Past 24 hours in the war zone
- Joint Forces Operation report no gunfire or shelling.
- Between 31 December and 3 January, OSCE SMM record 399 ceasefire violations, including 25 explosions in Donetsk Oblast; 44 ceasefire violations, including 23 explosions in Luhansk Oblast.
Quick Ukraine news
- Ukrainian and Turkish chiefs of the military intelligence agreed to enhance collaboration. The military intelligence leaders of the two states also discussed the global security situation and security in the Black Sea region, and around Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s President Zelensky signed a law governing transplantation of anatomical materials into humans, including payment and consent for organ donation.
- Security Service of Ukraine reported that a Ukrainian court sentenced in absentia two Ukrainian nationals to 10 years’ imprisonment on terrorism charges. Since 2014, they had fought on the side of Russian hybrid forces in Donbas. They fired on Ukrainian army positions.
- The destruction of relict trees, estimated to be 350 years old, continues in Foros Park in Russia-occupied Crimea. Russian occupation authorities started cutting down the trees and began construction works in the park. T Ukraine’s Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol opened criminal proceedings over the construction works in Foros Park in Crimea. These actions were qualified as violations of the laws and customs of war.
Top EU diplomat visits Donbas first time since Russia launched war in 2014
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for foreign affairs, arrived in Ukraine on 4 January.
In the morning of 5 January, he and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba departed to the frontline city Stanytsia Luhanska on a helicopter, marking the first-ever EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs to the frontline since Russia launched the war against Ukraine in 2014. which Kuleba said is a “sign of Ukraine-EU unity in the face of elevated Russian threats and the strength of our diplomacy for peace, security and justice in Europe.”
At a joint briefing with Josep Borrell the same day, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba said that Moscow has no voting rights when it comes to EU-Ukraine ties.
“I would like to emphasize that Ukraine and the EU share the same view that Russia has no right to divide Europe into areas of influence and determine where, how and when the European Union is going to enlarge and what kind of relations Ukraine and the EU should have. This is a relationship exclusively between Kyiv and Brussels, and Moscow has no right of vote here,” he noted.
He also made the point that “There is no security in Europe without the security of Ukraine. It is clear that any discussion on European security must include EU and Ukraine. Any discussion on Ukraine must involve Ukraine.”
In a tweet, Borrel described his experience at the contact line and warned that Russia’s military aggression would have “massive consequences.”
Ukraine’s 2021 Eurovision performance third most popular in contest’s history
Song “Shum” by Ukrainian band Go_A entered the list of the top-3 most popular songs in Eurovision history, Eurovision Song Contest Web Radio reports.
Enjoy our articles about Ukraine’s 2021 Eurovision performance:
- The secret of Kateryna Pavlenko, Ukraine’s enigmatic Eurovision singer
- Why was Ukraine’s Eurovision performance by Go_A so mesmerizing?
- Beyond Go_A: a playlist and guide to modern Ukrainian folk music
Ukrainian ‘wedge’ regions in Russia east of the Urals declining in size but still numerous
Russian historians acknowledge that ethnic Ukrainians played a key role in the conquest and development of Siberia and the Far East, and Russian officials in recent years have been outraged whenever Kyiv officials have talked about the need for Ukraine to devote more attention to them.https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/01/05/ukrainian-wedge-regions-in-russia-east-of-the-urals-declining-in-size-but-still-numerous/
Last Ukrainian journalist leaves Russia after accusation of ‘incitement to enmity against Russians’
Roman Tsymbaliuk, the only accredited Ukrainian journalist in Russia who had worked for UNIAN in Moscow for 13 years, left the state because of personal security concerns. Mr. Tsymbaliuk has pro-Ukrainian sentiment, asks rigid questions to Putin about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and creates straightforward YouTube videos.On 8 December 2021, the state-run TV channel RT informed that the Ukrainian journalist had been summoned for interrogation to the Moscow prosecutor’s office. According to RT, the summons was over Mr. Tsymbaliuk’s YouTube reports presumably containing incitement to enmity and hatred in relation to the Russian people and authorities.
Drawing the life he is not living: prison art by Ukrainian political prisoner of the Kremlin showcased in Berlin | Photos
Take a peek at exclusive photos from Atelier Soldina, an exposition space in Berlin, which saw the opening of an exhibition featuring the masterpieces of Viktor Shur, a 64-year-old Ukrainian political prisoner incarcerated in the Russian Federation since 2014.
Putin’s new law envisages annexing other countries’ territory as grounds for Russian citizenship
Russia’s President Putin has tabled a new draft law on Russian nationality providing for the ‘change of the state border of the Russian Federation’ as basis for getting Russian nationality. Media backing Russia-controlled proxies in the eastern part of Ukraine regard this new law as a step towards Moscow’s recognition of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The new law appears amid Russia’s military buildup near the border with Ukraine.
Courageous testimony exposes the torture and threats used to fabricate Russia’s ‘trial’ of Crimean Tatar leader Nariman Dzhelyal
On 14 December, Russian FSB in occupied Crimea captured Kurtumer Chalgozov, a 23-year-old Crimean Tatar. Later, he spoke out about how the FSB coerced him to sign an agreement to collaborate with them. Chalgozov’s account is similar to that recently given by Nariman Ametov.
Canadian court awards $84m to Iran plane crash victims’ families
A Canadian court has awarded $84m to the families of six victims who were killed when Iranian forces shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight near Tehran on 8 January 2020. On that day, Iranian forces shot down the plane killing all 176 people on board. Among them were 55 Canadian nationals. According to Tehran, human error caused the accident. Allegedly, the Iran military confused the plane with a hostile target. Several hours before the tragedy, Iran fired missiles on United States forces in Iraq. This was in revenge for the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on the order of Donald Trump. In May, a court in Canada accused Iran of terrorism or intentional downing of the flight.
New dig in Lviv Oblast reveals unique artefacts from the Roman period
On January 4, 2022, a team of Ukrainian archaeologists uncovered unique artefacts from the Roman period near the village of Kariv, Chervonohrad Raion, Lviv Oblast. Scholars assume that Germanic tribes inhabited this region. In fact, they probably left behind these two unique archeological sites: a burial place with ceremonial objects and a deep structure that the archeologists plan to examine more closely and identify.
New dig in Lviv Oblast reveals unique artefacts from the Roman period
