Ukraine updates: War costs Kyiv €120 million per day

Moscow has charged six Danish nationals for taking part in the war with Ukraine as foreign mercenaries, the Russian embassy in Denmark said.

They face up to 15 years in prison, as per Russia's penal code. The embassy said the charge was based on a Russian investigation into the recruitment and participation of foreign mercenaries.

Russian diplomats also said 20 Danes have been registered for taking part in the war. 

Ukraine has received over €38 billion ($42 billion) in international aid throughout the year 2023, its finance minister told Forbes Ukraine on Wednesday.

"It has allowed us to finance all necessary expenditure," Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

The majority of the aid poured into Kyiv's defense against the ongoing Kremlin attack. However, some of the money has also been used to fund internal refugees, pensions and state wages.

Marchenko said that 2023 saw more financial stability than 2022, the year in which Russia launched its full-scale invasion. He added that every day of war costs €120 million. 

"I am less concerned about 2024 than I am about 2025," he said.

Ukraine is heavily dependent on funds from the US and the EU in its battle against the Russian aggression. But US President Joe Biden has faced challenges in the Republican-dominated Congress at attempts to extend aid to Ukraine. Biden is also up for reelection next year, with many observers concerned about the US possibly changing its stance on Ukraine if the US Democrats lose the White House. The European Union is also set to hold elections for its parliament next year.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state broadcaster Rossiya-24 on Wednesday that 2023 oil export revenues should be broadly similar to 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine, amid EU and US sanctions on deliveries. 

He said that sales to China and India combined accounted for between 85-90% of total exports for the year. 

Novak also said that the vast majority of the growth had taken place in India over the last two years. 

"Earlier, there bascially were no supplies to India; in two years, the total share of supplies to India has come to 40%," Novak said.

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Russia will soon use its newest howitzers against Ukrainian forces as it presses on with its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, a defense official said on Thursday.

Sergei Chemezov, the head of the Rostec state defense conglomerate, told the state-run RIA news agency that the new Coalition-SV self-propelled artillery units were being mass-produced after tests were completed.

 "I think they will appear there (on the battlefield in Ukraine) soon, since howitzers of this class are needed to
provide an advantage over Western artillery models in terms of firing range," Chemezov said.

 The howitzers have a range of up to 70 kilometers (44 miles) and can fire more than 10 rounds per minute, according to the Russian TASS news agency.
 

If Japan supplies Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems, it will have "grave consequences" for ties between Moscow and Tokyo, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

Ties between Japan and Russia have deteriorated rapidly since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Tokyo joining Western allies in imposing sweeping economic sanctions on Moscow.

Japan's pacifist constitution has meant it has so far not sent direct military assistance to Ukraine.

However, in late December, Japan eased previous rules on arms exports to allow the export of finished weapons made in Japan under foreign licenses — such as the Patriot surface-to-air missiles, made in Japan under an American license — to the licensing nations.

Although Japan still bans the export of weapons to countries in conflict, the Foreign Ministry has now said it will ship Patriot missiles to the US, thus freeing up Washington's own stockpiles.

Patriot air defense systems delivered to Ukraine by the US and other Western allies have played a major role in helping defend civilians against Russian aerial attacks.

The commander of Ukraine's armed forces said on Tuesday that the country's forces remained in the area of the eastern town of Maryinka, after Russia's defense minister had said that Moscow's troops controlled the settlement. 

The small town of Maryinka, which had a population of around 10,000, was already reduced to rubble by May of this year, as aerial photos at the time demonstrated. 

But fighting has continued in the area since, as movement in either direction on the front lines in Ukraine becomes increasingly scarce, despite both sides trying to hail what gains they do make. 

Valery Zaluzhyni said that Ukrainian troops were still positioned on the town's northern flank, although he also acknowledged that they had withdrawn from its center.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had said while briefing President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Russian forces controlled the town. 

DW could not verify either side's claims. 

Maryinka is not far from the regional capital of the eastern Donetsk oblast, much of which Russian forces control.

Ukraine's Air Force said on Wednesday that Russia attacked with a total of 46 unmanned aircraft overnight, almost three-quarters of which its air defense systems were able to shoot down. 

Those that did penetrate aerial defenses mainly struck front-line regions, in particular the city of Kherson. 

Authorities reported one dead and four wounded in Kherson late on Tuesday as the wave of aerial attacks had begun.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kherson separately came under shellfire. Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said Moscow had launched "a massive bombing" of the southern city.

"Kherson in the evening. Around 140 civilians waiting at the station for an evacuation train," Klymenko said, sharing an image on the social media website Telegram.

He said one police officer was killed, and four people, two of them police, were wounded.

Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said on Telegram that the station and a train were damaged but "the situation is under control and the railway is ready to continue functioning."

Kherson has been a focal point of the fighting almost since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. 

The Kremlin's troops captured the city shortly after the February invasion, only to be forced out and back across to the other bank of the Dnipro River later that year. But Russian forces have continued to bombard the city since being pushed back.