(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Russia targeted the evacuation train at Kherson train station today:
The russian army hit the Kherson railway station and the evacuation train. More than 140 civilians were waiting for a train at the moment of the shelling.
That’s a deliberate attack against civilians. russia is a terrorist state.
📹: Kherson military administration pic.twitter.com/mDNxD5xLrg
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 26, 2023
Russia attacked evacuation train and railway station in Kherson. The number of casualties is currently being assessed. More than 100 civilians are at the bomb shelter, they will be transferred by buses to Mykolaiv
⬛️ This is the harrowing sound of today's Russian shelling pic.twitter.com/99fPNLhYCG
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) December 26, 2023
As of five hours ago there was one police officer killed and four other people were injured. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow for a better accounting of the wounded and murdered.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
It is only right that the military together with MPs decide how the next year should be provided for our Defense Forces – address by the President of Ukraine
26 December 2023 – 20:48
I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!
It was a difficult day. I just heard a report on the shelling of Kherson. The Russian strike on the railway station. An evacuation train. All services are currently at the scene. The number of killed and injured is still being clarified. There were many civilians in the area. All information updates will be provided by the respective services.
I held a several-hour-long Staff meeting, for the most part focusing on the production of our weapons next year. Every aspect – from artillery to drones and missiles – was discussed in detail, with thorough clarification on enterprises, contracts, and state investment in production. Involving everyone responsible for the result for the state. The Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and the Commander-in-Chief. Together with the Prime Minister, we outlined the amount of funds to be allocated to the defense sector as a matter of urgency.
Additionally, government officials must decide on all the objectives for our diplomatic activities next year – specifically regarding agreements with partners on arms production, supply of components and equipment. Absolutely all plans, a clear algorithm of actions – all the essentials must be specified for our defense sector to ensure the next year is as productive as possible. Ukraine must produce, either independently or jointly with partners, everything necessary for protection against any forms of Russian aggression. We can provide this.
Of course, the Staff meeting included an in-depth discussion of the situation at the front – all directions, commanders’ reports. Special thanks to our Air Force for their excellent work against the occupiers in Crimea.
Today I also held a meeting on our work with NATO next year. Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, the relevant Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and international relations officials from the Presidential Office were in attendance. Ukraine’s strategy in relations with the Alliance is absolutely clear: it is the foundation of security for both Ukraine and the entire Europe, including Ukraine. We are formulating the corresponding tactics of action in line with this strategy. Foreign policy, communication, institutional steps within our state. Everything should be as substantive as possible.
In the evening, I spoke with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. I expressed gratitude for his Christmas greetings to the Ukrainian people and the whole of Ukraine, and for his unwavering support for our people and our state. Fener is involved in the work on the Peace Formula. And it is important that the spiritual leaders of the world are also engaged in this joint effort – the work of the world majority. Together, all of us in the world, we must continue to exert pressure on the Russian state. This is fair.
A few more things.
Today, a discussion on new mobilization rules has begun. There is a legislative proposal – the military command, the Ministry of Defense, and other involved bodies have submitted it to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It is only right that such regulations are not discussed and adopted behind closed doors. Rather, it should be transparent so that people understand the vision of the military command, the motives behind certain rules and conditions proposed by MPs, and how the issues already raised by our servicemen in the Defense Forces are being resolved. The law pertains to everyone. Every citizen in the state. It is only right that the military, together with MPs, decide on the basis of the Verkhovna Rada Committee how the next year should be provided for our Defense Forces at the legislative level. We are waiting for the final text of the law.
And, of course, gratitude to our warriors. Today, there is a reason to commend the warriors of the Main Intelligence Directorate, namely, the special forces from Tymur’s unit and the warriors of our 24th separate mechanized brigade. Well done, guys!
I am grateful to everyone who cares for Ukraine! I thank everyone who remembers that Ukraine needs results every day – maximum results.
Glory to Ukraine!
Here’s the update on what is going on with the F-16 training for the Ukrainians directly from the Ukrainian MOD:
The first group of Ukrainian F-16 pilots have completed a basic program of training in the UK.
These pilots are now learning to fly F-16 fighter jets in Denmark.
We are grateful to the @DefenceHQ for providing basic training to Ukraine's combat air pilots. Ukraine highly…
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 26, 2023
The first group of Ukrainian F-16 pilots have completed a basic program of training in the UK.
These pilots are now learning to fly F-16 fighter jets in Denmark.
We are grateful to the @DefenceHQ for providing basic training to Ukraine’s combat air pilots. Ukraine highly appreciate our partner’s help in preparation for operating F-16s in Ukraine.
This is a very significant contribution to the international Air Force Capability Coalition for Ukraine—commented @rustem_umerov.
General Zaluzhnyi held his first press conference today.
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1739736701818331316
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1739671887662162160
https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1739683910089322807
https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1739683915399303382
The EU is working on a way to sidestep Orban.
https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1739762003256938683
From The Financial Times:
The EU is preparing a back-up plan worth up to €20bn for Ukraine, using a debt structure that sidesteps the objections of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán about funding the war-torn country.
After EU leaders failed to agree a proposed €50bn four-year package for Ukraine earlier this month, officials have searched for alternatives to save Kyiv from a looming budget crisis if the bloc’s differences cannot be resolved.
Officials involved in talks said one model funded by debt has gained traction as the most practical way to provide support if Orbán refuses to drop his veto at a planned summit on February 1.
This scheme would involve participating member states issuing guarantees to the EU budget, enabling the European Commission to borrow up to €20bn on capital markets for Kyiv next year, people briefed on the talks said. The precise terms are still under discussion and the final amount would be set according to Ukraine’s needs, they added.
The arrangement is similar to the structure used in 2020 when the commission provided up to €100bn in cheap financing to EU countries for short-term work-support schemes during the Covid pandemic.
Crucially, the option would not require guarantees from all the EU’s 27 member states, as long as the main participants included countries with top credit ratings. That would allow the EU to sidestep Hungary’s veto because it would not require unanimous backing.
Some countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, would need parliamentary approval for national guarantees, a process that officials hope could be completed in time to provide aid to Ukraine by March.
One of the people familiar with the discussions said no “technical problem” blocked ways to provide budget finance to Kyiv, but that politically “it is more complicated”.
If EU leaders agree on this plan on February 1, reassurance would be provided to the IMF to release its next tranche of funding for Ukraine worth about $900mn, the people briefed on the talks said.
That should provide enough funding to Kyiv to avoid having to resort to monetary financing, where the government would print money to sustain its deficit and risk inflation spiralling, they added.
One downside of this scheme, when compared with the original proposal based on the EU budget, is that it would be limited to loans and not include grants. Member states could still decide to provide grants bilaterally.
Another back-up option under consideration involves rolling over the funding structure used this year, under which the EU provided €18bn in cheap loans to Ukraine, for a few months and up to a year. This option would need a weighted majority of countries to agree.
But officials stress their preferred option is to approve the unaltered aid package first proposed in June but blocked by Hungary.
More at the link.
This back up would be better than nothing, but it is far from optimal. It would put Ukraine on the hook for repayment of these loans, which would create a drag on Ukraine’s post-war economy. One of the major problems is that the EU was not really designed to deal with this type of problem. Evan as it has evolved over time from its origin as a common marketplace.
Russian occupied Crimea:
https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1739617303279587417
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1739516459045237205
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1739755359168819583
https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1739598511748903401
https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1739549878210961541
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1739615329301549484
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1739511877443506632
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1739518919684043217
Avdiivka front:
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1739760884442976473
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1739759256318922791
This Russian T-90M was hit and destroyed by a cheap 500 USD drone (plus Soviet grenade). This is the most expensive Russian MBT, priced between 2.3 – 4.5 million USD.
Source of 1st video: https://t.me/The3rdForceUA/21966
Source of 2nd video: https://t.me/WarArchive_ua/8931
Mykilske, Kherson Oblast:
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1739703209642352722
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast:
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1739708809319195081
Marinka, Dontesk Oblast:
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1739697310672531576
Krasnodar Krai, Russia:
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1739710890843488358
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There are no new Patron tweets or videos tonight, but here’s a fairly recent Instagram post. Screen grab followed by machine translation of the caption.
Here’s the machine translation of the caption:
Warming, what are you doing? 😀 This is me in Zaporizhzhia yesterday. At the end of December! We went to tell children about mine safety. In the Zaporizhzhia direction, as well as in our Chernihiv region, my lessons are very useful (unfortunately, there is nothing to be happy about). Everyone is unusually warm 👅
Open thread!
Yutsano
I’m sorry Adam but…
EARZ!!!
HinTN
@Yutsano: Do what?
In other news, 🤞 for EU to figure out how to be “good” when they have to deal with the likes of Orban. They made this bed…
bookworm1398
I assume the EU would convert the loan to grants whenever they had a chance. Germany’s financial problems seem to me to be a bigger concern
YY_Sima Qian
@HinTN: I think sometimes we have to zoom out a bit. Hungary is being a spoiler right now wrt EU response to Russia & Ukraine, the immediate challenge facing the EU. However, the deeper & greater issue is that the EU, founded on liberal, internationalist & consensus rule principles, is faced w/ more & more member states increasingly in thrall of illiberalism, nativism & skepticism toward European integration. That is a fundamental schism that casting Hungary out of the EU will not resolve. One hopes that the PiS being voted out of power in the last Polish election portends a long term swing back toward liberalism & internationalism across the continent, as Poland (along w/ Hungary) was at the vanguard of the illiberal turn. I suspect the PiS’ loss had more to do w/ anti-establishment sentiments caused by bad economic conditions, & PiS has been the establishment in Poland. The main difference between Orban & the PiS is that the former played footsie w/ Putin & the latter is staunchly anti-Russian out of nationalistic (& not liberal democratic) motivations.
Unfortunately, in the other EU states just catching the illiberal wave, the discredited establishment is the center-left/centrist/center-right, & they will likely cede ground to the extremes on the wings. In that competition, the far right is far more likely to win out than the far left.
Putin’s influence operations are taking advantage of & aiming to exacerbate the dynamic, but I don’t think defeating Putin tomorrow will douse the rising illiberal & nativist sentiments, which are mostly driven by domestic grievances.
Alison Rose
So Orban is the Tatertown of Europe? Super cool set-ups where one little prick can throw a tantrum and derail massively important decisions and planning.
The In Ukraine FB page has an infographic of russian ships that are “publicly known cases of destruction” that is titled “russia navy – new houses for fish”. LOL.
Thank you as always, Adam.
YY_Sima Qian
@bookworm1398: Germany’s financial problems are mostly self-created. The constitutional court struck down a budget proposal that boosted fiscal deficits to > 3%. Austerity in times of economic recession is suicide. That is what Germany imposed on highly indebted Southern European countries during the Eurozone crisis of the early 10s, in exchange for debt relieve, & what the IMF often did to highly indebted developing countries. The consequences are almost always negative – preventing immediate implosion but dooming countries to long term stagnation.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Another day, another war crime. I still find it hard to believe that the Republican Party, or at least a big chunk of it, would choose Vladimir Putin and Russia over their own country. And yet, here we are…
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
HumboldtBlue
I’ve watched two dozen videos of that ship being blown up, and it just gets better each time.
Gin & Tonic
The machine translation of Patron’s posts continues to have a problem with the word for “lick.” He is wishing everyone an unusually warm lick.
Gin & Tonic
@HumboldtBlue: I have read (but not verified myself) that in the last four months Ukraine has destroyed 20% of russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Alison Rose
@Gin & Tonic: I think it’s the issue from before where there’s no space between the word and the emoji. Or else it’s worried the caption is being pornographic…
YY_Sima Qian
An opinion piece in the Guardian that laid out how the Biden Administration’s (& western governments in general) obvious double standards & hypocrisy wrt Ukraine & Gaza is hurting the US’ (& the West’) standing long term, making corralling global support for Ukraine that much more difficult, undermining the very “rules based international order” that the US & the West claim to promote & defend. Yes, there is plenty of hypocrisy to go around, & the ROW have their own double standard wrt Ukraine & Gaza, in the reverse direction. However, the US is the self-proclaimed “indispensable country” that is seeking to maintain an international order undergirded by US primacy & Western domination across all spheres. If there isn’t even a pretense to apply rules consistently, then the order is a sham & will fall apart quickly.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gin & Tonic: It seems most of the larger ships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet have been sunk or badly damaged? The vast majority of the remaining 80% are likely much smaller vessels of negligible value.
I don’t think any foresaw these developments back in Feb. 2022.
Adam L Silverman
@AlaskaReader: You’re most welcome!
YY_Sima Qian
@HumboldtBlue: Supposedly the landing ship was full of Iranian Shahed drones, but the massive explosion suggests a much larger quantity of ordnance to my untrained eyes.
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic:
Huh, I may look into that and see what turns up.
@YY_Sima Qian:
Yeah, there was a lot more than drones on the ship, but that makes sense as it’s a support ship, so I imagine it will have a variety of ordnance on board and most likely petroleum products as well.
Gin & Tonic
Shifting gears, I know some of you have said you were interested in the more culture-related (as opposed to war-related) stuff I or dr. luba have posted these last two years. If you want more in that vein, I highly recommend the YT channel of Misha Katsurin. He’s a restaurateur from Kyiv, who runs several very good Asian-themed restaurants, but during the last year has been traveling around Ukraine (more western Ukraine, for reasons which should be obvious) and searching out mostly what I’ll call “village food.” His shows run about an hour, and I don’t think it’s an insult to either party to call them Bourdain-esque. From the little I’ve looked at the English subtitles, they’re serviceable.
Jay
nitter.net/Gerashchenko_en/status/1739763952916078696#m
Jay
nitter.net/NafoOnline/status/1739700390235345272#m
HinTN
@YY_Sima Qian: I completely agree with your assertion regarding “other EU states just catching the illiberal wave.” My intended point was that they have to deal with the fact of Orban and his successor ilk without casting Hungary out. Poland is encouraging but, also agreeing with you, probably only an indicator of local issues rather than broader trends.
Ukraine needs to win and they cannot without US support.
YY_Sima Qian
@HinTN: Ah, now I understand. Casting out Orban has to be done by the Hungarians themselves. However, Hungary happens to attract a lot of foreign investment that is looking for cheaper alternative locations than Western Europe, particularly in the automotive sector. BYD will be building a multi-billion UDS car plant & a similar sized investment in a battery plant in the country, & other Chinese EV makers are likely to follow suit. Same w/ Western MNCs. Not sure the economic conditions will be bad enough to make the population turn on the establishment, which Orban now is.
Kind of like how the IRA (& the CHIPS Act) is funneling investment disproportionately to Red states in the US, due to lower taxes and more lax labor laws there. Doesn’t bode well for overthrowing the illiberal democracies in these Red states.
bookworm1398
I doubt this will result in anything in the immediate future but thought it was cool:
Staunton, Dec. 22 – Last month, Ukraine opened the University of Free Nations, an online institution committed to training non-Russians within the current borders of the Russian Federation how to fight Muscovite imperialism and eventually organize their own states. The university has now graduated its first class and plans for two more in 2024.
Geminid
The Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish National Assembly approved Swedish Nato accession yesterday. The entire assembly still needs to debate and vote on the matter, and a date has not yet been set for that.
bjacques
@YY_Sima Qian: yes, from NL, it looks very much like the EU’s Eastern European members are its Red States, whose youth further weaken the liberal vote there by moving abroad. It’s been happening for years.
I wonder how much agency the average citizen of the global south really has, whatever their views on Ukraine or Gaza, given the high number run by dictators or dynasties or both. The loudest voices from that quarter come from people comfortably ensconced in western democracies (I know one such), or Russian bots pretending to be. If they have no love for the west, fair enough, but they should be obvious that Russia is still bad news for them, and even China doesn’t exactly have their best interests at heart. There was an organization of non-aligned countries once.
Chris
@YY_Sima Qian:
The sheer speed and exaggerated performativeness with which the U.S. rushed to embrace Israel (again) compared to Ukraine is, at the very least, pretty gross. It isn’t even just the global south where it has to be picking up notice. If Biden cheerfully uses his executive authority to send a bunch of munitions to Israel without needing any congressional approval, but apparently still can’t be bothered, even after two years, to use the same authority for Ukraine? It’s very difficult to see how Kiev takes that as anything other than a deliberate insult. Even if they have the good sense not to say it out loud.
It’s all the more true because Israel, unlike Ukraine, is not remotely threatened on anything like an existential level, and the only reason it was even under as much threat as it was on 10/6 was criminal negligence and deliberate policy choices to prioritize the security of colonists in the West Bank over the security of citizens at home in Israel.
Chris
@bjacques:
It’s worth noting that the global south’s governments, at any rate, voted by a very wide margin to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine right off the bat.
A centerpiece of Kremlin propaganda from the very start of this war was to frame the entire thing as a White People Problem and deluge the Internet with assurances that people in the global south don’t care and/or endorse Russia. And it simply isn’t true. Most people in the global south don’t think of Ukraine as a priority issue because they’ve got their own problems closer to home, but when asked to express an opinion anyway, the response is pretty unambiguous.