Past 24 hours in the war zone
- Russian hybrid forces launched 4 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol sectors, including heavy artillery banned by Minsk.
- Joint Forces troops sustained no casualties.
- As of 07:00, December 24, no ceasefire breaches by Russian proxies were recorded.
Quick news
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Trass negotiated their joint stance with regard to the buildup of Moscow’s military troops along the border with Ukraine, as stated in the US Department of State press release. It is mentioned that the parties talked about NATO’s dual-track approach to Russia. They reaffirmed that NATO, being prepared for a dialogue with Moscow, is also ready to defend its partners.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that Kyiv should be part of security talks between the US, NATO, or EU with Russia. “We support the idea of the US, the EU, NATO talking to Russia as long as the primary topic is ending the international armed conflict, Russia’s war on Ukraine,” he wrote on his Twitter. On 24 December, Mr Kuleba had a call with Josep Borrel in which they agreed that “decisions on Ukraine’s security can only be made with Ukraine at the table, and with the EU at the table on matters of wider European security.”
- According to the nationwide public opinion poll carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 67% of Ukrainians support the country’s EU membership, and 59% of them support the affiliation with NATO.
- Ukraine has implemented 61% of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
- The United States seeks to enhance its Eastern European NATO allies and support Ukraine in the event of the Russian invasion, notwithstanding Putin’s ultimatum of “security assurances” in Europe. “If Russia goes ahead with what may be underway, we and our allies are prepared to impose severe costs that would damage Russia’s economy and bring about exactly what it says it does not want: more NATO capabilities, not less; closer to Russia, not further away,” the US official told reporters of Ukrinform.
- A French frigate has arrived in Odesa. It has the capacity to eliminate hostile surface ships and ground targets. According to the Ukrainian Navy press service, the stop in Odesa port is the first call of the Auvergne (D654) frigate to the waters of our country since its adoption to the French Navy in 2018.
Prosecutor General’s Office seeks to arrest Ukraine’s fifth President Poroshenko on state treason charges
The Office of the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine seeks to arrest Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s President from 2014 to 2019, with a bail of UAH 1 bn ($36,7 mn).
Appointment of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor chief again blocked in what anti-graft activists say is President’s Office’s fault
On 24 December, the relevant commission has again failed to appoint Ukraine’s new Anti-Corruption Prosecutor chief. Despite the contest results for the position of Head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) being clear, the commission did not approve their results. Anti-corruption activists say that the President’s Office has made repeated attempts to disrupt the contest to one of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption posts that is a precondition for Ukraine’s cooperation with international agencies.
Pro-Russian mercenaries capture a Ukrainian teacher in occupied Donbas
Natalya Shylo is a Ukrainian physics teacher from Horlivka (near Donetsk). After the Russian occupation, she had to flee the city and move to Kharkiv and then Kyiv. The woman has never concealed her pro-Ukrainian views. In July 2021, Natalya’s mother underwent surgery and needed her daughter’s help. That is when the woman set off to Horlivka. On the border between occupied Donbas and government-controlled Ukraine, proxies from the self-proclaimed and Russian-controlled ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ seized and imprisoned Natalya, who remains in captivity up until today. According to the occupation authorities, the woman is guilty of spying for Kyiv. Natalya and her family hope that she will be released within the prisoners’ exchange process. But this remains a problematic issue since Moscow has impeded exchanges. The last such exchange took place in April 2020.
“F*cking execute her!” Torture, forced labor, one bottle of water a day: how a Ukrainian woman hostage survived the prisons of Russia-occupied Donbas
Maryna Chuikova, a 50 years-old Ukrainian nurse, spent over a year in the illegal prisons of the “Donetsk People’s Republic,” having been sentenced to 11 years of jail after a 20-minute trial on made-up accusations. Today, Maryna shares details about her captivity. During this time, she was tortured into self-incrimination, threatened to be shot, and forced into labor. Ms. Chuikova was kept in a tiny stinky room with no water, toilet, contact with the outer world. In prison, she had to face inmates who had committed grave crimes and eat food cooked by prisoners infected with HIV or hepatitis.
New satellite images uncover Russian continued military buildup along the border with Ukraine
Satellite company Maxar Technologies released images taken on 13 December.
They depict Russia’s positioning more tanks, mobile rocket artillery systems and advanced short-range ballistic missile batteries near the border with Ukraine.
