Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Russian forces could be slowly advancing in the area around the war hot spot of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, with Ukraine’s military saying its forces had defended the area from the highest number of Russian attacks in one day on Monday.

Russian forces have been pressing to encircle the strategically important town, which is home to the largest coke producer in Ukraine, and nearby towns and villages, including Marinka.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces “continued offensive operations near Avdiivka on December 11 and recently marginally advanced” there and east of Stepove (1.8 miles northwest of Avdiivka).

Russian war bloggers, or “milbloggers,” claimed on Dec. 11 that Russian forces made tactical advances in the railway area near Stepove and in northern Stepove, while one milblogger claimed that Russian forces entered the administrative borders of Avdiivka itself, but the ISW said it had observed no visual confirmation of any of these Russian claims.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported Monday that “Ukrainian defenders continue to restrain the enemy who does not abandon attempts to surround Avdiivka.”

“Our warriors are steadfastly holding the defense, causing the enemy significant losses,” the General Staff said on Facebook, saying Ukrainian forces had repelled 42 attacks in the area to the east of Avdiivka on Monday, up from 36 Russian attacks the previous day. It recorded 14 attacks in the area around nearby Marinka.

Despite the significant increase in attacks compared with the past few weeks, analysts at the ISW said they have not observed significant Russian gains near Avdiivka.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s counteroffensive hopes did not come true and the front-line situation remains “very difficult,” according to a top Ukrainian security official.

A month before Ukraine launched its much-hyped counteroffensive in June, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said it provided an “historic opportunity.” Six months on, Ukraine has little to show for its mammoth efforts to attempt to retake Russian-occupied (and heavily fortified) land in the south and east of of the country.

Danilov told the BBC that expectations for the counteroffensive had not been met.

“There were hopes, but they did not come true. The fact that we have been defending our country for two years is already a big victory,” he told the broadcaster.

Danilov acknowledged Kyiv had been overly optimistic about the counteroffensive, saying “people sometimes make mistakes. You cannot be an A-grader all your life.”

It’s widely accepted that the counteroffensive has failed in its objectives and few breakthroughs are expected as winter sets in, although it has showed few signs of constraining military activity so far with fighting as intense as ever in war hot spots in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces are not only defending their entrenched positions — in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, they’ve also been launching what even Ukraine describes as “significant offensive operations” around Avdiivka and Marinka in a bid to seize more of the region.

He described the current situation along an expansive front line as “very difficult” and said that the old “textbooks” for war, including NATO ones, “should be sent back to the archives.”

“There hasn’t been a war like the one we have in our country – not in the 20th nor the 21st Century,” he said.

Amid concerns over future funding for Ukraine, Danilov said the armed forces would continue to fight come what may. “I can say for sure that we won’t stop,” he said. “We will continue fighting for our freedom, for our independence.”

— Holly Ellyatt

U.S. National Security Spokesman John Kirby said Monday he expects the White House to announce additional security assistance for Ukraine, ahead of what it has described as a critical year-end deadline.

“We don’t have too many more weeks left in this year to be able to provide security assistance, so I would fully expect that you’re going to see us anounce additional security assistance before the end of the month,” Kirby said.

His comments come ahead of talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Tuesday.

Intense negotiations are ongoing on Capitol Hill as the White House pushes to pass Biden’s $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel, and domestic border security.

Biden “will make it clear to President Zelenskyy that we’re standing firm on this supplemental request, we absolutely need to get additional funding to support Ukraine going forward,” and provide him with an update on the situation, Kirby said.

“He’ll keep urging the negotiations forward, urging compromise, with the goal of getting all these national security issues fully funded as we need. They’re all urgent, they’re all important,” Kirby told reporters on board Air Force One.

Kirby added that the talks come at a crucial time due to the situation in Ukraine.

“As winter approaches, we’re seeing increased missile and drone attacks by the Russian armed forces against civilian infrastructure. We expect that that will continue, particularly against energy infrastructure, and as the Russian forces continue to try to take offensive action against hte Ukrainians all along that front, but particularly in the east,” he said.

— Jenni Reid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet with International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva in Washington on Monday, an IMF spokesperson told CNBC.

They said no further details could be provided at this point.

The IMF in March approved a four-year $15.6 billion loan program for Ukraine. Following the immediate release of $2.7 billion, the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) stipulated requirements for the country to enact reforms including raising tax revenues and strengthening anti-corruption measures.

The EFF includes a second phase requiring “more ambitious structural reforms to entrench macroeconomic stability, support the recovery and early post-war reconstruction, and enhance resilience and higher long-term growth, including in the context of Ukraine’s EU accession goals,” according to the IMF.

Zelenskyy is in Washington to hold talks with U.S. President Joe Biden and other top officials as he seeks to avoid a cessation or dramatic reduction in aid from the superpower before the end of the year.

— Jenni Reid

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been removed from the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow, according to posts from allies shared on his social media account.

The posts said his current whereabouts were unknown.

CNBC was unable to independently verify the reports.

Navalny’s allies have been readying for his possible transfer to a tougher colony after he received a sentence to serve an additional 19 years in prison in August.

— Karen Gilchrist

Ukraine may need to cede some land to Russia in order to end the war taking place in its territory, Republican U.S. Senator J.D. Vance said Sunday, as backlash against the ongoing conflict rises among some Republican factions.

“What’s in America’s best interest is to accept Ukraine is going to have to cede some territory to the Russians, and we need to bring this war to a close,” Vance, of Ohio, said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The comments come as support for Ukraine wanes among some Republican lawmakers, who argue that the government’s attention would be better directed toward its own national security issues.

— Karen Gilchrist

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday that it would be “devastating” for both Ukraine and the European Union if EU leaders do not give his country the green light for membership talks at a summit later this week.

“I cannot imagine, I don’t even want to talk about the devastating consequences that will occur shall the (European) Council fail to make this decision,” Kuleba told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels, according to Reuters.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday unveiled two new nuclear-powered submarines that he said would soon start patrolling the Pacific, according to a Google-translated report from Russian state-owned TV network Zvezda.

In a televised event in the northern city of Severodvinsk, Putin inaugurated the vessels, which are named the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander the Third.

— Karen Gilchrist