EN
EN
EN
Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 12-11-2024 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
Germany’s trade with Russia thrives despite EU sanctions, with loopholes in oil, gas, and steel sectors continuing to fund Putin’s war.
Editor’s note: This is the latest in Kyiv Post’s Sanctions Busting series, a look into how Russia evades sanctions to wage its war against Ukraine.
The US and Europe have levied over 20,000 sanctions against Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – but several major players in the top three industries have found ways of sidestepping international sanctions meant to limit Russia’s trade partners and national growth.
The tense standoff in Tbilisi between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces continues.
Thousands of pro-European protesters rallied against Georgia's government Tuesday for a 13th consecutive day, after the European Union warned it could punish authorities for their crackdown on demonstrators.
Waving EU and Georgian flags and loudly blowing horns and whistles, demonstrators gathered outside parliament to voice outrage at the government's decision to shelve its push to join the EU after disputed elections.
An analyst claimed the air traffic at Moscow’s air base in Syria showed no hurried departures while asserting that vessels are simply “out to loiter at sea” – but that might not be the full picture.
While Moscow showed no signs of major withdrawal from Syria following Sunday’s ousting of the Moscow-backed Assad regime, an evacuation might well be underway.
Russia has two main military bases in Syria – the Khmeimim Air Base in Lakatia and the Tartus Naval Base, both located on the Mediterranean coast, with other smaller bases and outposts scattered across the country. Moscow established a permanent military presence in both bases in 2017.
Ukrainian partisans spotted a column of Chinese-made buggies near Kursk, potentially signaling Russia’s preparation for raid operations in regions bordering Ukraine.
The Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh spotted a column of military trucks carrying Desertcross 1000-3 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) of Chinese production on the M-4 highway between Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh. Such equipment, which the Russian army is actively purchasing, may indicate preparations for raid and sabotage operations in Ukraine's border regions.
“These vehicles are used for a variety of tasks, including patrol and reconnaissance missions, raids, cargo transportation, and the evacuation of the wounded. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Putin’s army has already received 537 such vehicles, and another 1,590 units are planned to be purchased by the end of 2024,” the partisans of Atesh wrote.
The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.
Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former opposition forces who toppled president Bashar al-Assad three days ago. In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by the opposition, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1. Behind him were two flags – the green, black and white flag flown by opponents of al-Assad throughout the civil war, and a white flag with the Islamic oath of faith in black writing, typically flown in Syria by Sunni Islamist fighters. In the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since al-Assad’s overthrow. Shops were also opening up again, traffic returned to the roads, and cleaners were out sweeping the streets. There was a notable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets. Two sources close to the opposition said their command had ordered fighters to withdraw from cities, and for police and internal security forces affiliated with the main opposition group “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) to deploy there - Al Arabiya
Israel’s military says it carried out 480 attacks on Syria in the past 48 hours, destroying 15 naval vessels, anti-aircraft batteries and weapons production sites in several cities. Separately, Syrian opposition commander Hassan Abdul Ghany said on Tuesday that their fighters completely took control over the eastern Syrian city of Deir el-Zor - Agencies
Putin signals to Hungary’s Orban that he’s in no mood to seek a peace settlement, branding Ukraine’s position as ’destructive.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday discussed the Ukraine conflict in a call with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is casting himself as a possible peacemaker.
"There was a thorough exchange of views on Ukrainian issues," the Kremlin said in its readout of the call, adding that Putin said Kyiv had adopted a "destructive" position that ruled out a peace agreement.
A BBC Russian Service investigation identified the deaths of 543 Russian regular military and Wagner PMC personnel who served in Moscow’s almost decade-long campaign supporting the Assad regime.
After accessing a variety of open-source, social media and leaked documents as well as memorials and gravestones, the BBC identified 543 Russian military personnel and Wagner PMC mercenaries killed in Syria between 2015 and 2024. The list included members of elite special forces groups of the regular army, FSB, and GRU intelligence units and military pilots.
At the height of Russian military operations, the Kremlin claimed that 63,000 military personnel had been deployed to Syria.
Poland, with its partners, actively pursuing a peaceful end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday said that peace talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine could begin this winter.
Tusk, whose country is a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine and next month will take over the rotating EU presidency, also announced a series of upcoming talks with foreign officials.
Ukraine’s president mentioned “successful tests” of a previously unveiled missile during a speech on Tuesday, though details surrounding the weapon remain extremely scarce.
Ukraine has been conducting successful tests of its new “Ruta” missile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
During a speech at Tuesday’s 2024 Borys Paton National Prize presentation, he mentioned the new weapon in passing alongside talking about other recent developments.
Events in Syria have moved fast in recent days with the overthrow, finally, of the brutal and hated Assad regime. Why did it take so long?
I guess the history books will tell a story of yet more Western foreign policy failures towards the region - red lines not held to, failing to counter Russian and Iranian intervention, et al. But both Biden and Trump teams are now claiming the win - victories have many parents, defeat is an orphan!
The reality is I think is clear and it is that Assad’s allies, Russia and Iran had been much weakened. Russia by the extended war in Ukraine. Iran by Israel’s successful assault on Hezbollah its proxy in Lebanon, and then Iran direct. Turkey with its own simmering problems hosting over four million Syrian refugees and nervous that an overconfident Israel, and perhaps a newly installed Trump administration might act to further strengthen Turkey’s nemesis, the Kurdish YPG in Syria, saw an imperative to act. It saw an opportunity in supporting an offensive by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to force Assad to the negotiating table - to negotiate a more inclusive settlement in Syria to bring refugees home and to contain Syrian Kurdish groups within a better functioning Syrian state.
German opposition leader calls on Scholz to prepare for Trump’s Ukraine policy change
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz has called on the country’s chancellor to get involved in the formation of a “contact group” of five countries including Poland, to prepare for the incoming United States president’s expected policy change on Ukraine.
Scholz says German troop deployment to Ukraine “out of question” while war continues
On Sunday, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that "there should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin."
Donald Trump said solving the Ukraine crisis would be his top priority once he assumes office next month, describing the Middle East as a "less difficult situation."
"I think we have to solve the Ukraine problem with Russia," the US president-elect told French magazine Paris Match in an interview recorded on Saturday and released on Wednesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that air defenses intercepted and destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones in Bryansk but did not address the Taganrog attack.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Dec.11, multiple explosions shook the city of Taganrog in Russia’s Rostov region, regional governor Yuri Slyusar reported, describing the attack as a "missile strike."
The attack, reported around 4:20 a.m., triggered air defense systems and caused at least ten explosions, local residents told the Shot Telegram channel.
At a $5K-per-plate dinner at Trump’s Florida resort organized by disgraced Gen. Mike Flynn, the Republican party mouthpiece and recent Kremlin guest is lauded alongside a conservative pop star.
Tucker Carlson, conservative commentator and frequent guest of the Kremlin, was given a newly minted “Champion for America” award at President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida resort on Tuesday night, as part of a fundraiser that also fêted country-pop singer Robert “Kid Rock” Ritchie.
The sold-out $5,000-a-plate gala dinner at Mar-a-Lago was set up to benefit the conservative political action committee (PAC) America’s Future, led by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was also scheduled to appear at the event, Politico reported. For an additional $3,800, guests could join a VIP poolside reception.
A 56-year-old member of Russia’s Sevastopol-based 810th separate marine brigade who was killed in action in the Kursk region was one of the last members of the Kerek people from Russia’s far east.
A post that appeared on the VKontakte (VK) social media site, Russia’s Facebook equivalent, underlined yet another of the hidden tragedies of President Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine. It was the notification on the group “Died in the North-Eastern Military District,” of the death on Sept. 13 of 56-year-old Ivan Taymagyr in Russia’s Kursk region, who served with the Sevastopol 810th separate guards marine brigade of the Black Sea Fleet.
The reason why this notice was so noteworthy is that Taymagyr hailed from the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug – Russia’s easternmost federal region which at its easternmost point is less than 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) from Alaska.
Chinese companies are cutting back on sales of drone components to the US and Europe, and bigger restrictions might be coming next year.
The US-China trade war has now spread to drones, a key part of Ukraine’s defense, with Beijing companies cutting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) parts sales to the US and Europe and threatening bigger restrictions next year, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Insiders say China’s new rules could require exporters to get special licenses or at least report their plans to the government.
Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
Key Takeaways from the ISW:
An IAEA convoy was hit amid strikes in Zaporizhzhia; Russian forces reportedly took advantage of unfinished fortifications; and new developments in the UA weapons industry meant to ‘terrify’ invaders.
Strikes hit civilians and the vehicle of aid workers in Zaporizhzhia, while Ukrainian forces in the East combat a brutal ongoing offensive, and Zelensky debuts new weapon advancements.
A missile strike Tuesday hit a private clinic in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least four people and wounding more than a dozen, officials said, as Russia steps up attacks in southern regions partially under its control. National Police said the “death toll has risen to four,” while 19 people were wounded, including a 5-year-old child, after a Russian missile “hit a private clinic in the center of Zaporizhzhia.”
