Sweden’s defence minister said on Thursday the Nordic country had agreed to donate its biggest aid package to Ukraine so far, worth 13.5bn Swedish crowns ($1.23bn).
Ukraine’s foreign ministry summoned Slovakia’s ambassador in Kyiv on Thursday to reject accusations that it was meddling in its neighbour’s internal affairs and to accuse Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of being a “mouthpiece” for Russia.
NGO leaders and representatives from affected projects in Ukraine said an abrupt pause in US funding came as a shock to communities exhausted by wartime challenges and they were scrambling for new sources of funding.
Sweden donates $1.2bn aid package to Ukraine
Sweden’s defence minister Pål Jonson said on Thursday the Nordic country had agreed to donate its biggest aid package to Ukraine so far, worth 13.5 billion Swedish crowns ($1.23-billion).
The aid package is Sweden’s 18th since Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The government was now negotiating with suppliers in Sweden and Europe to supply prioritised equipment such as artillery and drones, Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press conference.
Ukraine summons Slovak envoy to reject accusations of meddling
Ukraine’s foreign ministry summoned Slovakia’s ambassador in Kyiv on Thursday to reject accusations that it was meddling in its neighbour’s internal affairs and to accuse Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of being a “mouthpiece” for Russia.
Kyiv and Bratislava have been at odds for weeks over Ukraine’s decision not to extend a deal for Russian gas transit to Europe that expired at the end of December.
Kyiv’s tit-for-tat move came a day after Slovakia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in Bratislava to protest against Ukrainian comments criticising Fico that it said amounted to interference in Slovak affairs.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement it had expressed to Slovakia’s envoy deep disappointment that Fico was “acting as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin”.
It also called on Slovakia, a member of the European Union and Nato, to return to constructive dialogue.
Ukraine and Slovakia have exchanged a series of strongly worded accusations in recent weeks.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Fico had been “poisoned by Russian propaganda”. Earlier, Fico called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an “enemy” of Slovakia due to the gas transit dispute, according to Slovak media.
Fico demanded that Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine be resumed. Kyiv says doing so would help the Kremlin to finance its almost three-year-old war against Ukraine.
Ukraine aid groups cut services, scramble for cash after US funding shock
Some 150 Ukrainian teenagers from northeastern areas near the front lines of the war with Russia had already packed their bags to travel west for an educational retreat far from the shelling and fighting. Their plans were abruptly cancelled.
Tetiana Kovryga, head of a Ukrainian NGO called GoGlobal, said she had to suspend the trip for the youths from the Sumy and Kharkiv regions after President Donald Trump paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development.
“It was difficult. Not only for the children. I had a meeting with the team this morning, and I was very emotional; I carefully chose every word,” Kovryga told Reuters.
Sitting in a small room lined with boxes full of goods that had been prepared for the cancelled trip, Kovryga added that she had to pause two other projects and was considering downsizing her team of 50 people.
GoGlobal, an educational foundation that focuses on supporting the young in frontline areas where frequent air raid alerts and Russian bombardments disrupt classes, is one of many in Ukraine affected by the review and 90-day freeze on US foreign aid.
After nearly three years of war against Russian forces, cash-strapped Ukraine channels the bulk of state revenues to fund its armed forces and produce and purchase weapons.
Kyiv relies on foreign aid to pay pensions and public sector wages as well as to finance social and humanitarian projects.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the United States has been a major supplier of both military assistance and development aid.
USAid has provided Ukraine with $2.6-billion in humanitarian aid, $5-billion in development assistance and more than $30-billion in direct budget support, according to the agency.
Many local communities rely on aid and donor support to fund initiatives in education, health, energy, agriculture and infrastructure.
Zelensky has said military assistance was not affected by Trump’s foreign aid freeze, but he voiced concern over the funding pause for what he described as “critically important projects” to support the economy, energy, infrastructure, health and veterans.
“I have already given instructions to do some key things with our internal funds and also to talk to Europeans,” said Zelensky on Wednesday in his daily address to the nation, adding the government would prioritise economic stability and veterans’ programmes.
Ukrainian government data shows the US was a development partner in more than 100 projects ranging from investment and exports to sponsoring media, enhancing energy supplies and supporting veterans, young people and scientists.
With Ukraine’s budget deficit running at about $38-billion this year, the number of projects the government can support from its own coffers was likely to be limited, according to economic analysts and NGOs.
Reuters spoke to 10 NGO leaders and representatives from across affected projects. They said the abrupt pause in US funding came as a shock to communities exhausted by wartime challenges, and they were scrambling for new sources of funding.
“We have not been able to pay salaries or any expenses since January 24. It was a big shock for our team because it was very unexpected,” said Ivona Kostina, the co-founder of a group called Veteran Hub that supports war veterans and their families.
Veteran Hub briefly suspended its support hotline serving more than 1,300 people every month and also shut down one of its two centres in the central town of Vinnytsia, where 700 people visited monthly for support and advice, said Kostina.
However, the hub’s centre in Kyiv and three mobile support groups operating in six regions were still working and the team was pressing on with research and other projects, she added.
The Veteran Hub, along with some other aid groups and independent media outlets Reuters spoke to, has appealed for private and corporate donations to maintain operations.
Kostina said that the response so far had been “overwhelming”, allowing the charity to resume its hotline for now.
However, community activists are worried about the future of groups serving the public if the US aid freeze becomes permanent.
Russia reports capture of another village in eastern Ukraine
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that its troops had taken control of the village of Novoielyzavetivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, near the logistics centre of Pokrovsk, the latest target in their steady advance westward.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military made no mention of the village in a late evening report. It reported “intensive” Russian activity in the Pokrovsk sector, with Ukrainian forces repelling 39 attacks by Moscow’s forces and nine clashes continuing.
The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState, which records military positions based on open-source materials, showed Novoielyzavetivka to be under Russian occupation.
Pokrovsk hosts the only colliery in Ukraine producing coking coal for the steel industry — closed down as Russian troops approach the city — and is seen as a main target for Moscow.
Russian forces have focused on capturing all of Donbas, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, after initially failing to move on the capital Kyiv in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Their progress in recent months has been the fastest since the launch of the invasion.
On Monday, Russia’s military reported the capture of the village of Dvorichna, near the city of Kupiansk in northeastern Kharkiv, another area of intensified Russian activity.
But the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, denied that Russian forces had seized the village and said fighting was continuing.
Moscow announced the capture of the town of Velyka Novosilka south of Pokrovsk last weekend. Ukraine’s military has yet to acknowledge that the town is entirely under Russian control.
EU vessel sanctions weigh on Russian grain exports, says central bank
The European Union’s sanctions on vessels transporting Russian grain, along with Turkey’s wheat import ban, affected Russian grain exports at the end of 2024, said the country’s central bank on Thursday.
The EU sanctioned 79 vessels, including four accused of undermining or threatening “the economic subsistence or food security of Ukraine, such as the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain”.
Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukrainian territory, with the four regions it officially calls “the new territories” accounting for about 5% of Russia’s total grain harvest, estimated at 130 million tonnes in 2024.
In its balance of payments report, the central bank noted the increasing pressure of Western sanctions on Russian exports, which fell by 2% in 2024. Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter.
“The EU has added more than 50 vessels to the sanctions list, which are subject to a ban on entering ports and receiving services, including those transporting grain,” said the central bank.
The EU listed vessels San Damian, San Cosmas, San Severu, and Enisey in the list published on 16 December 2024.
The central bank said Turkey’s ban on wheat imports, introduced following a good harvest and partly to protect farmers from low prices, also played a role. Turkey was a major importer of Russian wheat.
Russia’s Yamal LNG plant acquires new tanker
Russia’s liquefied natural gas plant Yamal LNG, led by Novatekhas acquired a new gas carrier for ship-to-ship operations near the Arctic port of Murmansk, ship-tracking LSEG data showed on Thursday.
According to the data, the tanker called North Moon was located near the island of Kildin in the Barents Sea, where LNG dispatched from Yamal LNG was being reloaded from ice-class Arc7 tankers.
Ship-to-ship transfers usually involve moving LNG from ice-class tankers on to conventional ones, but can also be used to complicate cargo tracking.
Yamal LNG restarted operations in the Murmansk region last November.
Russia accuses British man caught fighting for Ukraine of terrorism
A British man captured fighting on the Ukrainian side in Russia’s Kursk region would face terrorism and mercenary charges that could see him jailed for years, said Russian state investigators on Thursday.
Moscow announced in November it had captured James Anderson, describing him as a former British soldier. Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, said at the time he was aware of the case and that London would do all it could to offer him assistance.
Russia’s Investigative Committee released video on Thursday showing a handcuffed Anderson dressed in a prison uniform with a shaven head, being brought into a room for questioning and confirming his name.
In a statement, it said he would face terrorism and mercenary charges for participating “in an armed conflict as a mercenary on the territory of the Russian Federation for financial remuneration”. It did not say how Anderson pleaded to the charges, some of which are punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Ukrainian forces have occupied a pocket of territory in Russia’s Kursk region since launching a surprise incursion there in August last year. Russia has recaptured around two-thirds of the territory so far and is battling for the rest.
The Investigative Committee, which is responsible for investigating major crimes, said Anderson had illegally crossed the Russian border from Ukraine in November.
While “armed with automatic small arms and explosive devices” he had intimidated the local population, caused significant property damage, destabilised the local authorities and committed unspecified criminal acts against the civilian population.
The investigators said they had gathered what they called “irrefutable evidence” of his guilt and that his case would be heard by a military court. DM