Thursday, December 5

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers are seen during infantry training inside a building at an undetermined location in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on Dec. 2, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

‘Before you proceed to the news of the day, please read this. For the Kyiv Independent’s birthday last month we started a month-long campaign to reach 1,000 new members. With your help, we just got there — thank you for your trust! Our campaign ends next week, so you can still join. The more members we get, the more we can do to bring news from Ukraine to the world.’

Ukrainian drone hits special police regiment building in Chechnya, Kadyrov claims. A drone attack hit a special police regiment building in the center of the city of Grozny in the Chechen Republic on Dec. 4, Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov claimed, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Russia gathers 300 boats to cross Dnipro River amid attempted attacks in Kherson Oblast, military says. Russian troops are storming the Kherson direction in an attempt to gain a foothold on some islands in the Dnipro River delta, Vladyslav Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command, told Suspilne on Dec. 4.

Ukraine has ‘hard decisions’ to make about further mobilization, Blinken says. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described mobilization as “critical” for Ukraine, adding that despite having funds and ammunition, people are needed to repel Russian aggression.

Ukraine’s new Palianytsia missile-drone enters serial production, minister says. “A new start-up implemented the Palianytsa missile project, which has already entered serial production thanks to the support of the Defense Ministry,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote in a piece published by the LB.UA outlet.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

Russia’s Oreshnik strike aftermath was a carefully orchestrated psyop, media reports. The propaganda offensive was coordinated between government, military, and intelligence officials, as well as PR experts, the Moscow Times wrote.

Ukraine’s gas transit operator prepared for Russian attacks after transit deal expires, operator says. With a deal to transport Russian gas through Ukraine expiring at the end of 2024, Ukraine’s gas transit network could soon come under Russian attacks, warned Dmytro Lyppa, CEO of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine.

Ukrainian businesses increasingly look beyond diesel for backup power as blackouts begin again. As Ukraine begins yet another winter with rolling blackouts and freezing temperatures, businesses are increasingly looking beyond diesel generators to fuel their operations during power cuts, business leaders said at the Energy Security Dialogue 2024 on Dec. 4.

Russia, Belarus to set up joint military training centers, official claims. Russia and Belarus are planning to set up three training centers to jointly train soldiers, Gennady Lepeshko, the Belarusian security and defense senior official, claimed on Dec. 3, state-controlled news outlet Belta reported.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine’s new Palianytsia missile-drone enters serial production, minister says

Domestically produced long-range weapons are of key importance to Ukraine’s defense strategy, as Western partners recently allowed strikes in Russia’s Kursk Oblast with foreign-made missiles but prohibited attacks deeper in the rear.

Photo: Oleksandr Magula/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Russian drone strikes on Ukraine are surging — how bad can it get?

For the third month in a row, the number of Shahed-type kamikaze drones launched by Russia at Ukraine surged to record levels. According to figures from Ukraine’s Air Force, Moscow deployed a total of 2,576 drones during November, up from 2,023 the month before. How bad could it get for Ukraine?

Photo: Andriy Zhyhaylo/Obozrevatel/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Could Ukraine build a nuclear bomb? We asked an expert

Human cost of war

Abducted mayor tortured to death in Russian captivity, governor says.

Yevhenii Matvieiev, the mayor of the occupied Dniprorudne town, was tortured to death in Russian captivity, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov said on his Telegram channel on Dec. 4.

Russian attacks against Kherson, Donetsk oblasts kill 6, injure 16 over past day.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 29 of the 50 Russian drones overnight, the Air Force said. Eighteen drones were lost, and one flew to occupied territories, according to the statement.

International response

Ukraine, EU sign agreement on up to 35 billion euro loan covered by Russian assets revenue. Ukraine’s Finance Ministry and the EU signed a memorandum and an agreement to attract up to 35 billion euros ($36.7 billion) as part of the G7 loan, the ministry said on Dec. 4.

German FM doesn’t rule out deploying troops to Ukraine in case of ceasefire.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told journalists that in order to achieve long term peace in Ukraine, security guarantees such as Ukraine’s NATO membership and deployment of international troops, including German ones, are conceivable.

As NATO ministers meet, some members continue to oppose membership invitation for Ukraine. An undisclosed NATO source told the Ukrainian Suspilne outlet that the U.S. and Germany continue to oppose inviting Ukraine at the moment.

NATO must provide ‘whatever air defense we can give’ to Ukraine, Rutte says. NATO countries will do all they can to provide Ukraine with air defenses necessary to protect its infrastructure but there is no surplus of such systems, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Dec. 4.

Blinken confirms Ukraine to receive $50 billion transfer from frozen Russian assets. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed during a briefing that the transfer is part of a coordinated effort between the U.S. and EU to support Ukraine.

Bulgaria supplies arms, ammunition to Ukraine in its 7th aid delivery. The exact list of supplies, provided in accordance with a decision on military support in late 2022, remains classified.

House Speaker rejects Biden’s request for additional $24 billion in Ukraine aid. “It is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now, we have a newly elected president, and we are going to wait and take the new commander in chief’s direction on all that, so I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

US enforces visa restrictions on Russian officials linked to Ukrainian child deportations. Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and sent to other Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or to Russia itself.

In other news

Ukraine preparing sanctions against Georgian government amid crackdown on pro-EU protests. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Georgian authorities “are pushing the country into clear dependence on Russia.”

Colombian man arrested in Romania for acting on Russian orders to plot infrastructure attack. The suspect reportedly carried out reconnaissance missions, photographing and recording potential targets he intended to destroy with explosives or fire, Romanian prosecurors allege.

84 arrested in UK-led crypto laundering investigation involving Russian oligarchs, spies. The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Dec. 4 that it had dismantled a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme that has enabled criminal networks, including Russian spies and oligarchs, to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency.

This newsletter is open for sponsorship. Boost your brand’s visibility by reaching thousands of engaged subscribers. Contact partnerships@kyivindependent.com for more details.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Boldizsár Győri, Lili Bivings, Kateryna Denisova, Olena Goncharova, and Dmytro Basmat.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.