Ukraine downs Russian drones as Kremlin seeks closer military ties with China

Ukraine suffered more deadly Russian shelling and drone attacks as engineers stabilised its national grid following the latest wave of missile strikes and the Kremlin said it wanted deeper co-operation with China’s military.

Ukrainian officials reported that Russian shelling killed at least three civilians and injured two others on Friday in the eastern Kharkiv region and the northern province of Chernihiv, hours after the country’s armed forces said they had shot down all 16 explosive “kamikaze” drones fired by Russia overnight.

The drone attack followed a wave of missile launches by Russia on Thursday, when at least four civilians were killed and energy infrastructure was damaged again, even though Ukraine said its air defences downed 54 of 69 long-range rockets fired by Moscow’s military.

“With each such missile strike, Russia is only driving itself deeper into a dead end,” said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Russia says it shot down four US-made long-range missiles over Crimea

---

Pains and gains: Paschal Donohoe on three books about economic growth

---

Planning rules around modular homes may be changed to fast-track refugee accommodation

---

Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says

---

“They have fewer and fewer missiles. Instead, the status of being the world’s number-one terrorist will have consequences for Russia and its citizens for a long time. And each missile only confirms that all this must end with a tribunal.”

State energy firm Ukrenergo gave a relatively upbeat assessment of the electricity situation, even as long blackouts continued across Ukraine.

“As of December 30th, the deficit in the power grid is at the same level as before the 10th massive Russian missile attack [on Thursday]. Thanks to the professional actions of the Ukrenergo dispatch centre, the damage had a much smaller impact on the operation of the power system than the enemy expected,” the company said.

At the defence ministry in Moscow, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russia had “delivered a massive strike … against the military command system and energy facilities that allow the Ukrainian defence industry to operate.

“The strike halted the production and repair of military hardware and ammunition and thwarted the redeployment of Ukrainian army reserves from western regions of Ukraine. As a result of disruption to rail transport, supplies of foreign weapons to the Ukrainian army were blocked in areas of the rear,” he added.

Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine – which has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced millions of people – destroyed its relations with the West and prompted the Kremlin to seek closer political, economic and security ties with China and other nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“In the context of growing geopolitical tensions, the importance of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership as a stability factor is growing. Our relations have passed all tests … and can be regarded as a model of co-operation between major powers in the 21st century,” Russian president Vladimir Putin told Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a video conference on Friday.

Mr Putin said he hoped his “dear friend” Mr Xi would pay a state visit to Moscow next spring, to “demonstrate to the whole world how strong the Russian-Chinese friendship is [and] our agreement on key issues”.

“Of course, defence and military technology co-operation … has a special place in the entire range of Russian-Chinese co-operation and our relations. We aim to strengthen co-operation between the armed forces of Russia and China,” Mr Putin added.

The foreign ministry in Beijing said: “President Xi stressed that China has noted Russia’s statement that it has never refused to resolve the [Ukraine] conflict through diplomatic negotiations and China commends that. The path of peace talks will not be a smooth one, but as long as parties do not give up, there will always be prospect for peace. China will continue to hold an objective and impartial position … and play a constructive role toward peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis.”