A “military operation”. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban echoed the formula used by the Kremlin, calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine “a military operation” on Thursday. “This is a military operation as long as there has not been a declaration of war between the two countries,” the nationalist leader declared during his annual press conference. “When the Russians declare war on Ukraine, then it will be war,” he added. “Strictly speaking, let’s rejoice as long as there is no war. If there is a war, there is a general mobilization and I don’t wish that on anyone,” he concluded.
Russia must not “win”. Westerners cannot “let Russia win” in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron insisted on Thursday, saying that support for kyiv must continue even if “it costs us”. “You who know what the balance of power is, you measure what we cannot let happen and how much we cannot let Russia win,” he said during a dinner of Christmas in front of French forces stationed in Jordan. “What would tomorrow be like for us Europeans? We will therefore continue to help the Ukrainians, which we are doing, even if it costs us,” he concluded in front of the troops.
An explosion in kyiv. A residential building in kyiv was hit Thursday evening by a Russian explosive drone, said the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration Andriy Iermak. “A residential building in kyiv hit by a Shahed”, an Iranian-made drone regularly used by Moscow for its attacks, he said. The incident occurred in the Solomiansky district in the southwest of the capital, adds the mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko, reporting “flames on the upper floors” of the building. A man was hospitalized in this neighborhood, another received medical treatment on site, he announced.