Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 299

Russian forces are trying to improve their tactical position in the Lyman direction and are concentrating their efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions. In the past 24 hours, Russian forces launched 5 missile strikes and 42 MLRS attacks. The threat of air and missile strikes persists throughout Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way forward in Ukraine, his office has said. Senior Ukrainian officials say Putin is preparing for a major new offensive in the new year. Russia has suffered a series of humiliating battlefield setbacks in recent months. Russia’s defence ministry said its “highly accurate” weapons hit parts of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, energy, and military administrative facilities on Friday. A shield is being erected over a spent nuclear waste repository at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia receives a new batch of Shahid drones, Ukrainska Pravda reports. The Russian Federation plans to increase state defence orders in 2023 and is increasing the workload of its defence industry. The Russian Federation also plans to open its production facility for Shahed-136 Iranian drones on the territory of the country. According to the National Resistance Center and Belarusian resistance movement, the Russians are trying to gain control over the Belarusian defence industry within the framework of the activities of the “union state” with the Republic of Belarus. Putin continues to pressure Lukashenko to fully involve the Belarusian military in the war in Ukraine. Russian-installed officials in occupied eastern Ukraine say 12 people have died from Ukrainian shelling. The mass strikes appeared to be a continuation of the Kremlin’s attempt to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Three people were killed when an apartment block was hit in central Kryvyi Rih, and another died in shelling in Kherson. Ukraine’s state energy company, Ukrenergo, said energy consumption had fallen by 50% as a result of the attacks. At least eight people were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, according to a state media report. Ukrainian air defence forces shot down 37 of “about 40” aircraft that entered the city’s airspace, the Kyiv administration says. Emergency power shutdowns are being brought in across the country after strikes. Nine power facilities were damaged by Russian missile strikes, Ukraine’s energy minister says.