Negotiations with Russian Ombudsman and situation in Soledar: last night's highlights
Russia's ombudsman confirmed that 23 Ukrainians presumed dead are in fact alive, and the Pentagon and US military analysts differed on the situation in Soledar. Here is what you may have missed from the previous night.
Defenders, who were presumed dead, turned out to be alive
Russia confirmed that 23 Ukrainian citizens, whom Ukraine considered dead, are actually alive.
This was stated by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets following two rounds of negotiations with Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova.
Lubinets did not specify who exactly was alive. He said that although there is no breakthrough in the negotiations, technical work has begun. In particular, Ukraine and Russia are exchanging lists and information.
Situation in Soledar
The Pentagon sees no signs that Russian occupation forces have managed to capture Soledar, Donetsk Oblast.
US Department of Defense Spokesperson General Patrick Ryder noted that Ukrainian forces continue to carry out operations around Soledar and repel the occupiers.
At the same time, the US Institute for the Study of War claims that the Russians probably control most, if not all, of Soledar and have probably pushed Ukrainian troops out of the western outskirts of the town.
However, according to ISW analysts, the capture of Soledar will not allow the Russian occupation forces to control the critical lines of communication with Bakhmut, nor will it improve the position of Russian troops surrounding the city in the near future.
Ukrainian food hubs in Africa
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the creation of Ukrainian food hubs in Africa could bring relations with African countries to a new level.
According to him, Africa has already felt that the security of different nations depends on Ukrainian food exports.
More than 2.4 million Ukrainians are homeless
As of autumn 2022, more than 2.4 million Ukrainians lived in damaged or destroyed housing as a result of the Russian invasion. The list of victims is growing every day.
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Oleksandr Kubrakov said that draft law No. 7198, which is currently under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada, is intended to regulate the issue of compensation for destroyed housing.
U.S. welcomes the decision of allies to provide tanks to Ukraine
The United States supports the decision of allies to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons, including tanks.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, General Patrick Ryder, added that if the allies transfer weapons to Ukraine, it is also necessary to provide training for Ukrainians and maintenance of these weapons.
Moreover, the Pentagon spokesperson hopes to discuss the supply of new weapons to Ukraine during the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (the so-called “Ramstein format”), which will be held on January 20.
Meanwhile, 225 Ukrainians arrived in Spain for training, and 20 of them will learn to work with HAWK anti-aircraft missile systems.
Conference on Ukraine's recovery in Italy
Italy is preparing for a conference on the recovery of Ukraine with the participation of government and business representatives.
This was stated by the Minister of Enterprise and Production of Italy Adolfo Urso.
“I confirm Italy's full support for the rapid start of recovery, continuity of humanitarian assistance, and careful consideration of Ukraine's requests for assistance in the restoration of strategic infrastructure,” Urso said.
Europe displaces Asia in liquefied gas imports
According to Reuters, the world imported more liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2022 than ever before. As a result of Russia's war against Ukraine, the growth was driven by wealthy European countries that intercepted supplies from Asia.
However, European countries could not refuse Russian LNG in 2022 - imports from Russia reached a record level: 15.95 million tons against 13.46 million tons in 2021. Only the United Kingdom and the Baltic countries stopped importing LNG from Russia.