Dec. 13 (UPI) — Russia on Tuesday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to withdraw its troops by Christmas.
Zelensky called for Russia to remove its troops, during an address before G7 leaders on Monday.
“The occupier must leave. It will certainly happen. I see no reason why Russia should not do it now — at Christmas. The answer from Moscow will show what they really want — further confrontation with the world, or finally [a] cessation of the aggression. The one who brought the war upon us has to take it away,” he said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, however, rejected Zelensky’s suggestion on Tuesday, saying it was “out of the question” and Ukraine must accept “new realities,” regarding annexed territory.
“These realities indicate that the Russian Federation has new subjects they appeared as a result of referendums that took place in these territories,” Peskov said.
Peskov also denied accusations from Ukraine’s state nuclear power company that Russia is placing heavy weapons at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in a report posted to Telegram by the official Russian news agency TASS.
Three civilians in the Kherson region were killed by Russian shelling on Monday, according to regional military administrator Yaroslav Yanushevych.
Russian forces have launched renewed strikes with a fresh batch of Iranian-supplied drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, while Britain has sanctioned several Russian individuals linked to drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets.
“Twelve senior commanders of Russian military forces, including units implicated in attacks on Ukrainian cities, have been sanctioned. Major General Robert Baranov, identified by a Bellingcat investigation as the commander of a unit responsible for programming and targeting Russian cruise missiles, is among those targeted,” read a statement from the British foreign office on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled his yearly end-of-year press conference for the first time in a decade. The British Ministry of Defense suggested the cancelation was due to growing discontent with the war in Ukraine.
“Although the questions are almost certainly vetted in advance, the cancelation is likely due to increasing concerns about he prevalence of anti-war feeling in Russia,” the ministry tweeted on Tuesday.
