Prepared by Anna Dovha, Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska
Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov, Vlada Liberova
Cities under attack.
Kharkiv region. In the morning on December 8, the Russian invaders launched a missile attack on the city of Kupiansk. An administrative building and cars were damaged. In the evening, the Russian military shelled Kharkiv district in the region. As a result of the shelling, a fire broke out in a private house and 3 people were injured. Mykolaiv region. At night on December 7, the city of Mykolaiv was under attack. The territories of transport enterprises were hit, equipment was damaged. No casualties were reported. Dnipropetrovsk region. At night on December 8, the city of Nikopol was attacked by the Russian military. Due to the attack, private houses, household buildings, shops, office buildings, a college and gas pipelines were damaged. Kherson region. On December 7, the Russian invaders shelled the territory of the Kherson region 30 times. Civilian infrastructure facilities and residential buildings were damaged due to Russian shelling. As a result of shelling, 2 civilians were killed, and 1 person was injured. Donetsk region. On December 7, the Russian invaders massively shelled the city of Kurakhove. As a result of the Russian attack, 6 people were killed and 5 people were injured. In total, during the day 9 people were killed and 15 people were injured in the region.
Human rights.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded that in the period from February 24 to April 6, 441 civilians, including 28 children, were executed by the Russian military in 102 villages, towns and cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Summary executions often followed security checks by Russian armed forces, namely any relation to military service could have fatal consequences, says the report. Considering the number of the verified cases, the actual figures are likely to be considerably higher as work is still ongoing to corroborate an additional 198 killings that occurred in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia in the initial stages of the ongoing armed attack against Ukraine. Apart from the summary execution of civilians, the report covers cases when Russian troops launched attacks that did not respect the principle of distinction between military objectives and civilians, and failed to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians.
According to the analytical report of the NGO ‘Eastern Human Rights Group’, Russians who illegally adopted children from the occupied territories of Ukraine en masse return them to orphanages when they discover children’s diseases and health problems. Because of this, the Russian occupiers in the Donetsk region introduced a medical examination procedure, which allows only healthy children to be selected for deportation.
Also, the Russian invaders en masse deport children from the temporarily occupied Luhansk region to Chechnya, allegedly for ‘patriotic education’.
War crimes prosecution.
On December 7, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands filed a joint declaration of intervention in the case brought by Ukraine against Russia at the International Court of Justice.
Forced migration.
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko signed a grant agreement with the German development bank KfW for 200 million euros, which will be directed to the support of internally displaced persons in Ukraine.
Culture.
Due to the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, the drop in income in the creative industries amounted to more than 63%, while 20% of industry representatives went abroad, according to Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy.
Destructions.
As of December 6, as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, 38000 residential buildings, 2719 educational and more than 1250 medical institutions were destroyed.
Food security.
As of December 7, more than 30 countries, including EU countries, announced their financial participation in the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ program initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Liabilities amount to 190 million dollars.
Foreign policy.
On December 8, the Council of the European Union decided not to recognize Russian documents issued in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and Georgia.
On December 7, the US Senate Committee on International Relations approved a resolution recognizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people. After that, the text of the resolution can be submitted to the Senate for a vote.
Russia has been excluded from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BACE), a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Oleksandr Marikovskyi, said.
Ukrainian diplomats continue to receive threats, a total of 31 cases have already been recorded in 15 countries. As the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, reported on December 7, the same address of the sender is indicated on all envelopes: the Tesla car dealership in the German town of Sindelfingen.
Media.
Estonia and Lithuania stopped broadcasting the Russian TV channel ‘Dozhd’ after Latvia recently revoked its broadcasting license, which gave the right to distribute the content created in the countries of the European Union, the United States and others.
Disinformation.
On 6 December 2022, three non-governmental organizations from Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, namely the Civic Resilience Initiative, Kosciuszko Institute and Detector Media, presented in Brussels during the EU-Ukraine Forum on Countering Disinformation a joint in-depth report highlighting the challenges emanating from Russian disinformation and propaganda activities in the Lublin Triangle countries. The report presented a number of recommendations addressed to all stakeholders, international organisations and donors, civil society, and media. These recommendations include: raising awareness, which is the cornerstone of resilience to Russian malign information campaigns; nominating a critical coordinating body responsible for strategic communication both in the country and abroad; developing or strengthening a comprehensive real-time monitoring system; engaging in practice and know-how sharing with other countries and partners that are highly exposed to Russian disinformation;
Energy security.
Taiwan provides funding in the amount of $1 million to assist the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in purchasing diesel electric generators.
On December 7, Australia has joined the G7 in implementing a price cap of USD 60 per barrel of seaborne Russian-origin crude oil.
Awards.
Politico recognized President Volodymyr Zelenskyi as the most influential person in Europe.
Reading corner.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., December 09, 2022: personnel – around 93 390, tanks ‒ 2937, APV ‒ 5912, artillery systems – 1926, MLRS – 395, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 211, fixed-wing aircraft – 281, helicopters – 264, operational-tactical level UAV – 1603, cruise missiles – 592, boats and light speed boats – 16, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 4531, special equipment – 164.
Christmas in the air.
Thinking of Christmas shopping? Check some of the Ukraine supporting brands delivering worldwide:
- Made with Bravery the official Ukrainian marketplace of different goods and gifts produced in Ukraine.
- Here and Now sustainable eco pottery by Yuliya Makliuk. Part of the profit goes for reconstruction needs of Irpin and support of armed forces.
- Saint Javelin former journalist project that distributes profits to support rebuilding Ukraine and its humanitarian needs.
- OLIZ silk scarves and clothes. 50% from income goes to the Ukrainian army and volunteers.
Every action counts, no contribution is too small!
- Support Hurkit Foundation established and supported by Kyiv activists, previously standing for urban development, now supporting the military in the hotspots.
- Support SharetheTruth project becoming one of the volunteers translating it into your local language.
- Subscribe to our daily updates on Twitter and our website.
