Russia accuses Ukraine of targeting chemical facilities, risking exposure to civilians

The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday (Dec 12) said that Ukraine has tried to launch drone strikes on its chemical facilities, where first-class hazardous substances are stored. It added that the attacks were thwarted. Speaking at a press briefing, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Major General Alexey Rtishchev said that facilities in the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod and the town of Rossosh were targeted.

“Drone attacks were thwarted that targeted chemical facilities in Veliky Novgorod and the town of Rossosh in the Voronezh Region, where first-class hazardous substances are stored,” he said, as quoted by TASS.

Major General Alexey Rtishchev also accused the Ukrainian army of attempting to destroy hazardous chemical sites in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, creating the threat of chemical exposure to civilians in the region. He added that the Zarya industrial facility in the settlement of Rubezhnoye, the Azot facility in Severodonetsk, and the Coke and Chemical Plant in Avdeyevka have faced repeated shelling by Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities said that a Ukrainian drone hit an apartment block northwest of Moscow, injuring seven people in an overnight attack. The attack happened at Tver, a city 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the Russian capital.

Trump ‘extremely frustrated with both Kyiv and Moscow’

This comes a day after US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Dec 11) said that he is "extremely frustrated with both Kyiv and Moscow over the ongoing war. He added that the war could potentially snowball into a “third world war.”

Expressing his frustration with the slow-moving peace talks, Trump said at the White House, “I’d like to see the killing stop. 25,000 people died last month, mostly soldiers, but some people also where bombs were dropped, but for the most part, 25,000 soldiers died last month. I would love to see it stop. And we're working very hard.”

He further warned, “Things like this end up in third world wars. And I said that the other day. I said, Everybody keeps playing games like this. We will end up in a third world war, and we don’t want to see that happen.”

“The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war,” Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “He doesn’t want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end.”

She added, “His special envoy, (Steve) Witkoff, and his team continue to talk with both sides, literally as we speak.”