Moscow was targeted by Ukraine in the latest attack in the conflict.
Ukraine launched a pre-dawn onslaught on Russia’s oil industry as the UK government issued a WW3 warning, saying that the country may have to go on a war-footing. Kyiv’s drones sparked fireballs in one of Moscow’s top refineries in a bid to smash Vladimir Putin’s funding of his bloody war.
And as the latest escalation unfolded, UK Defence Minister and war veteran Al Carns warned: “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more.” He added: “That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it.” It followed NATO chief Mark Rutte’s earlier warning that we must prepare for war “like our grandparents endured”.
Earlier Ukraine struck the Russian city of Yaroslavl in the latest onslaught bid to smash Vladimir Putin’s warchest. According to reports residents heard around seven explosions before seeing a bright glow and thick smoke rising from the area of the Yaroslavnefteorgsintez refinery, reports the Mirror.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure since July, arguing that disrupting oil refining and fuel production directly weakens the Kremlin’s ability to continue to wage war. The depot is ranked among Russia’s top five oil-processing plants.
The strike on Yaroslavl comes less than a day after Ukraine carried out its biggest drone attack of the full-scale war. On Dec. 11, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched close to 300 drones of various types, along with cruise missiles, hitting targets across western and central Russia – a stretch of nearly 1,500 miles.
About one-fifth of the drones flew directly toward Moscow, circling above the capital for hours and forcing air-defence units into a frantic overnight operation. All four airports around the capital were locked down, leaving 130 flights due to depart from the city cancelled and thousands stranded.
The attack came after it emerged that Ukraine denied it had approved latest plans for a peace plan including allowing part of the disputed Donbas region as a “buffer zone” or demilitarised area. It followed claims Kyiv had agreed in principle to a demilitarised zone on both sides of the current Donbas front line, allegedly backed by European leaders and included in a revised US peace plan.
The European Union may bankroll Ukraine’s war effort for two years by using frozen Russian assets to underwrite a huge wartime loan. Leaders will next week assess how to use the tens of billions of euros in Russian Central Bank assets to issue to the loan.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe – accused the European Commission “of systematically raping European law.” A total of £184 billion in Russian assets are frozen in Europe.
The vast majority – around £169 billion at the end of September – is held in Euroclear, a Belgian financial clearing house. The money was frozen under sanctions the EU imposed on Moscow over the war it launched on February 24 2022, but the sanctions must be renewed every six months.
All 27 member countries must approve them. Hungary and Slovakia oppose providing more support to Ukraine. Mr Orban said it means “the rule of law in the European Union comes to an end, and Europe’s leaders are placing themselves above the rules. ” He said: “The European Commission is systematically raping European law. It is doing this in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that clearly isn’t winnable,” he wrote.
He said Hungary “will do everything in its power to restore a lawful order”. A 28-point peace plan drafted by US and Russian envoys stipulated that the EU would release the frozen assets for use by Ukraine, Russia and the United States. That plan was rejected by Ukraine and its backers in Europe.
