Here is the situation on Tuesday, December 24:
Fighting
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X that “according to preliminary data, the number of North Korean soldiers killed and wounded in the Kursk region has already exceeded 3,000”. Zelenskyy’s remarks came soon after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said South Korean estimates put the number at about 1,100.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a post on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed nine Ukrainian drones over the Rostov Region and two over the Sea of Azov.
- Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as GUR, said in a post on Telegram that a warehouse in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone “was destroyed” along with parts for the “Shahed” drone “worth $16 million” in a “mysterious destructive fire”.
Diplomacy and Politics
- Sweden rejected China’s claim that it has cooperated in an open investigation into the severing of two Baltic Sea undersea cables in Swedish waters in November. European officials have said they suspect the sabotage is linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a claim the Kremlin described as “laughable”.
- Legislators in Romania, which borders Ukraine, voted narrowly in favour of a new pro-European coalition government, after the country’s Constitutional Court annulled the presidential race amid claims of Russian interference.
- Zelenskyy accused Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of wanting to “help” Putin after Fico visited Moscow in an apparent bid to continue importing Russian gas, with a contract for gas transit through Ukraine set to expire on December 31.
- Italy’s cabinet on Monday passed a law decree that allows it to continue supplying military aid to Ukraine until the end of 2025, a government statement said.
- Volunteers cleaning up a major oil spill along Russia’s Black Sea coast said they are overwhelmed and appealed to Putin for help, more than a week after two ageing Russian tankers were damaged in stormy weather on their way to deliver fuel to the Russian Navy.