Friday, December 6

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Relatives and friends pay their respect next to the coffin containing the body of Yevhenii Matvieiev, mayor of the town of Dniprorudne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, during his funeral ceremony on Dec.5, 2024. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Dec. 5 that Matvieiev died while tortured in Russian captivity. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

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Netherlands announces $23 million for Ukraine’s air defense, cyber resilience. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp emphasized the need for NATO and its allies to address third countries aiding Russia’s war effort. “This demands a more robust and coordinated response from NATO and its Allies,” he wrote.

Ukrainian forces to receive 30,000 DeepStrike drones in 2025 as part of Zelensky’s resilience plan, minister says. The new generation of DeepStrike drones can “operate autonomously over long distances, hitting targets with high accuracy,” according to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Ukrainian forces regain control of Novyi Komar village in Donetsk Oblast. Novyi Komar, a village with a pre-war population of less than 500 people, is located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the Russian-occupied town of Vuhledar.

Ukrainian intelligence hackers disrupt Russia’s Gazprombank, source says. The cyberattack, described as a powerful distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) assault, disrupted Gazprombank’s online and mobile banking services.

EU prepared to step in if Trump withdraws from $50 billion Ukraine loan, official says. Polish Deputy Finance Minister Pawel Karbownik said on Dec. 4 that the European Union is prepared to compensate if the U.S. withdraws from a $50 billion multilateral loan agreement for Ukraine.

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Ukraine sees no signs Russia is ready for peace talks, Zelensky’s top aide says. “They only want to dictate and speak the language of ultimatums,” Andriy Yermak said in an interview for The Telegraph. He emphasized that no leader of the democratic world, including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, would allow such ultimatums.

‘Not a single day did this document work’ — Zelensky on 30th anniversary of Budapest Memorandum. Zelensky added that effective guarantees are currently needed for Ukraine’s security, namely “real alliances and a real security foundation within the country,” as well as “weapons that enable defense and deterrence of the enemy.”

‘There will be no Yalta-2 or Minsk-3,’ Ukrainian FM says at OSCE meeting. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Malta on Dec. 5, strongly opposed any agreements resembling past Yalta or Minsk deals that could legitimize Russian aggression.

Russia keeps North Korean soldiers away from direct combat, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center claims. North Korean soldiers have been stationed at observation posts and checkpoints in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as a “second echelon” not involved in direct combat, the Ukrainian military-run National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 4.

At least 6 Ukrainian mayors held captive by Russia, Zelensky says. Zelensky confirmed that Yevhenii Matvieiev, the mayor of occupied Dniprorudne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was tortured to death in Russian captivity.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian forces regain control of Novyi Komar village in Donetsk Oblast

Ukrainian troops have driven Russian units out of Novyi Komar village in Donetsk Oblast, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, told Suspilne media on Dec. 5.

Photo: Yevhenii Vasyliev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

On a forgotten part of the front line, Russian forces mass for assault on Dnipro islands

With attention focused on Moscow’s grinding advances in Donbas, and Ukraine’s efforts to hold onto Russian territory in Kursk Oblast, one area of the front lines continues to see daily battles but little coverage.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

30 years ago today, Ukraine traded nuclear arms for security assurances, a decision that still haunts Kyiv today

On Dec. 5, 1994, Ukraine had signed a set of political agreements that would guarantee the country’s sovereignty and independence in return for accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Photo: Diana Walker/Getty Images

Belarusian soldiers fighting for Ukraine say time is running out for their brother-in-arms extradited to Belarus

Belarusian-born Vasil Verameichyk enlisted in Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help fight off Russia. Now, he’s on trial in Belarus, where death penalty is legal and fair courts are not.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

Human cost of war

48,000 Russian soldiers may be MIA in Ukraine, Putin’s relative reveals. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilyova let slip on Nov. 26 that the ministry had received 48,000 applications for DNA tests from relatives seeking information about soldiers missing in action during the war against Ukraine.

Russia’s losses may begin to outpace enlistment rates, media’s analysis says. Basing the conclusions on expenditures on sign-on bonuses and earlier research, Meduza estimates that the Russian military signed between 500-600 new contracts per day. This would be less or barely enough to cover Russia’s irreversible battlefield losses, estimated by Meduza at 600-750 per day.

Coffin prices in Russia have soared by 74% since start of full-scale invasion, media reports. The price of coffins in Russia has soared by 74% since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported on Dec. 5, citing Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service (RosStat).

Opinions and insights

Ukrainian publishing house Osnovy wants to ‘fill gap caused by 70 years of Soviet rule’

Osnovy is nearly as old as independent Ukraine. Founded in 1992 by Canadian citizen Bohdan Kravchenko and Ukrainian citizen Solomiya Pavlychko, it was the first publishing house in the country to translate world classics into Ukrainian and has since published over 400 titles.

Photo: Andriy Vyshnevsky / Osnovy

Carol of the Bells — the classic, and Ukrainian, Christmas song

Concertgoers filled Carnegie Hall on a rainy Thursday in October 1922 for a 35-piece performance by the Ukrainian National Choir. It was the first stop on an American tour to promote Ukrainian culture after the fall of the short-lived independent Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1921 to the Bolsheviks.

Photo: Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

International response

‘A more dangerous Russia’ — UK armed forces chief issues stark ‘third nuclear age’ warning. The world faces the dawn of a “third nuclear age,” the head of the U.K.’s armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said on Dec. 4.

Romania targeted by ‘aggressive Russian hybrid attacks,’ authorities say amid elections. Romanian authorities on Dec. 4 declassified evidence of what they described as a “highly organized” social media campaign backed by a “state actor” to boost pro-Russian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu in a recent vote.

Ukraine sanctions Georgian oligarch Ivanishvili, PM, other officials amid pro-EU protests. The sanctions target oligarch and de facto leader of Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili and 18 other individuals.

Russia increasing presence, provocations in Baltic Sea, German minister says. The comments came shortly after a Russian warship fired a warning shot at a German military helicopter patrolling the Baltic Sea.

Discussions about German peacekeepers in Ukraine ‘irresponsible,’ opposition leader says. Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz said on Dec. 4 that any speculations about deploying German troops to ensure a ceasefire are irresponsible at this time.

In other news

Oreshnik strike planned before long-range strikes permission, Gerasimov reportedly told US military chief. Russian General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, held a rare phone call with U.S. General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Nov. 27, The New York Times reported on Dec. 4, citing official sources.

Russia illegally drafted 5,500 residents of occupied Crimea in 2024, Kyiv says. Nearly 5,500 residents of Russian-occupied Crimea were mobilized into the Russian army in 2024, according to the report of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, published on Dec. 4.

Owners, top managers of popular online casino in Ukraine suspected of collaborating with Russia. The beneficial owners and top managers of one of the most popular online casinos in Ukraine, Pin-Up, are suspected of collaborating with Russia, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Dec. 5.

Trial begins in Finland for Russian neo-Nazi fighter accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine. A Finnish court began trial on Dec. 5 for Yan Petrovsky, a Russian neo-Nazi mercenary, for war crimes he allegedly committed while leading a Russian neo-Nazi unit in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2015.

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