15.12.2024

FT: Bashar al-Assad’s central bank airlifted around $250mn in cash to Moscow in a two-year period when the then Syrian dictator was indebted to the Kremlin for military support and his relatives were secretly buying assets in Russia (archive).

RFE/RL: Russian military personnel still in Syria are experiencing a lack of food and drinking water as an evacuation of troops and equipment continues, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

The Moscow Times: Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had evacuated some of its diplomatic staff from Syria on Sunday, a week after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters: Ukraine's SBU security service said on Sunday it had launched an operation to destroy 40 rail cars carrying fuel to Russian troops in an area of the Zaporizhzhia region Moscow holds in southern Ukraine.

The Guardian: A Russian tanker carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of oil products has sunk in the Black Sea amid stormy conditions while a second has run aground, threatening an ecological disaster.

The Kyiv Independent: Georgia's opposition leaders have urged the EU to reject the pro-Russian presidential candidate and take broader steps to support European values in the country, Sova news outlet reports.

AFP: The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Sunday said Germany should reconsider its membership of NATO if the US-led military alliance did not consider the interests of all European countries, including Russia

The Kyiv Independent: Two people were injured and an infrastructure facility was damaged in the city of Mykolaiv amid Russia’s overnight drone and missile attack, Governor Vitalii Kim reported on Dec. 15.

14.12.2024

Reuters: Russia has begun using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in Russia's Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.

BBC News: A map shown during the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup has been criticised by Ukraine as an "unacceptable error" after it appeared to exclude Crimea as part of the country.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian authorities postponed signing an agreement with the United States on processing and extracting rare earth minerals, in order to let Trump claim credit for the deal when he takes office, the New York Times reported on Dec. 14.

Reuters: Ukraine's military leadership has replaced the commander overseeing defences in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces are making swift advances, a military official said on Saturday.

AP News: The United States plans to introduce sanctions against Serbia’s main gas supplier that is controlled by Russia, Serbia’s president said Saturday.

Reuters: Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Kyiv Independent: French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to raise the possibility of deploying European soldiers to Ukraine at the upcoming EU leaders' summit on Dec. 18-19, if a ceasefire deal is eventually reached between Russia and Ukraine.

Reuters: Ukrainian drones carried out an overnight attack on an oil facility in Russia's Oryol region that is a crucial source of fuel supplies for Russian troops, Ukraine's military said on Saturday.

The Kyiv Independent: Norway will continue training Ukrainian F-16 pilots as part of its support for Ukraine’s defense and will relocate its training base from Denmark to Portugal, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram announced in a Dec. 13 press release.

13.12.2024

Reuters: Hungary has found a solution that will allow it to pay for Russian gas shipments via the Turkstream pipeline from Bulgaria without falling foul of U.S. sanctions, its foreign minister said on Friday, without providing details of the agreement.

The Kyiv Independent: Russia is considering launching an Oreshnik nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile once again at Ukraine this weekend, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 13, citing an unnamed representative of the U.S. National Security Council.

AFP: European Union foreign ministers meeting Monday will impose sanctions on Russian intelligence agents over "hybrid" attacks against the bloc, diplomats said Friday.

Reuters: Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek is working with lobbyists in an attempt to rebuild U.S. relations after Washington imposed sanctions on its mammoth Arctic LNG 2 project.

The Kyiv Independent: Russian troops continue to advance toward Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, while Ukrainian forces have made gains near Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, the Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on Dec. 13, citing the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center.

Bloomberg: Finland will review whether to reintroduce antipersonnel land mines for improved defenses against Russia on the NATO defense bloc’s longest land border with its main adversary (archive).

Bloomberg: Finland is considering whether it can confiscate real estate holdings on the grounds that they may pose a threat to its national security after years of Russians buying assets, including near critical infrastructure (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces are repelling Russian assaults near Uspenivka, Hannivka, Trudove, and Romanivka in Donetsk Oblast and "are taking necessary measures" to prevent encirclement, the Khortytsia group of forces reported on Dec. 13.

Reuters: Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended over uncertainty about the new government and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources said on Friday.

Reuters: Russia hammered Ukrainian energy facilities in a massive aerial attack on Friday that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said was one of the largest yet on the ailing grid and evidence of why Kyiv needed more Western support before any peace with Russia.

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