Russia warns US against shipping Patriot missiles

Social media video from Thursday night showed a large explosion light up the sky in the area of Irmino, a town in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.

The cause of the explosion could not be confirmed, but video indicated at least two detonations, and showed a fireball reaching hundreds of feet into the air. 

One local community Telegram channel said there had been multiple explosions in the area and suggested an ammunition depot had been struck.

CNN cannot confirm the location of the explosion.

Neither Ukrainian officials nor Russian-backed authorities in Luhansk have commented on the cause of the explosion.

But the Ukrainian military has made no secret of its intention to strike Russian ammunition depots and other critical military locations deep inside Luhansk as its forces try to push into the region.

It has previously said that troop concentrations, transport hubs and munitions dumps have been targeted in Luhansk. 

The US will not “allow comments from Russia to dictate the security assistance” the Biden administration provides to Ukraine, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing with reporters on Thursday. 

In a statement Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in Washington said a possible shipment of Patriot missile systems to Ukraine would “lead to unpredictable consequences” and threaten global security. CNN was first to report on Tuesday the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine. 

“I find it ironic and very telling that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion through a campaign that is deliberately targeting and killing innocent civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure, that they would choose to use words like provocative to describe defensive systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians,” Ryder said at the briefing at the Pentagon.

Ryder reiterated Russia could de-escalate the ongoing conflict any moment if they wanted to, but they have chosen to “double down.” 

The US announced an expansion of training for Ukrainian armed forces in Europe “to include joint maneuver and combined arms operations training,” according to the Defense Department.  

CNN first reported that the US was considering expanding both the type of training provided to the Ukrainian military as well as the number of forces trained.

“Combined arms maneuver training is a logical next step in our ongoing training efforts which began in 2014 to build the Ukrainian armed forces capacity,” said Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at a news briefing.

Ryder said the program will train approximately 500 Ukrainians per month starting in January and will be conducted in Germany by US Army Europe and Africa Command’s 7th Army Training Command.

Ryder said he was “not aware” that the training would require additional US forces to be deployed.

“We have forces in place that have been conducting training, so to my knowledge, no significant increase in support,” he said.

The US had been providing this kind of training to the Ukrainian military prior to the Russian invasion, starting in 2014, according to Ryder.

“When Russia invaded, we withdrew our trainers from Ukraine, and so this is a continuation now of the training that we had previously provided,” Ryder said.

Ryder added that the training will include “live fire exercises, followed by squad, platoon and company-level training that will then culminate in battalion-level maneuver training.”

One of Ukraine’s most senior military officers said that nearly 400 clashes have taken place between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the eastern regions of Ukraine this week.

Catch up on other key developments in the war:

There’s been an explosion and extensive fire at a building that used to be a hotel in Russian-occupied Kherson.

CNN has geolocated images and video showing the heavily damaged Salamar Hotel in the village of Zaliznyi Port in Skadovsk district.

Unofficial Ukrainian media reported the Russian security service FSB was based at the hotel. Local accounts described a series of explosions in the district.

Neither local Russian-appointed officials nor the Ukrainian military have commented on the reports. CNN has not independently verified the claim that FSB was stationed at the hotel.

More context: Skadovsk is located on the Black Sea coast and part of the broader Kherson region, which is not entirely controlled by either side in the conflict.

Russian officials have moved command posts away from the city of Kherson and toward Crimea since the Ukrainians liberated the west bank of the Dnipro River and took control of the city.

Earlier this week, there was an assassination attempt against a Russian-appointed official in Skadovsk, according to pro-Russian authorities in the area. 

US President Joe Biden’s administration rolled out new sanctions on Thursday targeting Russian-appointed proxies in Ukraine, more than 20 Russian governors, and a wealthy Russian oligarch who is believed to be close with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the State Department and the Treasury Department announced on Thursday. 

The Russian oligarch now under US sanctions is Vladimir Potanin, who US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as “one of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs and a close associate of President Putin.” The Biden administration also sanctioned Potanin’s company — a bank that his company acquired this year — and three of his family members, Blinken said. The US additionally identified his yacht as blocked property.

Blinken said that those targeted by the sanctions include 29 Russian heads of regions and governors, two of their family members, and an entity owned by one of the family members who was “helping to advance Russia’s invasion and control of Ukrainian territory.” 

The governors “oversee and enforce the conscription of citizens in response to Russia’s recent mobilization order,” Blinken said.

The US also went after Russians who have been put into positions of power in Ukrainian territory by the Kremlin.

The sanctions also hit the board members of Russian railways, and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is also designating 17 subsidiaries of VTB Bank, Blinken said. 

The sanctions come after Russia’s recent attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure that have “caused extraordinary death and destruction,” Blinken added.

In the midst of power cuts and sub-freezing temperatures, Tony the gorilla is staying warm at Kyiv’s zoo thanks to a new wood-burning stove.

Tony, who is 47, is a popular fixture at the zoo, whose animals would have been put at risk by the lack of heat as temperatures plunge.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said two generators had been installed at the zoo to compensate for the loss of electricity during scheduled power cuts.

Klitschko said 200 animals rescued from the war are wintering in Kyiv Zoo, including a tigress named Delilah from a private zoo in Kharkiv and rhinos and porcupines from Kherson.

“Those are small zoos in that part of Ukraine where there is no heating at all, nothing. It is very difficult for those zoos now. Therefore, they ask us to shelter the animals. Otherwise they will die,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, deputy chief of the Ukrainian military’s Main Operational Directorate, on Thursday said that Russia is stepping up production of munitions and would likely bolster its mobilization with migrants.

Hromov said Russia is increasing munitions “by reducing the quality of products, as well as by activating the conclusion of agreements with other countries.”

He said Russia would likely tap into the large number of migrants from central Asia to shore up its mobilization.

Hromov estimated that about 2.7 million of the total number of migrants in Russia — the vast majority being from central Asia — are men of military age.

Some context: In November, Russia announced that its “partial mobilization” of hundreds of thousands of citizens to fight in the country’s war on Ukraine was completed. The mobilization, first announced in late September, sparked protests — particularly in in ethnic minority regions — and an exodus of men from the country.

Hromov also said that the Russian military presence has been growing in Belarus.

“Russian units of the Second Motorized Rifle Division … are undergoing training and combat coordination. … The Kremlin uses the officers and training ground infrastructure of Belarus to restore the combat capability of existing units, as well as to train newly established military units,” he said.

Hromov said Russian tanks and aircraft had been moved to Belarus, likely to provide Russia with another route for its missile attacks.

“The enemy redeployed three Mig 31-K aircrafts, which carry Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, as well as an A-50U long-range radar detection aircraft to Machulychi airfield. This indicates an increase in the aggressor’s capabilities to conduct air strikes on the territory of Ukraine,” he said.

Belarus’ role in the conflict: Neighboring Belarus is among Moscow’s most stalwart allies, and the two nations have held joint military exercises since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus has served as a staging ground for Russian forces near Ukraine’s northern border. It was the launching point for the Kremlin’s ultimately unsuccessful march toward Kyiv at the start of the invasion.

One of Ukraine’s most senior military officers said that nearly 400 clashes have taken place between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the eastern regions of Ukraine this week.

Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, deputy chief of the Ukrainian military’s Main Operational Directorate, said Russia continues to launch attacks using missiles and artillery along a wide front.

“Since Dec. 8, the enemy has launched 41 missile strikes,” including 38 attacks with S-300 missiles, on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine and positions of troops.

Russia has also launched 32 drones loaded with explosives at energy facilities, including 15 self-detonating drones at the civilian infrastructure of Kyiv, he said. Almost all the Iranian-made drones were intercepted.

Hromov said that “388 military clashes with the enemy took place in eastern Ukraine this week” and claimed the Russians had experienced heavy casualties.

“During Dec. 1 and 2, up to 500 wounded were taken to hospitals in Luhansk, mostly from among the mercenaries of the Wagner private military company,” he claimed.

“In total, as of Dec. 4, more than 3,600 wounded Russian servicemen from the so-called special contingent were in hospitals in the occupied territories,” Hromov claimed. There is no way to verify the estimate.

Hromov also said that Ukrainian attacks on Russian positions and facilities behind the front lines continued.

“During the week, artillery units have struck 309 enemy targets, including 34 control points, 24 warehouses with ammunition and fuel,” he said.

Additionally, he said, high-precision weapons had targeted 58 sites, including five ammunition warehouses.