Internatonal delegates, including Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umerov (2nd from L) at the Ukraine Peace Formula Summit, Davos, Switzerland, January 14, 2024

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Monday’s Coverage: France Joins Security Commitments to Kyiv v. Russian Invasion

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1821 GMT:

During his trip to Bern, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked Swiss officials, including President Viola Amherd, for political and economic aid and for discussions of Kyiv’s Peace Formula to end the Russian invasion.

UPDATE 1559 GMT:

Russian officials have boasted of imposing lengthy sentences on more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners, with some to spend their lives behind bars.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, proclaimed on State TV that the POWs have been condemned “for committing murder of civilians and mistreating prisoners [of war]”.

Bastrykin presented no evidence and did not specify if the soldiers were sentenced in Russia or occupied Ukraine. He declared that Russia will continue prosecution of Ukrainian military staff, including “high-level officials”.

The UN and human rights organizations have reported that Russian forces have abused, tortured, and executed POWs and civilians throughout Vladimir Putin’s 22-month invasion.

See also Ukraine War, Day 673: Another Russian Execution of POWs

UPDATE 1111 GMT:

The commander of Ukraine’s military, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has confirmed the downing of two Russian warplanes on Sunday night over the Sea of Azov (see 0655 GMT).

Zaluzhnyi said of the “perfectly planned and executed operation”, “Ukraine’s Air Force destroyed an enemy A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an enemy IL-22 air control center.”

UPDATE 0854 GMT:

The UN has appealed for $4.2 billion to support Ukrainian refugees and devastated communities in Ukraine.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs repeated that more than 14.6 million people — 40% of Ukraine’s population — will need humanitarian assistance this year.

About 6.3 million Ukrainians have fled abroad, while more than 3.3 million of the people in need live in frontline communities and Russian-occupied areas in easterrn and southern Ukraine.

The OCHA is seeking $3.1 billion to help 8.5 million people in Ukraine and $1.1 billion to support 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees.

UPDATE 0816 GMT:

Only 517 children of at least 19,546 deported by Russia have been returned to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the number of forcibly transferred juveniles is likely far higher, given the difficulty of obtaining information from Russian-occupied areas.

Lubinets said 2,828 adults have been freed by Russia, including 150 civilians.

He called on “the international community to “immediately step up efforts” for more releases: “Our task is to return everyone.”

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Russia’s “Children’s Rights” Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, over the deportations.

UPDATE 0716 GMT:

Prominent Russian businessman Mikhail Kokorich has renounced his citizenship.

Kokorich, former owner of the Technosila company and founder of space startups Momentus and Destinus, posted on LinkedIn, “This was a conscious decision driven by my fundamental disagreement with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the policies of the Putin government.”

He attached a certificate from the Russian Embassy confirming the renunciation on Friday. The country of issue is hidden in the document.

Kokorich founded more than 20 companies since 2010. In 2021, he moved to Switzerland where he founded a new space startup, Destinus.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

Ukraine military officials and a senior legislator claim a Russian A-50 radar early-warning plane was downed and an IL-22M airborne command aircraft was damaged over the Sea of Azov on Sunday night.

They said the IL-22M crew sent out an SOS before attempting to land in Anapa in the Krasnodar region in southwest Russia, calling for an evacuation of the area and assistance from firefighters and medics.

Ukrainian air defenses downed five Russian warplanes — four Su-24s and an Su-30SM — over the Black Sea and southern Ukraine within days last month.

See also Ukraine War, Day 671: Zelenskiy’s Christmas Message, “Our Air Defense Will Only Grow Stronger”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Representatives of 81 countries gathered in Davos, Switzerland on Sunday in the fourth international summit on the Ukraine Peace Formula to end Russia’s 22 1/2-month invasion.

At the annual World Economic Forum, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, and Defense Minister Rustam Umerov presented the latest development on the 10-point formula.

Umerov proposed an international working group, of defense ministers and national security advisors, to establish the mechanism for Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine.

The meeting also discussed confirmation of the end of the invasion, prevention of another Russian-launched war, restoration of justice, and environmental security.

Yermak said a ceasefire would not be sufficient to deal with Vladimir Putin’s attempt to conquer Ukraine.

It’s definitely not the path to peace. The Russians do not want peace. They want domination. So, the choice is simple: either we lose and vanish – or win and live on. And we are fighting….

If international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity are not restored, any aggressor anywhere in the world will be able to seize a piece of any country tomorrow and hold fake elections there. The peace that Ukraine seeks must guarantee its survival, integrity, sovereignty, and development. And it must prevent the recurrence of aggression.

President Zelenskiy plans to travel to Switzerland on Monday, meeting his Swiss counterpart, the heads of both houses of Parliament, and party leaders as well as going to Davos.

Zelenskiy introduced the Peace Formula at the G20 summit in November 2022. It was considered at summits in Denmark, Saudi Arabia, and Malta between June and October 2023.

The 10 points are:

  • Withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities with the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia;
  • Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, with Russia reaffirming it, in accordance the UN Charter;
  • Prevention of an escalation of conflict and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine;
  • Radiation and nuclear safety, including the restoration of security around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest;
  • Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports;
  • Energy security;
  • Release of all prisoners and deportees;
  • Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes;
  • Prevention of ecocide, and the protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.