Russia attacked Ukraine with sixteen Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight, Ukrainian officers stated on Friday, an afternoon after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its ultra-modern barrage in opposition to important infrastructure.
DIPLOMACY
* Russian President Vladimir Putin stated he aimed to deepen navy cooperation with China and anticipated Chinese President Xi Jinping to go to Russia in spring 2023.
* Xi advised Putin the street to peace talks on Ukraine might now no longer be easy and China might retain to uphold its “goal and honest stance” at the issue, Chinese kingdom media stated after a video convention among the 2 leaders. Their readout did now no longer point out a kingdom go to or navy cooperation.
* NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg referred to as on NATO member states to deliver extra guns to Ukraine, in step with an interview.
ECONOMY
* The rouble soared in its very last consultation of a unstable 12 months on Friday, however remained on direction for hefty losses in December, after fears over the effect of a Western oil fee cap on Russia’s export sales ruled this month’s trading.
* Russia’s finance ministry stated the most feasible proportion of Chinese yuan in its National Wealth Fund (NWF) have been doubled to 60% because it restructures its rainy-day fund to lessen dependency on currencies from so-referred to as “unfriendly” nations.
* Putin additionally stated Russia had end up one in all China’s main providers of oil and fueloline, with 13.eight billion cubic metres of fueloline shipped to China thru the Power of Siberia pipeline withinside the first eleven months of 2022.
FIGHTING
* Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, stated at the least 3 humans have been killed in clean Russian shelling in a border place of northern Chernihiv vicinity and in jap Kharkiv vicinity.
* Russia released sixteen “kamikaze” drones into Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s navy stated after the two a.m. air raid alert. All sixteen have been shot down through air defences, it stated.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated air instructions in central, southern, jap and western Ukraine repelled fifty four Russian missiles and eleven drones on Thursday.
* More than 18 residential homes and 10 important infrastructure installations have been destroyed in Thursday’s attacks, a defence ministry declaration stated on Thursday evening.
* Russia’s Defence Ministry on Friday defined the assault as a “large strike” on Ukraine’s strength and navy-commercial infrastructure the usage of high-precision guns.
* Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo stated the deficit in Ukraine’s strength device became on the equal degree as earlier than Thursday’s attacks.
* The Kremlin stated it became extraordinarily involved approximately a Ukrainian anti-plane missile that it stated have been shot down after flying into the air area of its near best friend Belarus on Thursday. Ukraine’s defence ministry stated it might inspect the incident, suggesting it became a Russian provocation and booking the proper to shield its personal skies.
