December 21, 2022 Russia-Ukraine and Zelensky news

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized the importance of air defense support in his joint news conference with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Zelensky said the main issue the two leaders discussed in their bilateral meeting earlier Wednesday was ways to strengthening Ukraine and the country's air defense.

The Ukrainian leader said that securing Ukrainian airspace is critical in protecting the country's energy sector and infrastructure.

"This is a very important step to create secure air space for Ukraine and that's the only way we would be able to deprive the terrorist country and their terror attack to strike our energy sector, our people and our infrastructure. We had a very good negotiation and talks about our strategic steps, which we discussed with President Biden and what we expect next year and for what we are preparing. This is very important for all Ukrainians," he said.

Zelensky also said that he is hopeful that the US Congress will approve the $45 billion aid package. "And I am hopeful and once again, thank you, Mr. President, for 45 billion. Because this is a big assistance and I hope that the Congress will approve this financial assistance for our country."

Zelensky is slated to address a joint session of Congress later this evening.

US President Joe Biden officially announced the United States will send an additional $1.8 billion package of assistance to Ukraine, which will include the Patriot missile defense system.

“Its going to take some time to complete the necessary training” to operate the system, but said the Patriot missiles will be a “critical asset” to Ukraine’s defense, Biden said Wednesday alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Biden said the United States in committed to ensuring Ukraine can “defend their country against Russia’s aggressions as long as it takes.”

The president thanked members of Congress for bipartisan support for Ukraine so far — including the newest, additional $45 billion package.

US President Joe Biden said that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be sending more than $374 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden said it is important for Americans and the rest of the world to continue to hear directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the war stretches to its 300th day — saying the people of Ukraine and Zelensky's leadership has been an inspiration.

The remarks came at a joint news conference following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders Wednesday.

Biden applauded Ukrainians for their “unbreakable determination” and their “strong stand against aggression."

The US president said it was "meaningful to talk to one another in person, look each other in the eye, because leadership through this terrible crisis has inspired the Ukrainian people as you have done, Mr. President, and the American people and the entire world," Biden said.

He said Zelensky has “shown your strong stand against aggression in the face of the imperial appetites of autocrats,” and added the US was standing alongside Ukraine in maintaining “core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

"Ukraine's fight is part of something much bigger,” Biden said. "Stand up to bullies. Stand up for freedom. That's who we are as Americans.”

“You will never stand alone," he added.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

US President Joe Biden is hosting a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

It comes after the two leaders held a bilateral meeting shortly after Zelensky arrived in Washington, DC. The visit marks Zelensky's first foreign trip since the war began.

Later today, the Ukrainian president will address members of Congress on Capitol Hill as he works to thank Americans for their support, as well as convince the US to continue providing financial and military aid. Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $1.85 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, including the first transfer of the Patriot missile defense system.

As he meets with US President Joe Biden at the White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that next year "may become extremely important for Ukraine."

"Historical meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and the United States - Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden. A great victory is ahead," said Yermak in a separate Telegram post. 

As President Volodymyr Zelensky began his visit to Washington, DC, the Ukrainian military reported inflicting heavy damage on Russian weapons and ammunition facilities.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff confirmed fire damage at enemy ammunition depots near Kadiivka in Luhansk region, which were targeted late last week. It said that detonations at the warehouses lasted more than 20 hours.

It also reported a strike on a Russian base in the southern region of Kherson, part of which is still occupied by Russian forces. It said that on Tuesday "the occupiers, who had amassed at the airfield near Kakhovka, Kherson region, were struck."

Frontline fighting: Elsewhere, the General Staff reported sustained Russian shelling along a wide area of the front lines in Luhansk and Donetsk, including Bakhmut, where President Zelensky visited troops on Tuesday.

The General Staff alleged that a Russian air strike on a town in the Zaporizhzhia region had hit a hospital. There was also Russian fire across the river Dnipro in Kherson, causing civilian casualties in recently liberated settlements.

It will take “several months” for Ukrainian forces to be properly trained to operate the Patriot battery system, a senior US defense official told reporters Wednesday after President Joe Biden announced the US would send a battery to Ukraine.  

The Patriot air defense battery and munitions the US is sending to Ukraine — as a part of the latest Presidential Drawdown Package of security assistance — “will give Ukraine a critical long-range capability” to defend against “cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft,” the official added. 

Ukraine has been asking the US and NATO allied countries for more air defense as Russia continues its assault on Ukraine. The Patriot system is one part of the air defense the US and other allies are providing, the official said.  

“For air defense, there is no silver bullet. Our goal is to help Ukraine strengthen a layered integrated approach to air defense,” the official said. “Patriot will complement a range of medium and short-range capabilities that we’ve provided and that allies have provided in prior donation packages.” 

Even in the best scenario, Kyiv is unlikely to have more than 10 hours of power a day in early January, an expert on Ukraine's electricity crisis said.

The last wave of Russian drone attacks "was focused specifically on Kyiv’s electrical grid and led to significant damage to the whole system," Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of Energy Industry Research Center, said on Ukrainian television. "Given the nature of the damage, I think that the people of Kyiv city should prepare for the fact that for the next two-three weeks, the availability of electricity for four-six hours in the house [per day] would be good news."

"Within a week and a half at the most, rather, maybe in a week, we will return to scheduled outages, in Kyiv city and the region," Kharchenko added.

Even so, he said, "at best, we will have electricity 10 hours a day, and 14 hours with no electricity" early in the new year.

While the good news was that "a large amount of equipment is coming," including mobile generation, the constant disturbance to electricity supplies has damaged small substations, he said.

It is likely that some Ukrainians "will be forced to celebrate the New Year in extremely difficult conditions," he said, recommending that people link up with friends who have generators. "I think it will be more fun to be together."