Russia-Ukraine updates: Kyiv aims for ‘peace summit’ in February
All the updates from December 26, 2022 as they happened.
This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war for Monday, December 26:
This blog is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war for Monday, December 26:
- Ukraine’s foreign minister has said that his government is aiming to hold a peace summit by the end of February, around the time of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
- Kyiv calls for Russia’s removal from the United Nations, arguing that the seat was initially granted to the USSR in 1991, not the Russian Federation, rendering their membership “illegitimate”.
- The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak to his Chinese counterpart this week as Russia-China relations take on a more significant role in light of Western sanctions.
- Three military personnel were killed in the falling wreckage of a Ukrainian drone at Russia’s Engels airbase in the Saratov region, Russia’s defence ministry said.
Belarus dissident and Olympic medallist sentenced to prison in absentia
A Belarusian court sentenced the country’s former champion swimmer and government critic Aliaksandra Herasimenia to 12 years in prison in absentia, a rights group has said.
Herasimenia, who in her career won Olympic medals and retired in 2019, has lived in self-imposed exile since 2020 and was not present at the hearing.
The 36-year-old was found guilty on multiple charges, including “calls for sanctions” and other actions “aimed at harming the national security” of Belarus, said the Viasna rights group.
Herasimenia co-founded the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) in the wake of mass protests that erupted in August 2020 against the contested re-election of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.
The foundation provided financial and legal assistance to athletes targeted by the authorities for their political views.
It also advocated a boycott of sporting events held in Belarus and called on the International Olympic Committee to suspend the ex-Soviet country.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy seeks India’s help with ‘peace formula’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has sought India’s help with implementing a “peace formula” in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The conversation on Monday came at a time when India is seeking to strengthen trade relations with Moscow while Western nations introduce new measures to limit Russia’s funding of its war in Ukraine.
Read our in-depth story here.
Kuleba: Ukraine aims to hold peace summit by February
Ukraine’s foreign minister has said that his government is aiming to hold a peace summit by the end of February, around the time of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told The AP at the foreign ministry that, “The United Nations could be the best venue for holding this summit because this is not about making a favour to a certain country. This is really about bringing everyone on board.”
Kuleba said that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could be the possible mediator for peace talks.
He also said that Ukraine will do whatever it can to win the war in 2023, adding that diplomacy always plays an important role.
Russian rouble recovers ground after largest weekly slump since July
The Russian rouble has recovered some ground after its largest weekly slump since early July over fears of the impact of oil and gas sanctions on the country’s export revenue.
The rouble lost about 8 percent last week and is down over 10 percent this month after an oil embargo and price cap came into force. The finance ministry has said the recent decline was related to recovering imports.
The rouble remains one of the world’s best-performing major currencies against the dollar this year, supported by capital controls and reduced imports, but it has lost the top spot to the Brazilian real in the past week.
Russia tries to replace imported energy equipment due to sanctions over Ukraine
Russian power equipment manufacturer Power Machines has said it completed assembly and testing of its first domestically made high-power gas turbine, aiming to replace imported energy equipment unavailable due to sanctions.
Moscow has for years been trying to start production of its own medium- and large-capacity gas turbines for power plants.
But it has accelerated the process as importing and maintaining equipment locally has become much harder ever since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, prompting the West to respond with unprecedented sanctions.
Siemens Energy, General Electric, and Alstom, whose turbines were used to build modern gas power plants in Russia, are either withdrawing from the Russian market or have already suspended operations.
Alexey Navalny chronicles ailments in solitary confinement
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny has said he is suffering from back pain after spending long spells in solitary confinement, which he claimed were part of a deliberate strategy by the authorities to undermine his health.
On Twitter, Navalny posted images from his medical records which he said were given to him a month after he requested a copy.
3/15 If you lock a person up in a punishment cell, where he can either stand or sit on an iron stool for 16 hours a day, after a month in such conditions even a healthy person will undoubtedly get back pains. I've spent the last 3 months like this. Naturally, my back hurts a lot.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) December 26, 2022
Russian Iskander missiles ready to be used, says Belarus
The Iskander tactical missile systems and the S-400 air defence systems that Russia sent to Belarus are ready to be used, said a Belarusian official.
While it is unclear how many systems were deployed to Belarus, the news comes amid fears that Russia is planning to strike from the Belarusian border with Ukraine and involve their troops in the conflict.
Read more here.
Sberbank accuses Glencore of using sanctions as excuse
Russian bank Sberbank accuses Glencore of choosing not to pay for oil supplied, saying the global commodities trader could have found a way to pay up without violating Western sanctions.
Sberbank has taken legal action to recover debt and penalties from Glencore Energy UK Ltd over the two consignments supplied by a subsidiary of Russia’s largest bank in March.
They were worth roughly 58 million euros ($62 million) each, according to Moscow court filings.
“Glencore is refusing to pay, citing sanctions,” Sberbank First Deputy Chairman Alexander Vedyakhin told reporters.
“There are different ways of working without violating sanctions … This issue could have been resolved, but unfortunately, Glencore is refusing any communications with us.”
In light of Russian sanctions as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, Glencore said in March it would not enter into new trading business in respect of Russian-origin commodities unless directed by the relevant government authorities.
What impact will Western weapons have on the war? | Inside Story
After the US pledges to send Patriot air defence systems and European countries add more money to Ukrainian defence funds, what will the influx of Western weapons mean for the future of the conflict?
Al Jazeera’s Inside Story speaks to experts about its possible effects.
Russia places Bellingcat journalist on wanted list
Russia places a senior journalist from Bellingcat’s investigative website on a wanted list following his reporting on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bulgarian journalist and chief Russia investigator Christo Grozev’s name was added to a list of wanted people on Russia’s interior ministry website.
The ministry did not specify what crime he was wanted for.
The RIA Novosti news agency quoted a source saying that a criminal case had been opened against Grozev for “spreading fakes about the Russian army”, a law adopted after the Moscow offensive in February.
Russia’s FSB domestic security agency had accused Grozev of helping Ukrainian intelligence.
Grozev has led previous investigations into the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny before focusing on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
Moscow labelled Bellingcat as an “undesirable” organisation in July, saying it posed a security threat to the country.
Czech president calls for more support for Ukraine
Czech President Milos Zeman calls for further support for Ukraine, including military backing, arguing that Russia would eventually have to leave Ukraine.
“I am convinced that the pressure of free countries will sooner or later compel Russia to leave the territory of Ukraine,” Zeman said in his Christmas television address.
He said he had always favoured the economic relations between the Czech Republic and Russia, but now, the world’s security was threatened.
Zeman was previously considered an opponent of tough European Union sanctions against Russia and had often been criticised as “pro-Russian” before the invasion began.
Russia’s Sberbank to close UAE office due to Western sanctions
Russia’s money lender Sberbank will be forced to close its office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early next year, First Deputy Chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said.
Sberbank is one of several central Russian banks to have been blocked from the international SWIFT payments system after sweeping Western sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, in the context of sanctions restrictions, we are facing serious constraints on our SberInvest Middle East office in Abu Dhabi and we, unfortunately, are forced to close it in the first quarter of 2023,” Vedyakhin told reporters.
He said Sberbank would continue serving clients in the UAE market and that active communications were under way with Chinese regulators about opening an office there.
Zelenskyy, Modi discuss ‘peace formula’ in phone call
President Zelenskyy says he sought India’s help with implementing a “peace formula” in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Twitter, he wrote: “I had a phone call with [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi and wished a successful G20 presidency. It was on this platform that I announced the peace formula, and now I count on India’s participation in its implementation. I also thanked for humanitarian aid and support in the UN.”
I had a phone call with @PMOIndia Narendra Modi and wished a successful #G20 presidency. It was on this platform that I announced the peace formula and now I count on India's participation in its implementation. I also thanked for humanitarian aid and support in the UN.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 26, 2022
Ukraine calls for Russia’s removal from the UN
Ukraine’s foreign ministry calls for Russia to be removed from the United Nations, saying they “abused” the charter and that their presence is “illegitimate”.
In a statement posted by the ministry, it argues that the Russian Federation took the seat granted to the USSR in 1991 and never went through a formal approval process, much like the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which previously held a seat under ‘Czechoslovakia’.
“The Russian Federation has never gone through the legal procedure to be admitted to membership and therefore illegally occupies the seat of the USSR in the UN Security Council. From a legal and political point of view, there can be only one conclusion: Russia is a usurper of the Soviet Union’s seat in the UN Security Council”, they said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted the announcement, reiterating the ministry’s stance that Russia’s membership is “illegitimate”.
31 years ago Russia abused the UN Charter and usurped USSR’s seat at the UN Security Council — bypassing the only legitimate procedure set by the Charter. Russia’s presence at the UNSC and the UN as a whole is illegitimate. Ukraine’s official statement: https://t.co/rZVC1pV0MY
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) December 26, 2022
2022 review: The war in Ukraine
As 2022 comes to a close, we look back on the Ukraine conflict, and the day everything changed in the country.
Russia tests home-grown power tools amid sanctions
Russian power equipment manufacturer Power Machines says it has completed assembly and testing of its first domestically made high-power gas turbine.
According to a statement, Power Machines plans to be able to produce eight 170-megawatt turbines a year by 2025 and raise annual capacity to 12 turbines in the future. It will also ensure the maintenance of gas turbines, including imported ones.
The first clients will be Russian oil company Tatneft, state energy holding Inter RAO and power company RusHydro, the statement said.
Russia has for years been trying to start production of its own medium- and large-capacity gas turbines for power plants.
It has accelerated domestic production due to international sanctions that have made importing and maintaining equipment in Russia much harder.
Four Ukrainians ‘liquidated’ entering Bryansk region: Russian FSB
Russia’s FSB security service says a four-person Ukrainian “sabotage group” had been “liquidated” while trying to enter the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported.
“As a result of a clash on December 25, 2022, four saboteurs who attempted to penetrate the territory of the Bryansk region from Ukraine were destroyed,” the RIA news agency quoted an FSB statement as saying.
The FSB added that the alleged saboteurs were armed with foreign-made guns and four improvised explosive devices.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from Ukraine.
Kazakhstan donates 41 generators to Ukrainian hospitals
Ukraine’s health ministry has announced that Kazakhstan donated 41 generators to be used in Ukrainian hospitals.
“They will be transferred to regions that are under attack by Russian aggressors and where they are most needed — in Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv,” the ministry said in a statement on Facebook on Sunday.
The statement added that Health Minister Viktor Liashko said each of the generators would help provide uninterrupted power to operating rooms, intensive care units, and oxygen stations.
US is pursuing an ‘end of history’, says Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claims the United States pursues a policy to establish the “end of history”, referring to Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man.
“If you look at the policies that the administration of (US President Joe) Biden is pursuing, they want exactly this. They want the end of history to take place not just in the works of political analysts and political scientists, but for it to take place in real life,” Lavrov said during a meeting with journalists and leaders of the Russian media.
During the meeting, Lavrov added that actions taken on a global scale in taking an “anti-Russian stance,” which he said are initiated by the US, reflect attempts by Washington to establish the “end of history”.
Emergency power cuts introduced across Ukraine
Ukraine’s power grid operator says it introduced emergency shutdowns in multiple regions across the country, including the capital Kyiv, due to an excess of energy consumption.
“Due to exceeding consumption limits, emergency shutdowns have been introduced in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Kyiv regions, and in the city of Kyiv,” Ukrenergo announced on Telegram.
Repair work is ongoing at facilities, and several power grids have been damaged due to recent Russian attacks.
“Due to the scale and complexity of the damage, restoring the equipment and functioning of a number of key facilities requires considerable time … Operators are doing everything possible to improve the situation with electricity supply in the country,” a Ukrenergo statement said.
Sweden, Finland to join NATO in 2023, says Stoltenberg
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expects Sweden and Finland to join the bloc officially in the new year, he said in an end-of-year interview with the dpa news agency.
Stoltenberg was not able to say when exactly this would happen.
However, he said he was “absolutely confident that the ratification process will be finalised in a timely manner”.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. Turkey has so far refused to ratify the accession protocols to clear the way for them to join NATO.
Putin, Xi Jinping to speak before end of year: TASS
Russian state news agency TASS reports that President Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would speak before the end of the year.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the agency that the two sides would release details about the conversation in due course.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Putin’s Security Council, met Xi on a visit to Beijing last week as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Washington to ask for more aid.
Russia fired ‘more than 40’ rockets on Sunday: Ukraine
In Ukraine’s daily military update, the army reports that Russia fired five missiles and “more than 40” rockets on Sunday.
“In the Kherson direction, the opponent continues artillery shelling of settlements along the right bank of the Dnipro River,” it said.
“Over the past day, the Defence Forces aviation struck five strikes in the areas of concentration of personnel and OVT of the occupiers.
“Our rockets and gunners hit 9 control points, 2 areas of live force focus and 2 other important objects of the enemy.”
Russian forces focused on defence, says British MoD
Russian forces have focused on forming “defensive positions” on the front line, according to the latest British Ministry of Defence update.
“Russian forces have largely focused on constructing defensive positions along many sections of the front line in Ukraine since October. This includes laying additional fields of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, almost certainly going beyond Russian doctrinal guidelines,” the ministry said on Twitter.
“Minefields only present an effective obstacle for trained troops if covered by observation and fire. A major challenge for the Russian forces will likely be a shortage of surveillance assets and trained personnel to effectively monitor large areas of the new minefields.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 26 December 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/nfobPRqbHZ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/yvZQ3XdjHK
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 26, 2022
List of key events, day 306
Here is the situation as it stands on Monday, December 26.
Fighting
- Russian forces bombarded dozens of towns in Ukraine on Christmas Day as Putin said he was open to negotiations, a stance Washington has dismissed as posturing because of continued Russian attacks.
- Russia on Sunday launched more than 10 rocket attacks on the Kupiansk district in the Kharkiv region, shelled more than 25 towns along the Kupiansk-Lyman front line, and in Zaporizhia hit nearly 20 towns, Ukraine’s top military command said.
Economy
- Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told TASS.
- Novak also told TASS that Russia will be able to produce at least 490-500 million tonnes of oil in 2023.
Read more here.