Dec 28: E-Stories
Day672 Kherson Odesa CombatSit Mariinka BehindLines UA-POWs Rostov InRussia Iran China Elex Allies Taiwan FR US A&P UADef ISW Rosenberg Gic Jaishankar Tass Davis StateDept
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
The video was filmed in Odesa during the night after Russian missile attacks as revenge for the Ukrainian hit on the Russian amphibious ship in Crimea. Two people were killed in Russia’s overnight drone attacks on Odesa, according to updated figures posted on Telegram by Odesa Oblast governor, Oleh Kiper.
Stories we’re following…
The Russian army carried out 80 shelling attacks on Kherson region on Dec 27, killing one person, reported Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration, announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. According to Prokudin, the Russian military hit residential neighborhoods in settlements and a medical facility in Beryslav.
"Over the past day, the enemy carried out 80 shelling attacks and fired 404 shells from mortars, artillery, Grads, tanks, aircraft and UAVs," he said.
During the night Dec 26, a fairly large Shahed drone attacked happened aimed at the southern regions. In total 48 Shaheds were launched of which 32 were shot down. Also several fell without being shot down, but these were unable to reach their target.
Russian shelling has left 70% of Kherson without electricity, says the Kherson oblast governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Shelling by Russian forces on Tuesday has “badly damaged” the infrastructure of the city, he said, adding that it was “difficult” to say when engineers would be able to complete restoration works. A railway station in the city was also attacked as a train was set to evacuate residents, killing one police officer and injuring four people, said Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko.
This is the result of some of the Russian missile attack on Kherson railway station yesterday.
Combat Situation Update
The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Tuesday his troops remained in an area of the eastern town of Maryinka despite assertions by Russia’s defence minister that Moscow was in control of the settlement, which has been reduced to ruins after many months of fighting. Reuters reports that Zaluzhnyi acknowledged to reporters that the town was in ruins, but said Ukrainian troops were still positioned on its northern flank.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced west of Horlivka and continued positional engagements with Russian forces on December 27. Geolocated footage published on December 26 indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced further into a waste heap west of Horlivka.
Russian forces recently made marginal territorial gains on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River in occupied Kherson Oblast.
The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP) dam on June 6, 2023, reportedly postponed a Ukrainian crossing of the Dnipro River that was likely intended to support Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.
ISW: Ukrainian drone footage published on December 27 showed another Russian execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) near Robotyne in western Zaporizhia Oblast. ISW previously reported observing drone footage of Russian servicemen using Ukrainian POWs as human shields near Robotyne on December 13.
KyivIndie: 465 documented cases of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. Ukraine has recorded 465 cases of Russia's use of ammunition containing poisonous chemicals since the start of the full-scale invasion in February last year, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 27.
Russia reports drone attack in Rostov region. Russia’s Rostov region was reportedly attacked by an unmanned aerial vehicle in the early hours of Thursday.
This is what Mariinka looked like before the Russian full-scale invasion.
Mariinka today: no words.
33 sailors are considered missing, 23 people were injured and one person died as a result of yesterday's attack on the Russian Ropucha-class landing ship Novocherkask in the port of occupied Feodosia.
Steve Rosenberg for the BBC: “What today’s Russian papers are saying about the attack on the Russian warship Novocherkassk. Plus, a Russian political scientist who claims his country is trying “to save the world” and a US martial artist who poses as the Russian Santa Claus.”
Military: 465 documented cases of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. Ukraine has recorded 465 cases of Russia's use of ammunition containing poisonous chemicals since the start of the full-scale invasion in February last year.
Behind the Lines
Ukrainian cyberattack paralyzes Russia’s high-profile ERP system 1C. The Ukrainian IT Army paralyzed the operation of Russia’s automated enterprise management system 1C-Rarus. "One of Russia’s largest enterprise resource planning systems is down due to attacks by the Ukrainian IT Army," the report says.
Russia's full-scale invasion has killed over 400 Ukrainian athletes. Some in Russia have complained about supposed unfairness of only being able to compete without the Russian flag, said Vadym Gutzeit, the head of Ukraine's National Olympic Committee. "We're losing people... Is that fair to us?" he added.
RBC Ukraine: Russia imports tens of thousands of American scopes "for hunting weapons", which then find their way to the front, - media investigation Allegedly, 16 billion rubles worth of rifle scopes were imported into the Russian Federation over two years. The scopes (mostly American) are imported with the help of intermediaries in China, Turkey and Kazakhstan through online stores of hunting equipment, which then resell the goods to gun companies in Russia.
Politico: Russia uses prisoners as a political weapon. An uptake in captured Ukrainian military men calling their relatives is noted. Most of them call their loved ones and say that Russia is ready for an exchange, but Ukraine doesn't want to. The campaign is run to sew mistrust between Ukrainian citizens and their government.
Prisoners call their families and ask them to protest against the government, saying that Ukraine refuses to make exchanges, Petro Yatsenko from the Coordination Staff for the Treatment of POWs, says.
The wife of a prisoner of war said that her husband was captured on 24 February 2022, and he first contacted her on 29 November 2023 with the words: "Valia, go make life difficult for Kyiv". The man forbade her to ask questions, apologised and disconnected.
The last exchange at the state level took place on 7 August. Russia wants to influence Ukrainian society and create the impression that the government is not dealing with this issue, Politico writes.
The International Equestrian Federation has banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the 2024 Olympic Games, even in neutral status This is reported by Reuters. The International Sports Federation suspended Russian and Belarusian riders from international competition in March 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile in Russia
Jacopo Iacoboni: Roscosmos lost 180 billion rubles (80% of its foreign revenue, 1.8 billion € ) due to sanctions Roscosmos will not see profit again for years The numbers were provided by the head of Roscosmos himself, Yuri Borisov (Putin put a general at the head of the Russian space giant).
You couldn’t make this up even if you tried really hard.
Julia Davis: “Meanwhile in Russia: Vladimir Solovyov was beside himself over the sinking of the Novocherkassk. He blamed it on... a naked party! (ICYMI, see my earlier video). Solovyov complained about palace intrigues and thanked the Kremlin for protecting him.”
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, has warned that a move by Japan to hand over Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, would have “grave consequences” for Russia-Japan ties. Reuters reports that Zakharova made the comments on Wednesday. Japan, which had already joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, expanded its export blacklist earlier this month. It also includes a ban on Russian diamonds for non-industrial use.
India's ties with Russia are 'very strong, very steady': the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has held talks in Moscow with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and said progress had been made on plans for Russia and India to jointly produce military equipment. The Indian minister will be visiting for 5 days. Jaishankar added that he expected the Russian president, Vladimir Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi to meet next year.
Iran and Russia finalized an agreement to conduct trade using their national currencies rather than the US dollar.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the country's army and defense industry to accelerate preparations for war to counter the actions of the USA, reports Reuters.
According to the DPRK leader, accelerating the pace of preparations for military action is necessary to counter unprecedented "confrontational moves" by the United States.
According to a report by the North Korean state news agency KCNA, Kim gave the relevant order to the military, as well as to the munitions and nuclear weapons industry.
Allied Support
The US has announced a new US$250 million military aid package for Ukraine, the last one this year, on Wednesday, 27 December..
The package includes additional projectiles for the NASAMS and HIMARS systems, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, TOW anti-tank missiles and Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems. Over 15 million cartridges for small arms, demolition ammunition for removing obstacles, spare parts, medical equipment, technical maintenance and other auxiliary equipment were mentioned in the list of weapons supplied as well.
U.S. Department of State: “The United States is announcing the year’s final package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine. Our assistance has been critical to supporting our Ukrainian partners as they defend their country and their freedom against Russia’s aggression.”
Me: The wording is telling. The U.S. position is to aid Ukraine’s defence, and not to defeat Russia.
Minister: France delivers second ship to help Ukraine with grain export. French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on Dec. 26. "Our commitment is total, our solidarity will not stop," Beaune said on X, formerly Twitter.
Taiwan’s economy ministry said it expanded a list of sanctioned goods for Russia and Belarus. The list includes equipment for making semiconductors, where Taiwan is a world leader, as well as certain chemicals and medicines.
Germany has approved a record €11.7 billion worth of arms deliveries in 2023, with about a third of that amount earmarked for Ukraine. According to the German Ministry of Economy, the amount has increased by 40% compared to 2022. For next year, the budget plan envisages the allocation of $8 billion for arms supplies for Kyiv.
The Michigan Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot based on the US Constitution’s “insurrectionist ban.” The outcome contrasts with the recent ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court, which kicked Trump off its primary ballot because of his role in the January 6 Capitol riot.