07.01.2024

The Kyiv Independent: The EU should have its own army, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with the Italian media outlet La Stampa published on Jan. 7.

The UK will become the first country in Europe to launch a high-tech HALEU nuclear fuel programme, strengthening supply for new nuclear projects and driving Putin further out of global energy markets.

The Kyiv Independent: Unidentified drones have been repeatedly spotted over German military bases where Ukrainian soldiers are training, raising concerns about potential espionage, the German tabloid said on Jan. 7, citing sources in government.

POLITICO: Denmark’s donation of F-16 war jets to Ukraine will be delayed by up to six months, Danish newspaper Berlingske reported, citing the country’s Ministry of Defense.

The Hill: Ukraine’s counteroffensive did not go as planned, but 2023 was not entirely a loss in its war against Russia. Kyiv scored a major victory last year in the sea while global attention was focused on ground movements.

The Kyiv Independent: Former German President Joachim Gauck called for Germany to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles in an interview published by the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Jan. 7.

Reuters: The primary task of Sweden's foreign policy in the coming years will be the support to Ukraine, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told a defence conference on Sunday.

Nikkei Asia: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, pledging a $37 million contribution to a NATO fund to provide additional support for the Eastern European nation's defense against the ongoing Russian invasion.

POLITICO: Polish farmers ended a blockade of a Poland-Ukraine border crossing after reaching an agreement with Warsaw that met their demands, defusing a dispute that had become an early test of the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Bloomberg: One of Turkey’s biggest e-commerce companies plans to launch operations in Ukraine even as Russia’s invasion nears the two-year mark with no end in sight.

06.01.2024

The Kyiv Independent: Satellite images have confirmed a Ukrainian strike damaged ammunition warehouses in occupied Crimea on Jan. 4, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported on Jan. 6.

Reuters: A Russian missile strike killed 11 people and injured 10 on Saturday in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said. Five of the dead were children. A U.N. official in Ukraine expressed horror at the incident.

The Kyiv Independent: White House and Pentagon officials have warned that the U.S. would soon be unable to keep Ukraine’s Patriot air defense system batteries supplied with interceptor missiles, the New York Times reported on Jan. 6.

BBC News: Ukraine has condemned a decree signed by Putin making it possible to confer Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children moved to Russia. The Ukrainian foreign ministry called the decree illegal.

Reuters: The Kharkiv region prosecutor's office provided further evidence on Saturday that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments.

AFP: Russia said Saturday that it would cancel Orthodox Christmas midnight masses in the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border, a day after officials offered to evacuate worried residents amid increasing attacks.

Reuters: Russia plans to produce more than 32,000 drones each year by 2030 and for domestic producers to account for 70% of the market, the TASS news agency cited First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as saying on Saturday.

CBC: A critic of the Kremlin could be barred from obtaining Canadian citizenship because she has to prove to immigration officials here that it isn't a crime in Canada to criticize the Russian army.

The Kyiv Independent: The Ukrainian Air Force carried out a successful attack against the Saky airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea, Air Force Commander General Mykola Oleshchuk said on Jan. 6.

ISW: Russian forces may intensify efforts to capture Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast, in the coming weeks and have a grouping of forces in the area that appears to be less degraded than Russian groupings responsible for offensive efforts elsewhere in eastern Ukraine.

05.01.2024

The Kyiv Independent: The Scottish government will not renew the £10 million in funding it initially granted to local councils to support Ukrainian refugee resettlement, the Scotsman reported Jan. 5.

AP News: President Joe Biden’s top budget official warned in stark terms Friday about the rapidly diminishing time that lawmakers have to replenish U.S. aid for Ukraine, as the fate of that money to Kyiv remains tied up in negotiations over immigration where a deal has so far been out of reach.

The Kyiv Independent: Members of the Atesh partisan movement confirmed that Ukrainian forces hit a radar system and control center in their Jan. 4 attack on a Russian military command post in occupied Crimea, the National Resistance center reported Jan. 5.

POLITICO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to get to a deal on new Ukraine aid “as quickly as possible,” she said on Friday.

Daily Sabah: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Türkiye is ready to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and act as a facilitator.

The Kyiv Independent: Finland plans to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas from next year, Finnish Environment and Climate Minister Kai Mykkanen told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Jan. 5.

Reuters: Telegram Messenger said it does not know why fines against it and other major technology companies were dropped in Russia, but said it has no assets, offices or employees there.

POLITICO: U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said North Korea will pay a “high price” for supporting Russia, a day after the U.S. accused Moscow of using Pyongyang-supplied missiles in its war on Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent: The Swedish government will withdraw humanitarian aid to Mali because of its pro-Russian positions and support for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters: Nepal has stopped issuing permits to its citizens to work in Russia and Ukraine until further notice, an official said on Friday, after at least 10 Nepali soldiers were killed while serving in the Russian army.

POLITICO: Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said Russia “will not stop” after the war in Ukraine and that NATO needs a “long-term strategy” to contain Moscow.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on Jan. 5 that its forces engaged in a cross-border raid on Russian positions in Belgorod Oblast and inflicted an undisclosed number of losses.

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