The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Ukraine is considering moving away from the U.S. dollar and closer to the euro as a benchmark for the hryvnia, National Bank Governor Andrii Pyshnyi told Reuters.
The Atesh partisan group claims it disabled communication at several Russian military facilities when it allegedly destroyed equipment at a transformer substation in the village of Mogiltsy in Russia's Moscow Oblast.
Photo for illustrative purposes. A picture shows an abandoned radar at the Qamishli airport, formerly a joint Syrian-russian military base, currently controlled by fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in northeastern Syria's city of Qamishli on Dec. 9, 2024. (Delil Souleiman / AFP via Getty Images)
Satellite imagery collected by Maxar on Dec. 13 suggests Russia is preparing to scale back its military presence in Syria.
Two AN-124 heavy military transport planes were spotted at Khmeimim air base, located in Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, with their nose cones lifted, signaling readiness to load cargo. A Ka-52 attack helicopter was also being dismantled, likely in preparation for transport, while components of an S-400 air defense system were being packed up.
Imagery from the Tartus naval base, also on the Mediterranean coast, showed minimal changes. Photos taken earlier in the week revealed two Russian frigates stationed off the coast, with no major activity suggesting an immediate departure, according to CNN.
Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, described the activity as part of a larger consolidation effort at Khmeimim and the nearby Tartus naval base. "In short, a withdrawal is underway," Kofman wrote on X.
Russia was reportedly evacuating its forces from Syria as one of its military bases faced siege, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) reported on Dec. 10. HUR claimed that Russian troops in Syria are voicing frustration with their commanders over what they described as a chaotic withdrawal process.
The Kremlin emphasized the importance of securing its military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying on Dec. 11 that Moscow has maintained contact with Syria’s new leadership. He declined to disclose the number of Russian troops in the country or comment on potential evacuations.
Russia has maintained a military presence in Syria since 2015, primarily to support now overthrown Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the country’s civil war. Damascus has been supportive of the Kremlin during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Ibrahim Al-Marashi
