December 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The US is not working to prevent Ukraine from developing its own long-range strike capabilities that could potentially target inside Russian territory, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

His comments come after a top US State Department official on Tuesday suggested that the Ukrainians were behind the recent drone strikes on two Russian bases, and directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing war crimes by targeting civilian populations and infrastructure.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told CNN that “nobody has claimed responsibility” for the drone strikes, but added that “the Ukrainian people are incredibly innovative; they are making their own drones, air and sea, that are incredibly effective.”

Additionally, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the US has “neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia.” 

Speaking at a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Australian counterparts, Blinken said he was aware of the reported drone strikes on Russian territory, but had no further information.

Ukraine said it has reduced its "power deficit" as engineers work to restore infrastructure damaged by waves of Russian missile strikes.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that after Monday's attacks, "power engineers promise to eliminate the consequences" in the coming days.

"At the same time, the power deficit in the energy system will remain. Currently, it is 19% of the forecast consumption," he said. It has been higher than 30% in recent weeks.

Even so, Shmyhal said, "35% of key facilities of the main power grids have been damaged by massive attacks by the Russians in recent months."

Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said that water supply and sewage treatment had been restored by Tuesday evening.

Eleven district and quarter boiler houses — used for heating — were operating, serving about 88% of consumers. "This means that more than 600,000 Odesa residents have heat," Trukhanov said.

More strikes in the south: Russian missile and artillery attacks have continued elsewhere in southern Ukraine.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said Tuesday that "Russian occupiers shelled Kherson city again, hitting an "infrastructure facility and residential buildings."

One person had been killed and a large fire was extinguished, he said.

Further north, Russians attacked the city of Kryvyi Rih.

Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said an industrial enterprise had been hit.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih district, said the strike appeared to have been by a ballistic missile, calling them "very significant destructions."

Vilkul said that after Monday's missile attacks, the gradual restoration of electricity had begun. But hourly and scheduled outages would continue "to keep the power system of Ukraine intact."

The US State Department said Washington is not “enabling” or “encouraging Ukraine to strike beyond its borders” with lethal aid, after Moscow blamed Kyiv for several recent attacks on Russian military infrastructure.

“We are providing Ukraine with what it needs to use on its sovereign territory, on Ukrainian soil, to take on Russian aggressors, Russian aggressors that have crossed over the border,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

Price said the US has not “provided Ukraine with weapons that it is to use inside of Russia.”

In an earlier interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland suggested that Ukrainians were behind the recent drone strikes on two Russian bases.  

“The Ukrainians are enormously innovative. They are working very hard with their own technologies and their own equipment,” she said. 

Nuland, who just returned from a trip to Kyiv, said the US policy of not providing Ukraine with offensive weaponry that could strike Russian territory has not changed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited wounded soldiers in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday to mark the country's Armed Forces Day.

Video released by his office showed the president presenting awards to combat medics, taking selfies with injured soldiers and meeting medical staff. 

Later, he met wounded soldiers, thanking them "for the heroism with which you defend our state, its independence and territorial integrity, the freedom and life of our people. I wish you a speedy recovery."

Authorities in eastern Ukraine's Russian-occupied city of 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.

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

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

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.