The United States has neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, after recent explosions at airfields deep inside Russia. Antony Blinken repeated Washington’s determination to make sure Kyiv has the equipment it needs to defend itself.

“We are not working to prevent Ukraine from developing their own capability”, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

U.S. lawmakers agreed to provide Ukraine at least USD 800 million in additional security assistance next year, according to an USD 858 billion defense policy bill unveiled on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s Health Ministry said it was asking regional officials to consider suspending non-essential surgeries until the energy situation inside the country stabilized, Reuters reports. The ministry said hospitals were continuing to provide emergency care. Ukraine's state-run energy operator Ukrenergo said it would take workers several more days to restore electricity production to levels prior to the latest wave of Russian strikes on December 5.