Prisoner release, US aid package, and FM Sybiha's visit to Syria: December 30 highlights

Ukraine frees 189 defenders from captivity

Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on December 30. 189 Ukrainian defenders were returned home.

The released soldiers are the defenders of Mariupol, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and Snake Island. In addition, there are soldiers who defended Ukraine on the Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson axes. Those who were captured in Kursk Oblast were also returned.

Two Ukrainian journalists were also released from Russian captivity.

The US provided a large aid package to Ukraine

The United States has allocated a military aid package worth nearly $2.5 billion to Ukraine. The Pentagon is currently in the process of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, thousands of missiles, and hundreds of armored vehicles.

In addition, Washington announced the provision of $3.4 billion in direct budget support to Ukraine.

The US will also transfer $15 billion to Ukraine, secured by future revenues from frozen Russian assets.

Zelenskyy approved a number of personnel decisions

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree appointing Olha Reshetylova (Kobylynska) as military commissioner.

The head of state also dismissed the head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, Ruslan Kravchenko, and the head of the Poltava Oblast Military Administration, Filip Pronin.

Military intelligence veteran Roman Mashovets, who held the position of Deputy Head of the President's Office, was also dismissed.

Portnov demands removal of petition about him

Former Deputy Head of Viktor Yanukovych's Administration Andriy Portnov, through his representative Karina Mikityan, appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to remove a petition proposing to submit to the National Security and Defense Council the issue of imposing sanctions on him, according to a hromadske video "Arrests, proceedings, inspections: corruption 2024".

NACP checks person involved in hromadske investigation

The NACP is conducting a full review of the 2023 declaration submitted by Andriy Padalka. They are also investigating the reliability of the information provided in the declaration, the presence of a conflict of interest, the accuracy of the assessment of the assets declared by him, signs of illicit enrichment or unfoundedness of the assets.

In July, investigative journalists from hromadske established that the head of the Department of Economic Support of the SBU, Andriy Padalka, lives in a $600,000 estate in one of the elite cottage towns near Kyiv.

MSECs will be liquidated from 2025

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill on the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions (MSEC) from January 1, 2025 into law.

The government promises that the path to disability status will be significantly simplified, as most processes will be shortened and digitized. All stages of the assessment will be recorded in an electronic system, which should make corruption abuses impossible.

Sybiha met with the leader of the Syrian rebels

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Syria. In Damascus, he held talks with the leadership of the Syrian administration - its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He noted that Ukraine is ready to "start a new page in bilateral relations" and restore diplomatic relations "on the basis of mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty."

In addition, the minister raised the Ukrainian flag over the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Damascus.

The Ministry of Justice has resumed the work of the first registers

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has restored the operation of three key notarial registers after a large-scale cyberattack by Russians.

The Unified Register of Powers of Attorney, the Inheritance Register, and the Unified Register of Special Forms of Notarial Documents have already been put into operation.

Other news

• Police have identified the Russian soldier responsible for the murder of a woman with red manicure from Bucha. Her photo was circulated in the media across the globe.
• In Poland, a lawmaker says that Ukrainian fighters should be banned from entering the country after the war due to "criminality."
• Ukrainians congratulated the temporarily occupied territories ahead of the New Year holiday.
• A boy who suffered burns and survived a missile strike on Vinnytsia has taken off his mask.