Zelenskyy Considers Replacing Several Government Officials
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced that a “reset” may be necessary across state leadership; the announcement follows speculations about the Ukrainian president’s decision to dismiss Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Top General Calls for Overhaul of Arsenal, Tactics
In an article for CNN, Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine should push to reexamine its defense production capabilities, as well as its approach to training and battlefield strategy (CNN)
Media outlets have reported he was told on Monday that he is being dismissed ( WaPo), but Ukraine’s presidential spokesperson denied the report (WaPo)
EU Reaches Deal on More Than $50 Billion for Ukraine After Months of Talks
European Union (EU) leaders agreed today to provide more than $54 billion in grants and loans to Ukraine over four years, ending months of negotiations (FT)
Hungary, the sole holdout, withdrew its objection to allow the bill to go through, though it was not immediately clear if Budapest got anything in return; European Council President Charles Michel celebrated that the deal “locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding” for Kyiv (NYT)
Russia, Ukraine Swap Around Four Hundred Prisoners
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 207 Ukrainian captives were returned from Russia, while Russia’s defense ministry said it received 195 soldiers; the United Arab Emirates mediated the swap, which Ukraine said was the fiftieth such exchange since the current war began in 2022 (Bloomberg)
Speculation that Zelenskyy is considering dismissing top General Valeriy Zaluzhniy raises concerns the move could hinder the war effort; the differences arose when Zaluzhniyl referred to the war as a stalemate, but aides dismissed the rumors (WSJ)
Russian Drone Strike Hits Dnipropetrovsk Power Station, Disrupts Electrical Supplies
Kyiv ranked the strikes as the largest since January 2 and said they targeted civilian and military facilities (Bloomberg)
FT: EU Draws up Plan to Sabotage Hungary’s Economy if It Vetoes Ukraine Aid
Brussels is considering driving a collapse in investor confidence in Hungary should it block a pending European Union (EU) aid package to Ukraine at a summit this week, the Financial Times reported; under the plan, EU leaders would pledge to permanently shut off the bloc’s funding to Budapest (FT)
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s security service reported that officials stole about $40 million in state money meant for purchasing ammunition (WaPo)
The report comes as Ukrainian officials are carrying out an anticorruption campaign that includes this weekend’s publication of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s earnings for the past two years (CNBC)
Kyiv To Begin Building Four New Nuclear Reactors
The reactors will be built at a power plant in the country’s west, Ukraine’s energy minister said; two plants will be constructed using Russian-made technology imported from Bulgaria, and two will be made using U.S.-made technology (Reuters)
NATO Begins Largest Military Exercises Since the Cold War
Some ninety thousand troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are slated to participate in Steadfast Defender 24, monthslong military drills that kicked off yesterday; they are the largest such NATO drills since the end of the Cold War, reflecting the alliance’s expansion and heightened state of alert since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reaffirmed Hungary’s support for Sweden’s accession to NATO yesterday, paving the way for the alliance to gain another member following the Turkish parliament’s approval this week of Sweden’s bid (FT)
Russia Reports One of Its Military Planes Crashed Near Ukraine Border
The crash today killed everyone onboard, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said; Russia’s defense ministry said the aircraft was carrying sixty-five Ukrainian prisoners of war who were headed for a prisoner swap, but the claim was not immediately independently verified (NYT)
NATO Signs $1.2 Billion Artillery Contract for Ukraine
The contract signed today will permit the purchase of around 220,000 rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition; according to the contract’s terms, several North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members will either send shells to Ukraine or use them to restock their own inventories (Reuters)
Attacks Hit Russian Fuel Terminal, Shipping Area in Russia-Occupied Ukrainian City
Russian energy company Novatek suspended operations at a fuel export terminal after it was hit by a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, while Moscow said that strikes on the Russia-controlled city of Donetsk killed at least twenty-seven people, Russian officials said (Politico)
Ukraine did not comment publicly on either attack (AP)
Russia Dismisses U.S. Proposal For Nuclear Arms Control Dialogue
Russia’s foreign minister said Moscow would not engage in talks while Washington continues to offer military support to Kyiv (AP)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Calls on Donors to Pledge New Support at World Economic Forum
In a shift from past aid appeals, Zelenksyy did not ask for weapons for a new battlefield offensive; he touted his peace formula to end the war, called for tougher sanctions on Russia, and told donors he needed their support “to build, to reconstruct, to restore our lives” (NYT)
Ukraine Says It Shot Down Russian Spy Plane
Russian authorities did not immediately comment after Ukraine said it shot down two military aircraft over the Sea of Azov, including one surveillance plane; Ukrainian forces have been focusing on targeting Russia’s A-50 spy planes for their long-range radar detection capabilities (CNN)
Pentagon: More Than $1 Billion of U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine Was Not Properly Tracked
The Defense Department’s inspector general said in a report released yesterday that more than $1 billion worth of supplies sent to Ukraine, including drones and night-vision goggles, was not properly tracked by U.S. officials; though the report offered no evidence that the equipment was misused, U.S. law requires such equipment to be tracked because of its battlefield impact and attractiveness to arms smugglers (NYT)
Meanwhile, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey agreed to work together to clear mines in the Black Sea, which Russia installed on the coastline early last year; after Russia invaded Ukraine, Turkey invoked a clause of an international treaty that banned navy ships from other countries from entering the sea (AFP)
Under that treaty, it blocked the UK from sending two mine-hunting ships to the area last month (Reuters)
Zelenksyy: Cease-Fire Would Only Benefit Moscow
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine is steadfast that “there will be no pauses” to the war, as they would benefit Russia (Reuters)
At a meeting yesterday of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies regarding Ukraine, member states agreed to provide “billions of euros of further capabilities” to Kyiv in 2024 (Reuters)
NATO Hosts Meeting of Ukraine Council
Envoys from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are meeting in Brussels to discuss their continued support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said ahead of the meeting that Kyiv sought additional Western air defense systems (Politico)
Russian Missile Barrage on Ukraine Reportedly Kills Four People
Ukrainian air defense systems intercepted eighteen of fifty-one missiles shot by Russia overnight, the largest nationwide attack yet this year, Ukrainian officials said (Reuters).At least four people were killed; ten people were also reportedly killed on Saturday by Russian strikes on the town of Pokrovsk (FT)
White House: Russia Used Missiles From North Korea to Strike Ukraine
White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that U.S. intelligence shows Russia has used (WaPo) short-range ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea to strike Ukraine and that Washington plans to raise the issue at the UN Security Council; these include launches both on December 30 and on Tuesday, Kirby said (WaPo)
Russia, Ukraine Each Release More Than Two Hundred Prisoners in Swap
The United Arab Emirates mediated the swap, which Ukraine called the largest prisoner exchange since the start of the war and the first major one since August 2023 (BBC)
More than 220 Russian soldiers had defected to Ukraine as of December after calling a special telephone hotline set up by Ukraine’s military intelligence unit that allows Russian soldiers to surrender peacefully and voluntarily, said a spokesperson for Ukraine’s prisoner of war department; more than one thousand additional cases are pending (FT)
Russia Continues to Intensify Bombardment of Ukrainian Cities
Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukraine’s two largest cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv today, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, and causing widespread damage, Ukrainian authorities said (Reuters)
The large-scale air attacks prompted emergency UN Security Council meetings on both Friday and Saturday (NYT)
Western-supplied missile defense systems blocked part of Russia’s air barrage on Friday, Ukrainian officials said (NYT)
U.S. Proposes Options for Confiscating $300 Billion in Russian Assets
The United States has proposed that Group of Seven (G7) countries study options for confiscating $300 billion in previously frozen Russian assets in a measure of support for Ukraine as the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches; while U.S. and European Union (EU) funding packages for Ukraine have both stalled due to political opposition, Western financial authorities control hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth in frozen Russian financial assets (FT)
As Washington seeks to continue aiding Ukraine despite Republican hesitation in Congress, it successfully requested Japanese authorization to export Japanese-made Patriot missiles to the United States; the restocking of U.S. inventories facilitates the country’s arms transfers to Ukraine (Nikkei)
Meanwhile, Russia has worked to circumvent Western financial restrictions and finalized a deal with Iran to trade in the countries’ local currencies rather than in U.S. dollars, Iranian state media reported yesterday (Reuters)
Ukrainian Strike Damages Russian Black Sea Warship
A Ukrainian aircraft carrying guided missiles hit a large Russian ship at a Black Sea port in Russia-occupied Crimea, Russia’s defense ministry said (BBC)
The strike came after Russia claimed a territorial advance in the Ukrainian town of Marinka yesterday, while Ukraine claimed it shot down two Russian fighter jets and intercepted twenty-eight drones (AP)
Pentagon: Kyiv Funds Will Be Exhausted by December 30
U.S. aid for Ukraine will run out after the Pentagon spends its last $1.07 billion of approved funds to buy a new tranche of weapons for Ukraine; Congress remains stalled on approving a $60 billion package of new war aid that was proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden (Bloomberg)
Lack of New Economic Aid Will Endanger Ukraine’s Recovery
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Kyiv’s economy can only manage a funding gap of a few months; a Ukrainian budget passed for next year is counting on $18 billion from the EU and $8.5 billion from the United States, but the two both recently failed to secure proposed long-term funding packages for Ukraine (FT)