Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,398

On Tuesday, December 23, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

Russian Lieutenant General Finil Sarvarov was killed by a car bomb in southern Moscow, marking the third fatality of a senior Russian military officer in just over a year. Investors in Russia pointed the finger at Ukraine. The incident hasn’t received any comments from Kyiv.
• In a second attack on the area in less than 24 hours, Russian forces struck Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials, damaging port facilities and a ship.
• The most recent attack on Odesa is seen by Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksii Kuleba as part of Russia’s “disruptive maritime logistics by launching systematic attacks on port and energy infrastructure,” according to the Telegram app’s Oleksii Kuleba.
• Kuleba claimed that the attack also damaged the Odesa region’s energy infrastructure, causing more than 120 000 customers to lose electricity. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one person was seriously hurt in the attack.
• According to media reports, the Hrabovske village, which borders Russia and the Sumy region and is home to 52 people, was taken by Russian troops by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Zellenskyy, 13 Ukrainian service members were among those who were taken.
• In an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military claimed to have set off fireworks and a fire at a Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in the Krasnodar region of Russia. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the oil terminal was a component of Russia’s energy infrastructure, which supported Russian troops’ financial and logistical support.
• Two other vessels in the same area were also harmed by a Ukrainian drone attack. According to regional authorities, the entire crew on the ships at the Volna terminal has been evacuated safely.
• The eastern Kharkiv region’s Ministry of Defense claimed to have taken Vilcha village from Russia. It was impossible to immediately verify the assertion.

diplomacy and politics

• In light of concerns about the progress of the negotiations, which Moscow and Kyiv are still at odds with, US President Donald Trump stated that the Ukraine war is “on hold.”
• Meanwhile, Zelenskyy praised the Miami negotiations as being “very close to a real result.” He also admitted that “not everything is ideal with this, but the plan is there,” while also reiterating this to a group of Ukrainian diplomats who were gathering to discuss the peace process.
• In his weekly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy also stated that the key question was whether the US could “get a response from Russia, real readiness on the part of that country to focus on something other than aggression.” He claimed that putting pressure on the Kremlin would help Moscow’s ability to start a war was essential.
• The US and Russia’s discussions of ways to end the Ukrainian conflict should not be seen as a breakthrough, according to the Kremlin. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated to the Izvestia news agency that the discussions were going to continue at a “meticulous” expert-level level.
• Peskov also questioned the accuracy of the sources mentioned in a report from the Reuters news agency, which claimed Putin wants to seize all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that once belonged to the former Soviet bloc. According to Peskov, the US’s intelligence conclusions were incorrect if the report was reliable.
• Moscow is ready to confirm in a legal agreement that it does not intend to attack the US-led NATO military alliance, according to Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov, according to state media reports.

military assistance

• On January 7, the National Security Council of the Czech Republic will discuss the future of a Western-led, Czech-led organization that provides Ukrainian ammunition for the country. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands are also among the foreign donors partnering with the program.

Regional security

Adler, a Russian ship that was flown over the weekend to conduct an inspection, was released by Swedish customs, who had marine tracking data that revealed it was moving once more. What kind of cargo did the Adler have been carrying, according to Swedish customs. The Adler is subject to EU sanctions, while M Leasing LLC, the ship’s owners, are both facing US sanctions for suspected involvement in weapons transport.