Ukraine Daily
Friday, December 23
Russia’s war against Ukraine
A local resident cooks in a basement where families are living in order to seek more protection due the intense shelling by Russian forces in the city of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)
AP: At least 10,300 new graves dug in occupied Mariupol since March. The total area occupied by the new graves is more than 51,500 square meters, according to AP estimates. The video footage reviewed showed that Russian occupying authorities used heavy machinery to dig long trenches which were filled with bodies before being backfilled.
Reuters: Wagner Group allegedly purchased North Korean weapons for war against Ukraine. The U.S. intelligence assessment, which will be released publicly on Dec. 22, is that the arms delivered by North Korea will not significantly alter the dymanics of the war. The unnamed official nonetheless expressed concern that North Korea may be planning to provide more military equipment to Wagner in the future.
UK Defense Ministry: Belarusian instructors likely training Russian conscripts due to ‘overstretch’ of Russian military system. Belarus’ military has likely taken on a “significant, but more discreet” role in training Russian conscripts, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Dec. 22.
ISW: Putin tries to absolve himself of responsibility for conducting protracted war in Ukraine. During a press conference on Dec. 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia seeks to end the war as soon as possible while simultaneously noting that Russia will not increase the pace of what it calls a ”special military operation” because it would lead to ”unjustified losses.” The Institute for the Study of war said in their latest report that both statements are a part of the Kremlin’s consolidated effort to justify Putin’s costly war effort to Russian domestic audiences.
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Russian media: Russian aircraft carrier catches fire in Murmansk. Russian aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” caught fire on Dec. 22 while docked at the Russian city of Murmansk, Russian state-controlled media RIA Novosti said.
Reznikov thanks US for new aid package, elaborates on contents. The package will include a Patriot air-defense system and munitions, additional HIMARS ammunition, artillery rounds, mortar rounds and systems, MRAP vehicles, armored utility trucks, HARMs, munitions, night vision devices and optics, communication systems, grenade launchers and small arms, and “funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment,“ said Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
Official: Russia demolishes half of Mariupol theatre. An adviser to Mariupol Mayor Petro Andriushchenko reported on Telegram that Russians are relentlessly tearing down bombed-out buildings: “While Mariupol in exile thinks about cultural de-occupation, the occupants in Mariupol demolished half of the Drama Theatre. So in two days, there will not even be a physical memory of it.” Drama Theatre became the city’s main bomb shelter until twin Russian airstrikes hit it on March 16.
Read our exclusives
Where are they now? Revisiting stories we told in 2022.
The lives of millions of Ukrainians turned upside down in 2022, as Russia waged a brutal all-out war against their home. As 2022 comes to an end, the Kyiv Independent revisits the stories of seven people that we interviewed during the war to see how their lives had changed since then.
Photo: Courtesy
Ukraine war latest: New graves in Mariupol; Zelensky meets Duda; US to transfer Russian oligarch assets to Ukraine.
An analysis conducted by the Associated Press has revealed evidence of approximately 10,300 new graves being dug in Russian-occupied Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast since March, when fighting in the port city escalated.
Photo: Maxar Technologies
Ex-Roscosmos head Rogozin, Donetsk proxy leader injured in possible targeted strike.
Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and ex-сhair of space agency Roscosmos Dmitrii Rogozin was wounded along with top proxy official Vitalii Khotsenko in an attack on a restaurant outside occupied Donetsk on the evening of Dec. 21.
Photo: Mikhail Klimentiev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
The human cost of Russia’s war
Russia attacks across 8 Ukrainian oblasts kill 1 person, injure 15 over past day. Russian attacks on Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts killed one person and wounded 15 over the past day.
1 killed, 2 wounded in Russian strike on Donetsk Oblast. The attack killed one person, injured two more and damaged residential buildings, according to Tymoshenko. On Thursday morning, local authorities said that Russian attacks across eight Ukrainian oblasts killed one person and wounded a total of 15 over the past 24 hours.
Interior Ministry: New mass burial site found in Kherson. Thirty-six more graves of people killed during Russian occupation have been discovered at a cemetery in Kherson, Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said on Dec. 22. The site also includes the buried bodies of Ukrainian servicemen, according to Yenin.
General Staff: Russia has lost 100,400 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Dec. 22 that Russia had also lost 3,003 tanks, 5,981 armored fighting vehicles, 4,615 vehicles and fuel tanks,1,978 artillery systems, 413 multiple launch rocket systems, 212 air defense systems, 283 airplanes, 267 helicopters, 1,693 drones, and 16 boats.
International response
US Senate approves more than $40 billion in aid for Ukraine. The U.S. Senate on Dec. 22 approved a $1.7 trillion spending bill for 2023, including more than $40 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Politico: Pentagon considers training Ukrainian soldiers on Patriot in US. The Pentagon is considering training Ukrainian soldiers to operate the Patriot surface-to-air missile system at a military base in the United States, two Defense Department officials told Politico. The news comes a day after the Biden administration announced that it would provide one Patriot battery to Ukraine to help defend against Russian attacks.
US imposes sanctions on Russian naval entities in response to aggression against Ukrainian ports. “We are determined to impose additional severe consequences on President (Vladimir) Putin and his allies for Russia’s reprehensible conflict with Ukraine,” the statement reads. “In response to Russian naval attacks on Ukrainian ports, including those that provide essential food and grain to the global community, the United States is imposing sanctions on Russian naval entities.”
US Senate approves amendment to transfer seized assets of Russian oligarchs to Ukraine. “This amendment would allow the Department of Justice through the Secretary of State to transfer proceeds from seized oligarchs’ assets or other sanctioned entities to the people of Ukraine,” U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said. “It will be a godsend to the long-suffering people of Ukraine. It will be a relief to the American taxpayer… It will be a bad day for oligarchs.”
Denmark to provide Ukraine with $42 million in military assistance. “Ukraine’s fight for freedom is also our and Europe’s fight for freedom…The government will continue to support Ukrainians in the financial, military, and humanitarian spheres,” said Danish defense minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen.
European Commission President: EU to send 900 generators to Ukraine. Ukraine will receive 900 generators for powering critical infrastructure as well as “millions” of energy-saving bulbs from the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
G7 nations commit $32 billion in financial support for Ukraine. In a statement, published by the German government, revealed that the G7 has mobilized up to $32 billion for helping Ukraine in 2023 and will continue to make further progress in assisting.
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