Wednesday, January 10

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian forces successfully down a Shahed-type drone over the skies of Sumy Oblast on Jan. 9, 2024. (Sumy Oblast Military Administration/Telegram)

Kuleba: Frozen Russian assets can cover 80% of Ukraine’s reconstruction needs. Around $300 billion of the Russian central bank assets were frozen in the West after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Bloomberg: Secret peace talks involving Ukraine, G7, neutral countries failed to produce results. The talks failed to produce meaningful results, but are representative of the efforts by Ukraine and its allies to draw countries outside of the West into backing Ukraine’s peace formula.

Parliament registers 5 versions of mobilization bill. As of the morning of Jan. 9, Ukraine’s parliament had received five different versions of the new bill on mobilization, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.

UN: 40% of Ukraine’s population will need humanitarian aid in 2024. More than 14.6 million people, or 40% of the population in Ukraine, will need humanitarian assistance this year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Jan. 9.

Official: Death toll of Russia’s Dec. 29 attack on Kyiv rises to 33. According to the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, the body of the 33rd victim was discovered under the rubble of a warehouse in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, one of the multiple buildings damaged in the attack on the capital.

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Italian city revokes permission for Russian propaganda event on ‘rebirth’ of Mariupol. The municipality of Modena revoked the permission for an event on the “rebirth” of Mariupol after Russia’s brutal siege, which was to be held in a civic hall on Jan. 20, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko reported on Jan. 9.

Belgian PM: EU to scale up its support to Ukraine. The European Union “will further scale up its support to Ukraine,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said on X on Jan. 9, after Belgium started its term leading the European Council.

Minister: Over 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide released into air due to Russia’s recent attacks against Ukraine. Over 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted into the air as a result of Russia’s mass missile attacks against Ukraine on Dec. 29 and Jan. 2, according to Environmental Protection Minister Ruslan Strilets.

Politico: Hungary may unblock EU aid for Ukraine if approved annually. Hungary signaled that it might lift its veto of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in EU funding for Ukraine if the aid is reviewed each year, Politico reported on Jan. 9, citing three EU diplomats.

Media: Zelensky expected to visit Switzerland next week. President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel mainly to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF), scheduled for Jan. 15-19, but also to visit Bern to meet some or all members of the Swiss government, Tages-Anzeiger said.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Defense minister, top commanders visit eastern front; drone reportedly hits oil depot in Russia

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and Chief of the General Staff Serhii Shaptala visited Ukrainian army positions near Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, the Defense Ministry reported on Jan. 9.

Photo: Eugen Kotenko/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Death toll of Jan. 8 attack on Khmelnytskyi Oblast rises to 3. The death toll of a Russian missile attack against Khmelnytskyi Oblast on Jan. 8 has risen to three as another body was found in the rubble, Khmelnytskyi Mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said on Jan. 9.

Russian attacks over past day injure 2 in Kharkiv Oblast. Russian forces struck multiple settlements in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast over the past 24 hours, injuring two civilians, the regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Jan. 9.

Russian official claims attack on Kursk Oblast kills woman. A woman was killed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as a result of an attack “from the Ukrainian side,” Roman Starovoit, the region’s governor, claimed on Jan. 9. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the purported strike.

General Staff: Russia has lost 365,990 troops in Ukraine. Russia has lost 365,990 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Jan. 9. This number includes 820 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Inside occupied Ukraine’s most effective resistance movements.

Acts of resistance come in many shapes and sizes. From a colored ribbon tied to a tree or a flag raised over a remote mountain face, to a quick tip-off on an encrypted app that sets off a chain of events culminating in the destruction of a warship, everything counts.

Photo: Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

International response

US, allies condemn North Korea’s alleged ballistic missile transfers to Russia. Nearly 50 countries joined the United States in condemning North Korea’s alleged transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia, calling for an immediate end to the delivery of weapons, the U.S. State Department wrote in joint statement on Jan 9.

US citizen arrested in Russia on drug trafficking charges. Court documents said Robert Woodland Romanov has dual U.S.-Russian citizenship. The charges he faces can carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Putin grants citizenship to Bosnian Serb accused of war crimes. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting citizenship to a former Bosnian Serb soldier accused of committing war crimes and other foreign nationals, the Russian government announced on Jan. 9.

Russian media: Russia may not open voting stations in some ‘unfriendly countries.’ There are 49 countries listed as being “unfriendly,” and although the closures will not apply to all of them, the source said it could be a significant portion.

Belarusian detained in Poland charged with espionage. Over several months, the woman allegedly passed information to Belarus’ secret police (KGB) on the Belarusian diaspora in Poland.

In other news

Freight train derailed in Russia’s far east. No casualties or environmental damage were reported. The causes of the incident are being determined.

Drones reportedly hit oil depot, energy provider in Russia’s Oryol region. Several drones struck “facilities of a fuel and energy complex” in Russia’s Oryol region on the afternoon of Jan. 9, the regional governor, Andrey Klychkov, claimed on Telegram.

Law enforcement uncovers draft evasion scheme at Odesa Oblast court. A judge in Odesa Oblast has been detained on suspicion of taking bribes from men who wanted to avoid mobilization, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Jan. 9.

Media: Ukrainian hackers hit Russian internet provider, claim they are preparing ‘revenge for Kyivstar’. The Ukrainian Blackjack hacker group, possibly linked to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), carried out a cyber attack against the Moscow Internet provider M9 Telecom, Ukrinform reported on Jan. 9, citing an undisclosed source in law enforcement

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Francis Farrell, Dinara Khalilova, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Nate Ostiller, Dmytro Basmat, and Rachel Amran.

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