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The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's economy recorded positive growth this year despite significant wartime challenges, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Dec. 28.

AP News: Belarus’ authoritarian president on Thursday attended a government-organized meeting with children brought from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, openly defying an international outrage over his country’s involvement in Moscow’s deportation of Ukrainian children.

The Moscow Times: The powerful backlash against Russian celebrities who attended an “almost naked” party was escalated at the command of Putin’s administration, sources in the government, the State Duma and the presidential administration told The Moscow Times.

Meduza: Latvia's electronic media regulator announced Thursday that it has blocked access to all websites affiliated with Russia's Yandex.

The Kyiv Independent: Alfred Kammer, the International Monetary Fund's European Department director, said that international donors are focused on supporting Ukraine's government and social programs, not the military, Voice of America reported on Dec. 28.

Reuters: Ukraine and Hungary are preparing a meeting of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the near future, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff said on Thursday, amid recent steps by Hungary that have soured ties.

POLITICO: A Greek-owned cargo ship struck a mine in the Black Sea on Wednesday as it was en route to Ukraine to be loaded with grain.

Reuters: U.S. sanctions pose a major obstacle to Russia's plans to increase exports of seaborne liquefied natural gas to offset the decline in pipeline gas exports to Europe, analysts said, as expectations mount of delays to a flagship project.

The Kyiv Independent: Germany expects the European Union to finalize a deal on a major aid package for Ukraine even without Hungary's support, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 28, citing German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner.

The Moscow Times: Authorities in the Oryol region in western Russia are planning to build a memorial to the “heroes of Donbas” atop a mass grave of Soviet soldiers killed in World War II.

AP News: A Russian poet was given a 7-year prison sentence Thursday for reciting verses against Russia’s war in Ukraine, a tough punishment that comes during a relentless Kremlin crackdown on dissent.

France 24: Turkey's parliament is unlikely to hold a full vote on Sweden's bid to join NATO before mid-January, parliamentary sources told AFP Thursday.

The Moscow Times: Putin promised Chinese leader Xi Jinping that his invasion of Ukraine would last five years, the Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday, citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with Russian-Chinese diplomatic maneuvering.

The Insider: While the global media spotlight fixates on the delivery of missiles and tanks to Ukraine, drones have quietly emerged as the true game-changer in the theater of war, actively deployed by both conflicting parties.

worth mentioning

What and where are Russia's $300 billion in reserves frozen in the West?

Fact Check: Ukrainian soldier Vladimir Sachala was 26 when he died

Russia extends cross-flight programme with NASA until 2025

How a woman was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment for spreading ‘fake news’ about the Russian army

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