Zelensky visited the front-line area and praised the Ukrainian army as a “Hero”

Ukrainian President Zelensky poses with a Ukrainian soldier during his visit to Slavyansk on December 6, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday (December 6) near the front line at war with Russia and vowed to drive all Russian troops out of Ukraine.

On the day of the “Armed Forces of Ukraine Day”, Zelensky said in a video address to the army in the Ukrainian stronghold of Slavyansk: “Everyone sees your strength and skills. …… I am grateful to your parents. They raised real heroes. Russia

reported drone strikes on strategic facilities on its territory for the second day in a row, but Ukraine did not admit to carrying out the attacks.

In one of the incidents, a drone hit an airport in the area, which subsequently caught fire, while independent Russian media reported that the drone hit a factory 80 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, said the governor of the Kursk region in southern Russia, which borders Ukraine.

Russian officials did not immediately blame Ukraine for the recent bombings, but the new attacks came a day after Moscow said Kiev was responsible for an unprecedented and similar attack on two air bases in Russia.

The attacks on Engels air base in Saratov Oblast, Volga, and Dyagilevo air base in Ryazan Oblast, western Russia, more than 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, were among the most daring attacks on Russian territory during Putin’s decade-long war against Ukraine, raising questions about the effectiveness of Russian air defense systems.

In response, the Russian army carried out a wave of missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, hitting residential homes and buildings, and resulting in the killing of civilians.

Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed that these drone strikes were carried out, but presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak taunted Moscow in comments posted on Twitter.

Podolyak wrote: “If something is launched into the airspace of other countries, sooner or later these UFOs will return to the point of departure.” The earth is round. The

Russian Defense Ministry said three Russian servicemen were killed in Monday’s attack, four others were injured by fragments, and two planes were also slightly damaged. The Engels base has Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear strategic bombers, which participated in the attack on Ukraine. Diaghilievo has tankers for aerial refueling.

Profile photo: Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber

In its daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence said Russia could see the attacks on air bases as “the most strategically important failure in terms of force protection since the invasion of Ukraine.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities would “take the necessary measures” to strengthen the protection of critical facilities in light of the attacks.

Peskov told reporters on Tuesday: “The Ukrainian regime’s policy of continuing such terrorist attacks poses a threat.”

He reiterated that Russia does not see prospects for peace talks at the moment, adding that “the Russian Federation must achieve its stated goals.” Russia

continues its fierce attacks on Ukrainian territory, shelling towns near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant at night, leaving more than 9,000 households without water, local Ukrainian officials said.

These towns are across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant captured by the Russian army at the beginning of the war. For months, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the nuclear power plant and its surroundings.

Ukraine says it has repelled a new round of Russian attacks in the east, while technicians are scrambling to restore power. The latest wave of missile strikes by Moscow has caused nationwide power cuts and colder weather.

Ukrainian officials have warned that critical energy infrastructure continues to be threatened by further Russian attacks and that another emergency blackout is possible in several areas.

About half of the area around Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, will continue to be without power in the coming days after a Russian missile attack on the power facility, the governor of Kiev oblast said.

Monday’s attack plunged parts of Ukraine into cold and darkness, the latest in a wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure in recent weeks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the attacks amounted to Russia’s weaponization of the winter, causing suffering to the Ukrainian people.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that attacks on energy infrastructure “add another layer of danger” to an already severe humanitarian crisis.

“In today’s Ukraine, the ability of civilians to survive is under attack,” he told diplomats.

“International humanitarian law speaks for itself: objects that are indispensable to the survival of civilians must be protected,” he added. In all military operations, constant care must be taken to protect civilians and civilian objects.

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, dismissed the criticism, saying Russian forces were carrying out precision strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure for military supplies, logistics, and communications.

“If Ukraine had not deployed air defense systems in residential areas, the civilian infrastructure of its towns would not have been affected,” Nebenja said. In

response to the missile attack, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, urged allies to further strengthen Ukraine’s air and missile defense capabilities.

(This article draws on reports from Reuters, AFP, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.)