Ukraine news – live: China vows to maintain ‘fair’ stance on war after Putin and Xi meeting

Ukrainians in the UK are being forced to choose between homelessness or returning to war as their sponsorship arrangements end, charities have warned.

Councils have a legal obligation to house Ukrainians if they do not have anywhere to live but some local authorities have told refugees they cannot house them when their six-month Homes for Ukraine placement ends.

In one example, Ealing Council told a 23-year-old woman it was unlikely to be able to help her because she did not have “severe health needs”, while others have been told they will only get help when they are 48 hours away from having nowhere to live.

Home Office figures show that 2,985 Ukrainian households presented themselves as homeless to councils between the end of February to November this year. Some 69 per cent of those included dependent children and the majority, 1,920, came to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says 63 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Makiivka, in footage released by Moscow.

Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was waiting for 2023’s first tranche of European Union macrofinancial aid in January after speaking to European Comission head Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Zelensky thanked Ms von der Leyen for her support and said the two leaders coordinated steps on a Ukraine-EU summit.

The EU has agreed to provide €18bn this year to help Ukraine pay for essential public services and restore critical infrastructure damaged in more than 10 months of war.

Vladimir Putin’s commanders faced damning criticism at home after admitting the loss of at least 63 troops in a Ukrainian air strike.

Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian troops in eastern Ukraine who has emerged as one of the highest profile Russian nationalist military bloggers, said the death toll was in the hundreds, later editing his post to include wounded in that figure. Ammunition had been stored at the site and Russian military equipment there was uncamouflaged, he said.

Another nationalist blogger, Rybar, said around 70 soldiers were confirmed dead and more than 100 wounded.

“What happened in Makiivka is horrible,” wrote Archangel Spetznaz Z, another Russian military blogger with more than 700,000 followers on Telegram.

“Who came up with the idea to place personnel in large numbers in one building, where even a fool understands that even if they hit with artillery, there will be many wounded or dead?” he wrote. Commanders “couldn’t care less” about ammunition stored in disarray on the battlefield, he said.

“Each mistake has a name.”

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a power supply facility in Russia’s Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, according to the regional governor.

“A Ukrainian drone attack was carried out this morning on the Klimovsky district,” Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties.

“All emergency services are on site. As a result of the strike, the power supply facility was damaged, and there is no electricity.”

Earlier Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory have targeted military infrastructure. Kremlin officials blamed Ukraine for attacks last month on Russian airfields but Kyiv did not claim responsibility.

Russia’s defence minstry said 63 Russian troops were killed in a Ukrainian strike in the Donetsk region, countering Ukrainian claims that 400 were killed.

Differing accounts of a New Year’s Eve attack on a military base in the mining town of Makiivka have emerged throughout the day so far.

Ukraine said 400 Russians were killed, with military bloggers also putitng the figure in the hundreds. Around one hour ago Reuters reported that a source close to the Russian-appointed leaders of Donetsk said fewer than 100 were killed.

Now Russian state news has cited the Kremlin’s defence ministry as saying: “The Kyiv regime struck with six rockets of the US-made Himars multiple-launch fire system at the point of temporary deployment of one of the divisions of the Russian armed forces in the vicinity of the settlement of Makiivka.

“Two Himars rockets were shot down by Russian air defense systems. As a result of the defeat of four rockets with high-explosive warheads at the temporary deployment point, 63 Russian servicemen died.”

Photographers on the ground in Donetsk have captured scenes of life in the region seeing the heaviest fighting in recent weeks.

A Russian source has counter claims that up to 400 Russians were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Donetsk.

In comments to Reuters, a source close to the Russian-appointed leadership said the New Year’s Eve attack on a military base in the mining town of Makiivka killed dozens of recruits.

Ukraine’s defence ministry said as many as 400 Russians had been killed.

The Donetsk source, who declined to be named, told Reuters: “According to my information, there are fewer than 100 killed so far.”

“What is being reported is greatly exaggerated. Fifty-eight wounded were brought in overnight, which is a lot for a normal day and not much if you believe the information about hundreds of dead. It was a site for mobilised Russian recruits.”

Ukraine’s defence ministry shared this clip of a soldier singing a lullaby for his newborn child, who rests atop his guitar.

The team at Independent TV has translated the song in the video below.

A wave of Russian airstrikes further damaged Ukraine’s battered power grid but the system is under control, Ukraine’s energy operator said.

Ukrainian officials said as many as 40 missiles were fired on Kyiv and surrounding areas overnight but most were shot down.

Ukrenergo, the grid operator, said the strikes caused some power outages in Kyiv and central Ukraine but the effects were not as severe as in recent weeks as people were using less power due to the warmer weather.