Ukraine updates: Rocket attacks reported near Kherson

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Wednesday that Russian forces had fired 33 rockets at civilian targets in a series of aerial and artillery bombardments in Kherson in southern Ukraine.

The attacks were reported to have taken place over the course of 24 hours up until early Wednesday morning.

Settlements on the right-hand bank of the Dnipro River were also struck by mortars and artillery fire, close to the city Russian forces were forced out of last month, in what has been seen as an embarrassing defeat for Moscow.

The reports could not be immediately verified.

Further to the east, the frontline town of Bakhmut has been the scene of heavy fighting, with engagements also taking place further north in the towns of Svatove and Kremina, according to Britain's defense ministry.

Ukraine has accused Russia of purposefully destroying cities on the front line in Donetsk, which Russia illegally claimed as its own territory following a sham "referendum."

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, December 28:

Russia vows to cut off Western weapons to Ukraine 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is seeking to block the transfer and ammunition of weapons to Ukraine from the West.

"We observe that Ukraine is receiving more and more and better Western weapons," Lavrov said during a Russian television interview. He said members of the Russian military are looking to cut off the supply routes, taking "railway lines, bridges and tunnels" into consideration. 

"I assume that they will make professional decisions on how to make these deliveries more difficult or, ideally, to stop them altogether," Lavrov added. He suggested that Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure are part of the efforts to deny Kyiv from receiving Western weapons.       

Turkish, Syrian, Russian defense ministers hold meeting in Moscow

The Turkish, Syrian and Russian defense ministers met in Moscow to discuss the Syrian conflict, which is nearing its twelfth year.

The meeting had not been previously announced by any of them, but a Turkish defense ministry statement said intelligence chiefs of each of the countries also attended the meeting.

NATO member Turkey and Russia support rival sides in Syria's conflict, but Ankara has played an influential role in the war in Ukraine.

Most recently, Turkey helped salvage a deal that guarantees safe passage for ships carrying grain exports from Ukraine after Russia suddenly withdrew from the agreement.

Ankara has hosted negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Turkey as well.

Germany plays down Russia's oil sale ban 

Germany has said Russia's ban on selling its oil to countries and companies that accept a price cap set by Western allies is of little note.

"I would not like to say that it's irrelevant, but it has no practical significance," said an Economy Ministry spokeswoman, noting that Germany has been making preparations to find other sources since early summer.

She said the supply of oil was "assured whether this decree has been issued or not."

In early December, the European Union, the G7 and Australia agreed a price cap of $60 (€56.24) per barrel for Russian oil in a bid to reduce Russia's ability to finance Moscow's war on Ukraine while ensuring it continued to supply the global market.

Finland takes delivery of floating LNG terminal

A first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal has arrived on Finland's southern coast near Helsinki as part of the Nordic country's efforts to become independent of Russian gas imports.

The Exemplar terminal, with a capacity of 68,000 tons, has been rented from a US company and will serve Finland and Estonia, as well as possibly other regional neighbors such as Latvia and Lithuania. It is planned to go into operation by the start of 2023.

Gas accounts for just 5% of Finland's energy mix. Nearly all of it used to come from neighboring Russia, until Russian energy giant Gazprom halted delivery in May after Helsinki declined to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand to pay in rubles.

In May, Moscow cut off electricity delivery as well, and Finland has also replaced imports of Russian crude oil with other sources, meaning the country has now more or less removed its energy reliance on its neighbor.

France's defense minister in Ukraine for talks

The defense minister of France arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for talks on continued military backing for Ukraine.

Sebastien Lecornu made the trip to Ukraine after visiting Poland where a deal to sell French -made military satellites was announced.

Lecornu is due to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Ukrainian counterpart in defense, Oleksii Reznikov.

France has sent a steady stream of weapons to Ukraine since Russia's invasion and has hosted two aid conferences this month alone.

Ahead of the visit, Lecornu tweeted: "Our support for Ukraine has been constant since the beginning of the war."

Its not yet clear what is expected to emerge from talks.

Ukraine peace plan must include annexed regions — Kremlin

The Kremlin has poured cold water on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace plan, saying proposals need to consider the four regions, which Moscow illegally annexed in September.

"There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today's realities regarding Russian territory,with the entry of four regions into Russia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful," Peskov added.

Zelenskyy has been pushing a 10-point peace formula to end the war in Ukraine.

This formula includes, among other things, radiation and nuclear safety; food security; energy security; release of prisoners and deportees; implementation of the UN Charter; withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities.

Australian volunteer killed fighting in Ukraine

An Australian man has been killed during fighting in Ukraine according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Australia's national broadcaster ABC News reported the man as being Sage O'Donnell from Victoria and that he was killed just before Christmas.

The circumstances where and how O'Donnell was killed are not yet known.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, thousands of foreigners have joined Ukraine's forces where they serve in the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine.

The DFAT said it was providing consular assistance to O'Donnell's family.

Ukraine says 700 objects of critical infrastructure destroyed

According to Ukraine government data, 700 objects of critical infrastructure had been destroyed since the Russian invasion.  "We are talking about gas pipelines, substations, bridges and the like," Kyiv's Deputy Minister of Interior Yevgeny Yenin said on television.

The deputy minister said that in total 35,000 objects had been damaged by Russian troops.

Russia has targeted  Ukraine's energy infrastructure which has severely impacted the country's power grid, leading to emergency shutdowns.

UN reports almost 18,000 confirmed civilian casualties since start of war

Nearly 18,000 civilian casualties have been confirmed in Ukraine since February 24, the office for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

According to figures provided by the OHCHR, 6,884 civilians have been killed and 10,947 injured since the start of Moscow's invasion.

The UN agency added that the actual toll was "considerably higher."

"Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes," the OHCHR said.

The hardest-hit regions were Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Putin bans oil export to nations upholding EU price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia is to ban the export of crude oil to countries abiding by a price cap enforced by Western countries to dry up Russian oil revenues funding the war on Ukraine.

The presidential decree would come into force on February 1, 2023, and apply until July 1, 2023. It came as a response to "actions that are unfriendly and contradictory to international law by the US and foreign states and international organizations joining them."

Earlier in December, the Group of Seven economies (G7), the European Union and Australia agreed to a $60-per-barrel (€56.35) price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil. The controversial measure, unprecedented even during the Cold War, came into effect on December 5.

Putin's Tuesday decree includes a clause that would allow him to overrule the ban in special cases.

More on the war in Ukraine

DW has insights on Russia's litany of failures to prove its military superiority since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

A Russian sausage magnate becomes the latest high profile Russian to die, in a string of mysterious deaths of Russian nationals and businessmen since the war in Ukraine. DW has the story.

The war in Ukraine is being viewed with particular fear in the tiny Baltic states. Like Ukraine, they were once part of the Soviet Union and fear Russia might try to annex their territory too. Watch the full report below.

kb/rt (Reuters, AP, dpa)