Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Joe Biden at the G7 summit, Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023

Sunday’s Coverage: Zelensky Stands Up to Slovakia’s Threat to Cut Electricity

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1946 GMT:

Ukraine has brought back 189 citizens from Russian captivity on Monday in one of the largest prisoner exchanges during Moscow’s invasion.

The release included 87 Armed Forces service members, 43 National Guard members, 33 border guards, 24 sailors, and two civilians. The freed soldiers included defenders of Mariupol, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and Snake Island.

Ukraine freed 150 Russian military service members.

Ukraine has returned 3,956 people from Russian captivity since the start of the 34-month invasion, including 1,358 who were released this year.

UPDATE 1808 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has visited the new Syrian government, which took power after the fall of the Assad earlier this month, in Damascus (see Syria Updates).

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Sybiha “informed our colleagues” about Kyiv’s position on the Russian presence in Syria, and Syrian counterparts hold “a similar view”.

Sybiha posted:

UPDATE 1259 GMT:

The US is supporting Ukraine with $15 billion, backed by future revenues from frozen Russian assets, says Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

The agreement was signed between Ukraine’s Finance Ministry and the World Bank.

UPDATE 1017 GMT:

Air defenses downed 21 attack drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 22 decoy drones were lost to electronic counter-measures.

The drones were intercepted over the Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Odesa, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Debris from downed UAVs damaged residential houses in Kharkiv and Odesa.

UPDATE 0821 GMT:

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has issued three demands to the Kremlin over the Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight which was turned away from Russia’s Chechnya region.

The flight fell in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 62 passengers and five crew. A preliminary investigation by Azerbaijan has found that the plane was hit by Russian air defense systems, and its GPS jammed.

Aliyev said on State TV on Sunday:

First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it must acknowledge its responsibility. Third, those responsible must be punished and held criminally liable, and compensation must be paid to the Azerbaijani state, as well as to the affected passengers and crew members.

These are our conditions. The first of them was fulfilled yesterday, and I hope the others will also be met.

Vladimir Putin apologized on Saturday, but did not acknowledge responsibility.

Aliyev responded on Sunday, “There is nothing extraordinary or excessive in these demands. They are based on international norms and principles of ordinary human decency.”

UPDATE 0806 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called on the European Union to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, replacing them with supplies from the US and other partners.

Sybiha attached a report from London’s Financial Times that as of mid-December, the EU imported a record 16.5 million tons of Russian LNG, surpassing the 2023 total of 15.18 million tons.

In June, the EU imposed its first ban on LNG transshipment. However, while EU countries like Germany no longer import Russian LNG directly, the German State energy company SEFE has a long-term contract with Russia’s Yamal facility. Supplies from Yamal are routed to France before being fed into the European pipeline system.

In a conversation with Donald Trump shortly after his election victory on November 5, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen suggested, “We still get a whole lot of LNG via Russia, from Russia. Why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper, and brings down our energy prices?”

On Friday, Ukraine received its first shipment of American LNG, arriving via a terminal in Greece. Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK said the delivery was approximately 100 million cubic meters.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

Russia has vowed to retaliate after its State media were blocked on the Telegram message app in parts of the European Union.

The channels of Ria Novosti, Rossiya 1, Pervyi Kanal and NTV television, and the Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers are no longer accessible in several countries, including France, Belgium, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, and Italy.

“The systematic cleansing of all undesirable sources of information from the information space continues,” blustered Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has told the nation of his expectation of an “important decision” from the US on military aid.

In his nightly address, Zelensky said:

I know that an important decision from the United States to support Ukraine is being prepared — we expect an official announcement tomorrow.

It will be a significant support package for our soldiers, proven effective throughout these years of war in defending Ukraine.

On Friday, US officials said the Biden Administration is planning to announce a package of $1.25 billion. It includes munitions for the NASAMS missile system and the HAWK air defense system; Stinger missiles; and 155-mm and 105-mm artillery rounds.

The Administration is trying to spend the remaining $5.6 billion from a $60.8 billion authorization by Congress in April. Donald Trump, who re-enters the White House in January, could limit or even halt aid to Kyiv.

Zelensky told the nation:

This support is crucial to stabilizing the front lines—every additional supply from our partners means more saved lives of our soldiers. We are also working to ensure that other partners maintain their support at the necessary level.

In a later message, Zelensky paid tribute to former US President Jimmy Carter, whose death at the age of 100 was announced on Sunday.

He was a leader who served during a time when Ukraine was not yet independent, yet his heart stood firmly with us in our ongoing fight for freedom.

We deeply appreciate his steadfast commitment to Christian faith and democratic values, as well as his unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked aggression.

He devoted his life to promoting peace in the world and defending human rights. Today, let us remember: peace matters, and the world must remain united in standing against those who threaten these values.