Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 12-21-2024

This development appears to end hopes that gas transiting via Ukraine could continue to flow after Dec. 31, when a long-term gas transit contract between Moscow and Kyiv ends.

Moscow and Kyiv have failed to agree on a deal brokered by Azerbaijan to continue Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, a senior source at the Azeri energy company SOCAR told Reuters on Friday (Dec. 20).

This development puts an end to hopes that gas transiting via Ukraine could continue to flow after Dec. 31, when a long-term gas transit contract between Moscow and Kyiv ends.

President Vladimir Putin has entered into over 200 negotiations which he has used as merely as a pretext to overcome and defeat his opponents – why would a Ukraine peace deal be any different?

The experience gained from the more than 200 negotiations Russia has signed up to amply demonstrates the futility of engaging the Kremlin in peace talks. Russia sees negotiations merely as another weapon to use against its opponents.

That absence of good faith has been repeatedly shown during nearly 11 years of the war in Ukraine and was reaffirmed on 14 June, when Putin reiterated his terms for “negotiation.” His demands are tantamount to a call for a Ukrainian capitulation as a crucial step to achieving strategic parity with the US and China.

Yuri Chopyk has been helping Ukrainian refugees and migrants in Spain find refuge or start a new life.

MADRID, Spain – The People’s Party of Spain and the Refugees Without Borders organization on Dec. 19 jointly honored Ukrainian activist Yuri Chopyk for his steadfast commitment to upholding the rights, honor, and dignity of Ukrainians.

Specifically called the Justice Award, Chopyk received the honor unexpectedly on Spain’s International Migrants Day and it was “a pleasant surprise,” he said.

The latest on the political crisis in Georgia as pro-European forces challenge the stance of the pro-Russian ones currently in power.

Gripped by weeks of mass street protests, Georgia has plunged into a constitutional crisis that could escalate in the coming days with the controversial inauguration of a new president.

Here are the key developments in the turmoil that has pushed the former Soviet republic into uncharted territory:

Investment in the missile drone will be part of a €10 million investment in Ukraine’s arms industry

Lithuania plans to invest in Ukraine’s Palianytsia missile drone, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced in a social media post on Friday, Dec. 20.

Palianytsia – which, according to an Aug. 24 Ukrainian Independence Day announcement from the president, were successfully tested – have already entered mass production and are expected to help the Ukrainians strike back at military targets in Russia with its own means rather than relying on partners’ acquiescence, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote in an op-ed for LB on Dec. 4.

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury face off in a highly anticipated rematch for multiple titles and historic status, with Usyk defending his undisputed heavyweight crown in Riyadh on Saturday.

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury reprise their heavyweight “fight of the century” on Saturday with multiple titles and both fighters’ place in history on the line.

Usyk edged a split decision at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena in May, handing Fury his sole defeat and becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era.

At least 8 drones attacked Kazan, with one hitting a high-rise building, causing an explosion and fire.

At least 8 drones attacked the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, some of which hit residential buildings, including a 32-story luxury building in Kazan, located 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the frontier, Russian media report.

The drones damaged buildings in Kazan, capital of the Tartarstan republic, with a population of more than 1.3 million, but there were no victims, local officials said

The announcement comes with the promise of further support and follows criticism within Australia of the government’s slowness to act.

On Dec. 18, Australia’s Foreign Minister, The Hon Penny Wong, arrived in Kyiv for a one-day visit. She was accompanied by Australian Ambassador Paul Lehmann.

It marked the first time in 10 years that an Australian foreign minister had visited since Julie Bishop’s visit after flight MH 17 was shot down by a Russian BUK missile over eastern Ukraine.

A tribute to Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s remarkable woman politician of Ukrainian origin.

The Canadian Minister of Finance resigned from her post on Dec. 16. A battle for the leadership of the Liberal Party appears imminent, and federal elections are scheduled for 2025. Will Chrystia Freeland, who speaks Ukrainian at home with her three children, be Canada’s next Prime Minister?

First the obvious accolades. She’s the smartest and most experienced person in Canadian politics. But also the least visible until now. Canadians will vaguely recall her role as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017), as Deputy Prime Minister (2019), and as Finance Minister (2020) in Justin Trudeau’s government. A poor reflection of her actual intellectual stature.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Scores of people have been injured and at least two people, including a small child, were killed on Friday after a car ploughed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg, in what local officials are describing as a terror attack. The number of victims was not immediately clear, but German media citing emergency services in the region said between 60 and 80 people might have been injured. A black BMW apparently drove straight into the crowd at the Christmas market, travelling at speed for 400 metres in the direction of the town hall, according to eyewitnesses cited by the broadcaster. The driver of the car was arrested immediately, German news agency dpa reported, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. He was identified as a Saudi citizen who rented the car shortly before the attack, according to reports citing a security source. He was not known to authorities as someone with an Islamist background, the same sources told German media. The site around the car was sealed off amid suspicions that a package that had been left on the front passenger seat might have contained explosives. It remained unclear whether the driver of the car had been acting alone or whether he had an accomplice - The Guardian

Malaysia has agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its transport minister said on Friday, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. “Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke told a press conference. “We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families.” Loke said the proposal to resume the search in the southern Indian Ocean came from exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which had conducted the last search for the plane that ended in 2018. A contract would be signed to cover an 18-month period and the firm would receive $70 million if wreckage found was substantive, he said, adding the search would be on the seabed of a new area covering 15,000 sq km (5,790 sq miles) - Reuters

At his annual press conference, question and answer session and public phone-in, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again presented a positive picture of the situation in his country.

A swindler leading the state

Writing on Facebook, economist Konstantin Sonin (Russia) is surprised that people are still willing to be part of Putin’s entourage:

The evidence that Moscow used a variety of methods on various online platforms to spread disinformation and misinformation ahead of the Nov. 5 election is growing.

On Nov. 5, millions of Americans gathered at polling stations to vote for the next president of the United States. While this should have been a straightforward electoral process, what transpired led to numerous problems and concerns.

During 2024’s US presidential election, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that several bomb threats had been made to polling stations across the United States. Election volunteers and local authorities were ordered to help voters to safety, and numerous polling areas were evacuated.

President Zelensky appointed former Crimean Tatar politician Nariman Dzhelyal, who spent nearly three years imprisoned by Russia, as Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said that he had approved the appointment of a senior Crimean Tatar politician, who spent nearly three years imprisoned by Russia, as ambassador to Turkey.

Zelensky said in his evening address that he approved a decision to send “Nariman Dzhelyal to Turkey” as ambassador.

Ukraine conducted its first attack using solely UGVs and FPV drones, destroying Russian positions near Lyptsi, showcasing technological innovation to counter manpower limits.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) conducted their first ground attack on the front lines using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and FPV drones instead of infantry, successfully destroying Russian military positions, according to a new report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The attack targeted Russian positions near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv. This was confirmed by the spokesperson for the “Khartia” brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, Sergeant Volodymyr Dehtiariov, who noted that the operation occurred in the area but did not specify the date.

Warnings from Khmelnytskyi: Shahed drones are getting dangerously close to nuclear facilities, and no one can guarantee the Kremlin won’t cross that red line.

Ukraine’s critical infrastructure workers are as vital today as the soldiers holding the front line. Successive Russian bombing campaigns targeting these facilities have severely weakened the country’s energy capacity. Without energy, life across Ukraine risks grinding to a halt, making the protection of these workers a national priority.

Since the full-scale invasion began, the physical safety of all Ukrainians has been under constant threat. But the psychological toll has grown as well, and essential workers are no exception. Like the rest of the population, they worry about mobilized family members, friends injured in attacks or loved ones living in occupied territories. On top of this, they themselves have become targets of Kremlin missiles.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of deadly missile strikes Friday: Kyiv targeted Russia’s Kursk region, killing five, while Moscow hit central Kyiv, killing one and injuring 13.

Russia and Ukraine on Friday accused each other of launching deadly missile strikes, with Moscow saying at least five were killed by a missile strike on its Kursk border region after a dawn attack on Ukraine’s capital killed one man.

Ukraine struck the small town of Rylsk in Russia’s Kursk region, killing five and wounding 12, said the governor, Alexander Khinshtein.