Russia on Friday launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine, involving dozens of cruise missiles and drones. The Russian military targeted Ukrainian power grid, energy minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on his Facebook page. “The enemy continues its terror,” he said. Halushchenko said energy workers do everything necessary to “minimize negative consequences for the energy system,” promising to release more details on damages once the security situation allows it. Ukraine’s air force reported multiple strike drones launched at Ukraine overnight followed by swarms of cruise missiles in country’s air space. It said Russia also used air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine’s western regions. Ukraine's new procurement agency aims to boost NATO ambitions Friday’s attack is the latest in a series of such raids that heightened fears that the Kremlin aims to cripple the country’s power generation capacity as the winter sets in. Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has relentlessly pummeled Ukraine’s electricity system, resulting in repeated shutdown of critical heating and drinking water supplies during the bitter winter months in an apparent attempt to break Ukrainian spirits and resolve. Moscow has declared that the attacks were aimed to hobble Ukraine’s defense industry producing missiles, drones, armored vehicles and artillery among other weapons. The previous such massive attack on November 28 involved about 200 missiles and drones and left more than a million households without power until emergency teams restored supplies.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry last year introduced a state agency to reform its military procurement process and combat long-standing corruption, a significant step in its pursuit of NATO membership.  The State Logistics Operator, locally known as DOT, oversees purchases of nonlethal military goods, including food, clothing, and fuel. According to its CEO, Arsen Zhumadilov, the agency has already fulfilled 95% of requested orders while saving 25% in costs. DOT is also preparing to begin drone procurement soon.  These reforms are part of Ukraine's strategy to align with NATO standards. Officials argue that membership in the alliance is vital for deterring Russian aggression, though political challenges remain. Some NATO member states are hesitant to admit Ukraine, fearing an escalation of the conflict with Moscow. Meanwhile, NATO has emphasized that Ukraine must address corruption and implement broader anti-graft measures.  DOT’s progress contrasts with ongoing difficulties within the Defense Ministry, led by Rustem Umerov. Despite DOT’s success, restructuring the ministry and addressing corruption in lethal military procurement remain slow-moving.  Western officials have praised DOT’s achievements but continue to monitor its performance closely. Three Western diplomats, speaking anonymously, expressed optimism about the agency’s results one year after its establishment.  DOT represents a blend of modern innovation and legacy bureaucracy. Its office reflects a startup culture, starkly contrasting the traditional practices of one of Ukraine’s most rigid institutions. This duality mirrors the dynamics of the war, where advanced technologies like drones coexist with outdated trench warfare.  “We understand that NATO, the G7, and member countries are closely watching whether we can establish a procurement system that is resilient, efficient, and free from corruption,” Zhumadilov said.  The agency was formed in response to scandals under former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, including overpriced food contracts and substandard winter gear. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tasked Umerov, Reznikov’s successor, with increasing transparency in defense procurement.  EU may suspend asylum for migrants 'weaponized' by Russia, Belarus DOT’s flagship initiative, DOT-Chain, is a digital platform designed to streamline procurement, from order submission to invoicing. It promises to cut delivery times by 75% and is the largest digital project in the ministry. Initially focusing on food supplies, the system may expand to other areas in the future.  However, resistance persists. Some ministry officials remain attached to manual paperwork, despite DOT’s efforts to modernize processes. “The volume of paperwork they manage weekly is unsustainable,” Zhumadilov said.  A planned merger between DOT and the Defense Procurement Agency, responsible for lethal supplies, was scrapped after NATO advised against it, raising questions about Umerov’s decisions.  Despite challenges, DOT remains committed to reforming Ukraine’s defense sector. “We are preserving our own culture while navigating resistance,” Zhumadilov said, emphasizing the agency’s role in Ukraine’s NATO ambitions. Source: WIth inputs from wires

A ship, carrying 52,500 metric tonnes of wheat imported from Ukraine reached Chattogram, the first consignment of food grains imported under the interim government. Govt approves imports of wheat, fertilizer, LNG, and printing of school books The ship, ‘MV. Enjoy Prosperity’, anchored at Kutubdia, the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port on Thursday, said an official media release. The work of unloading the wheat will start soon after collecting samples and conducting physical tests of the wheat. Govt approves bulk imports of rice, wheat, sugar, LNG, fertiliser Of the wheat, 31,500 metric tonnes will be unloaded at Chittagong Port, while the remaining 21,000 metric tonnes will be unloaded at Mongla Port.

A US intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, two US officials said Wednesday. The Oreshnik missile, which was used for the first time last month, is seen more as an attempt at intimidation than as a game-changer on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to one of the officials. The threat comes as both sides work to gain a battlefield advantage in the nearly 3-year war, which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end, and just days after the US promised close to $1 billion in new security aid to Ukraine. Other Western allies have suggested negotiations to end the war could begin this winter. One of the officials said the US is seeing potential preparations for another launch by the end of the month or sooner. The other said in the “coming days.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information. The Russian Defense Ministry also suggested that Moscow is prepared to retaliate because Ukraine used six US-made ATACMS missiles to strike a military air base in Taganrog in the southern Rostov region on Wednesday, injuring soldiers. It said two of the missiles were shot down by an air defense system and four others deflected by electronic warfare assets. “This attack with Western long-range weapons will not be left unanswered and relevant measures will be taken,” the ministry said in a statement. This isn't the first time that US officials have warned of potential Russian action or strategic moves, in part as a diplomatic effort to message Moscow and possibly sway decisions. In the run-up to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the US openly discussed intelligence that Russia was readying troops to move on Kyiv. And later publicly said Moscow was positioning operatives in eastern Ukraine to conduct a “false-flag operation” that would create a pretext for its troops to invade. EU may suspend asylum for migrants 'weaponized' by Russia, Belarus According to the US officials, Russia has only a handful of the Oreshnik missiles and they carry a smaller warhead than other missiles that Russia has regularly launched at Ukraine. Russia first fired the missile in a November 21 attack against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Surveillance camera video of the strike showed huge fireballs piercing the darkness and slamming into the ground at astonishing speed. It was the first time the weapon was used in combat. Within hours of the attack on the military facility, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the rare step of speaking on national TV to boast about the new, hypersonic missile. He warned the West that its next use could be against Ukraine’s NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia. The attack came two days after Putin signed a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine that lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons. The doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. That strike also came soon after President Joe Biden agreed to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made longer-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory, and just one day after the US said it was giving Ukraine antipersonnel mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield advances. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said at the time. He also warned that the new missile could be used against other Ukrainian sites, including the government district in Kyiv, and last month said the General Staff of the Russian military was selecting possible future targets, such as military facilities, defense plants or decision-making centers in Kyiv. The Russian president declared that, “while selecting targets for strikes with such systems as Oreshnik on the territory of Ukraine, we will ask civilians and nationals of friendly countries there to leave dangerous zones in advance.” Biden approves National Security Memo to assist Trump on key global issues Putin has hailed Oreshnik’s capability, saying its multiple warheads that plunge to a target at Mach 10 are immune from interception and are so powerful that the use of several of them in one conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack. Speaking Tuesday, Putin charged that “a sufficient number of these advanced weapon systems simply makes the use of nuclear weapons almost unnecessary.” The Pentagon said the Oreshnik was an experimental type of intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM, based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. They have said it is not technically a hypersonic missile as it does not have a hypersonic glide vehicle that propels the missile for most of the launch and re-entry. Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019. Fighting has escalated in the grinding war as both Russia and Ukraine scramble to get an upper hand in any coming negotiations. Trump's inauguration next month has also raised questions about how much support the US will continue to provide to Kyiv. Trump has insisted in recent days that Russia and Ukraine immediately reach a ceasefire and said Ukraine should likely prepare to receive less U.S. military aid. Writing on social media last weekend, Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “would like to make a deal and stop the madness.” The Biden administration, meanwhile, announced a $988 million long-term aid package last weekend. That funding is on top of an additional $725 million in US military assistance, including counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions, announced early last week that would be drawn from the Pentagon’s stockpiles to get them to the front lines more quickly. The US has provided Ukraine with more than $62 billion in military aid since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

The Canadian government announced Thursday a ban on an additional 324 firearm models, continuing its efforts to restrict weapons deemed inappropriate for civilian use. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc characterized the targeted firearms as belonging “on the battlefield,” not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters. This latest move builds on the 2020 prohibition of 1,500 firearm models, a list that has since expanded to over 2,000 as new variants have been identified. The new ban addresses concerns from gun-control advocates that previous measures left many assault-style firearms unregulated. “These firearms can no longer be used,” LeBlanc stated. Guns for UkraineIn an unprecedented step, Canada is collaborating with Ukraine to donate some of the banned firearms to support its defense against Russia’s invasion. Defense Minister Bill Blair confirmed discussions with Ukrainian authorities, who expressed interest in the weapons. “Every bit of assistance we can offer to the Ukrainians is one step toward their victory,” Blair said. Planned Buyback ProgramThe federal government also reiterated its commitment to a national buyback program for prohibited firearms. The initiative, developed with provincial, territorial, and law enforcement agencies, aims to remove these weapons from private ownership. Read: Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump's tariff threat A Response to Past TragediesThe announcement comes on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, where a gunman killed 14 women before taking his own life. The Ruger Mini-14 used in that attack was among the firearms banned in 2020. Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the attack, voiced her support for the new measures. “These are just killing weapons, war weapons, military weapons,” she said. “I’m proud we are doing something.” Opposition CriticismConservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the measures, accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of targeting “licensed and law-abiding hunters and sport shooters” in a political stunt. Read more: Canada to reduce immigration targets as Trudeau acknowledges his policy failed Despite fewer mass shootings compared to the United States, Canada faces challenges with illegal firearms smuggled across the border, which are often linked to criminal activities. Source: With inputs from agencies

Hungary's foreign minister said a meeting of his counterparts from NATO member countries in Brussels on Wednesday had produced “no consensus” on the prospect of inviting Ukraine to join the transatlantic military alliance, a step Kyiv sees as an essential condition for bringing an end to Russia's war. Péter Szijjártó, a fervent critic of Ukraine with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, criticized some Western countries that have increased military support to Kyiv following Donald Trump's election to the White House, claiming such moves risked escalating the conflict. He warned that bringing Ukraine into NATO’s ranks “would be tantamount to initiating World War III.” Jewish settlers clash with Israeli troops after attack on Palestinian towns “We believe that Ukraine would not be able to add to European security in its present situation, but rather, as a country at war, inviting Ukraine into NATO we would risk ... the threat of war, namely, the threat of a NATO-Russian war," Szijjártó told a news conference. The meeting of NATO foreign ministers came as Russia makes advances on the battlefield in Ukraine while Kyiv's Western supporters seek to improve its position before Trump takes office in January. Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent in supporting Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. Leaders of the 32 NATO member countries have declared that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership in the alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons. Consensus among all NATO countries is required for admitting new members. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently suggested that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage” of the almost three-year war. Hamas and Fatah are near an agreement on who will oversee postwar Gaza But Szijjártó on Wednesday voiced skepticism over increased Western support being able to influence the conflict in Ukraine's favor. “In spite of the arms shipments pouring there, Ukraine’s situation on the battlefield gets worse every day,” he said. “If someone talks about the improvement of the situation of the Ukrainians as an easily achievable goal on the battlefield, they do nothing but deceive themselves and the Ukrainians as well.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership of the military alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons. Rutte’s remarks, ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, came days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage" of the almost 3-year war in Ukraine, where Russian forces are pressing deeper into their western neighbor. “The front is not moving eastwards. It is slowly moving westwards,” Rutte said. “So we have to make sure that Ukraine gets into a position of strength, and then it should be for the Ukrainian government to decide on the next steps, in terms of opening peace talks and how to conduct them.” At their summit in Washington in July, leaders of the 32 NATO member countries insisted that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But some, led by the United States, have balked at moving forward while the war rages and before the country’s borders are clearly demarcated. China bans gallium, germanium exports to US over chip sanctions NATO was founded on the principle that an attack on any ally should be considered an attack on them all, and the alliance has consistently tried to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Zelenskyy argued that once open conflict ends, any proposal to join NATO could be extended to all parts of the country that fall under internationally recognized borders. Pressed on this by reporters, Rutte said: “I would argue, let’s not have all these discussions step by step on what a peace process might look like.” The first step, he said, must be to “make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to get to a position of strength when those peace talks start.” Ukrainian officials made it clear Tuesday they won’t countenance any half measures or stopgap solutions on NATO membership. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement saying Ukraine “will not settle for any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” citing its “bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum.” Trump vows to hit hard Hamas if hostages are not released by Jan 20 Under the international agreement signed in the Hungarian capital 30 years ago, Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet-era atomic weapons, which amounted to the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, in return for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The foreign ministry statement called the Budapest agreement a “monument to short-sightedness in making strategic security decisions.” “We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” it said. Reflecting on his recent meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump, Rutte said he had underlined that China, North Korea and Iran were weighing in on Russia's side, putting the United States and the Asia-Pacific region at risk. “Whenever we get to a deal on Ukraine it has to be a good deal, because what we can never have is high-fiving Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping and whoever else," Rutte said, saying this would only encourage the leaders of North Korea and China to endorse the use of force elsewhere.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country will “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine as he met Russia's defense chief, the North’s state media reported Saturday. A Russia military delegation led by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday, amid growing international concern about the two countries’ expanding cooperation after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia last month. The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and Belousov reached “a satisfactory consensus” on boosting strategic partnership and defending each country’s sovereignty, security interests and international justice in the face of the rapidly-changing international security environments in a Friday meeting. Kim said that North Korea “will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony,” KCNA said. North Korea has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to what both Moscow and Pyongyang call NATO’s “reckless” eastward advance and U.S.-led moves to stamp out Russia’s position as a powerful state. Kim slammed a U.S. decision earlier in November to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles as a direct intervention in the conflict. He called recent Russian strikes on Ukraine “a timely and effective measure" demonstrate Russia's resolve, KCNA said. According to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and some of them have already begun engaging in combat on the frontlines. U.S., South Korean and others say North Korea has also shipped artillery systems, missiles and other conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s exhausted weapons inventory. Both North Korea and Russia haven’t formally confirmed the North Korean troops’ movements, and have steadfastly denied reports of weapons shipments. South Korea, the U.S. and their partners are concerned that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles. Last week, South Korean national security adviser Shin Wonsik told a local SBS TV program that that Seoul assessed that Russia has provided air defense missile systems to North Korea. He said Russia also appeared to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system. North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats Belousov also met North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on Friday. During a dinner banquet later the same day, Belousov said the the two countries' strategic partnership was crucial to defend their sovereignty from aggression and the arbitrary actions of imperialists, KCNA said. In June, Kim and Putin signed a treaty requiring both countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. It's considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.  

Russia is engaged in a massive missile and drone attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Thursday, officials said, as fears mount about Moscow’s intentions to devastate the country's power generation capacity before winter. “Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. He added that emergency power outages are being implemented nationwide. Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season. “They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea,” he wrote. Over 280,000 households in the northwestern Rivne region are currently without electricity because of the attack, said the regional head, Oleksandr Koval. There are also interruptions to water supplies in affected areas. Some schools in Rivne city have been instructed to study remotely Thursday. There were also strikes on the bordering Volyn region, where 215,000 households have no electricity, said the head of administration, Ivan Rudnytskyi. All critical infrastructure that lost power has been switched to generators. Russia to use new missile again in 'combat conditions': Putin Local officials ordered opening the “points of invincibility” — shelter-type places where people can charge their phones and other devices and get refreshments during blackouts. In Kyiv, where the air raid alert lasted over nine hours, missile debris fell in one of the city’s neighborhoods, local officials said. No casualties were reported.  

South Korea’s president on Wednesday met a visiting Ukraine delegation and called for a joint response to the threat posed by North Korea’s recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the almost three-year war, with Ukraine and the U.S. saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons targeting them. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine. During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the North’s troop dispatch, Yoon’s office said in a statement. The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Yoon’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said. It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States. The South Korean statement didn’t say whether the two sides discussed Seoul’s possible weapons supply to Ukraine. Many observers say Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Trump has promised to end the war swiftly. Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say it’s unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch. North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. The U.S., South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia.