For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, Kyiv Post, Tass, and Consortium News, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (GAZA and SYRIA entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

–   –   –

Russia targets Ukrainian infrastructure with a massive attack by cruise missiles and drones, by Illia Novikov | AP  KYIV — Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine today, firing 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing it as one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector since . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Russian troops within 5 kilometers of key Ukrainian logistics hub Pokrovsk. From Kyiv Post. The city, which has been the scene of months of intense fighting, remains one of Ukraine’s few remaining strongholds against Russian offensives in the Donetsk region. READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

NYT predicts Ukraine conflict will end in 2025. From Tass. NEW YORK — The New York Times claims that the conflict in Ukraine will most likely end next year. According to the NYT’s Julian E. Barnes, 2025 will be . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Trump says no to ‘foolish’ U.S. missile attacks on Russia, by Joe Lauria | Consortium News  “Why are we doing that?” President-elect Trump asked in a late-November Time interview published Thursday, “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done. Now they’re doing not only missiles, but . . . READ MORE . . . Scroll down or click HERE for previous link.

–   –   –

How will Russia’s war in Ukraine end? The good, the bad, and the ugly scenarios, by Francis Farrell | The Kyiv Independent  After nearly three years of heavy battles and mass strikes, Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is showing signs of accelerating toward what could be . . . READ MORE . . .