WAR IN UKRAINE: January 4, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 315
The deaths of dozens of Russian soldiers in a new year missile strike on a building in occupied eastern Ukraine have prompted recriminations among critics of the Russian military. Semyon Pegov, who just weeks ago received an award from President Vladimir Putin, has cast doubts on Moscow's official death toll from an attack on Russian barracks in Makiivka in occupied eastern Ukraine, CNN reported. “Despite the official statement of the Ministry of Defense, the exact number of casualties is still unknown,” Pegov said in a video posted Tuesday. Russia's defence ministry has so far conceded that 89 people were killed in the Ukrainian attack. Rallies were held in several cities in Russia's south-western region of Samara, where governor Dmitry Azarov said many of the conscripts had lived, BBC reported.
US and other Western countries pressure Switzerland over frozen Russian assets that could be used to rebuild Ukraine after Russian invasion — Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Ukraine charges two Russian commanders: Ukrainian authorities have for the first time charged two high-ranking Russian military commanders with crimes related to attacking Ukrainian civilians. Colonel-General Serhii Kobylash, commander of the Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and Admiral Igor Osipov, former commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, were charged in absentia. Were they to be captured and convicted, the two could face life in prison, the SBU said - CNN
Organizations across Poland are preparing for a new wave of Ukrainian refugees as Russia continues to target Ukraine's energy infrastructures. But some NGOs say they're worried newcomers will face a cooler reception this winter. “There are a lot of uncertainties," said Benjamin Cope, a co-ordinator at Our Choice, a local NGO that helps Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw. Nearly a year after Russia's invasion, more than eight million Ukrainians have crossed the border into Poland. Some 1.5 million have registered for temporary protection there. They now represent more than three per cent of Poland's population of 37.8 million people. At the end of November, Poland approved changes to the law on assistance to Ukrainian refugees. As of March 2023, those who live in state accommodation for more than 120 days will be charged 50 per cent of the living costs. After 180 days it would be 75 per cent - CBC
Air Force: Ukraine has shot down nearly 500 drones launched by Russia since September. According to Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 84 of these drones were downed in the first two days of 2023 - Kyiv Independent
Ethnic minorities such as Buryats have been disproportionately targeted by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation drive to bolster his invasion of Ukraine, community leaders said. The draft has hit a far greater swath of the population than initially promised, prompting officials and state TV to search for scapegoats and forcing Putin to admit to “mistakes” in calling up too many people. But even among those excesses, ethnic minorities in republics from Dagestan in the Caucasus to Yakutia in northeastern Siberia have seen a larger proportion of the male population rounded up and in a much more aggressive and arbitrary way, according to activists. As tens of thousands of men are sent to the front, Russia is conducting “basically a genocide of Buryats, Ukrainians and other peoples”, said Alexandra Garmazhapova, head of the Free Buryatia Foundation, an antiwar advocacy group - Financial Times