Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 12-30-2024

No Little Green Men! If you’re a Kyiv Post reader wanting to fight Russia’s neo-imperialism and seeking a New Year’s resolution, I have a suggestion: Learn Ukrainian in a Language Lab environment.

If you’re a Kyiv Post reader and you’re still searching for a New Year’s resolution, I have a suggestion: Learn the Ukrainian language. But first, I’ve got a confession to make:

I am an alien living in Ukraine

When I say alien, I don’t mean I came here from another star system. However, I do come from a different country and culture and thus I am a stranger not familiar to Ukrainians – a foreigner.

Some of our authors reflect on what 2024 brought and the challenges ahead in 2025.

As 2024 ends, this compilation reflects on Ukraine’s resilience, the fight for democracy, and shifting global power dynamics. Some of our main contributors explore the courage of the Ukrainian people, the rise of authoritarianism, and the challenges ahead in 2025, including geopolitical tensions and the battle of ideas shaping our world.

Diane Francis

Diane Francis is a Canadian journalist, author and editor-at-large for the National Post newspaper since 1998. She is also a regular contributor to the Atlantic Council, New York Post, the Huffington Post, and Kyiv Post, as well as newspapers around the world.

Think you know the key events affecting the war in Ukraine this year? Try out your skills with Kyiv Post’s inaugural Year-in-Review Quiz highlighting the top dozen stories impacting Ukraine in 2024.

As we bid farewell to 2024, it’s time to reflect on the year’s most significant events in Ukraine. From surprising developments on the battlefield to cultural milestones, countless stories shaped Ukraine and the world this year.

Test your knowledge with Kyiv Post’s inaugural Year-in-Review Quiz, designed to challenge your memory of the biggest headlines of the war in Ukraine from the past 12 months.

While Russia attempts to mislead the world by concealing critical economic data, mounting evidence suggests the country’s financial situation is spiraling out of control.

Moscow and Kyiv swapped 150 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian troops on Monday in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

Russia and Ukraine swapped more than 300 prisoners of war on Monday in an exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates ahead of New Year’s Eve, officials from both countries said.

The two sides have exchanged hundreds of captive soldiers since Russia began its military assault on Ukraine in February 2022, in one of the few areas of cooperation.

Russia’s Foreign Minister told a state news agency that while the Kremlin’s moratorium would remain in place for now, it is no longer viable and will likely be abandoned.

Russia will lift its self-imposed moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and short-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced in an interview with RIA Novosti. Lavrov accused the United States of deploying such weapons globally, ignoring warnings from Moscow and Beijing.

Lavrov stated that while Russia’s moratorium remains in place for now, it is no longer viable and will likely be abandoned.

The new CEO of the prominent Kadorr Business Group and owner of Kyiv Post unveils his plans and vision for the future.

As the end of 2024 approached, Luc Chenier, CEO of Kyiv Post, sat down with Ruslan Kivan, who took over the business operations of the Kadorr Group and the ownership of Kyiv Post from his father Adnan Kivan after his sudden passing at the end of October, to talk about his plans for the future. His father, Adnan Kivan, a patriot and Ukrainian citizen for more than 40 years, was proudly of Syrian descent and a devout Muslim, democrat and Odesa-based businessman and philanthropist. How does his son and heir, Ruslan, plan to continue his legacy?

Luc Chenier: You have made it clear that you will continue your father’s mission of supporting journalism and promoting democracy with Kyiv Post. Can you tell us about your vision and plans concerning Kyiv Post, which may differ from your father’s?

German and US manufacturers are collaborating with the Ukrainian government’s defense-tech platform for its unparalleled experience in the use of military unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ukraine’s Brave defense-tech collaboration platform has successfully tested an advanced interceptor drone developed by German manufacturer TYTAN Technologies, according to the NGO German Aid for Ukraine, established to track Germany’s assistance for Kyiv.

The Munich-based company is said to be a leading producer of AI-powered, cost-effective UAV drone technology to counter enemy drones and reconnaissance systems to protect people and critical infrastructure.

Kyiv Post visited one of the most dangerous areas – Toretsk direction in the Donbas – to observe the work of the Azov Brigade’s stabilization point

Biden Administration’s gives Ukraine a significant farewell security aid package.

The United States announced a $2.5 billion security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday as Washington races to provide aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Trump’s November election victory has cast doubt on the future of American aid for Ukraine, providing a limited window for billions of dollars in already authorized assistance to be disbursed before he is sworn in next month.

El Al initially halted flights on Dec. 26, the day after the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer aircraft crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.

Israel’s national airline, El Al, has extended the length of its suspension of flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow until the end of March 2025. The move comes amid reports that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane came down after being struck by Russian air defenses.

El Al initially halted flights on Dec. 26, the day after the Azerbaijan Airlines crash near Aktau, Kazakhstan, which killed 38 people.

Moscow is continuing to signal its intransigence in the search for a peace solution.

Russia is against the deployment of Western peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of any settlement to end the nearly three-year conflict, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Talk of the possible stationing of foreign troops in Ukraine to enforce any peace deal is circulating in Western capitals, with French President Emmanuel Macron and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussing the issue in a meeting in Warsaw this month.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• In late November 2024, Russia passed a law that would allow military personnel who signed up after 01 December 2024 to have their loan debt written off. The write-off would cover loans of up to 10 million rubles (approximately USD $94,400 and would also apply to spouses. This is in addition to the loan repayment holidays for Russian servicemen programme. The independent Russian media organisation Mediazona reports that 411,000 repayment holidays for mortgages and personal loans have been taken up since October 2022.
• Russia’s financial incentives to military recruits are almost certainly intended to secure sufficient replacements for their steadily increasing casualties, now totalling over 760,000 killed and injured, and averaging 1,523 a day in November 2024. The incentives are also almost certainly intended to reduce the potential for Russia to have to enact further mobilisations, which are seen by Russian leadership as both damaging to public support for the war, and raising the risk of further detrimental large-scale emigration.
• Writing off loan repayments will highly likely increase financial pressures on Russian banks into 2025, in addition to pressures from high interest rates and sanctions. This will almost certainly reduce the resilience of the banking sector to respond to a potential economic shock.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had sent its first shipment of food aid, 500 tonnes of wheat flour, to Syria.

New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks on Monday with Ukraine’s foreign minister, the official news agency SANA reported, weeks after Russian-allied president Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power.

Moscow was one of Assad’s key backers -- intervening to help to turn the tide of Syria’s civil war in his favour in 2015 -- and his toppling was seen as a major setback for Russia, which in 2022 launched an invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign ministry insisted it would accept nothing less than full membership.

Ukraine has shifted its policy prioritizing strong security guarantees over immediate NATO membership as diplomatic resistance persists.

Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s new envoy to the United Nations, said in an interview with Berliner Morgenpost on December 27 that diplomatic efforts are currently being centered on securing guarantees, a move that contrasts against earlier statements that only firm commitments to full NATO integration would be the only path to peace. 

The Eagle S tanker, linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, is suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 electric cable and four communication cables in the Gulf of Finland on Dec. 25.

Finnish police have discovered a long drag mark at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, believed to be caused by a vessel hauling an anchor along the seabed, the Yle media outlet reported on Sunday, Dec. 29, citing a police statement.

“The trail extends for tens of kilometers, but it has not yet been determined exactly where the anchor was lowered,” the statement said.

Authorities in Moldova’s separatist Transdniestria region on Sunday cut off gas supplies to several state institutions as a deal allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine comes to an end.

Authorities in Moldova’s separatist Transdniestria region on Sunday cut off gas supplies to several state institutions as a deal allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine comes to an end at the close of the year.

The cutoff was imposed two days before the transit deal runs out, following Ukraine’s refusal to extend it in wartime. It has sparked fears of mass New Year power cuts in Moldova, an ex-Soviet state between Ukraine and Romania.

After leaving the White House, the centenarian won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in development and became a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight for independence and sovereignty.

Joe Biden led US presidents and other world leaders in paying tribute Sunday to Jimmy Carter, who died aged 100.

“America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

On Sunday the channels of Ria Novosti, Rossiya 1, Pervyi Kanal, NTV, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers were not accessible in France, Belgium, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands and Italy.

Russia on Sunday vowed to retaliate after the channels of its state media were apparently blocked on the popular Telegram social media platform in the EU.

On Sunday the channels of Ria Novosti news agency, Rossiya 1, Pervyi Kanal and NTV television, and Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers were not accessible in several countries, including France, Belgium, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands and Italy, according to media reports.

European countries have absorbed the lion’s share of refugees from Ukraine fleeing Russia’s war. The EU’s statistical office has published its most recent findings.

Fall Eurostat data show nearly 4.2 million Ukrainians who fled Russian aggression received temporary protection in the territory of the European Union. But some countries experience a greater influx of refugees than others.

At the end of October 2024, the EU countries hosting the highest number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1,140,705 people; 27.2% of the EU total), Poland (983,880; 23.4%) and Czechia (379,370; 9.0%). The number of persons under temporary protection relative to the EU population was 9.3 per 1,000 people at the end of October 2024. Among the EU countries, the highest ratios were observed in Czechia (34.8 per 1,000), ahead of Poland (26.9) and Estonia (25.3).

2024 was another year of recovery for Ukraine, though Russia’s strikes on energy and prolonged warfare spoiled the joy.

This year marked several pivots for Ukraine’s economy. 

The west unlocked gains from Russian assets to make the invader pay to Ukraine, though this is only the first step - Ukraine insists all $280 billion frozen Russian assets should be confiscated. 

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explicitly rejected two suggestions reportedly considered by US President-elect Donald Trump’s team in early November 2024 as conditions for ending the war in Ukraine – the delay of Ukraine’s membership in NATO for 20 years and the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin enshrined his alleged policy of Ukrainian “denazification” in a new state strategy document about countering extremism, demonstrating how Putin continues to make the same demands for the removal of the Ukrainian government that he made in 2022 when launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia of shooting the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 passenger flight over the Republic of Chechnya on December 25 and of attempting to cover up Russia’s responsibility for the plane’s crash in Kazakhstan — effectively rejecting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lackluster apology.
• Ukrainian forces are successfully innovating to combat Russian guided glide bomb strikes against Kharkiv Oblast.
• The US delivered its first liquified natural gas (LNG) shipment to Ukraine on December 27.
• Salome Zurabishvili announced her departure from the Georgian presidential palace on December 29 but stated that she considers herself to be Georgia’s “legitimate” president.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk and Vuhledar and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• Russia reportedly continues to face labor shortages that Russian military recruitment and persistent demographic problems are likely exacerbating.

AFP looks back at the major stories that made the headlines.

Donald Trump’s US presidential election win, the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the Paris Olympics were among the news events that marked 2024.

AFP looks back at the major stories that made the headlines: