Vladimir Putin ‘needs to return to reality’ as Russia shells dozens of towns on day he said he was ‘ready’ for Ukraine talks
Ukraine has said Vladimir Putin “needs to come back to reality” in response to the Russian president’s claim that he is ready to negotiate.
On a day which saw Russia launch rocket attacks on dozens of frontline towns, Mr Putin had told state broadcaster Rossiya 1 that the Kremlin was “ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions”.
“But that is up to them – we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are,” he claimed.
Putin says Russia ‘ready’ to negotiate – war latest
Ukrainian officials have dismissed Mr Putin’s comments, as the Russian president’s forces spent Christmas Day bombarding more than 25 towns along the Kupiansk-Lyman frontline, and nearly 20 in Zaporizhzhia.
At least 10 rocket attacks also struck the Kupiansk district in the Kharkiv region.
Moscow claimed to have killed about 60 Ukrainian servicemen the previous day.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Twitter: “Putin needs to come back to reality.
“Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens.
“There are no other ‘countries, motives, geopolitics’.
“Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility.”
‘Russia has lost everything it could this year’
It is 10 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
And, with no serious peace talks for months, there is little end in sight.
Millions of people in Ukraine are without electricity, due to Russian attacks on the country’s infrastructure.
Mr Zelenskyy has warned his people that Moscow will try to make the last days of 2022 dark and difficult.
He said: “Russia has lost everything it could this year.
“I know darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to new defeats.
“But we have to be ready for any scenario.”
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Zelenskyy’s Christmas message
‘Defending our national interests’
Ukraine says it will not negotiate until every Russian soldier is gone from its territory, while Russia says it will keep fighting until it achieves its aims.
Mr Putin said on Sunday that he believes he is “defending our national interests…protect(ing) our citizens”.
Mr Putin also blames Kyiv and its Western backers for a lack of progress on peace talks, but has made clear that any negotiations must be on his terms.
Ukraine says this would be unacceptable, as it would mean bowing to Russian demands and accepting Mr Putin’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
‘Posturing’
The US State Department has not commented on Mr Putin’s latest talks offer, but after a similar speech from Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in October, spokesman Ned Price dismissed Russia’s approach as “posturing”.
“We do not see this as a constructive, legitimate offer to engage in the dialogue and diplomacy that is absolutely necessary to see an end to this brutal war of aggression,” he added.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
In mid-May, the World Health Organisation assessed that there were “nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” its report concluded.
Warning: This article contains images of an emaciated child which some readers may find distressing
Israel‘s decision this week to reverse the siege and allow “a basic level of aid” into Gaza should help ease the immediate crisis.
But the number of aid trucks getting in, so far fewer than 100 per day, is considered dramatically too few by aid organisations working in Gaza, and the United Nations accuses Israel of continuing to block vital items.
Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza enduring ‘atrocious death and destruction’, UN boss warns
“Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute, along with unnecessary delay procedures,” said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday.
“Essentials, including fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies, are prohibited. Nothing has reached the besieged north.”
Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies.
Baby Aya at Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza is dangerously thin
“Today, we receive between 300 to 500 cases daily, with approximately 10% requiring admission. This volume of inpatient cases far exceeds the capacity of Rantisi hospital, as the facility is not equipped to accommodate such large numbers,” Jall al Barawi, a doctor at the hospital, told us.
At least 94% of the hospitals have sustained some damage, some considerable, according to the UN.
Jall al Barawi, a doctor at Rantisi hospital
Paramedic crews are close to running out of fuel to drive ambulances.
The lack of food, after an 11-week blockade, has left thousands malnourished and increasingly vulnerable to surviving injuries or recovering from other conditions.
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Children are the worst affected.
Our team in Gaza filmed with baby Aya at the Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza. She is now three months old and dangerously thin.
Her skin stretches over her cheekbones and eye sockets on her gaunt, pale face. Her nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Aya’s nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Lethal spiral
Her mother Sundush, who is only 19 herself, cannot get enough food to produce breastmilk. Baby formula is scarce.
Aya, like so many other young children, cannot get the vital nutrition she needs to grow and develop.
It’s a lethal spiral.
This is what Aya looked like shortly after she was born
“My daughter was born at a normal weight, 3.5kg,” Sundush tells us.
“But as the war went on, her weight dropped significantly. I would breastfeed her, she’d get diarrhoea. I tried formula – same result. With the borders closed and no food coming in, I can’t eat enough to give her the nutrients she needs.”
“I brought her to the hospital for treatment, but the care she needs isn’t available.
“The doctor said her condition is very serious. I really don’t want to lose her, because I lost my husband and she’s all I have left of him. I don’t want to lose her.”
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Aya and her mother Sundush
Some of the aid entering Gaza now is being looted. It is hard to know whether that is by Hamas or desperate civilians. Maybe a combination of the two.
The lack of aid creates an atmosphere of desperation, which eventually leads to a breakdown in security as everyone fights to secure food for themselves and their families.
Only by alleviating the desperation can the security situation improve, and the risk of famine abate.
World
Police launch ‘major operation’ after 12 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station
Twelve people are reported to have been injured after a knife attack at Hamburg’s central train station.
A “major operation” has been launched and a suspect was arrested, police said in a post on X.
The identity of the suspect has not been revealed.
Reports in Germany said the suspected attacker was a woman.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
Bild newspaper said the motive for the attack was so far unknown.
Hamburg is Germany’s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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