On December 29, russia fired 69 missiles and launched 11 drones at numerous regions of Ukraine. On December 30, Ukraine’s air defense brought down 10 UAVs in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and 7 more drones in the Kyiv region. On the night of January 1, a few hours after the New Year, russians launched 45 Iranian Shahed-131/136 drones at Kyiv. Finally, on the night of January 2, Ukraine’s air defense shot down 41 more drones and a Х-59 missile; 22 of those drones targeted Kyiv.
According to alerts.in.ua, in 10 months of the full-scale russian invasion, about 14,870 air raid alerts were sounded in Ukraine, with the record for one day being 189 alerts.
In an interview with Financial Times, Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the Chair of the Management Board of Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-owned power company, stated that the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are “planned and implemented not only by the russian military but also by russian energy specialists.” According to Mr. Kudrytskiy, the latter knew Ukraine’s energy grid “like the back of their hands” because it was connected to their country’s system prior to February’s full-scale invasion.
In a New Year's message, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said that 2022 was a "difficult year for Europe," as it faced the cost of living and energy crises, russia’s war in Ukraine, and the echo of the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite all the challenges, EP President stressed, the EU remains united and strong and will further aid Ukraine in its fight for freedom. "In 2023, we need to double down on protecting our values. Most importantly, we will continue to stand with Ukraine for peace with liberty. Peace with dignity. And peace with security," concluded Ms. Metsola.
Anton Hofreiter, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the German Bundestag, stated that Leopard 2 battle tanks should be available to Ukraine. The statement came amid the German Government’s decision to transfer Marder combat vehicles to Ukraine. According to Mr. Hofreiter, Germany, being the leading manufacturing country for the Leopard 2, could launch a European initiative to supply the tanks to Ukraine by stepping up and handing Leopard 2 tanks to the country.
In a commentary for MTV, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Parliament of Finland Antti Häkkänen said that if Europe started to transfer tanks to Ukraine on a wider scale, Finland would as well get involved. While Finland's own defense capabilities remain a priority for the Finnish Parliament and Government, the state stands ready to make its contribution, should other European states adopt a similar decision.
At the beginning of January 2023, US Senator Jack Reed, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), and US Senator Angus King, a senior member of SASC and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, traveled to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, to show solidarity with Ukraine, meet with the country’s leadership, and provide oversight of US assistance to Ukraine.
Commenting on the results of the Senators' trip, Mr. King said that the war in Ukraine is “essentially trench warfare,” reminiscent of WWI. He stressed the need to continue funding the country’s fight against russia and added that it would be a mistake to set a date on how long the US should continue to support Ukraine, as that would essentially give putin the ability to wait out that deadline.
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk noted that the recognition of russia as a state sponsor of terrorism or a terrorist state and the establishment of the special tribunal to prosecute russian officials will be primary goals for 2023 interparliamentary diplomacy. He also stressed that imposing additional sanctions through parliaments would be a priority as well.
Yulia Paliuchik, a spokesperson of the Servant of the People faction, and Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the Batkivshchyna faction, released similar statements, calling for a more substantial approach in upholding the Constitution regarding the MPs’ mandates’ seizure of the banned parties. The said statements indicate that both factions will support any constitutional way to do it. Still, they won’t support any mechanism that allows the banned parties to challenge such decisions in courts.
In a recent interview with the Rada TV channel, VRU First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Korniyenko mentioned that Ukrainian lawmakers might adopt some legislation to amend the law that deals with upcoming parliamentary elections that should be held next October.
Iryna Gerashchenko, MP, European solidarity, registered a draft law amending the current legislation on diplomatic service, requiring a candidate for ambassadors’ post to attend a hearing at the VRU committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation.
On January 2, PRS presented the strategic plan that includes Program recommendations made after the strategic session in November. The Program assisted in designing the document and provided recommendations prior to its presentation before the VR Leadership.
On December 30, VRU forwarded to the European partners the report on VRU’s achievements in implementing EU recommendations after Ukraine was granted EU candidate status.
On December 30, the draft Code of Ethics was registered in Parliament. Program’s partner, Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s expert Marcin Walecki, contributed to the work of the dedicated parliamentary working sub-group on Parliamentary Ethics led by MP Viktoria Podhorna. The expert shared various reports, research and case studies to inform members of the sub-working group about the existing best practices and procedures in the area of parliamentary ethics.
On December 27, the Memorandum between Parliamentary Research Service (PRS) VRU and PRS in Georgia was signed. USAID RADA: Next Generation facilitated the process, and the memorandum was agreed upon as the result of the meeting between the two institutions that was organized by Program in October. The said memorandum strengthens cooperation in the research and academic fields by holding meetings, consultations, conferences, and other relevant events in bilateral and international formats.
A series of 3 webinars and homework will be conducted for primary school teachers.
Later in February and March, the course will be conducted for secondary and high school teachers. The course will help teachers form a holistic view of children and youth regarding the theoretical and practical aspects of parliamentary activity to modernize the approach to understanding parliamentarism and civic activity.
The course is based on a comprehensive parliamentary education program, “Our parliament: research, understand, influence”.