Zelenskyi and “spirit of Ukraine” named TIME Person of Year
“There wasn’t much in Zelensky’s biography to predict his willingness to stand and fight. He had never served in the military or shown much interest in its affairs. He had only been President since April 2019,” a story by Simon Shuster for Time reads.
His previous experience as an actor on stage turned out to have its advantages. “Zelensky was adaptable, trained not to lose his nerve under pressure. He knew how to read a crowd and react to its moods and expectations. Now his audience was the world. He was determined not to let them down,” the article says.
Describing Zelenskyi’s determination to visit de-occupied Kherson despite the risks, the article says: “Why give them a chance to strike? The obvious reason had to do with the information war, which had become Zelensky’s specialty. By rolling into the city that Vladimir Putin still claimed as his own, the leader of Ukraine would blow a hole through the stories of conquest and imperial glory that Russian propagandists had been using for months to justify the war.”
All three attacks on Russian airfields carried out by Ukrainian drones, The Washington Post says
A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation, told The Washington Post on Tuesday that all three attacks were carried out by Ukrainian drones.
Kyiv has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are the most brazen and far-reaching inside Russia since its invasion in February.
On Monday, December 5, a suspected drone fell on to a runway at the Russian Engels air base in the Saratov region.
A fuel truck caught fire and exploded at the Russian airfield Dyaghilevo near the city of Ryazan. Satellite images show possible damage to a Tu-22M bomber.
Three Russian service members were killed, and four more were injured in the incidents at the airfields, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Explosions will “cut [Russia’s] aircraft,” Ukraine’s Air Force said. On December 6, news surfaced on a drone attack that set fire to air base in Russia’s Kursk region.
Russia’s terror in Donetsk region: eight killed, five wounded as Russian strike hits Kurakhove
On Wednesday, December 7, the Russian forces struck the center of Kurakhove, in Donetsk region killing at least eight civilians and injuring five others.
The terrorists are inhuman, President Zelenskyi said, reacting to the news on the Russian strike on Kurakhove. They will be held to account, he added. The strike hit a market, bus station, gas station, and apartment buildings in the city center, head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
“That’s another Russian crime in our land. We are recording the damage and working to overcome the consequences. The Russians will be held liable for everything,” Kyrylenko said.
Banksy’s 2022 street art in Ukraine. Ukraine in Flames #272
Tetiana Semenova describes what it’s like to find a Bansky mural on your apartment exterior, while the Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Kateryna Chuyeva and Olha Balashova from NGO Museum of Modern Art discuss the significance of Banksy’s recent work trip to Ukraine.
