extensive power outages in several regions, including Kyiv and Odesa.

7:46 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Blinken warns against "phony off-ramp" for Russia

From CNN's Kylie Atwood

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a US - EU Stakeholder Dialogue during the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial Meeting at the University of Maryland on December 5.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a US - EU Stakeholder Dialogue during the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial Meeting at the University of Maryland on December 5. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

"One of the things that you can imagine is the Russians trying to find an off-ramp that would be a phony off-ramp by which I mean, let's have a ceasefire, let's just freeze things in place, get a frozen conflict, never negotiate about the territory that they have seized, and continue to hold. Rest, refit, regroup, re-attack," Blinken said at a Wall Street Journal event on Monday night.

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."

7:06 a.m. ET, December 6, 2022

Russia deploys defense missile system on Kuril island near Japan

Story by Reuters

A military vehicle of the Bastion coastal missile system on duty on the Kuril island of Paramushir, Russia, in this still image taken from video released on December 5, 2022.
A military vehicle of the Bastion coastal missile system on duty on the Kuril island of Paramushir, Russia, in this still image taken from video released on December 5, 2022. (Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters)

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.

Read the full story here.