Almost a dozen killed in Russian strike on Pokrovsk in east Ukraine

8:00pm: ‘All necessary rescue forces’ deployed, Zelensky says

Reacting to the deadly strike in the eastern town of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “all necessary rescue forces” had been deployed and that emergency services were still sifting through the rubble. 

Zelensky went on to offer his condolences to all those who had lost loved ones in the strike.

6:04pm: Almost a dozen killed by Russian strike on eastern Ukraine town of Pokrovsk

At least 11 people were killed by a Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk on Saturday, the regional governor said. Eight people were also wounded when Russian forces hit the area with S-300 missiles. 

“Eleven dead, including five children – these are the consequences, for now, of strikes on Pokrovsk district,” wrote Vadim Filashkin, the governor of the Ukrainian-held part of the Donetsk region, on Telegram. 

“The main blow was dealt to Pokrovsk and Rivne in the community of Myrnograd,” he added.

The town of Pokrovsk, which had a population of 60,000 before the war, was hit by a deadly bombardment last August that left nine people dead and 82 injured. 

Pictures that Filashkin posted online showed rescue squads sifting through large piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle. 

Filashkin said the attack showed Russian forces were “trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land”.

4:02pm: Blinken presses Turkey on Sweden’s NATO bid 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of Turkey ratifying Sweden’s NATO membership in talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday in Istanbul, the first leg of Blinken’s trip to the Mideast focused on the war in Gaza.

The State Department said Blinken and Erdogan discussed both “completing Sweden’s accession to NATO and strengthening trade and investment between the United States and Turkey”. 

A key committee in the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO in late December after months of delays but it awaits a vote by the full Turkish parliament. 

Foreign Minister Fidan said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of Ankara’s request to upgrade its fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership ultimately lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament. Erdogan has also linked Swedish ratification to the delivery of F-16s. 

Erdogan has used Turkey’s veto power in NATO to compel Sweden to take a tougher stance with pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm that Ankara views as “terrorists”.

Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and sought to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Their bids won fast-track approval from all NATO members except Turkey and Hungary.

3:10pm: Russia cancels Orthodox Christmas masses in Ukraine border city

Russia said Saturday that it would cancel Orthodox Christmas midnight masses in the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border, a day after officials offered to evacuate worried residents amid increasing attacks.

Belgorod has been hit with near daily Ukrainian attacks in recent days, the deadliest of which killed 25 people on December 30. 

Russia celebrates Orthodox Christmas on January 7 and midnight masses are held on the night of January 6. 

The mayor of Belgorod, Valentin Demidov, said on social media he agreed with local church leaders that “night masses in Belgorod would be cancelled in connection to the operational situation”. 

2:04pm: Ukraine shows evidence Russia fired North Korean missile at Kharkiv

The Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office provided further evidence on Saturday that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments.

A senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during the February 2022 invasion.

Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said the missile – one of several that hit the city of Kharkiv on January 2 – was visually and technically different from Russian models.

“The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Chubenko told the media as he displayed the remnants.

He said the missile was slightly bigger in diameter than the Russian Iskander missile while its nozzle, internal electrical windings and rear parts were also different.

“That is why we are leaning towards the version that this may be a missile which was supplied by North Korea.”

Chubenko declined to give the exact name of the missile’s model. 

2:02pm: Denmark to complete transfer of US-made F-16s to Ukraine by June

Denmark’s transfer of 19 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will take place in the second quarter of 2024, once Ukrainian pilots have completed training, the defence ministry said Saturday.

“Based on the current timetable, the donation should take place in the second quarter of 2024,” the Danish ministry said in a statement.

“It’s mainly an issue of finishing the training of Ukrainian personnel who will operate the planes.”

12:00pm: Russia on track to lose half a million soldiers, UK defence ministry says

If the numbers of Russian losses continue at the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over half a million personnel in Ukraine, the UK ministry of defence said in a post on X on Saturday. 

10:11am: Kyiv says its drone attack hit Crimean airbase

Ukraine‘s air force says it hit the Saki airbase in western Crimea in an overnight drone attack. Moscow previously said that it had successfully downed four drones over the peninsular overnight.

“Saki airfield! All targets have been shot!” Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force, said on social media. 

Ukraine has targeted Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, since the start of Moscow’s full-scale offensive. 

Kyiv said Friday that it had targeted a command post near Sevastopol on Thursday. 

9:31am: Russia to produce over 32,000 drones each year by 2030, state media says

Russia plans to produce more than 32,000 drones each year by 2030 and for domestic producers to account for 70 percent of the market, the TASS news agency cited First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as saying on Saturday.

Drones have been widely used by Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and both sides are sharply increasing military production as the war drags on.

“The annual production volume of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – excluding educational UAVs – is planned at 32,500 units,” Belousov told TASS. “This is almost three times higher than current production volumes.

“At the same time, it is planned that the share of Russian UAVs will make up 70 percent of the market in this type of UAV.”

9:27am: Russia says it downed four Ukrainian missiles over Crimea overnight

Russia on Saturday said its forces shot down four Ukrainian missiles over Moscow-annexed Crimea over night. 

“Air defence on duty intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian missiles over the Crimea peninsula,” the Russian defence ministry said. 

4:18am: Russia offers to relocate Belgorod residents after shelling

Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod offered to evacuate worried residents on Friday, an unprecedented announcement that follows waves of fatal Ukrainian attacks.

The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but the recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to home for Russians.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s assurance that scared civilians can relocate represents the furthest-reaching measure taken by any major Russian city since Moscow ordered the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)