War in Ukraine: One dead in a Russian strike, the Slovak Prime Minister accused of wanting to “help Putin”… an update on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Tuesday, December 24, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

A Russian missile strike kills one in Kryvyi Rih

One person was killed and 11 others injured in a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky in central Ukraine, local authorities said Tuesday. A residential building was hit and people could still be trapped in the rubble, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said.

kyiv condemned the attack, which occurred on Christmas Eve. “While other countries in the world are celebrating Christmas, Ukrainians continue to suffer Russian attacks,” Ukrainian mediator Dmytro Loubinets said on Telegram.

North Korean engagement with Moscow “did not have a significant impact”

The engagement of North Korean soldiers alongside the Russian army in Russia's Kursk Oblast “did not have a significant impact” on the course of the fighting, a Ukrainian military intelligence official assured Agence France-Presse on Tuesday. According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “about 500 officers”, have been mobilized in this region bordering Ukraine, of which the Ukrainian army has occupied several hundred square kilometers since August. Neither Russia nor North Korea have ever confirmed the presence of this contingent alongside Moscow's troops.

According to this Ukrainian military intelligence official, North Korean troops have no experience in modern combat, particularly when faced with drones that have become omnipresent on the battlefield, and use “more primitive tactics, from the Second World War or the post-Second World War”. “But they are also learning. And we cannot underestimate the enemy. And we can see that they are already taking certain things into account in their activities,”, the official continued.

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22 years in prison for a man accused of railway sabotage for the benefit of Ukraine

A Russian military court announced Tuesday that it had sentenced to 22 years in prison a man accused of sabotaging railways in 2023 for Ukraine's benefit in Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Pavel Levchenko was accused of causing “two explosions during the passage of freight trains”, the military court said in a statement. He was planning further sabotage and acting on orders from kyiv, the court in Rostov-on-Don, in southwestern Russia, said. He was allegedly trained by the Ukrainian security service and then sent to Crimea to commit “acts of terrorism”.

Since 2022, the Russian authorities have been increasing the number of arrests for “espionage”, “treason”, “sabotage”, “extremism” and “discrediting the army”, often with very long prison sentences. But trials are often held behind closed doors and few details of the cases are made public. Since February 2022, thousands of people have been sanctioned, threatened or imprisoned for their opposition to the conflict.

Zelensky accuses Slovak PM of wanting to “help Putin” after Moscow visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday accused Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who visited Moscow the day before, of wanting to “help” Vladimir Putin “make money to finance the war with kyiv”.

Faced with Russian invasion for almost three years, Ukraine announced last summer that it would not renew the contract linking it to Russia until the end of the year to transport Russian gas to Europe via its extensive network of gas pipelines. Robert Fico, whose country is very dependent on this supply, criticizes kyiv for this choice.

But the Slovak Prime Minister does not want to find solutions to replace Russian gas and ensure “energy independence” of Europe, accused Volodymyr Zelensky in an angry message. This suggests that “he wants to help Putin make money to finance the war and weaken Europe,”, the Ukrainian president wrote on X. “We are losing people because of the war that Putin has launched, and we believe that such assistance to Putin is immoral,”, he said.

Robert Fico's “main goal” “is to do business with Russia,”, Zelensky scolded. “Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow”?”, he asked, suggesting that the Slovak prime minister could be “paid”.

Robert Fico, one of the few European leaders who has remained close to Vladimir Putin, has decided to stop all military aid to Ukraine and is calling for peace talks. He explained on Sunday that his surprise visit to Moscow was “in response” to Volodymyr Zelensky's stance on gas.