Thursday, December 7

Our next community event will be a Q&A with our War Crimes Investigations Unit about their recent documentary: an investigation into the Olenivka POW camp where Ukrainian prisoners were subjected to torture and abuse.

Editor-in-Chief Olga Rudenko will speak with War Crimes Investigations Unit Head Yevheniia Motorevska, author of the documentary, and Danylo Mokryk, the unit’s reporter.

You can watch the documentary “Faces of Torture” here.

The event is scheduled for Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. Kyiv time (1 p.m. EST). Register for the event and submit your questions here.

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The Ukrainian trident is installed on top of a Christmas tree in Kyiv on Dec. 6, 2023. Since Ukraine has broken away from the Eastern Orthodox calendar used by many post-Soviety countries, this year Christmas trees in Ukrainian cities were installed at the beginning of December. The official lighting of the country’s main Christmas tree took place on St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6. (Oleg Pereverzev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Source: SBU assassinates Russian-linked former MP Kyva in Moscow. A pro-Russian former lawmaker, Illia Kyva, was found dead in Moscow on Dec. 6. According to the Kyiv Independent’s source in law enforcement, Kyva’s death was a special operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Media: SBU behind assassination of collaborator in occupied Luhansk. Oleg Popov was killed in a car bombing near Avanhard Stadium in central Luhansk on Dec. 6. He served as a deputy in Moscow’s proxy government in occupied Luhansk Oblast.

Prosecutors: Russian soldier who shot at civilians sentenced to 15 years in absentia. According to the prosecutors, the soldier, a senior lieutenant and Moscow resident, was part of a group of Russian soldiers who fired upon a civilian car.

Luhansk man sentenced to 12 years over fighting for Russian proxy forces. A man from Luhansk was sentenced to 12 years in prison for voluntarily fighting in the ranks of Russian proxy forces in Luhansk Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Dec. 6.

Slovak truckers threaten to completely block crossing on Ukrainian border. The Slovak truckers union UNAS said on Dec. 5 that it would begin a total blockade of the Uzhhorod-Vysne Nemecke border crossing between Slovakia and Ukraine if its demands regarding the EU’s liberalization of the permit system for Ukrainian truckers are not addressed.

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Ukrenergo: Power plant still operating despite 3 Russian strikes. Russian forces launched three overnight strikes against a thermal power plant in one of Ukraine’s eastern oblasts but failed to halt its operations, Ukraine’s state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo reported on Dec. 6.

Putin arrives in UAE in first leg of Middle East trip. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for the first part of a one-day Middle East trip that also includes a visit to Saudi Arabia, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported on Dec. 6.

Poll: Russians most interested in asking Putin when war will end. If given the chance to ask President Vladimir Putin any question, 21% of Russians would ask him when the invasion of Ukraine will end, according to a poll published by the Levada Center, a Moscow-based independent polling organization, on Dec. 5.

Zelensky signs law resuming tax audits for businesses. President Volodymyr Zelenksy signed a law that resumes tax inspections for businesses, the online portal of the Ukrainian parliament announced on Dec. 6.

Zelensky signs law to raise tax rate for banks to 50%. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 6 signed into law a bill that increases the profit tax for banks from 18% to 50% in 2023 and sets the rate at 25% starting from 2024. Funds from the increased tax rate will be directed towards Ukraine’s military expenses.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russian-linked ex-lawmaker Kyva assassinated outside Moscow

Illia Kyva, a pro-Russian former lawmaker, was found dead in Moscow Oblast on Dec. 6. According to the Kyiv Independent’s source in law enforcement, Kyva’s death was a special operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Photo: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Opinions and insights

Tsilyk: Facing Ukraine’s south

“I held onto preconceived notions not only about foreigners but my fellow Ukrainian citizens. As a filmmaker and writer, I recognize the significance of the optics we rely on to perceive certain things. That’s why, since the early years of the war, I’ve extensively traveled to witness everything I can firsthand,” filmmaker and author Iryna Tsilyk writes.

Photo: Courtesy Meridian Czernowitz

Kirichenko: NAFO is waging Ukraine’s meme war

“Their approach is unconventional: They use humor, often through memes, to counter misinformation and raise awareness about the conflict. With no leadership or structure, NAFO’s decentralized nature makes it a resilient force against propaganda efforts,” freelance journalist David Kirichenko writes.

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks kill 4, injure 15. Russian attacks killed four civilians and injured at least 15, regional authorities said on Dec. 6.

4th victim of Russian missile strike on Novohrodivka identified. The 35-year-old man, whose remains were found earlier in the rubble of a damaged building, was the father of the eight-year-old girl found dead on Dec. 4.

General Staff: Russia has lost 335,110 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. This number includes 1,270 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

International response

Senate GOP blocks Ukraine funding bill from advancing. Sixty votes were needed to take up and advance the bill on Dec. 6, but the Senate voted against it in a 49-51 vote, with all Republicans opposing the legislation.

Blinken announces ‘one of last’ defense aid packages ‘unless Congress passes’ further funding. The U.S. announced on Dec. 6 a $175 million defense aid package for Ukraine from previously directed drawdowns, in what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said would be one of the last military aid packages to Ukraine if Congress fails to pass additional funding.

US charges 4 Russian soldiers with war crimes against American in Ukraine. The U.S. Justice Department charged four Russian soldiers with unlawful detainment and torture of a U.S. citizen residing in Ukraine in a historic case, the Justice Department announced on Dec. 6.

Reuters: EU orders only 60,000 rounds for Ukraine under joint-procurement scheme. EU members have so far placed orders for only 60,000 artillery shells under a joint procurement scheme, which is a key component of the plan to supply Ukraine with 1 million shells by spring, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing undisclosed sources.

Canada announces ban on direct import of Russian diamonds. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on Dec. 6 a ban on the direct import of Russian diamonds and related products in coordination with other Group of Seven (G7) countries.

UK announces $46 million humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. Cameron previously announced 29 million pounds in humanitarian aid in the leadup to his first trip to Washington as foreign secretary on Dec. 6.

Netherlands allocates 2.5 billion euros for Ukraine in 2024. The Dutch government has earmarked 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in funding for Ukraine for next year, Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said on Dec. 5 during a visit to Kyiv, where she met with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

Pistorius: Arms industry increasing capacity, Germany delivers ‘what it can.’ German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius rejected the notion that Ukraine receives “too little to win and too much to lose” regarding military aid from its partners during an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF on Dec. 5.

UK announces new sanctions against suppliers that support Russia’s war effort. The new sanctions target Russia’s military-industrial complex and its foreign suppliers, entities and individuals associated with the Wagner Group, and four United Arab Emirates-based companies that help Russia evade sanctions on the trade of oil above the $60 per barrel price cap.

Dutch FM: Ukraine ‘will be finished’ if it cannot fight Russia. Ukraine has no choice but to keep fighting the Russian invasion, since an end to their fight would mean the end of their country, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot told Dutch radio station BNR on Dec. 5.

US company offers to help Ukraine build shelters using 3D printers. A Ukrainian delegation in the U.S. signed a memorandum with the company Diamond Age on cooperation in building shelters using 3D printers, the Strategic Industries Ministry announced on Dec. 6.

Reuters: Nepal uncovers smuggling ring for Russian army recruitment. The Nepali police have detained 10 people suspected of charging local youths exorbitant rates for travel visas to Russia, and then sending them join the Russian military, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing a Nepali official.

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