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Here are the key events on the 1,037th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Here's the situation on Friday, December 27:
struggle:
- South Korean intelligence said a wounded North Korean soldier sent to fight for Russia has been captured alive by Ukrainian forces, according to the Yonhap news agency on Friday.
- Russian drones struck a high-rise apartment building in the town of Chasov Yar in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Thursday, killing two people, according to regional authorities.
- Other attacks on Thursday hit an industrial zone in the southeastern city of Zaporozhye and a market in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The attacks in eastern Ukraine follow Russia's Christmas Day attack on the country's energy system.
- Russian forces captured the village of Hikhant in eastern Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Defense Ministry.
- The Ukrainian military said its air force had struck a military-industrial facility in the Russian city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov region over the previous few days. The facility was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in Russian attacks on Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.
- Ukraine's military said Thursday it had shot down 20 drones out of 31 launched by Russia overnight.
Politics and Diplomacy:
- Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next year, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Friday, citing Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov. He said Russia and China should respond to the United States' policy jointly, referring to NATO's alleged plans to “relocate its military infrastructure” to the Asia-Pacific region. China proposed a peace plan with Brazil to end the war.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries will continue to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which includes a mutual defense pact, that they signed in June, North Korea's KCNA news agency reported on Friday.
- Putin said Thursday he was open to Slovakia's offer to host peace talks with Ukraine. “We are not opposed if it comes to that. why not After Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” he said after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's visit to the Kremlin this week.
- Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian is set to visit Moscow on January 17 to sign a cooperation agreement with Putin, according to Kazem Jalali, Iran's ambassador to Russia, quoted by Russia's state news agency RIA on Thursday.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that his country is ready to work with the incoming US administration of Donald Trump to improve relations. But, he said, the US would have to take the first step as it had “suspended” dialogue after “the start of a special military operation”. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
Regional security:
- An investigation is underway into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, in which 38 people died. Unnamed Azerbaijani and US officials have reportedly said they believe a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the deadly crash. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against “hypotheses”.
- Moldova's parliament approved a 10-year defense strategy on Thursday, calling for increased defense spending as part of a plan to join the European Union. The move was derided by the pro-Russian opposition in the chamber, given the relatively small size of Moldova's armed forces. Pro-Western President Maya Sandu has accused Russia of trying to topple her government.
- Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new transit deal for Ukrainian gas, blaming Ukraine for refusing to extend the deal that supplies gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. The current five-year gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the year.
