December 15, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news - CNN

Vladimir Potanin speaks to journalists successful Moscow successful 2017. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

US President Joe Biden's medication rolled retired new sanctions connected Thursday targeting Russian-appointed proxies successful Ukraine, much than 20 Russian governors, and a affluent Russian oligarch who is believed to beryllium adjacent with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the State Department and the Treasury Department announced connected Thursday. 

The Russian oligarch present nether US sanctions is Vladimir Potanin, who US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described arsenic “one of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs and a adjacent subordinate of President Putin.” The Biden medication besides sanctioned Potanin's institution — a slope that his institution acquired this twelvemonth — and 3 of his household members, Blinken said. The US additionally identified his yacht arsenic blocked property.

Blinken said that those targeted by the sanctions see 29 Russian heads of regions and governors, 2 of their household members, and an entity owned by 1 of the household members who was “helping to beforehand Russia’s penetration and power of Ukrainian territory.” 

The governors “oversee and enforce the conscription of citizens successful effect to Russia’s caller mobilization order," Blinken said.

The US besides went aft Russians who person been enactment into positions of powerfulness successful Ukrainian territory by the Kremlin.

The sanctions besides deed the committee members of Russian railways, and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is besides designating 17 subsidiaries of VTB Bank, Blinken said. 

The sanctions travel aft Russia’s caller attacks connected Ukrainian captious infrastructure that person “caused bonzer decease and destruction,” Blinken added.

In the midst of powerfulness cuts and sub-freezing temperatures, Tony the gorilla is staying lukewarm astatine Kyiv's zoo acknowledgment to a caller wood-burning stove.

Tony, who is 47, is simply a fashionable fixture astatine the zoo, whose animals would person been enactment astatine hazard by the deficiency of vigor arsenic temperatures plunge.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said 2 generators had been installed astatine the zoo to compensate for the nonaccomplishment of energy during scheduled powerfulness cuts.

Klitschko said 200 animals rescued from the warfare are wintering successful Kyiv Zoo, including a tigress named Delilah from a backstage zoo successful Kharkiv and rhinos and porcupines from Kherson.

"Those are tiny zoos successful that portion of Ukraine wherever determination is nary heating astatine all, nothing. It is precise hard for those zoos now. Therefore, they inquire america to structure the animals. Otherwise they volition die," helium said.

Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov astatine a property briefing connected December 1 successful Kyiv. (Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty Images)

Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, lawman main of the Ukrainian military's Main Operational Directorate, connected Thursday said that Russia is stepping up accumulation of munitions and would apt bolster its mobilization with migrants.

Hromov said Russia is expanding munitions "by reducing the prime of products, arsenic good arsenic by activating the decision of agreements with different countries."

He said Russia would apt pat into the ample fig of migrants from cardinal Asia to enactment up its mobilization.

Hromov estimated that astir 2.7 cardinal of the full fig of migrants successful Russia — the immense bulk being from cardinal Asia — are men of subject age.

Some context: In November, Russia announced that its “partial mobilization” of hundreds of thousands of citizens to combat successful the country’s warfare connected Ukraine was completed. The mobilization, archetypal announced successful precocious September, sparked protests — peculiarly successful in taste number regions — and an exodus of men from the country.

Hromov besides said that the Russian subject beingness has been growing successful Belarus.

"Russian units of the Second Motorized Rifle Division ... are undergoing grooming and combat coordination. ... The Kremlin uses the officers and grooming crushed infrastructure of Belarus to reconstruct the combat capableness of existing units, arsenic good arsenic to bid recently established subject units," helium said.

Hromov said Russian tanks and craft had been moved to Belarus, apt to supply Russia with different way for its rocket attacks.

"The force redeployed 3 Mig 31-K aircrafts, which transportation Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, arsenic good arsenic an A-50U long-range radar detection craft to Machulychi airfield. This indicates an summation successful the aggressor's capabilities to behaviour aerial strikes connected the territory of Ukraine," helium said.

Belarus' relation successful the conflict: Neighboring Belarus is among Moscow's astir stalwart allies, and the 2 nations have held associated subject exercises since Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

Belarus has served arsenic a staging crushed for Russian forces adjacent Ukraine's bluish border. It was the launching constituent for the Kremlin's yet unsuccessful march toward Kyiv astatine the commencement of the invasion.

One of Ukraine's astir elder subject officers said that astir 400 clashes person taken spot betwixt Ukrainian and Russian forces successful the eastbound regions of Ukraine this week.

Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, lawman main of the Ukrainian military's Main Operational Directorate, said Russia continues to motorboat attacks utilizing missiles and artillery on a wide front.

"Since Dec. 8, the force has launched 41 rocket strikes," including 38 attacks with S-300 missiles, connected the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine and positions of troops.

Russia has besides launched 32 drones loaded with explosives astatine vigor facilities, including 15 self-detonating drones astatine the civilian infrastructure of Kyiv, helium said. Almost each the Iranian-made drones were intercepted.

Hromov said that "388 subject clashes with the force took spot successful eastbound Ukraine this week" and claimed the Russians had experienced dense casualties.

"During Dec. 1 and 2, up to 500 wounded were taken to hospitals successful Luhansk, mostly from among the mercenaries of the Wagner backstage subject company," helium claimed.

"In total, arsenic of Dec. 4, much than 3,600 wounded Russian servicemen from the alleged peculiar contingent were successful hospitals successful the occupied territories," Hromov claimed. There is nary mode to verify the estimate.

Hromov besides said that Ukrainian attacks connected Russian positions and facilities down the beforehand lines continued.

"During the week, artillery units person struck 309 force targets, including 34 power points, 24 warehouses with ammunition and fuel," helium said.

Additionally, helium said, high-precision weapons had targeted 58 sites, including 5 ammunition warehouses.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits the liberated metropolis of Kherson, Ukraine connected November 14, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

In a bid of interviews with The Economist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his apical commanders accidental they expect a caller violative by Russia aboriginal successful the caller twelvemonth – but are successful nary temper to compromise connected their eventual goals. 

Zelensky repeated that Ukraine’s purpose was to retrieve the onshore it held erstwhile it became autarkic successful 1991 — including Crimea. 

Days aft the Kremlin said Ukraine indispensable admit caller realities, including Russia's caller annexation of 4 Ukrainian regions, Zelensky repeated that Ukraine would marque nary concessions. “If helium [Putin] present withdraws to the 1991 borders past the imaginable way of diplomats volition begin. That is who tin truly crook the warfare from a subject way to a diplomatic one. Only helium tin bash it.” 

Zelensky said it was “a small scary” to sojourn precocious liberated towns and witnesser however the concern had changed people. 

“I indispensable admit that this propaganda exemplary of the Kremlin — it works.” It had changed Ukrainians successful occupied territories. They were similar “astronauts who cannot instrumentality disconnected dense helmets — limiting what they tin spot to unrelenting disinformation.” 

The wide subject commandant successful Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, said helium expected a caller Russian violative successful the caller year. 

“They [Russian forces] are 100% being prepared,” helium said. 

A large Russian onslaught could travel “in February, astatine champion successful March and astatine worst astatine the extremity of January”, helium said. And it could travel anywhere: successful Donbas, wherever Putin is anxious to seizure the remainder of Donetsk province; successful the south, towards the metropolis of Dnipro; adjacent towards Kyiv. 

Russian shelling of the precocious liberated Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson continues to termination civilians, according to Ukrainian officials.

"The force deed a captious infrastructure facility. Shell fragments damaged residential buildings and the spot wherever the aesculapian assistance and humanitarian assistance organisation constituent is located," Yaroslav Yanushevych, caput of Kherson portion subject administration, said successful a Telegram video connected Thursday.

Yanushevych said 2 radical had been killed.

Three much radical were wounded, helium said.

Yanushevych earlier said the metropolis had been hit 86 times with “artillery, MLRS, tanks, mortars and UAVs” implicit 24 hours.

A section authoritative says missiles fired by Ukraine triggered aerial defense systems implicit the municipality of Klintsy successful the Russian portion of Bryansk connected Wednesday night, but the missiles “were changeable down.”

This would beryllium the 2nd clip successful a week that Klintsy has been targeted. On Tuesday Aleksandr Bogomaz, the politician of the region claimed the Ukrainians “shelled the territory of the city.” 

Klintsy is located astir 50 kilometers (about 80 miles) from the Ukrainian border. 

Posting connected Telegram a mates of hours aboriginal connected Wednesday, Bogomaz said “As a effect of the falling rocket debris changeable down by the aerial defence system, the powerfulness proviso to the colony of Ardon’ successful the Klintsy municipality territory was damaged." Ardon is located southbound of the city. 

Video posted to societal media shows a livestream camera of a cardinal thoroughfare and an orangish flash coming from the south. CNN was capable to place the determination of the livestream camera from Google maps and crosscheck with the video posted connected societal media. The camera points south.

CNN has been incapable to verify if was falling debris that caused the powerfulness outage oregon if it was a nonstop attack.

Russia unleashed caller strikes implicit Kherson connected Thursday morning, arsenic the astir ten-month struggle successful Ukraine ramped up successful the confederate and eastbound regions of the country.

Here are the latest developments:

Kyiv has been fixed machinery and generators from the United States to assistance fortify the city's powerfulness infrastructure, amid sweeping vigor deficits crossed the country.

The politician of Ukraine's capital, Vitali Klitschko, said Kyiv "received machinery and generators from the U.S. Government to run boiler houses and vigor proviso stations."

The Energy Security Project, tally by USAID, delivered 4 excavators and implicit 130 generators successful bid to assistance Ukraine rebuild its vigor infrastructure, Klitschko said connected Telegram. All instrumentality was escaped of charge.

The excavators “have already been delivered and volition beryllium soon enactment to work," the politician added.

The caller equipment, volition let authorities "to rapidly and efficiently execute ungraded excavation, and frankincense accelerate the show of exigency works," helium said.

The generators were sent to boiler houses, combined vigor and powerfulness plants and vigor proviso stations.

“11 kilometers of heating networks damaged by rocket attacks were replaced this year," Klitschko added.