Ukraine-Russia latest: Moscow cargo ship with Syria ties sinks as North Korean troop casualties ‘exceed 3,000’
Zelensky warns of greater military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including sending more troops and military equipment
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Your support makes all the difference.A Russian cargo ship that Kyiv says was intended to collect weapons from military bases in Syria has sunk on route in the Mediterranean Sea.
Officials in Moscow said two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria. Fourteen other crew were rescued and taken to Spain.
The vessel left the Russian port city of St Petersburg on 11 December, according to ship tracking data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). It was last seen sending a signal at 10.04pm GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.
Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed on Monday that the ship had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military materiel after the fall of Moscow-backed Bashar Al-Assad.
It comes as the North Korean troops killed and injured while fighting alongside Russian forces have surpassed 3,000, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he warned about greater military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
“There are risks of North Korea sending additional soldiers and military equipment to the Russian army, and we will have tangible responses to this,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement on Telegram yesterday.
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“Fighting for money”: What did Zelensky say about Slovakia PM Robert Fico?
Ukraine’s president Zelensky has expressed his dismay at the meeting between Slovakian PM Robert Fico and Putin over gas exports.
Taking to Twitter / X, he wrote: “There have been many questions from journalists today about Fico’s trip to Moscow. In fact, after our conversation in Brussels in the presence of all European leaders, nothing surprises anymore.
“We are fighting for our lives, Fico is fighting for money, and it’s unlikely that money is for Slovakia. Shadow agreements with Putin are either a trade of state interests or working for personal gain.
“We offered him solutions regarding potential compensation for Slovaks – the Slovaks specifically – for losses from Russian transit, as well as alternatives for transit – any other gas, not Russian, at the request of the European Commission. We were ready to do this. Fico did not want compensation for the Slovaks. And he does not want to cooperate with the European Commission. For some reason, he finds Moscow more profitable.
“Everyone in Europe understands why. There’s no one who doesn’t.”
Russian gas flows faster in face of Ukraine criticism
Russia’s Gazprom said that it would send 42.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, up from 42.1 mcm on Monday.
The slight uptick in distribution comes after Zelensky said he would not allow contracts for gas exports which flow from Russia to Europe through Ukraine to be renewed.
In reaction to the announcement, Slovakia PM Robert Fico met with Putin on Monday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Gazprom’s exports to Europe and beyond decreased sharply following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, dropping by 90 billion cubic metres (bcm) in a single year to 63.8 billion over the year.
This dropped again in 2023 to 28.3 bcm, and is estimated to reach 32 bcm overall for 2024.
However, these figures are all staggeringly low compared to Gazprom’s pre-war exports, with the 2018/19 peak of 180 bmc remaining far out of reach.
Ukraine launches first robot-only assault on Russia
Ukraine has successfully mounted its first robot-only assault against Russia, its the military says, as unmanned vehicles pushed back Moscow’s forces over the weekend.
In a display of modern warfare, Kyiv used dozens of remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns, as well as unmanned kamikaze drones, in a raid near the Ukrainian-held town of Lyptsi, the Ukrainian military said.
Volodymyr Dehtiarov, a representative for Ukraine’s Khartiia Brigade, said: “We are talking about dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment simultaneously on a small section of the front.”
The assault took place between Russian-held Hlyboke and Ukrainian-held Lyptsi, in the Kharkiv region near Ukraine’s north-western border.
Kyiv has struggled with a shortage of manpower as the fight against invadin Russian troops continues into 2025. Ukranian officials have said the nation’s military consists of around 800,000 while Russia has committed 1.7 million troops to its war so far.
Modern assaults such as Ukraine’s robot only attack may prove to be crucial in the coming year as the officials look to tackle the imbalance of troops.
Protests and anger as Slovakia PM meets Putin
Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico has drawn criticism from the European community and Slovakian citizens after he met face-to-face with Vladimir Putin the day before Christmas Eve (23 December).
Mr Fico became only the third European leader to visit the Russian president in Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine was ordered in February 2022.
The pair discussed “the international situation” and the delivery of Russian natural gas, according to the Kremlin.
Mr Fico says his visit was a reaction to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement that he would no longer allow Russian natural gas to flow to other European countries through pipes in Ukrainian soil.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry slammed the “weakness, dependence and short-sightedness” of Mr Fico’s energy policy in a statement, calling it a “threat to the whole of Europe.”
Meanwhile, protests have taken place in Bratislavia, Slovakia’s capital, as citizens show their support for Ukraine and disappointment at Mr Fico’s meeting.
Urgent call for evacuation of Australian fighter after stepping on landmine in Ukraine
The Australian government is being urged to urgently evacuate a 38-year-old citizen who sustained severe injuries after stepping on a landmine while fighting on Ukraine’s eastern front. Friends of the injured man, who is currently receiving treatment in a Ukrainian hospital, told The Guardian that without immediate specialist care, he risks losing his limbs.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that consular assistance is being provided but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns.
The Australian fighter recounted his harrowing ordeal in a statement shared by a supporter. “I nearly bled out,” he said, describing the 20-hour evacuation and the lack of immediate first aid.
Glenn Kolomeitz, a former Australian army officer, has called on the government to arrange an urgent evacuation to ensure the man receives proper medical treatment. “He needs surgery very rapidly,” Mr Kolomeitz stressed.
How one man became a Ukrainian traitor and Russian spy
Spying runs in the family for Oleh Kolesnikov.
The Ukrainian citizen said his father was a Soviet intelligence agent in Cuba during the Cold War, posing as a translator, and his cousin works with the Russian security service.
That made him a prime candidate for wartime espionage.
Kolesnikov told Reuters he agreed to supply the Russians with information about military sites and troop movements in his home city of Zaporizhzhia, and report back on where their missiles had landed.
He had supported the concept of the “Russian World”, a doctrine backed by president Vladimir Putin that emphasises Moscow’s historical and cultural ties to neighbouring nations, and one which some hardliners in Moscow have used to justify intervention abroad in defence of Russian speakers.
“I didn’t do this for money,” he said.
But he had regrets: That the inaccuracy of some missile strikes led to civilians being killed, and that the war - which he had assumed would be a swift, clinical affair - has dragged on for almost three years, devastating his homeland.
“I thought they (the Russians) would advance rapidly,” said the 52-year-old, a former state land manager who grew up in a Soviet Ukraine. “It turned out like it always does. They plan one thing and another thing happens entirely.”
His wife left him when he was arrested for treason, taking their 11-year-old child with her.
Reuters
North Korea suffers ‘1,100 casualties’ fighting for Russia
North Korea suffers 1,100 casualties fighting for Russia, South Korea says
South Korea says Pyongyang has expressed intention of providing Russia with suicide drones
Nearly half of Ukrainians support joining Nato even as territories remain under Russian occupation
Nearly 47 per cent of Ukrainians feel that the country should join Nato even if some of the territories are under Russian occupation, revealed a survey by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center, published on 22 December, reported Kyiv Independent.
In case of an accession, the protection granted to Ukraine may be extended to occupied territories once liberated from Russian annexation.
The recent polls reveal an increase of 14 per centage point from a similar survey conducted in June 2023.
More than 3,000 North Koreans killed and wounded, Zelensky says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia’s Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow’s army.
“There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Mr Zelenskiy said yesterday after receiving a report from his top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“We will have tangible responses to this,” he added.
The estimate of North Korean losses is higher than that provided by Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which said that at least 1,100 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded.
The assessment was in line with a briefing last week by South Korea’s spy agency, which reported some 100 deaths with another 1,000 wounded in the region.
Mr Zelensky said he cited preliminary data. However, the figures of combat casualties could not be independently verified.
Zelensky admits Ukraine is not capable of reclaiming lost territories
Zelensky admits Ukraine does not have military strength to reclaim lost territories
Ukrainian president rules out conceding land to Russia but calls for stronger Western intervention
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