Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more than 230 prisoners of war, a first officially in several months. “Following a complex negotiation process, 248 Russian servicemen were repatriated from territory controlled by the kyiv regime,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram. “More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have returned from captivity,” announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Loubinets, exactly 230 Ukrainian soldiers were exchanged during this “49th exchange” between kyiv and Moscow since the start of the Russian assault in February 2022. It is “the largest in terms of number of defenders [ukrainiens] repatriated,” said the Ukrainian coordination center responsible for prisoners of war. In total since February 24, 2022, “2,828 defenders [ukrainiens] have returned home! “, Loubinets said again on Wednesday. According to Ukrainian media, the previous exchange of prisoners of war dates back to last August.
Sentence of the day
We don’t care what Putin thinks. »
These are the words of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Invited by France 2 to comment on the statement made in mid-December by the Russian president considering that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) risked “burying the Olympic movement” by requiring Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate under a neutral banner in the Paris Olympics , the French Minister of Sports retorted: “We don’t care what he thinks. » “There are rules set by the IOC, it is the IOC which has the authority to decide who participates, who does not participate,” she said.
The number of the day
2. This is the number of F-16s sent by Norway to Denmark. Oslo intends to participate in the training of Ukrainian pilots on these aircraft, which are eagerly awaited by kyiv. The two Norwegian F-16s will be deployed for an as yet undetermined period at the Danish air base of Skrydstrup where the Ukrainians are trained as part of multinational cooperation.
Today’s trend
Ukraine is counting on the West to maintain its economy in 2024. The country needs $37 billion in Western financial aid to keep its economy afloat in the face of the Russian invasion which has been ongoing for almost two years, said his Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, during his government’s first meeting of the year.
In 2023, the Ukrainian authorities had indicated that they would need $41 billion in external financing from its allies and international organizations to keep its economy running. But new promises of Western aid to Ukraine have slowed sharply, against a backdrop of political dissension in Europe and the United States, falling to their lowest level since the start of the Russian invasion in early 2022, indicated in early December the German research institute Kiel Institute.
“The outlook is uncertain […] since the largest pending commitment – from the European Union – has not been approved and aid from the United States is declining,” details the institute, which lists military, financial aid and humanitarian aid promised and delivered to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
In total, since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s allies and major international organizations (World Bank, IMF, etc.) have promised it nearly 255 billion euros in aid, including 182 billion to short term (already delivered or planned within a year). These commitments include 141 billion euros in financial aid, nearly 16 billion in humanitarian aid and 98 billion in military aid.