War in Ukraine: Russian drone attack, record Swedish aid, prisoners released to fight… the latest on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Thursday, January 30, 2025, discover the latest news about this conflict

Drone attack

A Russian drone strike has killed at least nine people, including three elderly couples, in a residential area in Sumy, a town in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, Ukrainian authorities said. The Russian military has been pounding Ukrainian towns and cities almost daily with dozens of drones and missiles since the invasion began in February 2022. Footage released by emergency services showed a gutted building and rescuers with headlamps searching through the rubble for survivors. Ukrainian police later said the search had ended, with a total of nine bodies found in the rubble. Thirteen people were injured. A previous report stated that eight people were dead, including three couples aged 61 to 74, as well as a 74-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, mother of a little girl who was injured.

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“This is a terrible tragedy. A terrible Russian crime”, reacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social networks.“It is essential that the world does not stop putting pressure on Russia for this terror.” Russian President Vladimir “Putin says he is ready for negotiations but this is what he is really doing. Only force works against liars”, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga. Sumy, a city home to more than 255,000 people before Russia invaded in 2022, is close to the border with Russia and has been the target of frequent airstrikes. The Ukrainian Air Force said Moscow launched attacks on Ukraine with 81 drones, including Iranian Shaheds, overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. The air defense said it shot down 37 of the drones over various regions, including Sumy and the outskirts of the capital kyiv. In the southern region of Odessa, Russian drones also targeted the port of Izmail, one of the most important for Ukrainian exports.

In the eastern region of Donetsk, the epicentre of the fighting, separate Russian bombings on Thursday left one person dead and fourteen injured, including two children, local authorities said. Finally, Ukrainian bombings killed an elderly man and injured a woman in a Russian-controlled area of ​​the Kherson region (south), according to a spokesperson for the Russian authorities quoted by the TASS agency.

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Biggest military aid

The Swedish government pledged an additional €1.18 billion in military aid to Ukraine on Thursday, saying Europe must prepare to shoulder a larger share of the support. It is the largest amount Sweden has provided to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, Defense Minister Pal Jonson told a news conference. “This is a strong signal to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people that Sweden is prepared to support Ukraine in the long term,”, he said. “This is also a signal to our other allies: we must prepare for Europe to assume greater responsibility in supporting Ukraine”, the minister stressed. Lacking men and weapons, kyiv's forces have been on the defensive and retreating in the East and North-East for over a year, despite the losses inflicted on Russia and the occupation of several hundred km2 in the Russian border region of Kursk.

This setback and the rise to power of Donald Trump in the United States have revived speculation about peace negotiations and the sustainability of American military aid, which is essential for kyiv. Totaling 13.5 billion Swedish crowns (1.18 billion euros), the largest part of this aid program, 5.9 billion crowns, will be devoted to the acquisition of equipment from Swedish and foreign industry and then sent to Ukraine. One billion crowns have been earmarked for Ukrainian production of “long-range missiles and drones,” the government said.

The aid also includes donations worth 3.3 billion crowns from the Swedish Armed Forces, including 16 CB90-class attack vessels, doubling the number of such vessels given to Ukraine. Sweden's military support to Ukraine has totaled 61.9 billion crowns since 2022, according to the government. Stockholm has already donated the Archer artillery system, 50 CV90 combat vehicles, as well as a “dozen” Leopard 2 tanks and several anti-aircraft missile systems.

Former prisoners recruited

Since last May, some Ukrainian prisoners have been able to leave their cells to regain their “freedom”. No fewer than 6,800 prisoners have been released from Ukrainian prisons to join the increasingly exhausted armed forces on the front lines. Obviously, unlike Russia, which has chosen to release prisoners without taking into account the crimes and offences committed by their detainees, and this for a long time, and some of whom were employed by the Wagner militia, Ukraine has decided not to release criminals guilty of the most serious crimes: those who have committed the murder of two or more people, sexual crimes and treason, according to SkyNews.

“My main motivation was to defend Ukraine, my family and my loved ones… The feeling you get when you get out of prison and realize you are free again is indescribable. Freedom is freedom, after all”, confides Valery, aged 28 years.

As our foreign colleagues indicate, eligible volunteers must first pass medical tests and have their request approved by a court in order to be released. Subsequently, they commit, through the signing of a contract, to fight without vacation for a full year. At that point, they can then benefit from a conditional release to serve their country.