Ukraine-Russia war latest: US plans avalanche of Kyiv military aid

Representatives of European Union countries have failed to agree a 15th package of sanctions on Russia, which included an extension for the Czech Republic to import Russian oil-based products coming mainly through Slovakia, diplomats said.

The EU Ambassador to Ukraine announced €25mn (£20.7mn) in funding for Ukrainian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society work to support Ukraine’s eventual integration into the European Union.

Katarina Mathernova announced the funding at the Civil Society Development Forum in Kyiv, including €15mn for small NGOs over the next three years and €10mn for civil society work on integrating Ukraine into the EU.

“Ukraine’s civil society is not only a pillar of democracy but also a source of unbelievable strength and resilience in the face of Russia’s brutal aggression,” Ms Mathernova said.

“I am proud that, with EU funding, smaller local organisations will continue their critical work for Ukraine’s victory and our shared European future.”

Ukraine applied for EU membership days after Russia invaded and was granted candidate status in June the same year. EU leaders then agreed in December 2023 to open accession negotations with Ukraine.

Russian troops took control of the settlements of Pustynka and Sukhi Yaly in eastern Ukraine, the TASS state news agency reported on Friday, citing the defence ministry.

Separately, the defence ministry said the Russian navy destroyed six Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea on Friday.

Russia has lost 750,610 troops in Ukraine since its invasion started in February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported.

Russia has also lost 30,899 vehicles and fuel tanks, 21,043 artillery systems, 20,023 drones, 19,518 armoured fighting vehicles, 9,514 tanks, 1,253 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,020 air defence systems, 369 airplanes, 329 helicopters, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine, the report added.

A Ukranian military partisan group has claimed it sabotaged a key railway line between Moscow and Kursk, disrupting Russian supply lines.

An operative set fire to a relay cabinet near the village of Chekhov in Moscow Oblast, the Atesh group posted on Telegram on Friday, along with an undated video of the alleged sabotage.

The railway line has been partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since August.

Norway’s $1.8tn sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, can start selling stocks it holds in Russian companies, as long as it complies with international sanctions, the deputy finance minister told Reuters on Friday.

“Permission to sell the fund’s Russian stocks is given on the condition that the sale can be done in line with applicable sanctions,” Ellen Reitan said in an email.

The Norwegian finance ministry ordered a halt to all transactions in the fund’s Russian assets shortly after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and said at the time that the ultimate goal was to divest its holdings.

The fund has so far been unable from offloading Russian assets because it is not permitted to sell to counterparties under US or EU sanctions.

Russia’s capacity to outpace Ukraine’s artillery barrages has reduced to just 1.5 Russian rounds for each Ukrainian shell fired, Western officials said.

Previously Russia has been able to launch at least five times as many rounds as Ukraine could, with ratios higher at times.

Anonymous Western officials said the narrowing gap was down to a “wide variety of factors”, including limitations on Russian production lines, disruptions to arms rail transportation, Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian and North Korean ammunition stockpiles inside Russia, and Western supplies bolstering Ukraine’s armoury.

But large numbers of Russian glide bombs may be compensating “to devastating effect” for the reduced artillery front, the Western officials warned.

The special forces shared footage on Telegram showing intense close-quarters combat between Russian and Ukrainian troops in a wooded area.

Ukraine claimed that 17 Russian soldiers were killed in the assault targetting Kursk, an area Kyiv had invaded in a bold incursion back in August.

This fresh Kursk advance follows Ukrainian advances during a counterattack south of Korenevo, near the Ukrainian border, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia is believed to have reclaimed about 40 per cent of the Kursk region originally taken by Ukraine. Soldiers told the BBC they had been instructed to hold their position “until Trump’s inauguration and the start of negotiations.”

The White House has devised a last-minute strategy to strengthen Ukraine’s war efforts through significant military aid and sweeping new sanctions on Russia, according to a security briefing shared with the Guardian.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, during a meeting with Ukrainian presidential office head Andrii Yermak on Thursday, committed to delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armoured vehicles by mid-January.

The United States also plans to train Ukrainian troops outside the country and finalise $20bn in loans backed by frozen Russian assets, according to the briefing.

The strategy includes a final push of sanctions on Russia before US president-elect Donald Trump renters the White House. The move aims to weaken Russia’s war effort and enhance Ukraine’s leverage in future negotiations.

The Crimean Bridge was closed on Friday morning following reports of Ukrainian drone activity in the region.

Explosions were heard near Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch, according to the pro-Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel. Air defence systems were also activated, according to news outlet Krym.Realii.

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed Friday to have downed a Ukrainian drone over Crimea and destroyed two uncrewed boats heading to Crimea in the Black Sea.