Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Russian forces press forward with an attempt to capture the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, The Associated Press obtained aerial footage that gives an indication of their staggering losses.

A Ukrainian military drone unit near Stepove, a village just north of Avdiivka, where some of the most intense battles have taken place, shot the video this month.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Vladimir Putin’s election campaign headquarters will be established as soon as all procedures for his self-nomination have been completed, Secretary of the ruling United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak announced.

"The [election campaign] headquarters will be established upon the completion of all organizational procedures, after the initiative group [of voters] has held a meeting and all documents have been submitted to the Central Election Commission," he explained.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Vladimir Putin’s election campaign headquarters will be established as soon as all procedures for his self-nomination have been completed, Secretary of the ruling United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak announced.

"The [election campaign] headquarters will be established upon the completion of all organizational procedures, after the initiative group [of voters] has held a meeting and all documents have been submitted to the Central Election Commission," he explained.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Russia launched the Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the country’s second meteorological satellite, Arktika-M, from the Baikonur spaceport on Saturday, Roscosmos reported.

The spacecraft should be orbited within the next 4.5 hours or so.

Russia launched its first weather satellite in February 2021. Last December, the Lavochkin design bureau announced that the fleet of Russian meteorological satellites will be expanded to four from two.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Russia’s Aerospace Forces downed a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter over the town of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Also, Russian air defense forces thwarted an attempt by the Kiev regime to conduct a massive drone attack on facilities in Crimea, destroying all Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry added.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin discussed free Russian grain and fertilizer supplies to the world’s neediest countries with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan and UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported after the consultations involving Russia’s concerned agencies and companies.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/:  Russia’s second meteorological satellite Arktika-M, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been successfully put into a designated orbit with a Fregat booster, Roscosmos said in a statement.

"The second Arktika-M is in orbit!" the space agency said.

ROME, Dec 16 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Italian police arrested more than 40 people on Friday during an operation against youth gangs in the country’s 14 cities, according to a press release.

A police report posted on the Genova24 website this Friday stated that a quarter of them were minors, accused of drug trafficking, assaults, and other crimes.

The cities affected by those criminal groups are Arezzo, Bari, Catania, Genoa, Milan, Modena, Naples, Palermo, Padua, Pescara, Reggio Emilia, Rovigo, Salerno, and Verona.

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - European Union leaders expressed confidence on Friday that they would clear a large package of aid for Ukraine early in 2024, despite a veto by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

All 27 EU states except Hungary agreed on Thursday to start accession talks with Ukraine despite its invasion by Russia, bypassing Orban's grievances by getting him to leave the room.

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russian Railways on Friday said Finland's state-owned railway company VR had acted unlawfully in seizing four trains co-owned through a joint venture.

"The transfer of trains ... was not agreed," Russian Railways said in a statement.

VR said on Thursday it had seized the Allegro trains that used to travel between the two countries after more than 18 months of negotiations without any result.

Passenger trains between Finland and Russia were suspended in March 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.