Ukraine war latest: Kyiv needs $60 billion from partners to fund defense against Russia in 2026, minister says
Hello, this is Francis Farrell reporting from Kyiv on day 1,391 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top stories:
- Zelensky says Russia continues to demand all of Donbas, adding that Ukraine will not withdraw
- Russia denies Ukraine’s claim of submarine strike in Novorossiysk
- UK pledges over $800 million for Ukraine's air defenses, Germany to donate Sidewinder missiles
Latest news from our War Desk:
Kyiv needs $60 billion from partners to fund defense against Russia in 2026, minister says
Ukraine requires its partners to cover half of its projected $120 billion of defense spending to stay in the fight against Russia in 2026, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec. 16.
The comments came after Shmyhal addressed ministers and other top officials of partner nations at the 32nd meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, better known as the Ramstein format.
According to the minister, $45 billion of the necessary funds had already been pledged, more than in any other year of Russia's full-scale war.
With the Trump administration ending support for large-scale military aid and financing packages to Kyiv, scraping together the necessary funds to keep the military and defense industry running — while not neglecting the rest of the state budget — has presented an increasing challenges that only looks to be more difficult going into 2026.
For next year, Kyiv's priorities are stable defense financing, air defense, domestic production of drones and supply of ammunition, Shmyhal said.
On top of that, Ukraine is looking to the continuation of the PURL scheme, where NATO members and other partners fund the purchase and supply of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine.
UK pledges over $800 million for Ukraine's air defense
The U.K. announced on Dec. 16 that it is investing 600 million pounds (over $800 million) to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses, as Ukraine braces for escalating Russian strikes during the winter months.
The funds will be used to purchase "thousands of air defense systems, missiles, and automated turrets to shoot down drones," U.K. Defense Minister John Healey said at the 32nd Ramstein-format meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG).
The British defense minister described the donation as the "biggest single-year investment into air defense for Ukraine," adding that deliveries have commenced and will continue through 2026.
The U.K. will also soon begin production of new Octopus interceptor drones for Ukraine, he said, following the signing of a license production agreement between the two countries in November.
London has been one of Kyiv's leading military donors, providing 13 billion pounds ($17.4 billion) in defense assistance since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.
Russia denies Ukraine’s claim of submarine strike in Novorossiysk
Last updated 4:44 p.m. Kyiv time
Russia denied Ukraine’s claim that an underwater drone strike knocked a Black Sea Fleet submarine out of service at the Novorossiysk naval base, saying the vessel shown in footage was “intact and unharmed.”
Capt. 1st Rank Alexei Rulev, head of the fleet’s press service, said in a video that no ships or submarines or their crews suffered damage and that forces at the base “are carrying out their duties in a normal mode,” according to Russian state media.Ukraine’s
Security Service (SBU) said on Dec. 15 that it used Sea Baby underwater drones to strike a Varshavyanka-class submarine in Novorossiysk, claiming it suffered critical damage and was effectively put out of service. The SBU released video it said showed the explosion near the docked submarine.
Russia ramping up pressure on Myrnohrad as fight inside Pokrovsk outskirts continues
Last updated 3:15 p.m. Kyiv time
The Ukrainian military said on Dec. 16 that Russian troops are launching their fiercest attacks on the western outskirts of Pokrovsk while also ramping up pressure on Myrnohrad, its sister city nearby.
The 7th Air Assault Corps’s report comes as Ukraine’s grip on Pokrovsk, a city in eastern Donetsk Oblast that has seen the fiercest fighting for over a year, weakens, with Russian troops threatening the last remaining logistical routes into it.
Russian troops are attempting to break through toward the village of Hryshyne, located less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Pokrovsk, trying to “move in all directions at once,” the 7th Corps said in a Facebook post.
The 7th Corps added that Ukrainian forces are trying to thwart the Russian efforts to approach Hryshyne by cutting off Russia’s likely routes of advance with artillery and drone strikes.
In comments to the Kyiv Independent, the corps said that Russian forces were advancing toward Hryshyne as a direct result of their failure to complete the takeover of the northwestern neighborhoods of Pokrovsk.
Russian troops have been trying to make the most of the foggy winter weather, with the 7th Corps reporting a rare mechanized attack on Pokrovsk on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, in Myrnohrad, a city located about five kilometers (3 miles) northeast of Pokrovsk, Russian troops are intensifying pressure on the Myrnohrad’s southeastern areas, trying to infiltrate the upper part of the town by moving upward, according to the 7th Corps.
According to assessments by most open-source mapping groups, including the highly trusted DeepState Map, Myrnohrad has for weeks been in a state of near encirclement, with reports that almost all Ukrainian attempts to conduct rotation in and out of the city end up in direct firefights with Russian troops.
Russia rejects Christmas truce as U.S. ramps up peace push
Last updated 2:43 pm Kyiv time
Russia has rejected a proposed Christmas truce on accounts that it could give Ukraine a temporary respite, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Dec. 16.
Peskov's comment comes after numerous temporary truces on religious holidays, including those initiated by Moscow, were previously broken by Russian troops.
Peskov claimed that Russia wants peace and that the truce would give Ukraine time to recover from heavy fighting, and blamed Kyiv for continuing what he described as a war it launched against another sovereign country.
In April, an Easter truce declared by President Vladimir Putin was violated nearly 3,000 times by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said hours before it ended on its third day.
At least 1 killed, 16 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day
Last updated: 2:40 p.m. Kyiv time
At least 1 person has been killed and 16 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on Dec. 16.
Russia launched 69 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 57 of the drones, with 10 successful strikes reported.
In Sumy Oblast, a 68-year-old man was killed by a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone near Velyka Pysarivka, with one other man wounded, again by an FPV drone, near the town of Hlukhiv, according to regional authorities.
12 civilians were wounded in front-line Donetsk Oblast, with the most injuries recorded in the town of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, according to the regional military administration.
Three residents were injured in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, all in a Russian Shahed-type drone strike on a residential building in the center of regional capital Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on national television.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,190,620 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Last updated: 2:40 p.m. Kyiv time
Russia has lost around 1,190,620 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 16.
The number includes 1,150 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,421 tanks, 23,737 armored fighting vehicles, 70,182 vehicles and fuel tanks, 35,172 artillery systems, 1,570 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,261 air defense systems, 432 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 91,219 drones, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines.
