December 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia may cut oil output by 5% to 7% at the start of next year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state television channel on Friday, detailing a concrete threat of a production cut for the first time.

That production cut may be necessary, Novak said, because a presidential order is being prepared that includes a ban on the delivery of oil and oil products to countries that impose European Union’s price caps.

“As far as the price cap is concerned, a presidential order is being prepared, it’s almost ready for release. That order will include a ban on the delivery of oil and oil products to those countries and legal entities who will require compliance with the European Union’s price cap in their contracts,” Novak said.

The prices of Brent crude prices were up by 3.6% on Friday, recording its highest level in three weeks. 

Earlier this month, the European Union, along with the G7 and Australia, approved a price cap on Russian oil at $60 a barrel. The European Union also prohibits Russian crude oil imports by sea, designed to limit the Kremlin’s revenues.

A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called for the liquidation of Iranian factories making drones and missiles and the arrest of their suppliers.  

Presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Iran was “planning to boost missile, drone supplies for Russia” with blatant disregard for international sanctions.  

Kyiv has accused Tehran of supplying 1700 Shahed-136 loitering munitions to Moscow, which it says have been used to hit targets in Ukraine since September.  

Podolyak’s comments come after CNN and other outlets reported last month that Iran was preparing to send more weapons, including surface-to-surface short range ballistic missile and more attack drones to Russia before the end of the year.

The Iranian government acknowledged last month that it had sent a limited number of drones to Russia before the start of its invasion of Ukraine, but has denied supplying military equipment for use in the war.   

During his landmark trip to the US earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said those claims were false and accused Tehran of sending “deadly drones” to Russia in “hundreds and hundreds.”

US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Thursday called for a fact finding team to investigate Russia’s renewed use of Iranian drones against Ukraine’s infrastructure, and a review of Iran’s violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

View Podolyak's tweet, below:

CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed reporting to this post.

At least seven people were killed and 58 others were injured in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson following Saturday’s Russian shelling, according to an update from the Deputy head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. 

Posting to Telegram, Tymoshenko said that “doctors are fighting for the lives of the victims.” 18 of the injured are in serious condition. 

“Law enforcement officers are already investigating this terrorist act,” Tymoshenko said, adding that “every inhuman who gave this criminal order and executed it will be brought to justice.”

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky condemned the Russian shelling of Kherson city on Saturday as an act of “terror.”

“These are not military facilities,” he wrote on Telegram Saturday. “This is not a war according to the rules defined. It is terror, it is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.” 

The Ukrainian president posted several photos showing the aftermath of the bombardment, in which cars are aflame and bodies litter the street.  

“Social networks will most likely mark these photos as ‘sensitive content.’ But this is not sensitive content — it is the real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Zelensky said.  

“The world must see and understand what absolute evil we are fighting against,” Zelensky added.