Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russian deputy FM says West uses Ukraine to launch cyberwar

MOSCOW/KIEV, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

The West has been using Ukraine as a launchpad to carry out cyberattacks against Russia and test new cyber warfare technologies, RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Syromolotov said that a vast majority of cyberattacks against Russia were launched from territories of the European Union, NATO member states, as well as Ukraine.

- - - -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the next year will be decisive for Ukraine, the presidential press service reported late Tuesday.

"It must be a crucial year. We understand the risks in the winter, we understand what we have to do in the spring, and therefore we understand what results the entire defense and security sector must demonstrate," Zelensky said in a video address.

- - - -

Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said that more than 35,000 facilities in Ukraine have been destroyed due to Russia's attacks, Ukraine's UNIAN news agency reported Wednesday.

Eastern regions including Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk were hit the hardest in the attacks, the official noted.

- - - -

Ukraine's agricultural export earnings will decrease by 16 percent this year to 23.3 billion U.S. dollars, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Tuesday, citing an industry body.

The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club said that the supplies of Ukrainian grain abroad decreased sharply in the first months of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, affecting the full-year export figures.

- - - -

The Western policy of containing Russia is extremely dangerous and fraught with risk of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"Irresponsible speculation" that Russia is about to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine is unceasingly unfolding in the West, Lavrov said in an interview with TASS news agency published on Tuesday.