Jan 17: E-Stories
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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.
This is shocking—12 Euro per YEAR: this graph shows how much each citizen pays for helping Ukraine. Every Italian pays 12 euro/ YEAR. My goodness: that’s nothing! Please keep this graph and send it to whomever says that we can’t afford to help Ukraine, especially some Trumpist or tankie.
European Parliament calls for fixing share of GDP to help Ukraine. Assistance to Ukraine will be more effective if EU countries fulfill their promises and do so without delay. An effective measure could be to set a fixed percentage of GDP, including that of EU member states, to help and enable Ukraine to win the war against Russia.
US President Biden has invited congressional leaders to the White House for a meeting on Wednesday to discuss ongoing negotiations over a national security spending bill to aid Ukraine and other priorities. After months of discussing, there is still no deal.
Stories we’re following…
Zakarpattia Oblast official injured in grenade blast dies, raising death toll to 2. Myroslav Nytka, a member of a Zakarpattia Oblast's village council injured in a grenade attack in December, died in the hospital, raising the total death toll to two, said Roman Tarabii, the deputy head of the Mukachevo district council, on Jan. 15.
Russian attack on Kherson Oblast village injures 2, another strike targets rescuers. Russian forces struck the village of Tiahynka in Kherson Oblast on Jan. 16, injuring two people, as reported by Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor. Later the same day, a Russian attack hit a house in the village of Dniprovske near Kherson, the Interior Ministry wrote. When first responders arrived at the scene to put out the fire, Russia struck the area again.
White Angel team evacuates five Avdiivka residents, including two wounded. The White Angel police emergency response team evacuated an elderly woman whose house burned down, a couple who survived a bombardment, and two wounded residents from Avdiivka, Donetsk region.
Authorities in Kharkiv have urged 3,043 residents of more than two dozen villages near the frontline to evacuate because of worsening Russian attacks in the area, Agence France-Presse reports. Russian forces captured swathes of the Kharkiv region shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022, and have kept up efforts to control the region despite losing ground there.
“Given the security situation, we are introducing mandatory evacuation of the population from the Kindrashivska and Kurylivska communities of the Kupiansk district,” the Kharkiv regional governor announced on social media.
Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law creating an electronic registry for the purposes of mobilisation, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament, said.
Combat Situation Update
A total of 85 clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces on 16 January; Russian forces carried out 2 missile strikes and 13 airstrikes and deployed multiple-launch rocket systems 32 times to attack Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports on Facebook, information as of 18:00 on 16 January.
"Over the course of today, Ukrainian aircraft carried out airstrikes on a cluster of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment. Ukraine’s air defence forces intercepted a Russian Kh-59 air-to-surface missile.
Units of Ukrainian Rocket Forces and Artillery struck a cluster of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment, a command post, and an ammunition storage point."
Military intelligence: Ukrainian partisans in occupied Melitopol blow up vehicle with Russian soldiers. The Russian vehicle was detonated on Jan. 14, followed by occupation authorities blocking the streets adjacent to the scene and several ambulances arriving, according to HUR.
Business Insider: Ukraine hit a turning point in its electronic-warfare capabilities, using them to take out 20 Russian missiles: ISW
Ukrainian military officials said they'd taken out the missiles using "active countermeasures by means of electronic warfare" — the first time they'd foiled that many Russian missile attacks by scrambling their navigation systems.
It came during a wave of attacks on Ukraine early Saturday morning, with Russia launching 37 missiles and drones at cities across Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank that tracks the conflict, said the announcement "may be an inflection in Ukrainian electronic-warfare capabilities that are normally credited with disabling Russian drones but not missile systems."
Ukraine's air defense notches a string of successes against Russian air power. Ukraine has destroyed at least seven Russian planes since the beginning of December, a landmark military achievement for the country and a significant blow to Russia.
In April 2023, The Netherlands and Denmark pledged to jointly acquire, refurbish and donate 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks worth approximately €165 million which would be delivered early 2024. The first 2 out of 14 are now ready and will be delivered as soon as possible.
CDU wants a vote on Taurus deliveries in the Bundestag. Faction leader Friedrich Merz announced that the CDU parliamentary group wants to introduce a motion for a resolution to the Bundestag tomorrow, with which such a delivery will be put to a vote.
Behind the Lines
Border Guard: Polish truckers unblock 2 crossings at Ukraine border. Polish truckers ended their blockade of Korczowa-Krakovets and Hrebenne-Rava Ruska checkpoints — two of the three border crossings with Ukraine that have been blocked by the truckers’ protests since November last year, Ukraine’s Border Guard Service reported on Jan. 16.
China's state-owned banks are tightening restrictions on financing Russian clients after the US approved secondary sanctions against foreign banks that aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. (Me: I don’t think if this is a sign or will make a difference.)
Ukraine's top diplomat warns 'time running out' for US to deliver aid. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Jan. 15. told ABC news that 'time is running out' for U.S. lawmakers to reach a deal on military aid for Ukraine. Many House Republicans continue to oppose an additional $60 billion in security assistance for Kyiv's war effort for fiscal year 2024.
Viacheslav Morozov, Professor in International Political Theory at University of Tartu, has been arrested by the Estonian Internal Security Service. He is suspected of espionage and aiding espionage against Estonia.
Journalists from Reuters conducted their own investigation into the disappearance of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
They communicated with the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's Office, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, interviewed dozens of witnesses to the deportation carried out by Russians, and traced the fate of 48 orphaned children, all under the age of 5 at the time of their abduction.
Correspondents sought to understand the workings of this extensive deportation and indoctrination machine targeting Ukrainian children. The report includes several scenarios of deportation and forced relocation of Ukrainian children, along with their “re-education”, detention in summer camps and medical facilities, and their forceful placement into Russian families.
Belarusian high school students will be taught to translate interrogations of American and British prisoners of war. Pupils of 10-11 grades will be able to join the elective course "Military Translation". During the course, the students will not only study the peculiarities of military translation, but also the structure of the US and British armed forces, as well as learn to translate interrogations of prisoners of war.
Viktor Khrenin, Belarusian Defence Minister, said that the country will put forward a new military doctrine that for the first time involves the use of nuclear weapons, as reported by AP.
"We clearly explain Belarus’ views on the use of tactical nuclear weapons stationed on our territory," Khrenin said at a meeting of the Security Council of Belarus. A new chapter has appeared, where we clearly define our allied obligations to our allies," he added.
Belarusian Security Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich said that the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus is designed to deter aggression from Poland, a NATO member.
"Unfortunately, statements by our neighbours, in particular Poland ... forced us to strengthen [the military doctrine]", he said.
Me: I’d be careful with the Bild article that spells out Russia’s plans to invade the Baltic states because the Russian military has probably drawn up plans to invade every state it can think of: it’s standard practice. If Bild got hold of some information, it was probably some sort of signal to us in the West—2 years time.
Meanwhile in Russia
Putin will receive North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, on Tuesday evening, the Kremlin said. Pyongyang’s top diplomat is in Russia for a three-day visit and is holding talks with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Tuesday during the day.
RBC Russia: Businessman Andrei Godunov founded a group of companies that includes the reseller of Apple equipment, the St. Petersburg company iPort. On January 8, a businessman died while riding a snowmobile in Khibiny.
This was reported by Kommersant - St. Petersburg with reference to a source in iPort, the Baza telegram channel and REN TV .
The incident occurred in early January. The Murmansk Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that an avalanche hit tourists riding snowmobiles in the area of the Ramzai Pass in the Khibiny Mountains. The Investigative Committee reported that two residents of St. Petersburg, born in 1975 and 1969, died. The department did not provide their names. The second person killed was businessman Igor Slonsky, the publication writes.
Media: Money transfers from Russia to Turkey close to standstill. Turkish exporters have faced an almost complete halt of money transfers from their Russian clients since Jan. 1 as they were either returned or rejected by banks, which has led to serious disruptions in trade between the two countries, Turkish media outlet Ekonomim reported on Jan. 16, citing anonymous sources.
Residents of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan held a major protest on Monday in support of Fail Alsynov, an activist facing charges of “inciting ethnic hatred.” The rally occurred in the city of Baymak, where a local court was hearing closing arguments in Alsynov’s case. (Me: this has nothing to do with the war. It’s an internal affair, and journalists using it to indicate that Russians are rebelling against Putin are being irresponsible.)
Russian channels report of a very serious accident at the Magadan thermal power station in Russia.
Putin claims that tons of Russians are returning home because the living conditions, are terrible, including unisex bathrooms. OK…the Russians have a thing for toilets. What’s funny is that he called Russia ‘normal’. Yes, I guess for him Russia IS normal. Since he can’t keep up with everything, he may have not received the email about areas across Russia that have no heating. You know, spam is a bitch. That said, let’s just send all back since the living conditions are much better in Russia. Why deprive them of the Motherland?
Putin said it was “impossible” to take away from Russia the military gains it had made in Ukraine, Reuters reports. Talking about possible peace talks, the Russian president also said in televised comments that ideas put forward by Ukraine were “prohibitive formulas for the peace process”.
Russian government and officials turned out to be the owners of the largest egg factories, with the price of their products increased by 60%, — Russian Forbes.
Five of the twelve largest egg producers in Russia are managed by state structures, as well as current or former officials. This is stated in the Forbes analysis, which covers the largest poultry farms with production of 600 million eggs in 2022.
The leader of the list is JSC Poultry farm Sinyavinskaya is owned by 94.5% by Sberbank. The bank became the owner of the factory in 2017. Entering the top three, OJSC Volganin has been managed by Lyudmila Kosteva, a member of the regional political council of the United Russia party in the Yaroslavl region, since 1996. By 2015 she became not only the CEO but also the owner of the enterprise: by 2015 Kosteva bought up all 100% of its capital.
OJSC Sverdlovskaya Poultry Farm is directly owned by the state.
The agricultural holding Komos Group, which in addition to eggs produces dairy products and pork, is equally owned by Andrey Shutov and Andrey Oskolkov, former deputies of the State Council of Udmurtia from the United Russia party. Oskolkov was deputy chairman of the republic's government in the early 2000s.
Leonid Sedov, the head of the Seimovskaya poultry farm, spent four years in the 2000s as Minister of Agriculture of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Now he controls more than 90% of the shares of the enterprise. Egg prices soared by 61.4% in 2023 and continued to grow in the new year. Even Putin had to comment on the situation and redirected the question to Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev. The latter promised to improve: "I felt that it is necessary to work better <...> I hope that in the near future, at the beginning of the year, the price should go down". But it hasn't.
Helping Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion should be done in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said. He told a news conference: “If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget.” (Me: he’s got enough money from China and Russia: how about the EU stop giving him money. I know, I know…you all thought the same thing.)
European Parliament to vote on resolution on stripping Hungary of EU voting rights. "Delivering on our promises: the final letter has now been sent to the President of the Parliament," Petri Sarvamaa, a senior member of the parliament who sits on several committees, said on the social media platform X.
First Russian: Kenyan State House spokesman Hussein Mohamed announced on January 9 that the country had signed bilateral labor agreements with four countries, according to which 310,000 jobs await Kenyans abroad.
The official said that there is an agreement with Germany to provide 250,000 jobs to Kenyans. Israel is ready to provide its citizens with 30,000 jobs in agriculture, of which 3,000 will be available by March 2024. 20,000 jobs in construction and services will be provided by Serbia and 10,000 jobs in an unnamed industry by Russia.
Me: Expect to see some in the trenches in Ukraine. By the way, the publication “First Russian” is the Kremlin’s publication for African nations. Check out the other articles.
Allied Support
President Zelensky has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail, Reuters reported. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelensky said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia.
"Discussions are ongoing in US Congress on the adoption of a new aid package for Ukraine, and there is already a lot of progress," Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Oksana Markarova said on the sidelines of the Peace Formula meeting in Davos. Zelensky met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the US delegation on the sidelines in Davos.
President Zelensky met with NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg, and other leaders in Davos yesterday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said in Davos yesterday that Europe needs to continue backing Kyiv, citing the need for “predictable” funding.
We must continue to empower their resistance. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond.
They need a sustained supply of weapons to defend Ukraine and regain its rightful territory. They need capabilities to deter future attacks by Russia. And they also need hope. They need to know that, with their struggle, they will earn a better future for their children.
And Ukraine’s better future is called Europe.
Zelensky, von der Leyen agree to start screening Ukrainian legislation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leye have agreed to start screening Ukrainian legislation in preparation for the country's accession to the European Union.
The UN presented strategic plans for UN humanitarian action in Ukraine in 2024 in the amount of $4.2 billion. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk expressed her gratitude to the UN and the donor community for the assistance provided.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Davos, Switzerland. The Secretary thanked Germany for continued support for Ukraine as it fights to defend its freedom and independence. They also discussed urgent efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as to prevent the conflict from spreading. The Secretary and Foreign Minister reaffirmed a joint commitment to safeguard commercial shipping and civilians in the Red Sea.
Blinken also met with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, president Zelensky and Rwandan president Kagame.
