Here are some key developments on the 1,037th day since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here’s what happened on Friday, December 27th:
Finding:
According to Yonhap News on Friday, South Korean intelligence announced that a wounded North Korean soldier sent on behalf of Russia was captured alive by Ukrainian forces. A Russian drone struck a high-rise apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Thursday, killing two people, regional officials said. Other attacks on Thursday hit markets in the industrial area of the southeastern city of Zaporizhia and the town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The attack on eastern Ukraine followed a Russian attack on the country’s energy systems on Christmas Day. Russian troops have captured the village of Hyhant in eastern Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Defense Ministry. The Ukrainian military has claimed that in recent days its air force has attacked military-industrial facilities in the Russian town of Kamensk Shakhtinsky in the Rostov region. Ukraine’s military announced Thursday that the facility was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Ukraine’s military announced Thursday that it had shot down 20 of the 31 drones launched by Russia during the night.
Politics and diplomacy:
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next year, Russia’s state-run RIA news agency reported on Friday, as Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov said. He cited North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) purported plans to “transfer military infrastructure” to the Asia-Pacific region and said Russia and China would need to jointly respond to U.S. policy. said. China proposed a peace plan with Brazil to end the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries will continue to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, including the mutual defense pact they signed in June, North Korea’s Central Korean Agency said. The news agency reported on Friday. President Putin said Thursday he was open to Slovakia’s offer to host peace talks with Ukraine. “As far as that goes, we don’t object. Why not? Because Slovakia has a neutral position,” Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico said after visiting the Kremlin this week. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to visit Moscow on January 17 to sign a cooperation agreement with President Putin, according to Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, quoted by Russian state news agency RIA on Thursday. I told him. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that Russia is ready to work with the incoming US administration of President Donald Trump to improve relations. But he said the United States would have to take the first action because it had “suspended” the dialogue after “the launch of a special military operation.” President Trump, who will take office on January 20, has promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
Regional security:
An investigation is underway into the Azerbaijani plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau that killed 38 people. Unnamed Azerbaijani and US officials were reported to have said they believed a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the fatal accident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against “hypothesis.” Moldova’s parliament on Thursday approved a 10-year defense strategy that calls for increased defense spending as part of the country’s plans to join the European Union. Given the relatively small size of the Moldovan Armed Forces, the move was ridiculed by pro-Russian opponents in parliament. Pro-Western President Maia Sandu accused Russia of trying to oust his government. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new gas transport deal for Ukraine, blaming Ukraine for refusing to extend a deal to transport gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. criticized as The current five-year gas transportation agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the year.
