The US government has announced the release of what it said was its last available package of weapons available for Ukraine, with Congress needing to decide on future support, writes The Guardian. According to the state department, it is worth up to USD 250m and includes air defence munitions and components, Himars ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition.

The war in 2024 “must be different from 2023”, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said. “Otherwise we will face what I wrote about in the article [the Economist]. Unfortunately, I must state that the enemy is not far behind us. In recent days, we have had a powerful confrontation applying modern technologies. But we do not spare efforts. My main mistake was that I thought that the amount of losses we inflicted on the enemy would stop anyone. But not the Russian Federation”.

Zaluzhnyi, giving a press conference, said Ukrainian troops remained on a defensive line in the northern part of Maryinka. “But I can say that this settlement no longer exists. The [Russian] method is the same as it was in Bakhmut. Street by street, block by block are destroyed. The fact that we have now moved to the outskirts of Maryinka, and in some places equipped positions beyond Maryinka, seems to me to be nothing that can cause a public outcry. As for the conduct of hostilities around Avdiivka”, he continued, “there is no need to dwell on it and make a show of it. The conduct of hostilities is subject to the laws of war, and they are not subject to what politicians or journalists want. The enemy now has the opportunity to concentrate forces; they can do to the city in two or three months what they have done to Bakhmut”.

Two people were killed in Russian drone attacks on Odesa, according to figures from the Odesa oblast governor, Oleh Kiper. A 17-year-old was among the wounded and remained in hospital.

Russian shelling left 70% of Kherson without electricity, said the Kherson oblast governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Poland is getting closer to ending the truck driver blockades of several border crossings with Ukraine, says the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk. Polish drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since 6 November, demanding the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.