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Here are the key developments on the 1,027th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, December 17:
Fighting
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X that “initial reports suggest that Russia is trying to conceal the losses of North Korean personnel,” after Ukraine’s military intelligence said on Monday its troops had killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers.
- Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told reporters that a United States assessment found “North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk” and the US has “indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded”.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about North Korean casualties to the Russian Ministry of Defence, which did not immediately comment, the Associated Press news agency reported.
- Russian Minister of Defence Andrei Belousov claimed that Russia’s forces had seized a total of almost 4,500 square kilometres (1,737sq miles) of Ukrainian territory this year and were now capturing about 30 square kilometres (11.5sq miles) of territory each day.
Humanitarian situation
- The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, reports that nearly 12,000 residents who remain in the Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk, Kurakhove and Chasiv Yar – located just a few kilometres away from the front line – are facing drinking water and gas shortages in freezing winter conditions after local utility operators suspended services.
Politics and diplomacy
- Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told the UN Security Council that a plan to audit US funding for Kyiv by US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, “spells trouble for the Ukrainian leadership”.
- The European Union Foreign Affairs Council adopted its 15th sanctions package against Russia, with the new round of sanctions targeting North Korean officials and, for the first time, Chinese firms making drones for Moscow.
- The EU sanctions also targeted 52 ships that are part of a vast “shadow fleet” Moscow is reportedly using to transport oil, gas and stolen Ukrainian grain.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Zelenskyy’s office, said that sanctions against Russia’s oil fleet were “useful” but “too late”, with two Russian oil tankers spilling thousands of tonnes of fuel oil into the Azov and Black Seas after they were damaged in rough seas.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a post on Telegram that Ukraine’s agreement to allow Russian gas to transit through his country to European customers “will not be extended” when it comes to an end on January 1, 2025.
- A former FBI informant pleaded guilty to lying about a supposed bribery scheme involving US President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
