Russia-Ukraine war megathread - End of 2024 news, updates, and recaps
There have been a few interesting bits of news here and there over the holiday period as well as notable developments, along with the usual political squabbling, that people might be interesting in skimming or catching up on. These posts are grouped by topic and in reverse chronological order (except the pledges of support section that reads better chronologically) as best as possible (mods feel free to edit the post itself if needed).
Also, just today there is news that Finland seizes Russia-linked tanker suspected of cutting vital undersea cables (please take discussion to the Tildes thread) and now Sweden's Social Democrats want to activate NATO's Article 4 after the cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea.
(Thank you to @KapteinB, @cffabro, @skybrian, and the other people who have helped post many of these links and alternative sources!)
December 2024:
Russia and Ukraine swap at least 300 prisoners in exchange deal
Russia suffered 421,000 casualties in 2024, 'highest price' since start of invasion, Syrskyi says and allegedly ~785,000 Russian troops since the beginning of the invasion in February of 2022.
Injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine has died, says South Korea
‘I thought it was fake news’: secrecy around North Koreans fighting in Kursk
“We were told in the morning to prepare for a special type of patient,” said one of the medical staff at the hospital who treated North Koreans.
“We’d heard rumours that North Koreans were fighting there, but I didn’t believe it. No one had actually seen them before,” the medic said.
More than 1,000 North Korean military casualties in Ukraine war, says South Korea
Ukraine faces difficult decisions over acute shortage of frontline troops - "Depleted army is increasingly made up of older men, but Zelenskyy is reluctant to lower mobilisation age from 25"
Kyiv reveals total Ukraine casualties in Putin’s war for first time - "Zelenskyy said 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 370,000 wounded. That compares with 600,000 dead and wounded reported for Russia."
In December, Perun released a video which quotes material about Ukraine's intelligence support of Syrian opposition forces that I hadn't heard before. At the 49:00 mark he says that Ukraine provided essential information (and basics) to Syrian rebel forces on drone usage, 3D printer schematics, and release mechanisms. Here's an imgur link to the report's summary that was posted to X/Twitter.
Pledges of support:
In June it was announced that the Annual allied military aid, [to that point, would be] $60 billion for next four years
In July 39 tanks, HIMARS and ammunition: Germany covertly hands over huge shipment of weapons to Ukraine
In late December the Biden administration pledges additional military aid to Ukraine amid Russia war - "... extensive support including a planned delivery of hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets and hundreds of armored vehicles by mid-January."
Interesting articles and information from 2024:
‘The forest will survive’: the volunteers saving Kharkiv's war-charred woodland
In September, Ukraine strikes two Russian munition depots, says military. This comes after numerous drone strikes on Russian oil facilities in August, July, and January.
‘I can do the same job as a man’: Ukraine’s first frontline female commander on war, grief – and her hope for the future - If you only read one article on this page it should be this one. This is a great interview and the person who took that portrait photo knew exactly what they were doing. I want her portrait to be painted and hung in the Louvre!
Revealed: Russia anticipated [August] Kursk incursion months in advance, seized papers show - As well, Ukraine's Kursk Offensive, launched in August and still holding their ground, has an entire wiki page.
A night with the drone squad targeting Russian forces in micro battles
Frontline report: Ukraine ignites Russian strategic bases, flames span from Crimea to Urals
Reuters interview excerpts: Ukraine President Zelenskiy speaks to Reuters in exclusive interview
Oleh Sentsov, Ukrainian director turns accidental footage into a film
In his home near Ukraine's front line with Russia, Yurii makes a stand
Putin's Unsustainable Spending Spree: How the War in Ukraine Will Overheat the Russian Economy
Valerii Zaluzhnyi: top Ukraine general who rivals president for popularity: Volodymyr Zelenskiy seems ready to risk firing his armed forces chief in a deepening rift that has shone a light on Kyiv’s frailties
Previous megathreads:
I'll update this more in a little while.
Mid-year 2024 updates and news megathread that covered developments such as announcements of North Korea providing materiel and manpower, changes in NATO leadership, the sacking of several Russian defense ministers, Eastern European security pacts, and changes to Ukrainian defense leadership.
February 2024 megathread that covers Ukraine's withdrawal from Avdiivka, the shooting down of more than one Russian A-50 AWACS, trade sanctions, and some articles about drone swarming tech.
To find more posts about these topics, use the 2022 russian invasion of ukraine tag.
Zelenskyy gave a New Year's Eve address to Ukraine, there are some excerpts here.
The ISW has a year-end report that's referenced in that article. It has a lot more detail about events, but here are just a few excerpts that are easy to parse.
Russian losses in war have exceeded 800,000 – Ukraine's General Staff (Ukrainska Pravda)
Norway will allocate over €2 billion to Ukraine in 2025. This is the largest Norwegian aid in history (Babel)
Ukraine’s capture of [two] North Koreans offers rare insight into Russian alliance, says Zelenskyy
For The First Time Since 2022, Ukraine May Have A Tank Advantage Over Russia (Forbes)
Ohh I've got some reading to do!
Additionally, The Telegraph's Ukraine: the Latest podcast remains a valuable hub for the latest information. I find it to be accessible making it easy to just put on for a few minutes and get a few quick updates.
Thanks for compiling!
In December, Perun released a video which quotes material about Ukraine's intelligence support of Syrian opposition forces that I hadn't heard before. At the 49:00 mark he says that Ukraine provided essential information (and basics) to Syrian rebel forces on drone usage, 3D printer schematics, and release mechanisms. Here's an imgur link to the report's summary that was posted to X/Twitter.
Japan expands its sanctions against Russia (Japan Times)
Russia ‘getting what it deserves,’ Ukraine says, after launching counterattack in border region (CNN)
I'm surprised they're having a counterattack over there, considering its risks. Then again, it is by far the best bargaining chip Ukraine has.
I do hope that the war will end sooner rather than later but who knows what will happen afterwards...
Bargaining chip for what? For Ukrainian land is what, and invading Russian land comes at the opportunity cost of retaking Ukrainian land.
The Kursk offensive had two motives: propaganda (it looks less like a stalemate if Ukraine takes Russian land, which is vital for ongoing western support), and bypassing Russia's escalation threats against western aid (Ukraine put NATO tanks driving on on Russian soil, which makes using NATO artillery shooting at Russian soil look relatively modest by comparison). Both serve the overarching Ukrainian strategy of the war: securing western aid at as high capacity as possible (because materiel is more useful early in the war than late in the war), and for long enough that Russia collapses before Ukraine's support collapses.
There’s more to it than that. It’s not a coincidence that this offensive is happening days before the new presidential inauguration.
The talk around the office right now is that Trump is likely to pressure both sides to freeze current frontlines as a DMZ. This is not something Ukraine wants, but Russia wanted it … until it got invaded, which is why it invested massively into retaking it before the inauguration after the reelection.
Now Ukraine is doing the same in return, in order to hold a stronger chip when Trump will force everyone at the table.
Oh yeah absolutely. It's clear that war support is decreasing slow but steady. And millions of Ukrainians are effectively hold hostage. Then there is the resources on said land...
I wish we weren't so short sighted further west. :/ If Russia learns it can get away with this, god help us.
Ukrainian F-16 pilot sets historical record by shooting down six cruise missiles in one sortie (Interfax Ukraine)
Russia's ‘shadow fleet’ tankers barred from major Chinese ports (The New Voice of Ukraine)
Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot supplying fuel to Engels-2 airbase, military confirms (The Kyiv Independent)
Ukraine says it has hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in a drone strike (CNN)
Good that they're starting to hit some of these huge refineries again. The Russian excuse for the incident as practicing for an evacuation is comical.
When all of this is over it'll be really interesting to read the reports on the efficacy of long-range drone attacks like this and on what impacts it had on infrastructure and logistics.
Their excuses make me snort because it rarely reflects better on them than it would have if it were Ukraine.
There's at least a dozen ammo dumps and refineries that went up because supposedly someone lit a cigarette. How is gross incompetence a better excuse than a literal bomb designed to destroy? It's mindblowing how this may actually work in domestic news.
Russians destroy their own North Korean-made SAM system, claiming it was “Western-made radar” (Euromaidan Press)
Ukraine downs 2 Russian helicopters in sea drone attack