Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:34 The United States announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine worth $250 million. Blinken stressed that this is the last aid package this year. It, in particular, included ammunition for NASAMS and HIMARS, Stinger missiles, air defense system components, 155 and 105 mm artillery shells, TOW missiles, Javelin and AT-4 systems, etc.
22:03 Russia continues systematic executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war. In a report in October, the UN reported six such cases. The Russian execution violates Article 3 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The Office of the Prosecutor General reported that in December, Russian soldiers shot three Ukrainian prisoners of war near Rabotino, Zaporozhye region. Read more in the article New execution of captured soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces .
21:12 New satellite images show the absence of a number of ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the port of Feodosia after the strike on the Novocherkassk ship, Radio Liberty reports. Thus, the photographs for December 27 show that after the strike, the Project 205P border patrol ship Tarantul, the Project 12700 minesweeper Alexandrit, a rescue tugboat (probably Captain Guryev) and another ship left the port. At the pier located south of the explosion site, only one dry cargo ship and the UTS-150 training ship, half-submerged as a result of the explosion, remained.
20:21 The unified electronic database of those liable for military service, Obereg, has already been launched, Ukrainian media report. So far, the register operates unofficially; the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, territorial recruitment centers and law enforcement agencies have access to it. Those liable for military service themselves can only check their data, but to do this they need to contact the TCC. About how the system will change mobilization, see the article Amulet launched .
20:18 The Ministry of Defense announced that it has certified the first body armor for female soldiers. The sample went through two stages of testing: after the first stage, it was modified taking into account the structure of the female body. The female version of the body armor has an armor plate curved outward, and in other respects it does not differ from the previously approved general-arms body armor. The body armor weighs from 10.5 kg, depending on the size and configuration.
20:10 About 300 thousand people now work in the Ukrainian defense complex, and this is one of the biggest achievements of the state in several years, Zelensky said in an evening video message. According to him, the Ukrainian defense industry is not just being restored - “it is becoming as productive as it is needed for a modern, technological war.” Moreover, four out of five enterprises are private businesses. Many state enterprises that have not worked for decades have now launched their production, including new types of weapons, the president emphasized.
He also noted that for the next year Ukraine has clear goals regarding artillery, drones, missiles and armored vehicles. “I am confident that our defense industry - subject to such constant development - over time can definitely enter the top 10 most productive and powerful defense complexes in the world. This is the real potential of Ukraine, and our state can become one of the global donors of security and one one of the strongest NATO members,” Zelensky added.
19:49 The government has allocated 1.74 billion hryvnia for the transformation of the lessons of Defense of Ukraine. These will include drone simulator training, training ranges, medical assistance and 3D printing classes. Of this amount, 100 million will go to the professional development of teachers and 1.64 billion to the purchase of educational equipment, such as drone control simulations, training shooting ranges and mock-ups, first aid kits and simulators for cardiac resuscitation, turnstiles, as well as educational kits for working with electronics , communications and 3D printing.
19:17 The Ukrainian Defense Forces have already managed to destroy 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and force the enemy to redeploy ships to Novorossiysk. In practice, the Russian Black Sea Fleet turned out to be ineffective in this war, although Ukraine, in fact, does not have its own fleet. Read more in the article How Ukraine is reclaiming the sea .
18:41 The Ukrainian government has a “plan B” in case of delays in receiving funds from Western partners. In addition, several options for the development of events are being explored with partners. Read more in the article State Budget Deficit .
17:58 Russia tonight used a new tactic of launching attack drones - they were launched over residential areas where there is no stationary air defense, said the speaker of the Southern Defense Forces Natalya Gumenyuk: “During this night attack, almost all Odessa residents recorded drones following right among residential areas where In principle, stationary air defense systems cannot be deployed." According to Gumenyuk, in this case, after being shot down, the debris falls on residential buildings.
The Russians also began laying out complex drone trajectories to deplete Ukrainian air defenses and scout out the location of complexes.
17:37 MAXAR showed satellite images of the Russian large landing ship Novocherkassk before and after its defeat in the port of Feodosia:
17:16 The Ukrainian IT Army has paralyzed the work of one of the largest business management systems in Russia, 1C-Rarus, said the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Mikhail Fedorov. Clients in the Russian Federation cannot use accounting services and work at full capacity. 1C-Rarus has 150 thousand users, including such technology giants and war sponsors as Tatneft and VTB. Customers in stores and gas stations cannot make payments because the cash register does not work, and this is a million-dollar loss for the Russian economy, Fedorov added.
16:29 The court sentenced the leader of the “DPR” Denis Pushilin in absentia to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported. He is accused of encroaching on the integrity of Ukraine and collaboration activities.
15:37 Russia initiated an informal meeting of the UN Security Council, which will take place today, December 27. Title of the event: “Ten years of Euromaidan in Ukraine: a step into the abyss.” According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, at the meeting the Russians will talk about “the neo-Nazi nature of the Kiev regime and its armed formations,” “the history of Nazism in Ukraine and its current state,” “crimes of nationalist battalions against civilians in the east and south of Ukraine.” Among the invited guests are the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Yanukovych era, Vitaly Zakharchenko, one of the Berkut commanders, and Russian propagandists.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, interest in the announced event from members of the UN Security Council is extremely low - most of them will be represented by “experts,” that is, advisers or second secretaries. And the event itself is designed mainly for the domestic Russian audience.
15:28 The Ministry of Finance expects proposals from the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense to cover the costs of additional mobilization, said Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko. According to him, internal sources of funding for the troops have been depleted, so additional funds will have to be sought. The Ministry of Finance did not receive information about what specific needs of the troops need to be met. Answering the question about whether it is true that the mobilization of 400-500 thousand people will cost the state 500 billion hryvnia, as Zelensky stated, the minister noted that the calculations are “quite correct.”
15:09 Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said that he “doesn’t understand” why the Ukrainian military is still buying things for the front at their own expense or through volunteers: “It’s difficult for me to comment on things that I myself don’t understand. I myself don’t understand, Why do we still provide military personnel with funds?"
According to the minister, there are enough weapons and equipment in warehouses, and the state spends 5 billion hryvnia daily on the security and defense sector. “With all due respect to volunteers, no non-governmental public organizations come close to the state’s capabilities in providing the Armed Forces,” Marchenko noted.
15:06 Ukraine will have to postpone social payments to citizens and salaries to public sector employees if the EU and the United States do not provide financial assistance at the beginning of 2024, Deputy Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko said in a commentary to the Financial Times. According to her, about 500 thousand civil servants, 1.4 million teachers, and 10 million pensioners are at risk. Currently, the hole in the state budget is $37 billion.
14:40 The prosecutor's office began an investigation into the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian military. According to the investigation, servicemen of the Russian Army in December 2023, during a military clash with the Ukrainian Defense Forces near Rabotino, Zaporozhye region, captured three Ukrainian defenders, and an hour later they were shot. The corresponding video appeared on social networks .
14:12 The phones of Ukrainians in different countries of the world are receiving messages of provocative content with a call to help Russia expel the “American Satanists” from the “original Russian land.” According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the messages call for us to “revive Kievan Rus” together and at the same time “take care of ourselves and our loved ones.” At the end of the messages there is a facsimile of the Moscow special services: “From Russia with love.” Moscow’s next information attack against Ukrainians abroad is aimed at intimidating, demoralizing and disorganizing citizens, the GUR notes.
13:57 According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, only 7% of Russians mobilized for the war in Ukraine have higher education. Moreover, the average age of those mobilized is 35 years. Most of them (89%) had a job before mobilization, 57% have a family and children. Almost everyone had served in the army before - 96.4%. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that 302,503 people from 1,430 municipalities were mobilized. Of these, more than 33 thousand arrived at military registration and enlistment offices without a summons.
13:16 Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba is convinced that Ukraine will join NATO, because he was allowed to sit at the summit next to the delegates of member countries. According to the Ukrainian minister, he went to his usual place next to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, where summit guests sit, but he told him that “now your place is there, among us, because you are an equal.” Kuleba was then placed between Turkey and Britain.
12:53 For six months now, the Russians have not allowed the bodies of teenagers Tigran Hovhannisyan and Nikita Khanganov, killed in Berdyansk, to be buried, Radio Liberty reports. The formal reason for postponing the funeral is an examination and a case opened by Russian investigators on charges against the guys. However, according to the lawyer, the real reason is the intention to conceal the extrajudicial execution.
The death of two teenagers in occupied Berdyansk became known on June 24. On social networks, one of them managed to publish a video in which he mentioned two, probably Russian security forces, whom he shot, said goodbye and said “Glory to Ukraine!” The occupation authorities of Berdyansk confirmed the murder of teenagers, who are called “pro-Ukrainian terrorists.”
11:47 As a result of a night drone attack on Odessa and the region, two people were killed, and not one, as previously reported, the prosecutor’s office clarified. Three people were injured, including a 17-year-old teenager.
11:38 Since the beginning of a full-scale war, Russia has used ammunition equipped with toxic chemicals against Ukraine 465 times, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported. Of these, 81 cases were recorded in December of this year alone, and the dynamics of use are growing.
Most often, the enemy uses grenades, which are dropped from UAVs. However, homemade explosive devices equipped with irritating substances are also used. In addition, artillery attacks containing chemically hazardous substances are carried out.
11:05 In the morning, the Russian army attacked a hospital with a drone in the Berislavsky district of the Kherson region, an employee of the institution was injured, the prosecutor’s office reported. In addition, late in the evening of December 26, on the highway between Berislav and Novoberislav, the Russians dropped explosives from a drone on a civilian car, killing one person.
Over the previous 24 hours, as a result of Russian shelling in the region, three people were killed and 16 were injured, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin. The energy infrastructure of Kherson has been severely damaged - 70% of subscribers are left without power supply.
10:51 The South Korean government announced strengthening of export controls against Russia and Belarus. Another 682 items have been added to the list of goods that will be subject to export restrictions to these countries - in particular, heavy construction equipment, batteries, aircraft components, etc.
10:42 Russia has intensified its offensive along the entire front line, but the direction of the main attack is Avdievka, which the enemy wants to capture by the end of the year. In some places, the attacks are of a diversionary nature, said the commander of the south-eastern direction, Alexander Tarnavsky, in an interview with the BBC. “Avdeevka is in the direction of their main attack. Marinka is another direction. Novomikhailovka is, for example, a diversionary direction. Novopavlovsk direction also has its own goal,” he noted.
The commander also said that the Russians have learned to fight Ukrainian high-precision weapons - for this, Russian artillery is withdrawn into depth and covered with electronic warfare systems.
According to Tarnavsky, next year will be “even more difficult” for Ukraine, since the Ukrainian Armed Forces must end the war: “I think that next year will probably be even more difficult. Because we must end the conduct of hostilities and the liberation of our territories. And "The closer we get to completing this task, the main goal - reaching our borders, it will be even more difficult. The enemy knows this and will do everything to ensure that we do not complete this task. Therefore, I say that the year will be difficult."
10:23 After the Ukrainian strike on the Novocherkassk ship in Feodosia, 33 Russian sailors are listed as missing, 23 people were injured (of which four were civilians), one was killed. Remnants of a Storm Shadow missile were found at the site, the Russian opposition publication Astra reports, citing sources. In total, at the time of the attack on the night of December 26, there were 77 sailors on the large landing ship. The ship was completely burned out and sank.
09:55 Russian snipers use American and European sights for hunting weapons in the war against Ukraine, reports the Russian opposition publication Important Stories. Journalists drew attention to published videos showing Russian soldiers with these sights. According to customs data, they are imported to the Russian Federation “for installation on hunting weapons” and “not for military use.” In 2022-2023, sights worth 16 billion rubles (almost $174 million) were imported. Some of them are used in war. The publication notes that imports may be parallel imports, and manufacturers most likely have no idea who the final recipient of their goods will be.
09:14 As a result of the attack on the Feodosia port, in addition to Novocherkassk, another ship partially sank, Radio Liberty reports, citing a satellite image. It turned out to be an old training ship UTS-150, which can be seen in photos from the port in this place since at least 2007.
According to some Russian media, the ship Novocherkassk was not carrying drones, but 4,400 artillery ammunition, 280 missiles for the BM-21 Grad MLRS and 62 crew members.
09:03 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that Russia's likely capture of Marinka does not mean significant operational progress, since a small, completely destroyed settlement will not provide a reliable springboard for a further offensive.
08:47 In Kherson, a shopping center and apartment buildings were damaged as a result of a night drone attack, the Southern Defense Forces reported. A hit to the warehouses of an agricultural research institution was also recorded; information about the victims is being clarified.
In the Odessa region, the enemy focused on attacking the regional center. The air defense forces cleared all enemy targets, and debris from downed UAVs fell on one of the uninhabited new buildings. Also, a drone shot down in the air fell on country houses in the suburbs of Odessa - a fire broke out, which has already been extinguished. One person was killed and three were injured, including a 17-year-old teenager.
08:25 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of December 27:
- personnel - about 355,750 (+790) people,
- tanks - 5913 (+14),
- armored combat vehicles - 10,973 (+17),
- artillery systems - 8376 (+10),
- MLRS - 934 (+0),
- air defense systems - 616 (+2),
- aircraft - 329 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 6471 (+13),
- cruise missiles - 1620 (+2),
- ships/boats - 23 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 11,140 (+31),
- special equipment - 1240 (+1).
07:36 Air defense destroyed 32 of 46 Shahed attack UAVs , which Russia attacked from two directions - Balaklava and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, the Air Force command reported. The drones attacked in waves at different times, between 19:00 on December 26 and 03:50 on December 27.
Most of the drones that failed to be shot down attacked front-line territories, in particular the Kherson region. Several more UAVs fell without consequences. Air defense operated in Nikolaev, Odessa, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye, Khmelnytsky and Kirovograd regions.
07:24 Over the past 24 hours, 80 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In particular, in the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 13 enemy attacks east of Novobakhmutovka, Avdeevka and 16 attacks near Pervomaisky and Nevelsky, Donetsk region. Another 14 attacks were repulsed in the Kherson direction, where Ukrainian forces continue to expand the bridgehead, 11 attacks in Limanskoye (in the Serebryansky forestry areas of the Lugansk region and Vesely, Donetsk region).
In addition, in the Kupyansky direction, Ukrainian defenders repulsed eight enemy attacks in the Sinkovka areas and northeast of Petropavlovka, Kharkov region; on Bakhmutskoye - also eight enemy attacks near Bogdanovka, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka, Donetsk region; on Maryinsky - seven attacks in the Novomikhailovka and Pobeda districts of the Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - nine enemy attacks in the Rabotino area and west of Verbovoy, Zaporozhye region.
03:03 The European Union is preparing an alternative plan to provide Ukraine with financial support in the amount of 20 billion euros, bypassing Orban’s veto, writes the Financial Times. The proposed mechanism could be used in the event of failure to override Hungary's veto at the planned summit on February 1.
The scheme provides for guarantees from EU member states to the European budget, which will allow the European Commission to raise up to 20 billion euros in capital markets to support Ukraine. The specific timing and final amount will be determined in accordance with the needs of Kyiv, FT notes. The scheme does not require guarantees from all 27 EU member states, although some countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, may need parliamentary consent to provide national guarantees. The process is expected to be completed in time to provide assistance to Ukraine before March.