Newsletter 05/12/2024
A daily news digest covering important war, political, economic, and cultural topics in Ukraine
Ukraine celebrates International Volunteer Day
TOP
There’ll be no Yalta-2 or Minsk-3 – Sybiha at OSCE Ministerial
"Since the Second World War, Europe has not seen such a scale of atrocities, murder of civilians, kidnapping of children, execution of prisoners of war, and other horrible crimes. Moscow tries to justify all of this with the so-called “legitimate security concerns”. But my nation’s right to exist is not Russia’s legitimate security concern. My nation's choice of its own future is not Russia’s legitimate security concern. In fact, Russia itself is the biggest security concern for the world. For hundreds of years," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha noted in his speech at the plenary session of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Malta on Thursday
International response to Russian treatment of POWs “weak” - Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an address to the human rights community, noted that the world’s reaction to how Russia treats Ukrainian prisoners remains weak. He also pointed out that there are still few voices speaking out on the international stage about the abducted Ukrainian children.
Russia deliberately halts oil supplies to Czechia - MFA
The special envoy of the Czech Foreign Ministry for energy security, Vaclav Bartuška, says Russia deliberately stopped oil supplies to the country on December 4.
“The Russians are playing the game again, it’s a classic,” Bartuška said, adding that “oil is still being supplied to Slovakia and Hungary.”
He also believes that the cessation of oil supplies is a “message from Russia.”
According to him, the country should “declare to the Russian Federation that it has no reason to be afraid.”
Ukraine calls on partners to review legality of Russia's membership in UN
The Verkhovna Rada has adopted an appeal to parliaments, governments, and international organizations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, in which it called for considering the issue of the legal grounds for Russia's membership in the UN.
War
Ukrainian forces hit Russian ammo depot, pontoon bridge in Kharkiv region with FPV drones
Fighters from the Achilles Unmanned Strike Aviation Systems Battalion of the 92nd Assault Brigade used FPV drones to strike an ammunition depot and a pontoon bridge of Russian invaders on the Kharkiv axis.
Ukrainian forces regain control over village of Novyi Komar in Donetsk region/Video
Ukrainian forces have regained control over the village of Novyi Komar, located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region.
"The enemy has been driven out, and the settlement of Novyi Komar, located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region and part of the Velyka Novosilka settlement community, is now under the control of the Defense Forces," Voloshyn said.
War update: 168 clashes on front lines in past day, over 80 in Pokrovsk, Kurakhove sectors
In Toretsk, enemy conducts continuous “meat” assaults to exhaust defenders - AFU
Seventeen Russian soldiers killed, 12 captured: SOF posts raw video of raid in Kursk region
Russia's war casualty toll in Ukraine up by 1,580 in past day
Mortar batteries of the 8th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion confidently and efficiently perform their combat missions
Politics
Ukraine, EU sign greement on use of proceeds from frozen Russian assets
Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko signed an agreement with the EU on the establishment of the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM), which will allow for the use of proceeds from frozen Russian assets to repay loans worth up to EUR 45 billion within the framework of the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine (ERA) initiative.
OSCE chair urges Russia to end aggression, withdraw troops from Ukraine
Georgian president responds to Ukraine's sanctions with approval
Ukrainian delegation meets with Trump's team – Reuters
Sybiha, several other ministers leave OSCE session hall ahead of Lavrov's speech
Economy
Finland provides EUR 25 million aid package to Ukraine
“Finland has now delivered defence materiel to Ukraine to a total value of EUR 2.3 billion. This time the package contains winter equipment for Ukrainian troops, for example. Finland is one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, and we have no plans to change that,” said Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen.
Ukraine, U.S. agree to renew trade agreement in early 2025
Ukraine's international reserves reach $39.9B as of Dec 1 – NBU