The Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security pursues efforts to provide a brief explanation to foreign audiences on the current topics of particular interest as regards Ukraine.
LATEST U.S. SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
On 10 January, the United States announced a large-scale package of sanctions that included more than 400 organizations and individuals involved in Russia’s energy sector.
● In particular, the sanctions were imposed on Russia’s largest oil and gas extraction companies, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, along with their subsidiaries.
● The sanctions also include 184 tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet and the companies Ingosstrakh and AlfaStrakhovanie which provide insurance for the tankers.
● Sanctions were also imposed on 14 members of the board of directors of the Rosatom Corporation, which supports the Russian defense industry and is involved in the illegal control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
● In general, the entire energy sector of the Russian economy has been identified as a harmful activity, which allows for the imposition of sanctions on any person or company involved in this area.
● These sanctions will cause Russia multibillion-dollar losses and significantly reduce the Kremlin’s ability to finance criminal war against Ukraine.
CAPTURED NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS
The Ukrainian Armed Forces captured two North Korean soldiers who fought as part of Russian troops in the Kursk region.
● The prisoners of war were transported to Kyiv for investigative measures and are being held in proper conditions following the Geneva Conventions.
● One of the North Korean soldiers had a Russian military ID card in the name of a resident of the Republic of Tuva, while the other was undocumented.
● By doing so, Moscow is trying to hide the involvement of North Korean troops, but the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is evident to the whole world.
● The Kremlin was forced to import cannon fodder from North Korea because of the enormous loss of manpower, which has already exceeded 808,000 people.
● In its unsuccessful attempts to counter the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, Russia lost more than 38,000 soldiers and over 1,000 pieces of military equipment.
● To participate in the war against Ukraine, Moscow has engaged 12,000 soldiers from North Korea, at least 3,800 of whom have already been killed or wounded.
UKRAINE’S CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY
The Grain from Ukraine programme will be scaled up into an expanded Food from Ukraine programme.
● The changes provide for widening the geography and range of food products that Ukraine will supply to vulnerable countries.
● The Grain from Ukraine programme was launched in November 2012 to supply Ukrainian grain to the poorest African countries at the expense of international partners.
● Throughout the programme, Ukraine has sent more than 221,000 tonnes of agricultural products to 10 countries in Africa and Asia, reaching 8 million people at risk of starvation.
● Recently, the first shipment of aid from Ukraine – 500 tonnes of flour – was delivered to Syria, where the Bashar al-Assad regime was overthrown.
● Ukraine will continue to increase its contribution to global food security while developing its own agricultural sector.
