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Patriarch Kirill calls for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine
Russian state-owned news agency Tass is reporting that Patriarch Kirill has called for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine. In a statement posted to the church’s website, Kirill said:
I, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus, appeal to all parties involved in the internecine conflict with an appeal to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce from noon on 6 January to midnight on 7 January, so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and the day of the Nativity of Christ.
The patriarch has faced stern external criticism for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Key events
First Wagner prison recruits pardoned after fighting in Ukraine
Pjotr Sauer
The first inmates recruited by the private military group Wagner have received their promised pardons after fighting for six months in Ukraine, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin told journalists on Thursday.
“They worked off their contract. They worked with honour, with dignity. They were the first ones. Nobody else in this world works as hard as they did,” Prigozhin told Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, standing alongside a number.
Since last summer Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” because his catering business hosted dinners attended by the Russian president, has recruited tens of thousands of prisoners to compensate for acute shortages of personnel on the battlefield.
In one leaked video, Prigozhin is seen visiting one of the prisons, telling inmates they would be freed if they served six months with his group.
According to Olga Romanova, the head of Jailed Russia, a prisoners’ rights NGO, around 40,000 convicts have so far been recruited from Russian prisons across the country to fight in Ukraine. She said many of them have perished fighting as part of Russia’s attempt to capture the Donbas city of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin’s practice of recruiting and pardoning prisoners has been described as “completely illegal and unconstitutional” by Romanova and other human rights workers.
There have also been reports of Wagner prisoners executed by their commanders for desertion.
In November, Prigozhin welcomed the brutal murder of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a convicted murderer recruited by Wagner who surrendered to Ukrainian forces but was later allegedly handed over to Russia.
Prigozhin issued a statement saying the clip showing Nizhin executed by a sledgehammer blow to the head should be called “a dog receives a dog’s death.”
Luke Harding
A wide-ranging public discussion is taking place in Ukraine over what to do with seven street murals painted in November by the British artist Banksy on a series of destroyed buildings in and around Kyiv.
The conversation has grown urgent after thieves last month made off with one artwork from the town of Hostomel, about 15 miles (25km) outside the capital. It shows a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a red fire extinguisher. She is standing next to a real flame-blackened window.
Banksy painted the image and six others during an unpublicised trip to Ukraine. He later acknowledged in a video that they were his work, done “in solidarity” with the Ukrainian people. The Instagram post showed the artist at work – his identity obscured – as well as interviews with local people walking amid ruins.
On 2 December, a group of men chiselled the dressing gown woman from the side of a scorched wall. When challenged by a local person, they claimed to be representatives of Neo-Eco, a French charity which is reconstructing the wrecked Hostomel housing estate using recycled materials.
Suspicious, the person rang the police. Officers arrived at the scene and arrested eight men. The mural was recovered in good condition and is now being kept under guard at Hostomel’s police station. An investigation into the crime has been opened.
Read the full story here:
Summary of the day so far …
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Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has called for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine. In a statement posted to the church’s website, Kirill said he appealed to “all parties involved in the internecine conflict” for the ceasefire, so that “Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and the day of the Nativity of Christ”. The patriarch has faced stern external criticism for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell by 30.4% in 2022 – the largest annual fall in over 30 years – because of the war with Russia, the economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko said this morning. Svyrydenko said in a statement that Ukraine’s economy had suffered its largest losses since it won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 although the fall was less than initially expected.
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The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, told Vladimir Putin in a phone call that peace efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war should be supported by a unilateral ceasefire and a “vision for a fair solution”, the Turkish presidency said on Thursday.
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Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk oblast – one of the regions which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed – has posted a status update in which he says two people have been killed by Russian fire in the last 24 hours.
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Overnight, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has said that service personnel injured in the attack on the barracks in occupied Makiivka have been mostly transferred to hospitals within Russia.
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The US is looking at ways to target Iranian drone production through sanctions and export controls, the White House said. Washington previously imposed sanctions on companies and people it accused of producing or transferring Iranian drones that Russia has used against Ukraine.
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The United States is not “hand-wringing” over the mass casualties of Russian soldiers in a Ukrainian attack reportedly using US-supplied artillery, a senior White House official said Wednesday. After criticism in Russia over the use of US-delivered weaponry by Ukrainian defenders, including in the Makiivka strike, the national security council spokesperson John Kirby said Russia is to blame.
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Heavy fighting around the largely ruined, Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut is likely to persist for the foreseeable future, with the outcome uncertain as Russians have made incremental progress, according to a senior US administration official.
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The Ukrainian deputy defence minister said significant Russian losses meant Moscow would probably have to announce a second partial mobilisation in the first quarter of the year.
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Ukraine’s efforts to increase exports under the Black Sea grain deal with Russia are focused on securing faster inspections of ships rather than including more ports in the initiative, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you for the next few hours.
The Ukrainian president has called on western allies to supply Ukraine with tanks. In a video address, during which he thanked France for providing them, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “This is what gives a clear signal to all our other partners. There is no rational reason why western-style tanks have not yet been supplied to Ukraine.” Here is the video clip.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has told Zelenskiy his government would send light AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to help its war effort.
By the way, as I suspect it is going to become a point of contention among military analysts and commentators on Ukraine, if you want to know the difference between a tank and an armoured vehicle, my colleague Helen Sullivan had these quotes earlier from the British Forces Broadcasting Service, saying: “The main difference between a tank and an armoured vehicle is their role on the battlefield. A tank is an armoured vehicle that is specifically used to break enemy lines.”
Tanks “do not typically carry infantry, and are actually designed to fight in direct combat with enemy forces”, using armour to protect themselves, “and their main gun as their offence”, according to the BFBS.
Here is a photograph taken in Dnipro yesterday of the removal of a monument to Soviet soldier Alexander Matrosov as it was dismantled as part of the “decommunisation” process in eastern Ukraine. Matrosov, who was born in Dnipro, was posthumously awarded the title of hero of the Soviet Union in 1943 after he single-handedly tackled a German machine gun position at the cost of his own life.
The Kyiv Post today carries its own analysis of the reaction in Russia to the strike on troops stationed in occupied Makiivka. It writes:
Russia’s top brass on Wednesday tried to shift the blame onto the dead soldiers themselves, accusing them of the banned use of personal mobile phones which were then tracked and located by Ukrainian forces.
It’s feasible that this occurred – since the early days of the war, the lax use of mobile phones by troops has allowed both sides to pinpoint the location of the enemy, but it still doesn’t account for the decision to house the troops in an unprotected building packed with explosive material.
Given the strike has also led to rare public displays of grief, including in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga River, home to some of the victims, it’s not yet clear how far up the chain of command the blame will have to lie in order to assuage public anger.
In a sign of just how seriously the criticism is being taken by the Kremlin, Margarita Simonyan, the influential head of RT, Russia’s state-controlled international TV channel, welcomed the army’s promise that officials “will be held accountable.”
“I hope that the names of these persons will be announced,” she said. “It is time to understand that impunity does not lead to social harmony. Impunity leads to new crimes. And, as a result, to public dissent.”
Patriarch Kirill calls for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine
Russian state-owned news agency Tass is reporting that Patriarch Kirill has called for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine. In a statement posted to the church’s website, Kirill said:
I, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus, appeal to all parties involved in the internecine conflict with an appeal to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce from noon on 6 January to midnight on 7 January, so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and the day of the Nativity of Christ.
The patriarch has faced stern external criticism for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Erdoğan tells Putin peace efforts should be supported by unilateral ceasefire
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, told Vladimir Putin in a phone call that peace efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war should be supported by a unilateral ceasefire and a “vision for a fair solution”, the Turkish presidency said on Thursday.
Reuters reports it said in a statement the two leaders discussed energy and the Black Sea grain corridor, and that Erdoğan told Putin concrete steps needed to be taken to clear Kurdish militants from the Syrian border region.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was typically blunt yesterday in a response to a question from the media about the stated willingness of Italy to act as a peace guarantor in any eventual settlement between Russia and Ukraine. Zakharova’s response was published in full by the Russian foreign ministry late yesterday, and she said:
Many countries declare their interest in being part of a settlement … and some even directly offer us their mediation services. Pope Francis, President of France Emmanuel Macron, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other heads of state and government, politicians and public figures have talked about this. Some are sincere, others are pursuing their own selfish goals, trying to wedge into the talk process in order to get foreign policy dividends.
However, it is strange to hear offers of mediation from countries that took an unequivocal and very aggressive anti-Russia position from the very beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, and not only supported the bloody Kiev regime, but also provide it with significant military and military-technical assistance. It is known that Italy, along with an extensive range of weapons and military equipment, is supplying Kiev with anti-personnel mines.
These irresponsible actions not only multiply the number of victims, including Donbas civilians, and delay the end of the conflict, but could also draw Nato countries into a direct military confrontation with Russia. However, Kiev’s western sponsors, among which, unfortunately, Italy is one, are not even thinking about stopping; on the contrary, they are building up their supplies. Obviously, given Italy’s biased position, we cannot regard them as either an honest mediator or a possible guarantor in a peace process.
Viacheslav Chaus, the governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, has posted to Telegram to say that the area has received a donation of 75 boilers from the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine. Chaus said:
This is the first batch of equipment. The second is expected before the end of the month. Everything will be distributed among educational establishments of the residential type and secondary schools in communities according to needs.
Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell by 30.4% in 2022 – the largest annual fall in over 30 years – because of the war with Russia, the economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko said this morning.
Reuters reports that Svyrydenko said in a statement that Ukraine’s economy had suffered its largest losses since it won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 although the fall was less than initially expected.
“The successes of Ukraine’s defence forces on the frontlines, the coordinated work of the government and businesses, the unbreakable spirit of the population and the speed of rebuilding damaged critical infrastructure units and also systemic financial support from international donors have allowed us to keep up the economic front and continue our movement towards victory,” Svyrydenko said.
The economy ministry said Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continued to put pressure on business activity and sentiment. Ukraine’s GDP had grown by 3.4% in 2021.
Overnight, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has said that service personnel injured in the attack on the barracks in occupied Makiivka have been mostly transferred to hospitals within Russia. Donetsk is one of the Ukrainian regions which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed. He posted to his Telegram channel:
The doctors said that the wounded began to arrive very quickly after the incident, thanks to which they were able to provide emergency medical care in a timely manner. Almost all of them have already been transferred to other regions of Russia.
Both the fighters and the commanders behaved heroically, they saved many of their colleagues. And what is important – they have a fighting mood. All as one are eager to avenge their comrades.
Prior to the declaration of annexation, only three UN member states – Russia, Syria and North Korea – recognised the DPR as any kind of legitimate authority. It was established in 2014.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk oblast – one of the regions which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed – has posted a status update in which he says two people have been killed by Russian fire in the last 24 hours. He writes on Telegram:
On the Donetsk side, Kurakhove was the most affected – the city was hit by several shellings. Six private houses, two shops and equipment at an infrastructure facility were damaged. Marinka was subjected to intense shelling, and in the morning isolated airstrikes were recorded in the old part of Avdiivka – without casualties.
Two people died in the Horlivka direction and one person was injured in Bakhmut. In Chasiv Yar, a high-rise building was destroyed, four more houses and a hospital building were damaged. In Soledar, a five-story building was damaged – no one was injured.
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