Russia-Ukraine war – live: Support for Putin’s war hits new low as four killed in Moscow bombings

At least four people have been killed and 45 more injured following Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday.

Casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv oblasts region.

Russia launched a total of 59 missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight and in the morning, the Air Force said. Ukraine said it shot down 18 cruise missiles and eight Shahed-136/131 drones.

Support for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has hit a new low, according to research that reveals a majority of Russians want an end to the conflict.

A majority of Russians now support the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine “without achieving the goals” of the war, research reported by Russian news outlet Verstka says.

It also revealed citizens consider the war to be the most important and negative circumstance in their lives and want it to end as quickly as possible.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with top officials in Poland on Monday to strengthen ties with the NATO nation, which borders Ukraine.

Kamikawa conferred with Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski in Warsaw and a placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She also was scheduled to meet President Andrzej Duda.

She began her visit to Poland on Saturday, but interrupted it to make an unannounced visit to Ukraine, where she pledged Japan’s continued support for the country as it tries to defend itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Japan announced during her visit that it would contribute $37 million to the NATO trust fund to provide Ukraine with drone detection systems.

Read the full article here

Britain’s defence secretary has insisted that those hoping for an announcement on further support for Ukraine “won’t be disappointed”.

Responding to concerns from his predecessor Ben Wallace that the UK could fall behind its European partners if it does not anounce new funding for the next financial year soon, Grant Shapps told the Commons: “He is absolutely right about the ongoing support for Ukraine.

“All I can say is he won’t be disappointed and he won’t need to wait too long.”

More 100 residents of the Russian border city of Belgorod have evacuated to an area further from the Ukrainian border, local officials said.

“On behalf of the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, we met the first Belgorod residents who decided to move to the safest place. More than 100 people were placed in our temporary accommodation centers,” Andrey Chesnokov, head of the Stary Oskol district, some 115 kilometers (71 miles) from Belgorod, wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian attacks on Dec. 30 in Belgorod killed 25 people, officials there said, with rocket and drone attacks continuing throughout this week.

Read the full article here

The UK is to launch a £300m drive to push Vladimir Putin further out of the global energy market through an investment in hi-tech nuclear fuel.

Ministers will vow to end what they say is Russia’s reign as the only commercial producer of a type of enriched uranium needed for the next generation of reactors.

Read the full article now

A Ukrainian poet who was serving as a volunteer on the war frontline against Russia’s invasion has been killed, his mother said in a Facebook post.

The writers association PEN Ukraine also confirmed the death of poet Maksym Kryvtsov.

“Poet and soldier Maksym Kryvtsov died in the war. This was reported by his mother, and later by Ukrainian writers on their pages in social networks,” it said in a statement on Facebook on Sunday.

Read the full article here

Russia launched its latest barrage of hypersonic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets early Monday, striking near the front lines of fighting in the east as well as in central and western parts of the country, officials said. At least four civilians were reported killed and at least 30 injured.

Western officials and analysts had previously warned that Russia was stockpiling its cruise missiles in preparation for a strategy of winter bombardment, as bad weather keeps the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line largely static after 22 months of war.

Read the full article here

Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity.

In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis lamented that 2024 had dawned at a time in history in which peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.”

Citing Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, migration and climate crises and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons, Francis delivered a lengthy laundry list of the ills afflicting humanity and the increasing violation of international humanitarian law that allows them.

Read the full article here

Russian air defence units downed 10 air targets approaching the city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border on Monday and three residents were injured in shelling, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, also said windows were blown out in two multi-story apartment buildings and several cars were damaged.

Belgorod has come under Ukrainian attacks in recent weeks. A missile and drone attack late last month killed 25 civilians, including five children.