Key developments on the 1,041st day since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine include:
Here’s what happened on Tuesday, December 31st:
finding
A Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s western Smolensk region, which borders Ukraine, caused a fuel spill and a fire at an oil depot. The local governor said that Russian air defense systems suppressed an attack by “Ukrainian” drones in the Yartseve district. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that 68 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down overnight and 10 were destroyed over the Smolensk region. Russia and Ukraine exchanged more than 300 prisoners in an exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 150 Ukrainian prisoners had been exchanged, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that 189 Ukrainians had been returned home.
Politics:
US President Joe Biden announced his administration would provide about $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine in the latest step to support the war-torn country ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. . The U.S. also announced $3.4 billion in additional economic aid to support the Ukrainian government and help build infrastructure, and Biden said he had directed the government to provide “as much support as possible to Ukraine as soon as possible.” Ta. Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Shalah, and other officials met with his Syrian counterpart, Ukraine’s foreign minister, and expressed hopes of establishing a “strategic partnership” between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to promote “world peace” in his New Year’s message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “China and Russia will continue to work together along the right path of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-alignment. We have consistently moved forward hand in hand.” Not targeted at third parties. In a letter to celebrate the New Year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his greetings to his “beloved friend and comrade” President Putin, the Russian people, and members of the Russian military. Moldova’s separatist Transnistria region has cut gas supplies to state institutions ahead of the year-end expiry of Russia’s agreement to transport gas through Ukraine. This comes a day after Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would suspend gas exports to Moldova on January 1, citing unpaid debts.
