EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

(AFP)

[Central News] The Ukrainian General Staff announced today that the Russian army bombarded targets in the east and south of the country with missiles, drones and artillery, and as the Russian army continued to attack the country's key infrastructure, millions of people lived in sub-zero temperatures in winter. No electricity is available.

The Ukrainian General Staff said in a daily national update that the armed forces had repelled Russian attacks on four settlements in the Donetsk region and eight in the neighboring Luhansk region, Reuters reported. .

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Russian forces continued to attack the towns of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Lyman, with Bakhmut largely in ruins.

Russian forces also fired two missiles at civilian infrastructure in Kostyantynivka, a town in the Donetsk region.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian military launched more than 60 rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure in the southern town of Kherson, the General Staff said.

The Ukrainian army had recovered Hesun last month and was stationed there.

Russia also shelled settlements on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces also launched counterattacks against Russian control points, arsenals and other targets, the staff headquarters said.

Reuters could not independently verify the battle.

On the diplomatic front, EU foreign ministers will discuss the ninth round of sanctions in response to the Russian aggression, which is expected to add nearly 200 individuals and entities to the sanctions list.

However, EU Foreign and Security Policy High Representative Josep Borrell (Josep Borrell) emphasized that at this stage member states still have not reached an agreement on the sanctions package, and he hopes to reach an agreement tonight or tomorrow.

Ministers of various countries will also discuss the delivery of weapons worth another 2 billion euros (approximately NT$64.8 billion) to Ukraine.

In addition, German Chancellor Otto Scholz will hold an online meeting today with leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) to discuss the situation in Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to be invited to speak at the meeting.

After the meeting, Xiao Zi will hold a press conference after 16:30 GMT (12:30 am Taiwan time on the 13th) to explain the relevant resolutions.