Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky to vote against an International Court of Justice (ICJ) investigation into the legality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory; a request that Zelensky refused to meet amid tensions over Israel’s lack of military aid to Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Multiple Israeli and Ukrainian official sources have explained to the US portal Axios that Netanyahu asked Zelensky weeks ago to vote against the initiative before the General Assembly, taking into account that kyiv had already voted in favor of the decision in a previous round at the level committee.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office tweeted that it has today halted all Russian LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports as part of its response to the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“Today the UK has ended all imports of Russian liquefied natural gas. We are preventing Putin from financing his illegal war and supporting countries around the world to reduce their own dependence on him, ”the agency tweeted.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, announced on New Year’s Eve that she would soon travel to Russia with the aim of to approach positions with Moscow on access to Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian custody.
In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Spoljaric Egger confirmed his future visit, although he did not specify dates. In addition, He indicated that contacts with Moscow “at all levels” are “relevant”.
“We need to be able to get security guarantees at the local level to be able to send convoys to visit prisoners. And for that we need contacts in the field,” he said, adding that the ICRC’s role is to remain “neutral” in order to gain the trust of the parties to the conflict with the aim of helping the victims.
Ukrainian authorities reported today that they were four people killed and 50 injured due to Russian bombing carried out during the hours before and after the turn of the year, which according to Russia were aimed at drone factories.
These attacks occurred in kyiv and in seven other regions of Ukraine, according to the latest balance of local and regional authorities.
AFP journalists heard about a dozen explosions early Saturday afternoon in the Ukrainian capital, where explosions were also heard shortly after midnight. Three people died including a 22-year-old girl, in the city of Khmelnitski, in the west of the country, according to the latest Ukrainian balance of these bombings.
The fourth victim lost his life on Sunday after a Russian bombardment in the Zaporizhia region, in the south of the country. Among the 50 injured, there are two teenagers, ages 13 and 12, who live in a village near the southern city of Jershon, recaptured by Ukrainian troops in November.
The Russian army assured today that the bombardments the day before against several Ukrainian cities, including the capital kyiv, had targeting drone factories in order to prevent attacks on Russian territory.
“On December 31, 2022, the Russian armed forces carried out a long-range precision airstrike against Ukrainian defense facilities involved in manufacturing offensive drones used to carry out terrorist attacks against Russia,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Defense in his daily report. “We managed to dismantle the plans of the kyiv regime to organize terrorist attacks against Russia in the near future,” he stressed.
The Russian army also affirmed that it continues its offensive in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine and annexed by Russia in September, where most of the fighting is currently concentrated.
As 2023 began, social networks and the media spread how the Ukrainian people welcomed the year, amid calls for peace and cries of victory.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry released a video illustrating how the new year was celebrated under curfew in Kyiv last night.
Germany today assumed the leadership of the rapid intervention force VJTF of the NATO strategic allianceto which the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) will contribute some 8,000 men and women of the 11,500 troops that it will consist of.
The VJTF has to be ready within 48-72 hours to be deployed wherever the alliance needs them. NATO describes the unit as a “spearhead”, whose leadership changes annually, as an essential contribution to deterrence and defense in Europe.
”As Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine continues to threaten peace and security in Europe, there must be no doubt about NATO’s determination to protect and defend every inch of the alliance’s territory.”, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu declared in Brussels before the end of 2022. Lungescu added that NATO thanks Germany for assuming leadership of the VJTF in 2023.
After the official information of the Ukrainian Air Force about the downing of 45 Iranian-made drones early Sunday, there were several publications on social networks that showed photos of the downed aircraft.
The Police Chief Andriy Nebitov posted on Facebook an image of the remains of a downed drone in which the words could be read “Happy New Year” in Russian. “This is all you need to know about the terrorist state and its army,” Nebitov wrote in the post.
In its usual balance of casualties in the Russian forces, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a new tally estimating that 106,720 Russian soldiers have died since the invasion.
In November, the general maximum of The US estimated that 100,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded in Ukraine, and that the Kyiv military had likely suffered a similar level of casualties.
Iuliia Mendel, a former presidential spokeswoman for Ukraine, has shared photos that she says are of the Kherson regional children’s hospital after it was bombed just before the new year. Fortunately, no one was hurt, she says, she reported today The Guardian.
“Infant Department of the Kherson Regional Children’s Hospital: The hospital where my mother works. A few minutes before the New Year, the Russians began to shell it. The nurses saved the children, no one was hurt. Almost all the other buildings are damaged. The Russian army is sick“, wrote.
The Ukrainian Air Force said today that 45 Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed, including 32 during attacks on kyiv as its citizens tried to welcome the new year. The details have been tweeted by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security.
The Institute for the Study of War in the United States, made up of a group of experts, said today that it is likely that ammunition limitations prevent Russian forces from maintaining a high operational pace in the Bakhmut area of eastern Ukraine.
He also took aim at the Russian president’s New Year’s Eve speech “continued to illustrate that Vladimir Putin is unsure of his ability to shape Russia’s information space and remains focused on justifying the war in Ukraine and its cost to his domestic audience.”
Sweden will assume today, January 1, the presidency of the European Union for six months and the priorities have been to strengthen the bloc’s security, advance in the ecological transition, reinvigorate the competitiveness of European companies and strengthen the rule of law. However, the agenda will continue to be marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the community’s support for that country, as well as the need to reform the common immigration policy after years of paralysis.
In the early hours of 2023, thousands celebrated the arrival of the new year on the Champs-Élysées, as French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in a televised New Year’s speech to continue supporting Ukraine.
“Next year, we will remain unwavering by your side. We will help them to victory and we will be together to build a just and lasting peace. Count on France and Europe, ”he said.
Just half an hour after the start of 2023, air-raid sirens were heard throughout the Ukrainian capital, followed by the sound of explosions.
kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in the Holosiivskyui district, and authorities said fragments from a downed missile damaged a vehicle in the center of that area.
A large number of children met a Santa Claus in a crowded metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
However, the Russian attacks continued on New Year’s Eve. At midnight, the streets of the capital, kyiv, were desolate.
The only sign of a new year came from local residents shouting from their balconies: “Happy New Year!” and “Glory to Ukraine!”
THE NATION