Ukraine Daily

Tuesday, December 27

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A local resident takes pictures of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna, eastern Ukraine on Dec. 26, 2022. (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Zelensky: Front line situation in Donbas ‘difficult, painful.’ “The situation there is difficult, painful. The occupiers are spending all the resources available to them — and these are significant resources — to squeeze out at least some progress,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on Dec. 26.

Governor: Over 60% of infrastructure in Bakhmut damaged or destroyed. “Russia is constantly shelling Bakhmut’s infrastructure. The enemy is keeping on scorched earth tactics,” said Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Governor: ’Fighting ongoing’ near Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast. Ukraine’s Armed Forces are “not far from” the city of Kreminna, and “the fighting is ongoing,” Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai said on Dec. 26.

Intelligence chief: Ukraine will return occupied Crimea by force. Ukraine will liberate the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula by a combination of military force and diplomacy, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate, told Liga.net. “But nothing will happen without force,” said Budanov.

Kuleba: Patriot missile battery will be operational in Ukraine in less than 6 months. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the U.S. President Joe Biden administration had a special plan to get the battery ready to be operational in less than six months.

Ukraine seeks to have Russia expelled from UN. The ministry argued that Russia had illegally become a member of the UN and the Security Council after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was a permanent member of the council.

Ukraine aims for peace summit with UN involvement by end of February. “The United Nations could be the best venue for holding this summit, because this is not about making a favor to a certain country. This is really about bringing everyone on board,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Associated Press.

Demography Institute forecasts ‘catastrophic’ birth rate drop in Ukraine in 2023. There are risks that by 2030 the country’s population will decrease to less than 35 million, according to Ella Libanova, director of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies.

Energy Minister hopes Ukrainians will have electricity on New Year’s Eve, but ‘it’s hard to plan.’ “I think they (Russian forces) haven’t given up on bombarding our energy system. They are tied to certain dates, and perhaps the New Year is one of those dates when they will try to do as much damage as possible to our power system,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said. Zelensky also said that 9 million Ukrainians are still without electricity following Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

Turkish Transport Minister: Over 15 million tons of products exported through Black Sea ‘grain corridor.’ Five hundred eighty-five cargo ships with more than 15 million tons of agricultural products have left Ukraine through the UN-backed “grain corridor” since August, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu said.

Ukraine accuses Russia of delaying inspections of ships under grain deal. According to Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry, 99 vessels are currently waiting for inspection in the Bosphorus Strait, with 72 of them headed west to be loaded at ports and 27 already carrying Ukrainian agricultural products.

Air Force calls explosions on Russia’s Engels airbase ‘consequences of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.’ Yurii Ihnat, Air Force spokesman, said that “if the Russians thought that the war would not affect them deep in the rear, they were wrong.”

Warehouse on fire, explosions reported in Russia’s Novosibirsk. The fire area has reached more than 1,800 square meters, with over 70 emergency workers involved in eliminating the fire, according to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. No casualties were reported.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv seeks Russia expelled from UN, aims for peace summit by end of February.

On Dec. 26, Ukraine called on UN member states to expel Russia from the organization and revoke its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, according to a statement released by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.

Photo: Getty Images

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Power outages turn holiday season into survival challenge for Kyiv restaurants.

As Christmas Day approached, the team of one popular restaurant in the heart of Kyiv was running against the clock to bake a large batch of Christmas cakes. The cakes weren’t for sale, though.

Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian attacks across 6 Ukrainian oblasts injure 2 over past day. Russian troops attacked Donetsk, Luhansk, Sumy, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in the east and south of Ukraine, wounding two people, according to local authorities.

4 Ukrainian soldiers killed on mission inside Russia. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed while on a special reconnaissance mission near Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, located on Ukraine’s northern border.

Governor: 18 remain in critical condition after Russia’s Dec. 24 attack on Kherson. According to the latest figures, 64 people were injured, 18 of whom are in critical condition and 11 were killed, Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said on Telegram on Dec. 27.

General Staff: Russia has lost 102,600 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Dec. 26 that Russia had also lost 3,016 tanks, 6,017 armored fighting vehicles, 4,647 vehicles and fuel tanks,1,996 artillery systems, 418 multiple launch rocket systems, 212 air defense systems, 283 airplanes, 267 helicopters, 1,707 drones, and 16 boats.

International response

Lithuania invites Zelensky to receive Freedom Award. Lithuania has invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to receive the country’s Freedom Award at a ceremony in the country’s parliament on Jan. 13, the Day of the Defenders of Lithuania’s Freedom.

In other news

Serbia places its troops on Kosovo border on ‘highest level of combat readiness.’ The move comes amid claims that Kosovo is preparing to attack ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. The government in Kosovo has not commented on the claims but has previously accused Serbian President Vucic of deliberately stirring tensions between the two countries.

Russia to block websites with expressions of LGBTQ identity. Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor will be able to block sites in Russia without due process that contain information about LGBTQ people and expressions of what Russia deems “nontraditional sexual relations,” RFE/RL reported.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleksiy Sorokin, Dinara Khalilova, Oleg Sukhov, Thaisa Semenova, Toma Istomina, Anastasiya Gordiychuk, and Lili Bivings.

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