Ukraine updates: Scores injured as missiles, drones hit Kyiv

A cyberattack that took Ukraine's biggest mobile network operator offline on Tuesday has been claimed by hackers believed to be affiliated with Russian military intelligence (GRU), according to Ukraine's cyberdefense agency.

The attack on Kyivstar, which has 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1 million home internet users, knocked out services, damaged IT infrastructure, and silenced air raid alert systems in some parts of the country. It was one of the biggest cyberattacks on Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

"Responsibility for the cyberattack was taken by one of the Russian groups, whose activities are associated with the main directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications and Information Protectorate (SSSCIP) said, referring to Russia's GRU.

"This once again confirms Russia's use of cyberspace as one of the domains of the war against Ukraine."

Although the SSSCIP did not name the culprits, a group of activist hackers called Solntsepyok claimed responsibility for the attack on Telegram, publishing screenshots appearing to show that the hackers had accessed internal Kyivstar servers.

Denmark has promised it will support Ukraine with renewed military aid worth €1 billion ($1.1 billion).

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced the package during a press conference with Nordic leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Her government is expected to present the aid package totaling almost €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to the Danish parliament on Thursday. 

If adopted, it would include ammunition, tanks, drones and other equipment that Ukraine has said it desperately needs.

Zelenskyy landed in Oslo on Wednesday morning in a surprise visit to participate in a second Nordic-Ukrainian summit.

Leaders from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland once again emphasized
continued support for Ukraine. 

"Now is not the time to tire of a war that brave Ukrainian soldiers are fighting every day. ... no doubt that we will support Ukraine's fight as long as it is needed," said Frederiksen.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed surprise at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's threat to veto any promise to Ukraine of formal EU membership talks at a summit on Thursday.

Orban had "no reason" to object to Ukraine joining the bloc, Zelenskyy said during a visit to Norway, where he met with five Nordic leaders.

"I asked him to tell me one reason why. Not three, not five, not 10. Tell me one reason," Zelensky said. "I'm waiting for (an) answer."

Zelenskyy said, however, that he hoped to have "a very constructive meeting" with Orban "because we have common borders."

The right-wing authoritarian Hungarian leader has threatened to veto both the promise of accession talks for Ukraine and an aid package of €50 billion ($54 billion) at the summit.

Hungary argues that Ukraine has not done enough to fight corruption to meet EU standards. 

However, many in the bloc believe that Orban's recalcitrance could be an attempt to blackmail the EU into releasing development aid funds that have been frozen amid Brussels' concerns over the state of democracy and rule of law in Hungary.

Hungary published further judicial reforms in its official journal on Wednesday, a step that the European Commission earlier said was essential before it unfroze up to €10 billion ($10.8 billion) in EU development aid for Budapest.

The Commission said the publication was necessary for the reforms to be fully enacted.

Budapest's access to billions of euros from the bloc's shared budget has so far been frozen over Brussels' concerns that the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been undermining democracy and the rule of law.

Orban has been threatening to veto fresh support to Ukraine at a summit on Thursday, threats that many in the bloc are seeing as a form of blackmail to get the money unblocked.

The authoritarian leader has often shown ambivalence in his stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which the rest of the EU unanimously deplores.

A high-security trial has begun in Berlin of two German men charged with high treason for allegedly stealing sensitive information from Germany's BND foreign intelligence service and passing it on to Russia's security services during Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

One of the two men, identified only as Carsten L. under German privacy laws, was a BND employee. He is alleged to have copied internal BND files and passed them on to diamond dealer Arthur E., who then handed them to a contact in Russia.

Russia's FSB security agency is said by prosecutors to have paid Carsten L. at least €450,000 ($485,500) and Arthur E. at least €400,000 in cash payments that Arthur E. picked up from Moscow. 

Prosecutors said that the information was classified and that the men's actions posed a serious risk to German security.

They have not said what was in the documents, but Spiegel magazine has reported that they contained information pertaining to the BND's efforts to monitor the Wagner paramilitary group, which has fought alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on Wednesday on a surprise visit that aims to bolster support among Kyiv's allies amid growing uncertainty as to how sustainable that support is.

In Oslo, he is to meet with leaders of the five Nordic nations — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — all key backers of Ukraine as it fights against invading Russian forces. 

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he wished Zelenskyy "a warm welcome to Norway," adding that Norway would "continue to support the defense of Ukraine."

Zelenskyy's visit follows on the heels of trips to Argentina, where he attended the inauguration of libertarian President Javier Milei, and to Washington, trying there — without immediate signs of success — to convince a divided Congress to approve a new $60 billion (€56 billion) aid package.   

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged the 27 EU leaders to back Kyiv's bid for membership talks and to approve a huge aid package when they meet at a crunch summit on Thursday. 

"We must give Ukraine what it needs to be strong today. So it can be stronger tomorrow at the table when it is negotiating a long lasting and just peace," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

"As the war drags on, we must prove what it means to support Ukraine for as long as it takes," von der Leyen said. 

"Ukraine is not only fighting against the invader, but for Europe, and joining our family will be Ukraine's ultimate victory. And for this, we have a decisive role to play," she added.

Her remarks come as EU member Hungary, which maintains friendly relations with Moscow, continues to voice objections to fresh measures of support for Ukraine as it defends itself against an all-out Russian invasion.

The summit is to discuss both opening formal membership talks with Kyiv and an economic aid package worth €50 billion ($54 billion) over the next four years.

Unanimous backing of all the bloc's 27 states would be required to grant Ukraine accession talks.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reiterated his objections to the EU promising Ukraine formal membership talks at an upcoming summit.

A fast track accession of Ukraine to the bloc is neither in Hungary's interests nor those of the EU, he told parliament.

"Considering the numbers, economic analyses and taking it seriously that talks (with Ukraine) would aim to grant membership — so we wouldn't be using it as a political gesture — as membership is not for that purpose ... then we must say that this thought at the moment is absurd, ridiculous and not serious," Orban said.

Orban has proposed that the EU enter into a "strategic partnership" with Ukraine instead.

Although Hungary insists that its objections to Kyiv's EU accession are because Ukraine has not fulfilled the criteria for membership, notably in the area of corruption, many elsewhere in the bloc suspect that Budapest is trying to blackmail Brussels into resuming Hungary's suspended transfer payments.     

Tens of billions of euros in EU funding to Budapest have been blocked because Hungary is accused of not meeting the bloc's democratic standards and of violating the rule of law.

There have, however, been reports that some of the blocked funds will be unfrozen ahead of the summit on Thursday.  The European Commission is likely to argue that this is not to appease Orban to gain his support for Ukraine but because some of its concerns have been met by Hungary.

Orban, who recently praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for "good relations," has also threatened to veto a macroeconomic package of €50 billion ($54 billion) in aid to Ukraine that is to be discussed at the summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced outrage and defiance after Russian forces launched 10 ballistic missiles toward the Ukrainian capital early on Wednesday morning, with an updated toll saying at least 53 people were injured by falling debris.

 "Russia has proven once again that it is a heinous country that fires missiles at night, trying to hit residential areas, kindergartens, and energy facilities during the winter," he wrote on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"There will be a response. Certainly," he added.

Zelenskyy also stressed the importance of military assistance from abroad, his words coming as uncertainty grows over ongoing US support.

"We keep working to enhance our capabilities, and we have powerful new agreements. We are working to expedite their implementation. (US) President J(oe) Biden and I just agreed to work on increasing the number of air defense systems in Ukraine, and the terrorist state demonstrated how critical this decision is," he wrote. 

"Each additional system and missile is vital for Ukraine, our cities, and our people. They are saving lives," he added. 

Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also highlighted how vital Western assistance was, saying the interception of the missiles by air defenses showed that "the effectiveness of Western weapons in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers cannot be doubted."

Elsewhere in Ukraine, 10 Russian drones were shot down overnight, most of them in the Odesa region, the Ukrainian air force said.

President Joe Biden’s administration has imposed sanctions on over 250 individuals and entities, in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

It is Washington’s latest attempt to crack down on Russia and its evasion of Western-imposed sanctions.

"We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to promote accountability for Russia’s crimes in Ukraine and those who finance and support Russia’s war machine," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The latest measures targeted a network of entities and people based in China, Russia, Hong Kong and Pakistan over the facilitation and procurement of Chinese-manufactured weapons and technologies to Russia.

They also targeted Turkey, United Arab Emirates and China-based companies over the shipment of technology, equipment and inputs, including ball or roller bearings, aircraft parts and X-ray systems.

Ukraine's capital came under missile attack early Wednesday morning, resulting in multiple injuries and damaged buildings.

In a post on social media, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 25 were injured from the attack.

"According to medics, there are already 25 injured in Dniprovsky district of the capital, 13 were hospitalized," Klitschko said.

Klitschko said a residential building was damaged, along with a children's hospital.

A series of loud explosions were heard in Kyiv at 3 a.m., as the city's air defenses were activated for the second time this week.

It comes after a relatively long period of calm in the Ukrainian capital.

Declassified US intelligence shared with Congress and seen by Reuters and AFP news agencies on Tuesday revealed that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for its war with Ukraine, with 315,000 Russian troops killed or wounded since February 2022, including 13,000 since October.

Russian forces have also lost some 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks they had before the start of the conflict and 87% of the military personnel it had before the start of the war, setting the Russian military back around 18 years.

"Russia seems to believe that a military deadlock through the winter will drain Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage despite Russian losses," National Security Council Spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

United States President Joe Biden warned that Russia was banking on the United States abandoning Ukraine, as he promised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he would support Kyiv despite Republicans blocking new military aid.

During a joint press conference held with Zelenskyy at the White House, Biden stressed that he would "not walk away from Ukraine," adding that the United States would "continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can." 

Biden added: "When the free world hesitates, that's when dictatorships celebrate, and their most dangerous ambitions ripen. They see their dreams come true when they see delays. Putin must lose."

Standing alongside Biden, Zelenskyy pledged that Ukraine would keep fighting and said it would be "insane" for Kyiv to give up any territory to secure a peace deal. 

Zelenskyy set out plans to use Western aid to achieve air superiority over Ukraine and to attack Russian naval assets in 2024.

Despite the uncertainty over ongoing US support, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the release of a new $900 million (€833.9 million) long-term loan to Ukraine.

mds/wd,lo (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)