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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Russian drones bore down on the city of Kyiv early on Friday, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko and other officials reporting strikes on widely separated residential districts. It was the sixth drone attack on the capital this month. Two people were injured.
WSJ: Nikolai Patrushev, a top ally of the Russian leader for decades, put in motion the assassination of the mutinous chief of the Wagner mercenary group.
ISW: The failure of Russian operations in Ukraine to achieve Putin’s maximalist objectives thus far is not a permanent condition, and only continued Western support for Ukraine can ensure that Putin’s maximalist objectives remain unattainable.
Bloomberg: China is preparing to ask the US for exemptions to sanctions on a new Russian liquefied natural gas export plant, as companies seek to prevent disruptions to the flow of a fuel crucial to heating homes and powering industry.
ABC News: Russia’s war on Ukraine has created a massive need for prosthetic limbs. An estimated 20,000 Ukrainians have had amputations since the war started in February 2022, many of them soldiers who lost arms or legs due to blast wounds.
More News
The Kyiv Independent: The Biden administration is intensifying efforts to confiscate around $300 billion worth of Russian assets frozen in the West to ensure continued funding for Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Dec. 21.
POLITICO: Northern European countries are rushing to shelter under Washington’s security umbrella. A surge of new defense agreements between the U.S. and allies in Northern Europe allow for the fast-track deployment of American troops, marking the latest response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meduza: Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Russia is prepared to give a “symmetrical response” if Europe uses profits made from frozen Russian assets.
France 24: The White House said Thursday it was preparing a new proposal to Russia to seek the release of two imprisoned Americans after Moscow rejected an earlier attempt.
AP News: Russia continues to expand its presence in North Africa as support for western powers across the Arab World fades amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Reuters: Russia has launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,700 Shahed attack drones at targets in Ukraine during its 22-month-old invasion, Kyiv said on Thursday, illustrating the vast scale of Moscow's aerial assaults.
Meduza: Uzbekistan summoned Russian ambassador Oleg Malginov after nationalist writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin said that Russia should “annex” the “territories where migrant workers come from.”
The Kyiv Independent: The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not a war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed on Dec. 21 while speaking at an annual press conference in Budapest.
Reuters: Ukraine's decision to prevent former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country earlier this month to meet Hungary's prime minister raises questions over Kyiv's European Union ambitions, Orban told a briefing on Thursday.
The Irish Times: Orban has vowed to stand firm on blocking the EU’s financial package for Ukraine, saying he will not be swayed by offers of money or threats from fellow leaders at an emergency summit next year.
Reuters: The start of supply from Russia’s newest liquefied natural gas project will be delayed after the company declared a force majeure on shipments in the wake of US sanctions.
Novaya-Europe: Russian courts have heard a record number of treason cases this year, over half of which resulted in a guilty verdict, according to a report published by human rights organisation First Department.
Meduza: Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that in 2024, his department plans to draft Ukrainian men who currently live abroad. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry issued a statement saying there are no such plans.
FT: Russian officials are trying to halt the rouble decline and swelling inflation ahead of Putin’s re-election bid. To avoid shaking the market, they have paused the exit of Western companies for over a month, the FT learned.
Reuters: Ukraine has received the last 1.5 billion euro tranche from the 18 billion package from the European Union for 2023, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday.
Meduza: Putin has ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to digitalize the fall 2024 military conscription process, using a unified registry of citizens eligible for military service and sending out summonses electronically.
BBC News: Russia is a "constant threat not just now but into the future", Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader was speaking while visiting British troops at a Nato base in Estonia, near the Russian border.
OCCRP: While Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have officially taken a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, they have increased exports of cotton pulp, a key ingredient in gunpowder, to Russia since the 2022 invasion.
Reuters: The Russian state may reduce its shareholding in some large companies while maintaining a controlling stake, and has listed about 30 companies for possible privatisation, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday.
worth mentioning
Reuters Graphics' latest blog-post analyzes the four factors that stalled Ukraine's counteroffensive
Putin's would-be challenger denies link to former oil boss Khodorkovsky
Germany swaps Russia for Norway in gas supply dependence
How the Korean alleged ex-fiancé of Putin's daughter landed a career at Gazprombank
FSB general who oversaw Navalny’s poisoning revealed as multimillionaire with luxury mansions, watches and cars
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