European Council President António Costa greets Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024 (Alexandros Michailidis/European Council/DPA)

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky and Macron Discuss Deployment of European Troops

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1134 GMT:

The Ukraine Air Force said it downed five ballistic missiles and 40 of 65 drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 20 UAVs failed to reach their targets because of electronic counter-measures.

Missile debris killed at least one person and injured 11, five of whom were hospitalized, in Kyiv (see 0937 GMT). In Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, two people were slain and at least six injured, including a 15-year-old girl.

Around 630 residential buildings, medical clinics, and schools lost their heating.

Seven civilians were killed and at least 34 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

In addition to fatalities from missile debris, four civilians perished and three were wounded in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

UK Undersecretary of Defense Luke Pollard says Russia troop casualties have exceeded 750,000, and are expected to surpass 1 million within six months.

“It is highly likely that they have sustained significant combat casualties, whilst only achieving limited tactical gains,” Pollard told MPs yesterday.

Ukraine’s General Staff says Russia’s dead, wounded, and captured were 768,220 as of Thursday.

UPDATE 0937 GMT:

At least one person has been killed and 10 injured in Kyiv by Russian missile attacks.

Multiple explosions were reported around 7 a.m. as air defenses tried to intercept five ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M or the North Korean KN-23 models. All five were shot down, but debris falling in several districts of the city.

In the Holosiivskyi district, at least two office buildings, a gas pipe, and five cars were damaged. Fires were reported at non-residential buildings in the Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of Kyiv, and a blast wave damaged the stained glass windows of the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Pechersk district.

Officials also reported one person killed and six injured in Kherson city in southern Ukriane., and attacks on several other cities and towns.

In Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, six people were injured and a two-story building heavily damaged. A man and a teenage girl were pulled from the rubble and taken to hospital.

UPDATE 0823 GMT:

Ukraine’s officials say Russia launched a mass cyber-attack on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna posted on Facebook:

Today the largest external cyber-attack in recent times occurred with Ukraine’s state registries. As a result of this targeted attack, the work of the unified and state registries, which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, was temporarily suspended.

Stefanishyna said the attack was “carried out by the Russians to disrupt the work of the country’s critically important infrastructure”, with work ongoing to restore the systems.

UPDATE 0818 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with a concise review of Vladimir Putin’s marathon phone-in on Thursday:

Responding to Putin’s comments about testing a new hypersonic missile above Kyiv “to see what happens”, Zelenskyy said, “Do you think that’s a sane person? Simply a scumbag.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Addressing the European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Europe to show a “clear position” assuring Kyiv’s security.

Amid Russia’s 34-month invasion and the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House, Zelensky said both Europe and the US are needed to secure a durable peace.

“European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine,” he said. “It goes without saying that NATO is the best security guarantee for Ukraine.”

However, with NATO not yet ready to issue an invitation to Kyiv, Zelensky mentioned steps such as French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for European troops in Ukraine: “Until [we are] a member of Nato, this aspect could be considered as an alternative.”

If we are talking about a contingent, we need to be specific – how many, what they will do if there is aggression from Russia.

The main thing is that this is not some artificial story, we need effective mechanisms.

NATO head Mark Rutte pushed back against the proposal earlier this week, saying the priority should be provision of military aid.

Zelensky also met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head António Costa on Thursday. Discussions included “protecting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the safety of our children, as well as increasing domestic defense production” and “consolidating international efforts to achieve a just peace”.