Tuesday, December 26

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Prayer before the Christmas Eve supper. (Valentyn Kuzan/72nd Mechanized Brigade)

Ukrainian Air Force destroys Russian landing ship in occupied Crimea. Ukraine reportedly destroyed the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in Feodosia in occupied Crimea during the early hours of Dec. 26, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced.

Government submits draft law on mobilization to Verkhovna Rada. Earlier on Dec. 25, David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People faction in parliament, said that the Cabinet was expected to submit the draft law regardless of the holiday. “The working algorithm has not changed.

Military: Battle for Marinka continues. Reports that Russian forces have captured the city of Marinka in Donetsk Oblast would be “incorrect,” Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the Tavria group of forces, said on national television on Dec. 25.

Official: Russia hits third humanitarian aid base in Kherson in 5 days. Russian forces hit three humanitarian bases in Kherson, said the head of the emergency response unit for the Ukrainian Red Cross in Kherson Oblast Mykola Taranenko, in a comment to Hromadske radio on Dec. 25.

Spokesperson: Navalny found, meets with lawyers. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is “doing well” and has been located in IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote on X on Dec. 25.

Media: Ukrainian refugees fall victim to ‘sophisticated’ UK visa scams. Ukrainian refugees fall victim to targeted scams involving fake visas and false sponsor family promises, according to the charities cited by the British media outlet The Independent.

Media: Former RT director hospitalized after alleged poisoning. Former RT host Anton Krasovsky has been hospitalized after falling sick, he wrote on Telegram on Dec. 24. Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske later said he had been poisoned, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) on Dec. 25.

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Zelensky to Russian pilots: ‘Our air defense will only get stronger.’ After five Russian aircraft were downed by Ukraine in the week leading up to Christmas, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 25 that every Russian pilot must “make a clear choice” whether to continue fighting in the war because Ukraine’s air defense would “only get stronger.”

Russian Central Bank head says country should prepare for increased sanction pressure. The head of Russia’s Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina said Russia should prepare for the increasing pressure from sanctions in an interview with the Russian media outlet RBC.

Military: Russian cruise missile shot down over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Ukraine’s Dnipro-based Operational Command East said it had shot down Russian Kh-59 cruise missile over Kryvyi Rih district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in a statement on Dec. 25.

Demonstrations against alleged electoral fraud in Serbia continue, 38 protesters arrested. Opposition parties and some Western electoral observers have claimed that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), under President Aleksandar Vucic, committed voter fraud and witnessed other irregularities in the municipal elections in Belgrade on Dec. 17.

Russian emergency service: Fire reported on nuclear-powered vessel, quickly extinguished. The fire occurred in a cabin on the ship, named the Sevmorput, while docked at the Murmansk port in northern Russia. The ministry initially reported that the fire spread to about 30 square meters, but firefighters managed to contain it before it spread.

Air Force: Ukraine downs 28 Russian drones, 2 missiles overnight. Ukraine’s military shot down 28 out of 31 Shahed drones and two missiles launched by Russia overnight on Dec. 25, the Air Force wrote.

Moldovan President Sandu announces she will run for second term. In the statement declaring her intent to run for reelection, President Maia Sandu also said that she has asked the Moldovan parliament to organize a referendum on the country’s accession to the EU.

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Ukraine war latest: Defense minister expects bill on mobilization in ‘coming days’

A bill on the mobilization of conscripts will be registered in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, in the “coming days,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne in a Dec. 24 interview. Additionally, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Christmas Eve address that millions of Ukrainians had learned “another dimension of Christmas.”

Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Christmas on the front line (PHOTOS)

Amidst Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, numerous Ukrainian men and women are spending Christmas on the front lines, far from their homes and loved ones. Valentyn Kuzan, a photographer newly enlisted in the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, offers insight into this reality.

Ukrainian Christmas: Traditions and hope in the midst of war

Human cost of war

Russian attacks kill 1, injure 5 in Kherson, Donetsk oblasts. Russian attacks against Kherson and Donetsk oblasts over the past 24 hours killed one person and wounded another five, regional authorities reported on Dec. 25.

General Staff: Russia has lost 353,950 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. This number includes 780 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

International response

Latvia sends cars confiscated from its drunk drivers to Ukraine. As of mid-December, Latvia has sent 271 cars to Ukraine that were confiscated from drunk drivers and is preparing to send 34 more, Delfi reported on Dec. 24.

Russian media: Foreign shareholders suspend participation in Russian Arctic LNG-2 project. The project is run by the private company Novatek, Russia’s largest producer of LNG, which has a 60% share. The Chinese, French, and Japanese companies represented the remaining 40% of shares. The foreign companies all declared force majeure on the project.

Ukraine receives $1.3 billion in financial support from World Bank. The funding is part of the Public Expenditures of Administrative Capacity Endurance program (PEACE) in Ukraine, designed to support the country’s social and humanitarian expenditures. The latest tranche was initially announced by the World Bank on Dec. 14.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Dinara Khalilova, Nate Ostiller, Anastasiia Malenko, Francis Farrell, Alexandra Keeler, Kate Tsurkan, Oleksiy Sorokin, and Rachel Amran.

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