Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,035

Here is the situation on Wednesday, December 25:

Fighting:

• The estimated contingent of 12,000 North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk region has not yet had a major impact on the course of the conflict, said Yevgen Yerin, the spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service. The North Koreans have little experience of modern warfare, particularly with drones, and use tactics that are “primitive, linked, frankly speaking, more to the times of the Second World War”, Yerin said.
• At least one person was killed and at least 15 injured in a Russian missile attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. A woman was reportedly rescued alive from the rubble of a house hit by Russian missiles. Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government is working on a “positive outcome” after a video emerged of an Australian man captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. The man, who is seen with his hands tied and being slapped across the face by a man speaking Russian, said he was a biology teacher named Oscar Jenkins. Australian media have verified the man’s identity.

• Ukraine said Russia had attacked it with 60 drones overnight on Monday, of which 36 were downed, 23 were jammed by electronic warfare and one was still in the air at the time of reporting. The Ukrainian Air Force said drones had been shot down in eight regions across the country on Tuesday.
• A Russian court sentenced a man to 22 years in prison for two acts of sabotage on railway lines in Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. The court said Pavel Levchenko was recruited and trained by Ukraine’s SBU security service and sent to Crimea to carry out “acts of terrorism”.
• Authorities in the Russian region of Transbaikal in Siberia have cancelled a one-off payment for soldiers who have suffered permanent injury after being wounded in the war in Ukraine. The compensation previously amounted to between 100,000 and 500,000 roubles ($1,000 and $5,000), depending on the severity of the disability. Siberia’s regional Social Affairs Ministry explained that the money would instead be used to provide medical treatment and care for soldiers, and for a fuel allowance.

Society:

• President Zelenskyy gave his Christmas greetings in a video address on Tuesday night, as Ukraine officially marks the holiday on December 25th for only the second year. Zelenskyy signed legislation in July 2023 to bring Ukraine’s public Christmas holiday in line with the majority of other European countries, rather than the later date followed in Russia.
• In his Christmas Eve address, Zelenskyy fired a shot at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, incorporating a direct quote from a recent address by Putin to reporters where he implied Moscow’s war on Ukraine was exciting. “These words are proof of how far they [Russians] are from God, from Christianity, and from true faith,” Zelenskyy said. “All we need is to live peacefully on our own land, to see the sun, our sky, and in it – a Christmas star – not Iranian Shaheds and Russian missiles,” he added.

Regional security:

• Italy’s cabinet has passed a law that allows it to continue supplying “means, materials and equipment” to Ukraine until the end of 2015 to support its defence against Russia, a government statement said.
• Two crew members are missing after a Russian Defence Ministry-owned cargo ship, the Ursa Major, sank in international waters in the Mediterranean following an explosion on board. Out of the 16 Russian crew members, 14 have been rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena and two are missing, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.
• Ukrainian military intelligence said the Ursa Major vessel was also used to supply Russian troops in Syria where Moscow has a naval base at Tartous.

• The United States government’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), which tracks foreign disinformation, has terminated its operations, the State Department said, after Congress failed to extend its funding. In June, James Rubin, the coordinator for the GEC, announced the launch of a multinational group based in Warsaw to counter Russian disinformation on the war in Ukraine.
• Zelenskyy has blasted Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico over his reluctance to end his country’s dependency on Russian gas, calling it a “big security issue” for Europe.
• Moldova’s President Maia Sandu – sworn in for a second term on Tuesday – praised Moldovan voters’ pro-Europe choice, “despite the pressures”, after Russia was accused of interfering in last month’s election in the former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies