Ukraine has foiled a new night attack by Russian drones, says kyiv – L’Express

Ukraine was the target of a new drone attack during the night from Friday to Saturday. Friday, December 15, the Russian army had already indicated that it had repelled an attack by 26 Ukrainian drones in the space of two hours above Crimea, a peninsula annexed in 2014. A few hours earlier, it was the Russian region of Kursk which was targeted by six drones. This type of drone attack has become almost daily on both sides of the front, and the number of devices used increases every month.

⇒ Ukraine targeted by a new drone attack, 30 machines shot down (army)

⇒ Russian army says it shot down 26 drones over Crimea

⇒ Presidential election in Russia: any foreign “interference” will be “severely” repressed, says Putin

The Ukrainian air force claimed to have repelled a new Russian drone attack overnight from Friday to Saturday by shooting down 30 of the 31 devices launched in several regions of the country. “A total of 31 Shahed-136/131 attack drones were used in the attack, which the occupiers sent to different regions of Ukraine,” the Air Force said in a statement.

The attack targeted, among others, the capital, kyiv, the southern region of Kherson and the western region of Khmelnytsky, all regularly struck by Russia. Russian authorities have reported the death of one person in nighttime Ukrainian bombings on the occupied part of the Kherson region, in the south of the country.

A former Moscow municipal deputy, Alexeï Gorinov, sentenced to seven years in prison for having denounced the attack in Ukraine, has disappeared from his prison, his supporters reported on Friday, who are concerned about the deterioration of his state of health. “Alexei Gorinov’s lawyers have been trying all week to get certain information about his health and whereabouts. We can say that Alexei is not in penal colony No. 2 in Pokrov,” his group said. Support.

The Russian army claimed Friday evening to have shot down 26 Ukrainian drones in the space of two hours above annexed Crimea, claiming to have repelled a “terrorist attack” from kyiv. “Russian anti-aircraft defenses destroyed 26 aerial drones over Crimea,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram, without mentioning any damage or casualties. He specified that these devices were all shot down “between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.”.

Vladimir Putin warned on Friday against any foreign “interference” during the campaign for the March 2024 presidential election in Russia, which will take place against a backdrop of conflict in Ukraine and repression of all opposition. “Any interference in the internal affairs of Russia will be repressed, and repressed severely, under Russian laws,” declared the president running for re-election, during a televised meeting with party leaders present in the Duma, the lower house of Parliament. Vladimir Putin thanked the members of the parties present in Parliament who participate “in the special military operation” in Ukraine, who “fight together for Russia” and those who help the soldiers and their families.

The price of uranium reached its highest level in nearly 17 years on Friday, driven by constrained supply and accelerating demand, against a backdrop of renewed interest in nuclear energy. The benchmark contract on uranium oxide, called U3O8 (named after its chemical formula) and which, once enriched, serves as nuclear fuel, rose to $85.75 per pound (around 450 grams) , a first since January 2007. This escalation in prices is the result of a combination of factors, notably the rebound in demand, linked to the energy transition, but also fears relating to the supply of oil and gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that he had “not changed his phone number” and that he could still be reached if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had “serious proposals” to make for peace in Ukraine. “If President Putin has a desire for dialogue and serious proposals to move forward, end the conflict and build a lasting peace, that is to say respectful of international law and therefore of Ukrainian interests and sovereignty, I will take the “call”, he said during a press conference after a European summit.

In this case, France will always be “a power which will help and which will not spare its efforts to obtain a result”, he continued, recalling its own efforts to try to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. , then to stop it in the first months.