As West considers new sanctions against Russia Reuters Attacks intensify in eastern Ukraine 12/12/2022 07:59

Russian forces hit targets in eastern and southern Ukraine with missiles, drones and artillery, with millions left without electricity in sub-zero temperatures after renewed attacks on basic infrastructure, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Monday.

In a wave of diplomacy over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with leaders of the United States, France and Turkey ahead of their scheduled meetings on Monday when the Group of Seven (G7) and the European Union could agree on new sanctions. against Russia.

Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War, which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” and Ukraine and its allies an act of unprovoked aggression, has neither peace talks nor an end in sight.

Speaking to the RIA news agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said that Russia still does not see a “constructive” approach from the United States to the conflict in Ukraine. The two countries established a series of contacts in Turkey.

The White House said in a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Zelenskiy on Sunday, Washington prioritized efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. Zelenskiy said he thanked Biden for the “unprecedented defense and financial assistance” provided by the United States.

In Ukraine, the Black Sea port of Odessa resumed operations on Monday, after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two power plants on Saturday. Authorities said power was gradually restored to about 1.5 million people.

Other regions facing “very difficult” conditions for electricity supply are the capital, Kiev, and the Kiev region, as well as four regions in western Ukraine and the central Dnipropetrovsk region, Zelenskiy said.

No new attacks or power outages were reported on Monday.

In its daily update on the nationwide military situation, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces had repelled Russian attacks on four settlements in the eastern Donetsk region and eight in the neighboring Luhansk region.

Russia continued its attacks on the now devastated Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Lyman, and carried out two missile strikes against civilian infrastructure in Kostyantynivka, all in the Donetsk region – four that Moscow claimed to have annexed from Ukraine after the “referendums” were deemed illegal. one of the missiles by Kiev.

Elsewhere, Russian forces have carried out more than 60 rocket system attacks targeting civilian infrastructure in the southern city of Kherson, liberated by Ukrainian forces last month, and Ukrainian troops stationed there, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Ukrainian military said Russia bombed settlements along the Zaporizhzhia front line in south-central Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces hit Russian checkpoints, ammunition depots and other targets.

Reuters was unable to confirm the reports regardless of the battlefield.