Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 291

Because the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its 291st day, we check out the primary developments.

Right here is the state of affairs because it stands on Sunday, December 11:

Preventing

• Ukraine attacked Russian-occupied Melitopol, a strategically positioned metropolis within the nation’s southeast. The Russian-installed administration mentioned a missile assault killed two folks and injured 10, whereas the exiled mayor mentioned many “invaders” have been killed.
• All non-critical infrastructure within the Ukrainian port of Odesa was with out energy after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two vitality services, leaving 1.5 million folks with out electrical energy, officers mentioned.
• Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for Odesa’s regional administration, has denied that any officers had referred to as for evacuation. He mentioned a Fb publish to that impact, which has since been deleted, was being investigated by Ukraine’s safety companies as “a component of the hybrid conflict” by Russia.

A Russian military helicopter flies above as volunteers of a newly shaped battalion participate in coaching at a variety exterior town of Melitopol, Russian-controlled Ukraine [File: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]

Diplomacy

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to beat elements of Ukraine and exhibits no restraint in his brutality, however it's nonetheless essential to maintain contacts open in case a second arrives to finish the conflict, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned.
• US officers barred Russian diplomats from visiting the graves of Soviet servicemen at a cemetery on a army base in Alaska, Russian state company TASS reported.
• Russia desires to show Ukraine right into a “dependent dictatorship” like Belarus, the spouse of jailed Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski mentioned upon receiving the prize on his behalf, talking his phrases.
• Russian arms supplier Viktor Bout, freed in a prisoner swap for US basketball star Brittney Griner, mentioned he wished her good luck on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi the place they have been exchanged on Thursday.

Financial system, grain

• Merchants don't have any plans to droop grain shipments from Ukraine’s Odesa Black Sea ports as a result of newest Russian assault on the area’s vitality system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky mentioned.
• A dozen international locations, together with Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovenia, have made a push to “considerably” decrease a deliberate European Union cap on fuel costs, because the bloc struggles to strike a deal on the measure.
• The Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s Kherson area says it has begun altering domestically circulated Ukrainian hryvnia forex into Russian roubles, with hryvnia circulation in Moscow-controlled areas of the area to finish on January 1.