Military actions in Donetsk region, 191 combat clashes, enemy shelling. How will the 1031st day of the full-scale war be remembered?
As a result of the morning missile attack by the Russian Federation on Kyiv, the embassies of five countries were damaged.
This was announced at a briefing by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Georgy Tykhyi.
“Today, a number of embassies were damaged in Kyiv as a result of shelling. All of these embassies are located in one building, which was seriously damaged as a result of a Russian missile strike,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman noted.
The embassies of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, North Macedonia, Portugal and Montenegro were hit. Windows, doors and ceiling fragments were knocked out.
“Everywhere in the world, this is the intersection of all possible red lines, and international rules in general – these are strikes on diplomatic institutions,” Tikhiy added.
Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that as of 22:00 on December 20, 191 combat clashes have occurred.
The enemy is intensively attacking Ukrainian defenders in the Pokrovsk direction. There, during the day, the aggressor carried out 41 assault and offensive actions.
25 combat contacts occurred in the Vremovsk direction.
ten combat clashes occurred today in the Kurskdirection, in addition, the enemy launched one missile strike and carried out 377 artillery shellings.
More details about the operational situation as of the evening of December 20 are in the news.
The operational-strategic group of forces “Khortitsa” stated that Ukrainian units had withdrawn from the settlements of Uspenovka and Trudov. Therefore, the information about the operational encirclement does not correspond to reality.
The command noted that the dissemination of unverified and unreliable information “harms the performance of tasks by the Ukrainian Defense Forces, is actively disseminated by the information resources of the aggressor country and fully corresponds to the enemy's narratives.”
On the night of December 20, the DeepState analytical group published a message in its Telegram channel that the enemy had occupied Trudovoe and Uspenovka and not everyone was able to escape from the encirclement.
Ukraine has returned the bodies of 503 fallen Ukrainian defenders from Russia.
“As a result of the repatriation activities carried out, the bodies of 503 fallen defenders were returned to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. 403 from the Donetsk direction, 12 from Luhansk, 57 from Zaporizhia. 31 dead were returned from morgues on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the message from the Coordination for the Treatment of Prisoners of War says.
The identities of the dead will be established in the shortest possible time together with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
At the end of November, Ukraine returned the bodies of 502 fallen defenders.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets held a meeting in Belarus with the Russian ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova.
According to Lubinets, the meeting took place with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Ukrainian ombudsman said that there had been an exchange of parcels and letters for prisoners of war, the transfer and verification of lists, and the repatriation of bodies. “We transferred lists of prisoners of war, discussed verification issues, as well as lists of illegally imprisoned civilians. We exchanged parcels and letters for prisoners of war. We transferred 1,500 packages with warm clothing and other necessary items,” Lubinets said.
He added that he and Moskalkova discussed ways of further cooperation to return prisoners of war, civilians, and resolve humanitarian issues.
On January 1, 2025, at 7:00, the Ukrainian gas transportation system will stop transporting Russian gas..
This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during the “Question Hour to the Government” in the Verkhovna Rada. if, at the request of the European Commission, we transport non-Russian gas through our system,” the head of government noted.
Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening video address on December 20 that he had approved the candidacies of more than 30 ambassadors.
Among the candidates are former Kremlin political prisoner Nariman Dzhelal, director of the New Europe Center and senior associate analyst at the Atlantic Council Alena Getmanchuk, and head of the diplomatic mission in Brazil Andriy Melnyk.
More details in the news.
A car crashed into a group of people at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg in eastern Germany, Reuters reports.
It is noted that several people were injured, some may have been killed.
Many police and emergency services are working at the scene.
According to the DPA agency, the driver of the car has been arrested. It is not yet known who he is and what his motive was. According to telegram channels, 11 people died, 60 were injured.
The most complete picture of today is on our website. We hope that there will be more good news tomorrow.
We hold on and bring Victory closer!
