Ukraine Latest: Zelenskiy Pledges to Bolster Air Defense in 2023

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(Bloomberg) —

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to reinforce his nation’s air defenses in the new year as Russia continues to strike critical infrastructure targets.

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Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping hailed deepening ties between Russia and China in talks Friday, despite signs that Beijing is impatient with the wider political and economic impact of Russia’s struggling invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, lost connection Friday to the backup power line due to shelling, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Twitter. The power plant is receiving offsite electricity from the last external line, the agency said.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

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Key Developments

On the Ground

Ukrainian armed Forces repelled Russian attacks in more then 10 directions, Ukraine’s general staff reports. Donetsk and Luhansk regions remain the most severe battlefield. Russia continued to shell civilian settlements through the whole front line, hitting residences and critical infrastructure. Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Kherson regions were under strikes Saturday morning. Four civilians were killed and four injured.

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(All times CET)

Ukraine Spent $32 Billion on Defense and Security in 2022 (9 a.m.)

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s spending on defense and security hit 1.2 trillion hryvnia ($32 billion), a government website said, citing Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. More than 250 billion hryvnia was directed to purchases of ammunition and repairs. “Next year, the building of a strong army will be the main task of the government,” Shmyhal said.

Scholz Tells Germans to Keep Saving Energy (12:00 a.m.)

Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged citizens to continue their energy-saving drive and said Germany’s new floating LNG terminals will make Europe independent of Russian gas for the long term.

In his New Year’s address to the nation, Scholz acknowledged that the energy crisis triggered by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a “tough test” for the continent’s biggest economy.

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Zelenskiy Vows to Create What May Be Europe’s Top Air Defenses (8:09 p.m.)

Zelenskiy said in his evening address that Ukraine will further bolster its air defenses in the new year as Russia continues to pound its electrical grid and cities with missiles and armed drones.

“This year we didn’t just save our air defense, we made it the strongest ever,” he said. “But in the new year Ukraine’s air defense will become even stronger and more efficient.”

Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s air defense could become the most powerful in Europe, which he said would help the defense of the continent as well as his nation.