Russia-Ukraine war live: shelling continues in Ukraine and Russia, as one person reported dead in Chernihiv; Xi Jinping to visit Russia

Read More

The Eurovision chief has said Russia’s ongoing ban from the international song contest has been hard but the event should stand for “the basic and ultimate values of democracy”.

Russia was banned from competing in the Eurovision song contest in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s national broadcasters subsequently suspended their memberships of the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the show, preventing them from taking part in future contests.

Speaking to Abba’s Bj?rn Ulvaeus on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, for which the Swedish songwriter was acting as guest editor, Eurovision’s executive supervisor, Martin ?sterdahl, was asked if the decision to exclude Russia had been hard to make.

He said:

It was, and it still is. How Europe feels very much affects the contest.

It is also that when you look back in time, you see that the Eurovision song contest is like a logbook of what has happened in Europe, what the trends have been in Europe.

“But, also, what is the kind of mood and sentiment of Europe, and what is the social context of Europe at the time. When we say we are not political, what we always should stand up for are the basic and ultimate values of democracy. Everyone is right to be who they are.

Read the full story here:

Rishi Sunak has vowed that Britain will continue to provide Ukraine with support “to defend themselves” after the UK announced a new package of support to help Kyiv clear minefields and unexploded ordnance.

More than 1,000 Vallon metal detectors and 100 bomb de-arming kits are included in the package, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The support will allow Ukrainian troops to clear safe routes on roads and paths, and help people return to their homes by protecting civilian infrastructure and property, it added.

Writing on Twitter, Sunak said:

Over the last few days Ukraine has suffered one of the worst waves of missile strikes. Ukrainians remain undeterred. The UK in turn will continue to provide them with support to defend themselves.

Here are some of the latest images we have received from Ukraine.

The Ukrinform website is reporting that Ukraine expects to receive 12 more temporary bridges from the Czech Republic in 2023. Andriy Ivko, deputy head of Ukraine’s road agency Ukravtodor, speaking at an event, is quoted as saying:

Since July, six such structures have been handed over to us, and four of them have already been installed on state motorways in Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions. We plan to install two more bridges in Kherson region. Next year, we expect another 12 similar bridges to be delivered from the Czech Republic.

One person has been killed by Russian shelling in the Ukrainian town of Semenivka in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine according to reports. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, said on Telegram that Semenivka was left without electricity after three strikes. “So far, one dead person is known,” he posted to Telegram.

Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy region, which is in Ukraine’s north-east and borders Russia, has posted to Telegram to say that overnight three settlements in the area were fired on by Russia. Two air alerts have sounded today in the Mykolaiv region, so far with no attack materialising.

In Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, reported that an industrial enterprise had been hit by shelling from over the border in Ukraine. Additionally, the RIA news agency quoted the Russian-imposed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, as saying that air defence systems had been used this morning. “All services are operating normally. Our military, as always, worked well,” he said, urging residents in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to remain calm. He gave no further details of the incident.

Ukraine’s air force reported on Friday morning that Russia launched 16 so-called kamikaze drones overnight, and that Ukrainian air defences destroyed all of them. It added that the drones had been sent from the south-east and north.

Earlier, the Kyiv city military administration informed residents that five Shahed drones entered Kyiv’s airspace, and debris from one struck an administrative building in Holosiiv.

None of the claims have been independently verified.

The all clear has been sounded in the Mykolaiv region. The air alert, the second this morning, lasted for 33 minutes.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to say that one person has been killed in a shelling incident in Semenivka in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine. He writes:

The occupiers shelled the settlement, presumably using barrel artillery. Three arrivals were recorded. Electricity has gone out in the city. So far, one dead person is known. The information is being clarified.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, has reported on Telegram that there has been shelling into the area. He writes:

The Shebekinsky urban district came under fire. There were no casualties. There is a shell hit on the territory of an industrial enterprise – windows are broken, the fence is damaged. All emergency services are on site.

Belgorod is to the east of Ukraine, bordering Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, and also bordering Luhansk, one of the regions which Russia claims to have annexed.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, has posted to Telegram to say that an air alarm is in effect. It is the second air alarm of the day in the area.

Rueters has a little more detail on the televised remarks between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping as the presidents of Russia and China traded remarks.

Putin said: “We are expecting you, dear Mr Chairman, dear friend, we are expecting you next spring on a state visit to Moscow.”

He said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations”.

Speaking for about eight minutes, Putin said Russia-China relations were growing in importance as a stabilising factor, and that he aimed to deepen military cooperation between the two countries.

In a response that lasted around a quarter as long, Xi said China was ready to increase strategic cooperation with Russia against the backdrop of what he called a “difficult” situation in the world at large.

Reuters reports that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said on Friday he was expecting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to make a state visit to Russia in spring 2023.

In introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin said the importance of Russia-China relations was rising as a stabilising factor, and that he aimed to deepen military cooperation between the two countries.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted to Telegram a series of images of Ukrainian troops and rescue workers in action, along with this message in Ukrainian and English:

We are fighting for Ukraine, for the values that unite Europe and the democratic world, for the global value of life. For everything that the terrorist state is trying to destroy.

It is not easy, it is hard, but I am confident that we will pull through and Russian aggression will fail so that all other potential aggressors of the world do not dare to repeat what Russism does.

Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, has given an update on the power situation in the region. He has announced on Telegram:

As of this moment, electricity is supplied in the Lviv region according to the schedule of hourly outages. Repair work related to damage after missile strikes has already been completed by the energy industry.

The US ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget A Brink, has posted a new year’s video message to the people of Ukraine, in which she promises that US support for the country is “ironclad”.

Posted under a tweet that reads: “The United States will continue to stand with Ukraine as partners and friends in 2023, and I wish you a peaceful New Year,” in the video clip Brink says:

During these darkest days of the year, Russia continues to try to extinguish Ukraine’s light. In spite of the Kremlin’s brutality, its atrocities and its attempts to deprive you of heat and comfort, your courage and perseverance have only burned brighter.

The spirit of Ukraine continues to inspire the world in our shared pursuit of a better future. You have shown time and again that you will not be stopped by the Kremlin’s cruelty. This, among so much else drives, our enduring belief that Ukraine will prevail.

The American people see all you are willing to sacrifice in the fight for your freedom and your country. Your determination strengthens our resolve, and as we approach the new year, I want to assure you that our commitment to Ukraine is ironclad. We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as partners and friends in 2023. And I wish you a peaceful and victorious new year.