19/12/2025

FRIDAY | DEC 19, 2025

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At least 32 injured in latest Russian airstrike

WARSAW: President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to Warsaw today for a first face-to-face meeting with his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki, with tensions likely after his previous criticism of Kyiv. Nawrocki and Zelensky talked on the phone after the nationalist leader’s presidential election win but it has taken four months for the pair to meet in person. Poland has been in the firing line since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and has taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees who fled the fighting. According to local media, Nawrocki, unhappy at the state of relations between the two neighbours, turned down at least three invitations to head to Kyiv, with his entourage hinting that he was expecting Zelensky to come to Warsaw. Ukrainian analysts said the government in Kyiv deemed the decision “contemptuous”. An EU official told AFP that “the way in which Mr Nawrocki sees relations with Ukraine is tougher than his predecessor”, Andrzej Duda, a conservative who was supportive of Ukraine. The official added that Kyiv had been waiting for Warsaw to be in contact “to really establish cooperation with the new Polish president”. Nawrocki, a nationalist historian, has a long list of grievances against Kyiv. He accuses Ukraine of not seeing Poland as an equal partner, an argument often taken up by the Polish far-right. “We really do support Ukraine and we would continue to do so but we need to learn to function as partners and not as junior partners.” – AFP Zelensky to meet Polish president Guterres urges restraint in Yemen Ukrainian NEW YORK: United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged all parties in Yemen to exercise maximum restraint after an advance by southern separatists that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war. He added that the operating environment had become untenable in the areas held by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement; Yemen’s capital Sanaa and the heavily populated northwest. The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), backed in the past by the United Arab Emirates, says it has taken over the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahra, and is now firmly established across all provinces of the former state of South Yemen. The STC has been an important part of a coalition fighting alongside the internationally recognised government against the Houthi movement. “I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, de-escalate tensions and resolve differences through dialogue. This includes regional stakeholders, whose constructive engagement and coordination in support of UN mediation efforts are essential for ensuring collective security interests.” Guterres, who has just returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia and Oman, also condemned the Houthis’ continued arbitrary detention of 59 UN staff, calling for their immediate and unconditional release. – Reuters

AFP journalists at the scene saw firefighters battling a blaze in a multiple-storey housing block. Fedorov said two individuals were also wounded in a Russian drone strike on a civilian car in Kushuhum, south of Zaporizhzhia. The industrial city of Zaporizhzhia had a pre-war population of about 710,000 and

lies 27km from the front line. The Kremlin claimed in 2022 that it had annexed the wider region, along with three other eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The attacks came with the United States pushing Ukraine to accept peace terms to halt the fighting that critics have said are favourable to the Kremlin. – AFP

o Five children among wounded

ZAPORIZHZHIA: Local authorities said Russian air strikes on and around the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday wounded at least 32 people. Regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov said on social

media all of those wounded came from the city and its surroundings. Rescue services said five children were among the injured in a provisional toll of 30, after strikes on a block of flats, a house and an educational establishment.

Rescuers work to extinguish a fire in a damaged residential building following the attack in Zaporizhzhia. – AFPPIC

Ukrainian drone attacks kill three

RUSSIA: Three people, including two crew members of a cargo vessel, were killed in overnight Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don and the town of Bataysk in the southern Rostov

region, local governor Yuri Slyusar said yesterday. Rostov-on-Don head Alexander Skryabin said a leak of oil products had been avoided. Ukraine and Russia have accused

each other of deliberately attacking civilian vessels. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to “cut Ukraine off from the sea” after Kyiv’s attacks damaged three “shadow fleet” tankers heading to Russia to

export its oil earlier this month. Slyusar also said seven people were injured in Bataysk where two private homes caught fire as result of the attack, adding that it was later extinguished. – Reuters

Israel impeding Gaza humanitarian operations, says UN

NEW YORK: The United Nations and aid groups said on Wednesday humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a “vague, arbitrary and highly politicised” registration process. The UN in a joint statement with aid groups said dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by Dec 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days. “The deregistration of INGOs (international aid groups) in Gaza would have a catastrophic impact

on access to essential services. “INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary healthcare centres, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilisation centres for children with acute malnutrition and critical mine action activities.” While some international aid groups have been registered under the system that was introduced in March, “the ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary hindrances to humanitarian operations have left millions of dollars worth of essential supplies, including food, medical items,

hygiene materials and shelter assistance, stuck outside of Gaza and unable to reach people in need”, the statement read. Israel’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement. Under the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began on Oct 10. Hamas released hostages, Israel freed detained Palestinians and more aid began flowing into the enclave. However, Hamas says fewer aid trucks are entering Gaza than

agreed upon. Aid agencies say there is far less aid than required, and that Israel is blocking many necessary items from coming in. Israel denies that and says it is abiding by its obligations. “The UN would not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de registered and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside established principles.” The statement said “humanitarian access is not optional”, adding that “assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without delay”. – Reuters