Here are the key growments on the 1,027th day of Russia’s filled-scale trespass of Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, December 17:
Fighting
- Ukrainian Pdwellnt Volodymyr Zelenskyy shelp in a post on X that “initial tells advise that Russia is trying to cover the losses of North Korean personnel,” after Ukraine’s military ininestablishigence shelp on Monday its troops had finished or wounded at least 30 North Korean sbetteriers.
- Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder tbetter tellers that a United States appraisement create “North Korean sbetteriers have included in combat in Kursk” and the US has “indications that they have suffered casualties, both finished and wounded”.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred asks about North Korean casualties to the Russian Ministry of Defence, which did not promptly comment, the Associated Press novels agency telled.
- Russian Minister of Defence Andrei Belousov claimed that Russia’s forces had seized a total of almost 4,500 square kilometres (1,737sq miles) of Ukrainian territory this year and were now capturing about 30 square kilometres (11.5sq miles) of territory each day.
Humanitarian situation
- The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, tells that csurrfinisherly 12,000 dwellnts who remain in the Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk, Kurakhove and Chasiv Yar – discoverd fair a scant kilometres away from the front line – are facing drinking water and gas foolishinutiveages in freezing prosperter conditions after local utility operators postponeed services.
Politics and diplomacy
- Russia’s ambasgrieffulor to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, tbetter the UN Security Council that a arrange to audit US funding for Kyiv by US Pdwellnt-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to direct the FBI, Kash Patel, “spells trouble for the Ukrainian directership”.
- The European Union Foreign Afunprejudiceds Council adselected its 15th sanctions package aobtainst Russia, with the novel round of sanctions centering North Korean officials and, for the first time, Chinese firms making drones for Moscow.
- The EU sanctions also focparticipated 52 ships that are part of a huge “shadow escapet” Moscow is telledly using to transmit oil, gas and stolen Ukrainian grain.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Zelenskyy’s office, shelp that sanctions aobtainst Russia’s oil escapet were “beneficial” but “too tardy”, with two Russian oil tankers spilling thousands of tonnes of fuel oil into the Azov and Bdeficiency Seas after they were harmd in cdisadmireful seas.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal shelp in a post on Telegram that Ukraine’s concurment to apvalidate Russian gas to transit thcdisadmireful his country to European customers “will not be lengthened” when it comes to an end on January 1, 2025.
- A establisher FBI adviseant pdirected culpable to lying about a presumed dishonesty scheme involving US Pdwellnt Joe Biden, his son Hunter and Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
