Here are the key developments on 1,037. Day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Here is the situation as of Friday, December 27th:
Battle:
- According to the Yonhap news agency on Friday, South Korean intelligence said that an injured North Korean soldier sent to fight for Russia was captured alive by Ukrainian forces.
- Russian drones struck a multi-story residential building in the town of Khasiv Yar in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Thursday, killing two people, regional officials said.
- Further attacks hit an industrial area in the southeastern city of Zaporizhia and a market in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Thursday. The attacks in eastern Ukraine come after Russia’s attack on the country’s energy system on Christmas Day.
- Russian forces have captured the village of Hihant in eastern Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Defense Ministry.
- The Ukrainian military claimed that its air force carried out an attack on a military-industrial facility in the Russian city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov region in recent days. The facility will be used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in Russian attacks on Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.
- The Ukrainian military said Thursday it shot down 20 of the 31 drones launched by Russia overnight.
Politics and diplomacy:
- Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next year, Russian state news agency RIA quoted Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov as saying on Friday. He said Russia and China must respond together to U.S. policies, citing NATO’s alleged plans to shift “its military infrastructure” to the Asia-Pacific region. China has presented a peace plan with Brazil to end the war.
- As North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries will continue to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which includes a mutual defense pact they signed in June.
- Putin said on Thursday he was open to Slovakia’s proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine. “We are not against it if it comes to that. Why not? Because Slovakia has such a neutral position,” he said after a visit by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to the Kremlin this week.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will visit Moscow on January 17 to sign a cooperation agreement with Putin, according to Kazem Jalali, the Iranian ambassador to Russia, as quoted by Russian state news agency RIA on Thursday.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday his country was ready to work with the new US administration of Donald Trump to improve relations. But, he said, the US had to take the first step as it had “suspended” the dialogue after “the start of a special military operation”. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
Regional security:
- Investigations are underway into the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 people. Unnamed Azerbaijani and US officials reportedly said they believed a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the fatal crash. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against “hypotheses”.
- Moldova’s parliament approved a 10-year defense strategy on Thursday, calling for increased defense spending as part of a plan to join the European Union. The move was ridiculed by the chamber’s pro-Russian opposition given the relatively small size of Moldova’s armed forces. Pro-Western President Maia Sandu has accused Russia of trying to overthrow his government.
- Putin said on Thursday that there was no time left this year to sign a new Ukrainian gas transit agreement and blamed Ukraine for refusing to extend the deal that would send gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and brings to Austria. The current five-year gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the year.
