Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 12-23-2024

Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate said on Telegram that the cause of the fire in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan was a ‘mystery.’

A fire destroyed a warehouse where Shahed drone parts waiting for the assembly plant in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan.

The facility held drone parts worth around $16 million, Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (HUR) said on its Telegram channel on Dec. 23.

Romania finds a way out of its political mess, for now.

Four pro-European Romanian parties struck a deal Monday to keep the far right out of government and chose a common candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the ruling Social Democrats, was also reappointed prime minister Monday by outgoing liberal president Klaus Iohannis, who gave his backing to the new pro-European coalition.

Though the index has reached a low point for the last 34 months, Ukrainian financial stress is still higher than before Russia’s full-scale invasion as wartime risks dominate its economic reality.

The liquidity, solvency, and operational resilience of the banking system do not raise any concerns, Ukraine’s central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) wrote in its Financial Stability Report.

The Index of Financial Stress, created by the central bank, indicated that the sentiment was calmer in the second half of 2024. The main reason for this is the decreased interest rates on Ukrainian bonds and Eurobonds after successful debt restructuring.

Ukrainian military experts tell the German media they have seen a noticeable falling-off in the quality of Russian-built Shahed / Geran 2 kamikaze drones during recent attacks against Ukraine.

It seems that when it comes to Russia’s current weaponry build standard, as its war in Ukraine nears its third anniversary, is based on Joseph Stalin’s dictum that “Quantity has a quality of its own.” As a report by the German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) a week or so ago makes clear, that certainly seems to apply to Moscow’s domestically built version of Iran’s Shahed long-range attack drones.

An article published on the DW Ukrainian YouTube channel examines the efforts made by Ukraine’s mobile fire groups to combat the threat from Russian attack drones it also looks at how Russia’s efforts to mass produce the drones, have seriously eroded the quality of these systems because of supply shortages and its cost-cutting measures.

Once Republicans take control of the House, Senate, and White House, Ukraine will be held accountable for US aid, and corruption hearings will take place, according to one Washington insider.

President-elect Donald Trump’s recent remarks, expressing support for Ukraine following his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris, created a sense of optimism about what America might have next in store for Ukraine. However, some Republican insiders are not as certain that it will be smooth sailing for Kyiv.

“I was on Capitol Hill last week and heard a lot of concerns about corruption in Ukraine,” confides Steven Moore, a former chief-of-staff to a senior Republican congressman whom Politico referred to as “the GOP’s man in Kyiv.”

Ukrainian leader hits out at Slovak PM for visiting Putin and opposing energy dependence on Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday accused Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of wanting to “help” President Vladimir Putin by continuing to import Russian gas.

Zelensky said EU leaders had observed that Fico, who visited Moscow on Sunday, opposes reducing energy dependence on Russia “implying that he wants to help Putin earn money to fund the war and weaken Europe”.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to retake the Panama Canal. “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he said. On Truth Social Saturday, Trump accused Panama of charging American vessels “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump vented. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added, referring to a 1977 treaty. The 78-year-old Republican also echoed his plans to impose tariffs against the European Union, Canada and Mexico. He said he wouldn’t let the E.U. turn the U.S. into a “dumping ground.” - The Independent

Sources told CBC News that more than 50 Liberal MPs came to a consensus that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to step down as party leader during a meeting of the party’s largest regional caucus. The abrupt departure from cabinet on Monday of former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland prompted a growing tide of MPs to call for Trudeau to go. The public count is currently at 21. Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Rosemary Barton Live that the “vast majority” of people he’s talking to believe the prime minister should resign, “whether they’ve gone public or not.” Trudeau remaining as leader puts the party in an “impossible situation,” he said, one where the leader becomes “the ballot issue….There are many people who would vote for the Liberal Party but don’t want to vote for the leader,” Housefather said.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• Russia launched approximately 2,300 One Way Attack Uncrewed Aerial Systems (OWA UAS) of varying types into Ukraine in November 2024, once again surpassing the previous month’s total. Monthly OWA UAS numbers have been increasing consistently throughout 2024, with significant increases - greater than 200 on the previous month - since July 2024.                                                                                                                  
• It is likely that through September-November 2024, as many as 50-60% of the total launches were “decoy” OWA UAS. The Russian forces have a variety of decoys available. Smaller and less expensive than SHAHED-class OWA UAS due to the construction materials, their purpose is to complicate the Ukrainian defensive effort by saturating or confusing the radar picture, forcing more work on the Ukrainian Air Defense teams in the hope of causing fatigue over time. Some of the decoy systems still likely carry a small payload (up to 5kg) of explosives, ultimately making them no less dangerous should they reach a target.                                                         
• The rate of increase from October to November dropped in comparison to previous months. December 2024 launch figures show approximately 850 launches so far. However, it is likely that weather has impacted operations in December, evidenced by some nights with significantly larger waves following a period of low or no activity. With no impact on launch sites or production, it remains likely that Russia can sustain numbers at least over 1,500 per month. Russian OWA UAS maintains coverage of targets across the entirety of Ukraine, enabling Russia to maintain pressure while allowing Long Range Aviation Missilestocks to replenish.

Ksenia Yudaeva, a sanctioned Russian central banker advisor, has been appointed by Moscow as its executive director for Russia. How will the IMF and the US respond?

Ksenia Yudaeva was deputy to Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, and in Russian media Yudaeva had been described as Nabiullina’s “close friend” and “right hand.”

On Nov. 1, it was announced that Yudaeva would replace Aleksei Mozhin as the IMF executive director for Russia and Syria, a job that requires physical presence in the IMF Washington headquarters, as some meetings are too secret to be recorded.

Despite Russia’s war on Ukraine, it remains one of the world’s leading producers and suppliers of certain agricultural products.

Following the forecast balance between supply and demand for grain and oilseed crops in the marketing year 2024/2025, the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry plans to export around 46.9 million tonnes of these products, according to comments to Ukrinform.

“As of December 2024, [following] the forecast balance between supply and demand for grain and oilseed crops in the marketing year 2024/2025, the export of grain crops was estimated at about 40.3 million tonnes (i.e., 66.7% of the total supply), oilseed crops – at 6.6 million tonnes,” the report states.

Mark Rutte also said that he, unlike Scholz, would supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles and would not set limits on their use.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he considered the sometimes harsh criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by President Volodymyr Zelensky to be unjustified, news wire DPA reported.

Although Germany has been a vital ally of Ukraine, its hesitation in providing long-range Taurus cruise missiles has been a source of frustration in Kyiv, which is battling a foe armed with a powerful array of long-range weaponry.

Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces seized three military IDs from North Korean soldiers without proper stamps or photos and their names were changed to Russian.

Russia provided fake military IDs to North Korean troops fighting in the Kursk region, the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reported on Sunday on the SOF Telegram channel. 

“Special Operations Forces continue to eliminate the enemy, including three more North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, and have seized their documents,” SOF wrote in the Telegram post.

The extent of sanctions busting remains evident in Moscow’s luxury stores.

Despite a barrage of Western sanctions and swathes of brands quitting Russia after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, Moscow’s most well-off shoppers are still spoilt for choice when it comes to luxury Western goods.

In the Russian capital’s exclusive shopping quarters, department stores and high-end Russian outlets are doing a roaring trade in Western sports cars, gold jewellery and designer clothes.

South Korean military intelligence also suggests that the nuclear-armed North is “producing and providing self-destructible drones” to Russia to further aid Moscow’s fight against Ukraine.

More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s war with Ukraine, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Monday.

The new figure follows a report by Seoul’s spy agency to MPs last week, which said at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed since entering combat in December.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from ISW:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated his latest assertion that he should have violated the ceasefire he had imposed on Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 by launching a full-scale invasion even earlier than February 2022.

For fear of nuclear escalation, we have accelerated nuclear proliferation.

There are human activities in which both sides can win. War is not one of them. Either Ukraine wins this war or Russia does. Ukraine’s former foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba says bluntly that unless the current trajectory is changed, “we will lose this war.”

To be clear: this is still avoidable. Suppose the roughly four-fifths of Ukrainian territory still controlled by Kyiv gets military commitments from the West strong enough to deter any further Russian advances, secure large-scale investment in economic reconstruction, encourage Ukrainians to return from abroad to rebuild their country, and allow for stable, pro-European politics and reform. In five years, the country joins the EU, and then, under a new US administration, starts the process of entering NATO. Most of Ukraine becomes a sovereign, independent, free country, firmly anchored in the west.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, has threatened to nuke the West or Ukraine a total of 12 times this year, but none were launched – so far.

“We never liked the French,” the opening line of a Telegram post by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister and now Security Council deputy chairman – a great start to 2024.

Apart from his public disdain for the West, Medvedev is also known for his hawkish comments that went as far as suggesting to nuke the West and Ukraine on multiple occasions, earning him the moniker as “herald of the apocalypse.”

Ukraine’s Special Ops team took on daring missions in 2024, from blowing up Black Sea platfor

The Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are elite troops specializing in high-complexity missions on land, water, and occupied territories. Their roles include sabotage, aerial reconnaissance, and psychological operations.

Due to their classified nature, details of SSO missions and personnel remain undisclosed. Entry into the SSO is highly selective, with only 10 percent of candidates passing the rigorous training process.

I oversaw NATO’s Trust Fund Project to destroy surplus weapons and munitions in Ukraine. If only we knew then what we know now.

My first experience of Ukraine was in 2001. As the demilitarization advisor for the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA), I ran a project to destroy anti-personnel landmines, in the Donetsk Chemical Plant, so that Ukraine could meet its “Anti-personnel Mine-Ban Treaty” obligations.

Then, in 2002, the government of Ukraine asked NATO for assistance in destroying some of its huge surplus of conventional ammunition.