WAR IN UKRAINE: January 3, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 314
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have liberated Velikiy Potemkinsky Island, according to Euro Solidarity’s Oleksij Honcharenko. This is an island between the left and right banks of the Dnipro near Kherson.
Police: 25 torture chambers discovered in liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast. Investigators have discovered 25 torture chambers in the liberated areas of the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, head of the regional police Volodymyr Tymoshko reported on Jan. 2. Tymoshko described detention conditions of civilians as “inhumane.” - Kyiv Independent
Prosecutors in Ukraine have announced that the individual suspected of orchestrating the removal of a Banksy mural in a town heavily damaged in Russian bombing could face 12 years in prison if found guilty. The artwork, depicting a woman in a gas mask and a dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher, was taken off a wall in the town of Hostomel, northwest of the capital, Kyiv, on December 2, according to officials. The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement on its website that the man it believes organized the operation had been handed a “suspicion notice.” "He was aware of the value of the work and planned to sell the graffiti and dispose of the funds received as he saw fit," it said in the statement issued on January 2. "To do this, he enlisted the help of men who were unaware of his intentions, whom he assured that he had all the necessary permits to dismantle the mural." - RFE/RL
European Commission President: Ukraine to start receiving 18 billion euros aid package. The EU would allocate the support package for Ukraine in monthly tranches, European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen wrote after her phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is planning a prolonged campaign of attacks with Iranian-made Shahed drones to exhaust Ukraine. “We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack with Shaheds. Its bet may be on exhaustion,” Zelensky said in his nightly address Monday. “On exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy sector.” Zelensky said Ukraine's main task is to ensure Russia's drone plans fail. He said more than 80 have been shot down over Ukraine since the start of 2023. “This number may increase in the near future. Because these weeks the nights can be quite restless. Now is the time when everyone involved in the protection of the sky should be especially attentive." - CNN
Israel's newly appointed Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that Israel will start "speaking less publicly" about the war between Russia and Ukraine. He also stated that he has a scheduled conversation with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, on Tuesday. He refused to comment on the provision of defense weapons to Ukraine and said that Ukraine would continue to receive "significant humanitarian aid” - Ukrainska Pravda
A poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from Dec. 4 to 27 said 85% of Ukrainians believe that no territorial concessions to Russia are acceptable, “even if because of this the war may last longer.”
Ukraine’s Economic Security Bureau reported on Jan. 2 that it had charged six executives of Ukroboronprom, the country’s main defense company, with embezzlement and abuse of power, reported the Kyiv Independent
Required reading…
Eight reasons for Ukrainian optimism in 2023
Ukrainians have experienced an incredibly traumatic year but the country enters 2023 with reason for cautious optimism. While the war is still far from over, a number of domestic and international trends emerged during the first ten months of the Russian invasion which pointed to the possibility of a future Ukrainian victory. The following eight factors helped determine the course of the war in 2022 and will be crucial in shaping the ultimate outcome of the conflict in the months ahead.
Read the full Atlantic Council Ukraine Alert analysis here