The past week has seen a wave of apathy towards Ukraine as war fatigue has set in. The US has not approved the proposed bill that would give $61 billion in aid, Hungary is still opposing EU ascension for Ukraine but hasn’t said why, and Putin is running for president again, allegedly because the military want him to!
Ukraine is running out of weapons and soldiers, and with the supplies from the allies running low, and Ukrainian men wither reluctant to fight or who are untrained, it’s hard to have confidence in Ukraine right now. This is when the allies should step up, but many politicians face elections and their priorities are their own jobs first and that means appeasing the electorate.
Zelenskyy has been out canvassing the allies again. In the US, the welcome was lukewarm, but in Scandinavia, the countries have all pledged further aid. However, it won’t be enough against the Russians who seem to have the support of North Korea and China.
The EU ascension talks begin soon, and Ukraine is focusing on this and NATO membership because they know that they need security guarantees as they cannot keep the Russians at bay. The new Polish president, Donald Tusk has said that the west needs to be mobilised against Russia. I doubt Putin will take kindly to that statement but could use it to justify further attacks. While I agree that NATO troops need to be in Ukraine in order for Ukraine to defeat Russia (unless Ukraine suddenly finds ten thousand trained Ukrainian men to fight and has the full use of NATO weapons in one go), the issue is how will NATO justify this while they are afraid of escalating tensions with Russia?
Many talk of defending liberty and freedom, but are the world leaders too blind to see that it is slowly being eroded through fear and inaction? I was reading a church magazine where even one retired priest criticised the UN for being an organisation that fails to deliver as they wrote about the frustrations of the wars going on in the world. Prayers are one thing, but we all know that it also needs proactive action to resolve these issues, and while NATO and the UN don’t want to see anyone ‘hurt’, there will always be a loser and there will always be casualties of war and they need to accept that.
Day 652 (7 Dec)
Russia uses Cameo videos of actors being tricked into making statements that appear to support Russia for propaganda purposes.
Japan will allocate $4.5 billion towards Ukrainian reconstruction.
Ilya Kyva, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament, who defected to Russia, was reported to have been assassinated by the SBU. He had been supporting the occupiers and was found hiding in Russia in Suponevo near Moscow.
Reports claimed that the EU members have only placed orders for 60,000 or to the rear shells under the joint procurement scheme, which are short of the million shells that the EU announced it would produce and supply to Ukraine. This kind of news is unhelpful as it shows Ukraine lacks ammunition, and there is not enough is being produced to match the Russian stockpile of weapons and ammunition.
The US has filed criminal charges against 4 Russian military personnel for torture of a US citizen. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-russia-affiliated-military-personnel-charged-war-crimes-connection-russias-invasion
War crimes charges against four Russia-affiliated military personnel were unsealed today in the Eastern District of Virginia. The charges include torture, inhuman treatment, and unlawful confinement of a U.S. national in Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Day 653 (8 Dec)
Putin announces he is running for president again for the fifth time, which comes as no surprise. The propaganda around the announcement is that he is running at the request of the military!
Reports claim that voting for the Russian elections will extend to the temporarily occupied regions in Ukraine, with voting scheduled to be held 15-17 March 2024.
The International Olympic Committee has decided that Russians and Belarusians many compete in the Olympic Games in 2024 as individuals and not under a neutral flag. Ukraine has criticised this move calling it a mistake. Athletes will not be permitted to have a team or to display any state symbols.
Day 654 (9 Dec)
Support for Ukraine is waning due to financial constraints and political movements (domestic elections) in the allied countries. Olena Zelenska has said that,’ if the world gets tired, then they will simply let us die’. Ukraine is dependent on the allied supporters for weapons and funding to keep the country running and to rebuild Ukraine. I can see the issues as to why support has waned, with so much corruption being highlighted and this is recent corruption during the war, people are wondering why are they helping a corrupt country? Also, there is too much emphasis on rebuilding Ukraine and gaining new business contracts when Russia could win. The focus should be on winning and not to take that for granted because the criticisms are that Zelenskyy is too busy making business deals rather than encouraging citizens to defend and fight for Ukraine when thousands of men fled Ukraine or were able to dodge mobilisation. Mobilisation failed, and the Ukrainian army was not prepared and still is rudimentary which is why the allied countries have been training Ukrainian soldiers.
Germany has supplied another military aid package to Ukraine, which includes a modern unmanned aerial reconnaissance system, the LUNA NG.
Ukraine has passed stricter anti-corruption laws and increased the powers of the agencies that regulate the rights of national minorities. These were essential conditions set by the European Commission in order for Ukraine to become a member of the EU.
Day 655 (10 Dec)
Zelenskyy attends the inauguration of the new Argentinian president Javier Milei, and is seen having a brief discussion with Orban of Hungary. In addition, Zelenskyy requested a meeting with Lula, the President of Brazil (a Putin supporter), who refused to meet Zelenskyy.
Day 656 (11 Dec)
An international coalition has been established to handle the issue of Ukrainian children being abducted and sent to Russia. The aim is to enable the return of the children back to Ukraine and their families.
Norway and the UK will form a naval Maritime Military Coalition to aid Ukraine in the Black Sea. They will also help shape a Ukrainian Marine Corps that will enable Ukraine to defend itself after the war, and let us hope that Ukraine does win.
Day 657 (12 Dec)
Satellite footage shows that Russia is preparing to build a naval base in occupied Abkhazia, at the Ochamchire port, which is still recognised as Georgia although it has been under control by Russians and separatists. The de facto leader Bzhania had signed an agreement with the Kremlin for the building of the port, which could drag Georgia into the war.
Donald Tusk, the new polish Prime Minister has said that he would push for a full mobilisation of the western free world to help Ukraine win the war against Russia.
Zelenskyy visits the US to meet with members of Congress and Biden to gain support for Ukraine. The $61 billion bill has been opposed by the Republicans who believe that funds are better spent on protecting the US border with Mexico. The visit is low key in contrast to the visit last year, and the bill does not go through but $200 million in aid is given from pre-approved aid form a drawdown the White House is permitted to use in crisis situations that did not need the backing of Congress. Meetings were held behind closed doors and the news that Ukraine wanted to hear did not appear.
Zelensky also met with defence industry leaders in the US, looking to establish a European defence hub in Ukraine for military production, as well as investment from American companies.
Day 658 (13 Dec)
Overnight, Kyiv was hit by a number of drones and missiles leaving 53 injured. Each day, the same story of drones hitting residential homes and people getting injured, and the outside world are seeing it as just another day in Ukraine.
A Nordic-Ukraine summit was held in Oslo, where the governments of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, attended. Norway will provide $273.4 million worth of aid to Ukraine after the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store met with Zelenskyy. In addition, Norway will provide additional defence equipment worth $30 million that will be shipped from their warehouses and directly from the manufacturers.
Denmark will also provide a military assistance package worth about €1 billion after Zelenskyy met with Mette Fredricksen, the Danish Prime Minister.
Sweden will also provides Ukraine with a package worth €120 million to help with the humanitarian needs of Ukraine during winter.
Kyivstar, a Ukrainian mobile operator was hacked by Solntsepek, a Russian hacking group. It was reported it was attacked because the network was used by government, law and military agencies to communicate.
Ukraine has claimed it has hacked into the Russian tax system, extracting sensitive date before destroying the database.
Day 659 (14 Dec)
EU leaders will gather in Brussels to discuss the potential ascension plan for Ukraine, This is being stalled by Orban of Hungary who won’t state why he objects after the Hungarians in Ukraine have supported Zelesnskyy, and have written to Orban to stop halting the ascension process. Previously, his only ammunition was claiming the Hungarian minority in Ukraine needed further rights, but the Hungarians in Ukraine are content with the situation and back Ukraine.