Kyiv’s military calls for 500,000 more troops as Putin’s forces advance – live

The eastern European state that accounts for just 2 per cent of the entire EU population has derailed a vital aid package to Ukraine – and now threatens to derail Kyiv’s future as a member. With Putin’s fortunes rising, it is time to suspend Hungary from the bloc’s foreign policy decision-making, writes Bill Browder

Read Bill’s full piece here:

Billionaire Roman Abramovich said in a statement on Wednesday that he was disappointed by the loss of a legal challenge to overturn sanctions imposed on him by the European Union.

“Although we are disappointed with today’s ruling, we welcome that the court did not take up several arguments presented by the EU Council and did not include them as a basis for maintaining sanctions,” Abramovich said in a statement issued on his behalf.

“Mr Abramovich does not have the ability to influence the decision making of any government, including Russia, and has in no way benefitted from the war.”

Russia has made gains in northeast Kupyansk, an area north of Bakhmut and southwest of Avdiivka, a think thank has said.

The Institute for the Study of War added that Kremlin troops continued meeting engagement battles along “the entire line of contact.”

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Kyiv plans to produce a million reconnaissance and attack FPV drones and more than 11,000 medium- and long-range attack drones next year, Ukraine’s minister for strategic industries said on Wednesday.

“All production facilities are ready, and contracting for 2024 begins,” Oleksandr Kamyshin said on Telegram messenger.

The figure includes at least 1,000 drones with a range of more than 1,000 km (620 miles), he said.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that there is no current basis for talks between Russia and Ukraine as none of the prerequisites are in place.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine withdrew from the negotiation process in 2022 “at Britain’s insistence” and “forbade” negotiations with Russia.

Ukraine says peace can only based on a full Russian withdrawal from all the territory it has seized since the war began in February 2022.

The European Union’s top court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich that had been placed upon him after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

After President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the EU sanctioned Russian officials and a host of Russian businessmen, such as Abramovich, while freezing hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets.

Abramovich had launched a legal challenge against this.

“The general court dismisses the action brought by Mr Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him,” said the EU’s top court in a ruling.

Abramovich, who also holds Israeli citizenship and is a former owner of Chelsea soccer club, became one of the world’s most powerful businessmen after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Forbes estimates his net worth at $9.2 billion.

A Russian claiming to be a former officer with the Wagner Group has arrived in the Netherlands and says he wants to provide evidence to the International Criminal Court, which is investigating atrocities in the war in Ukraine.

Dutch news program EenVandaag reported Monday that Igor Salikov had flown into the Netherlands. The news show spoke to him via a videolink. He is believed to have applied for asylum and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

“I have a working relationship with Zaluzhnyi. He should be responsible for the results on the battlefield as the commander-in-chief, and together with the General Staff [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine]. There are many questions there,” Mr Zelensky said in a year-end press conference in Kyiv where he opened the floor to questions from the crowd.

Vladimir Putin wants Donald Trump to win the US election because he believes it will turn the tide of the war in his favour, the Czech president has said.

Petr Pavel told Czech newspaper Seznam Zpravy the outcome of Russia’s war in Ukraine could hinge on the outcome of the US presidential election in November.

“We will have elections in Russia, where Vladimir Putin will probably win without much surprise, we will have elections in the United States, where the outcome is far from certain,” he said.

“And it can be assumed that the anticipation of elections will bring certain changes on the battlefield as well.”

He added: “At least on Vladimir Putin’s side, there is an expectation that in the event of Donald Trump’s success, he would be able to negotiate with him regardless of what Ukraine or the rest of Europe thinks about it.”