According to reference news, Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" **December 10** said on December 10 that the Ukrainian military reported that Russia launched nearly 100 air strikes in one day. Ukraine's first lady warned that Ukraine would face a "mortal danger" without Western military assistance. After US Senate Republicans blocked the advance of foreign aid, Zelenskaya stressed in an interview with the BBC that Ukraine "really needs help." "If the world gets burned out, they're going to let us die," she said. ”
CNN reported that the Ukrainian General Staff posted on social media on the 9th: "The enemy (Russia) launched a total of 28 missiles and 27 air strikes, and fired 59 rockets from multiple rocket launchers to Ukrainian military positions and residential areas." "The eastern regions of Ukraine have been targeted, with fighting in Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk being the most intense.
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According to CCTV News on December 9**, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a war report on the 9th, saying that the Russian army used air-based long-range precision guidance** to strike the Ukrainian army's tactical missile ammunition production base. The Russian army repelled the attack of the Ukrainian army in Kupyansk, Redman, Donetsk and other directions, and shot down a number of Ukrainian drones. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army has continued to carry out offensive operations in the Melitopol direction, repelled several attacks of the Russian army in Avdeyevka, and destroyed areas where Russian personnel and equipment are concentrated and electronic warfare facilities.
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According to CCTV4, citing "Ukrainska Pravda" 7**, the Ukrainian side recently proposed to the United States an updated list of armament needs. In addition to the ** equipment that Ukraine already has, such as "Abrams" main battle tanks, 155 mm caliber guns, F-16 fighters, as well as UAVs and "Army Tactical Missile Systems", some new ** equipment needs are also listed, such as C-17 large transport aircraft and "Apache" attack produced by Boeing *** and C-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft and "Black Hawk" produced by Lockheed Martin** In addition, the list of needs also includes American-made F-18 Hornet fighters, MQ-9B UAVs "Sky Guardian" and "THAAD" anti-missile systems.
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It is worth noting that the Russian army destroyed part of Ukraine's energy infrastructure on the 7th, which Newsweek ** said was a sign that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict had entered a new stage. According to Ukraine's energy ministry, Russian forces damaged a thermal power plant on the Ukrainian side, causing two generating units to shut down, and the attack, as well as a "temporary power shortage" in Ukraine's power grid due to a sharp drop in temperatures after the onset of winter.
In early November, the deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Skibitsky, said that Russia was likely planning to use these to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure when "cold weather is coming" and "electricity consumption is peaking". According to the US media, Russia used a similar tactic in the winter of 2022, when thousands of drone and missile strikes caused power outages throughout Ukraine. According to UN estimates, Ukraine's current electricity capacity has more than halved from February 2022 levels.
However, the U.S. "Power"** said that the Ukrainian side has limited response capabilities to the Russian army's offensive against Ukrainian infrastructure in the winter. Despite the fact that a small number of advanced air defense systems were obtained from the West, they were far from enough to compensate for the loss of the air defense systems of the Ukrainian army over the past year.
According to Xinhua News Agency on December 8, Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin said on the 7th that Ukraine has agreed to jointly produce 155 mm caliber artillery shells with two American enterprises. Since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in February last year, the demand for 155mm artillery shells on the battlefield has surged. The United States and its allies have provided Ukraine with more than 2 million rounds of 155-millimeter artillery shells, and are now ramping up production to replenish stocks, but production is not keeping up with demand.
Kamyshin made the above remarks after a meeting of the Ukrainian-American defense department ** on the 7th to discuss Ukraine's 2024 combat plan. He said that Ukraine had not previously produced such shells and "will be put into production in two to three years." Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustym Umerov met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on the 6th. Austin announced a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft ammunition. Ukraine and the United States also signed a letter of intent to accelerate the exchange of joint production and technical data to meet the urgent needs of the Ukrainian army in air defense systems, equipment maintenance and the production of critical ammunition.
According to Reuters, Ukraine's defense industry is struggling to compete with Russia's defense industry, which is "more advanced and has more budget support," due to years of underinvestment, cumbersome procedures and corruption. Umerov said that for Ukraine, building a defense industry on a par with Russia is a matter of survival.