Live blog: Netherlands to send Ukraine over $2.7B in additional aid in 2024

Thursday, November 30, 2023

1340 GMT –– The Netherlands revealed plans to provide an additional €2.5B (over $2.7B) aid in support of Ukraine in its war with Russia next year.

"The Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine with whatever it takes and as long as it takes," Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said at the 30th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in North Macedonia's capital Skopje.

Delivering opening remarks at the event, she said the Netherlands "is pleased to announce that we will support Ukraine with an additional €2.5B support package for 2024".

This came after Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the military aid to help meet Ukraine's ammunition needs and maintain platforms and systems were already delivered to the country.

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1413 GMT –– EU officials signal Hungary close to unlocking more funds

European Union officials said Hungary was close to unlocking a "certain amount of money" the bloc had previously frozen over concerns Budapest has damaged democratic checks-and-balances in the country.

The officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said judicial reforms enacted by Prime Minster Viktor Orban's government last summer contributed to strengthening judicial independence.

They said the Brussels-based European Commission, the EU executive that holds the bloc's budget, was in touch with Budapest about "the last outstanding points".

"These now... are likely to come to fruition," said one of the officials. "And that will indeed, provided this is finally OK, lead to a certain amount of money being unblocked."

1356 GMT –– Hungary will not agree to starting EU membership talks with Ukraine, minister says

Hungary will not support any European Union proposal to begin talks on making Ukraine a member of the bloc, a government minister said.

Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said at a news conference in Budapest that it was premature to begin formal talks with Kyiv on the war-ravaged country joining the EU, and that Hungary would not consent to opening the discussions when EU leaders meet in mid-December.

Orban, widely considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies in Europe, has argued that accession negotiations should not begin with a country that is at war, and that Ukraine’s membership would reorient the system the 27-nation European Union uses to distribute funds to member countries.

Gulyas also said Hungary would not support proposed amendments to the EU's budget, part of which would provide 50 billion euros ($54.5B) in long-term aid to Kiev.

1252 GMT –– Ukraine accuses Russia of halting prisoner of war exchanges

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Moscow had stopped swapping prisoners of war with Kyiv.

The two warring sides have carried out many rounds of prisoner exchanges during Moscow's 21-month long invasion, but in the latter half of this year the process stalled.

"Exchanges are not taking place because Russia does not want them to," Lubinets said on Telegram.

"All initiatives, wishes and actions of Ukraine to return its defenders from captivity are met with Russian reluctance to return even its own citizens," he said.

Thousands of prisoners of war are believed to be held by both sides.

Lubinets alleged Russia wanted its people to believe Ukraine was "not doing anything to return soldiers."

1225 GMT –– Russian missile strikes in eastern Ukraine tear through buildings and bury families in rubble

Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said, killing at least one person and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons.

Russian military units simultaneously launched six S-300 missiles toward the Donetsk region during the night, according to Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko. Another two were fired separately in the same area, the Ukrainian air force said.

The simultaneous missile strikes hit three Donetsk cities — Pokrovsk, Novohrodivka and Myrnohrad, Klymenko said. The cities lie 25-40 kilometers (15-25 miles) from the front line.

1207 GMT –– EU's defence strategy needs to include Ukraine, von der Leyen says

The European Union should take Ukraine's military needs into account as it determines the future strategy of Europe's defence industry, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Von der Leyen said Ukraine should be integrated into EU defence programmes to help cater to its needs in its war against the Russian invasion.

"The first step to achieve this, is to involve Ukraine in the consultation process of the Industrial Strategy," von der Leyen said.

"This should lead to integrating Ukraine in some of our defence programmes, with the agreement of the European Parliament and Council, where necessary."

1104 GMT –– Zelenskyy visits Ukraine frontline region of Kharkiv: presidency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a trip to a command post close to the front in the eastern Kharkiv region.

"It is an honour to visit and reward the soldiers. Fighters in the Kupiansk direction protect the peaceful life of Ukrainians and the people of the Kharkiv region," Zelensky said in a post on social media, telling soldiers: "I wish you victory, be strong and don't lose the initiative."

0804 GMT — Russian missile strikes injure ten in east Ukraine, more missing

Ukraine has said that 10 people including a toddler were injured by simultaneous Russian strikes on three towns in the eastern Donetsk region, with five more missing under rubble.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Russian forces fired six S-300 rockets on Pokrovsk, Novogrodivka and Myrnograd.

"As a result of shelling, 10 people were injured, including four children. Five more people are being searched (for) under the rubble," he said on social media.

In Pokrovsk, Klymenko said the six-month-old baby was wounded alongside boys of 13 and 16.

"One of the shells exploded in the yard of a house where a family with two children lived. As a result of the shelling, the roof and walls of the house were destroyed, and the family was buried under the rubble," he added.

0605 GMT — Air defence systems destroyed 14 of 20 Russia-launched drones: Ukraine

Ukraine air defence shot down 14 out of 20 drones in a Russian overnight strike, the nation's air force said.

The air force said in a statement the Russian forces launched Iranian-made drones from Russian territory in several directions.

2203 GMT — Russia says it captured Ukrainian village

Russia's military said that its forces had captured a village in a contested area of eastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian officials offered no comment but said Moscow's forces were suffering heavy losses while launching fierce attacks.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had captured Khromove, a village on the western approaches to Bakhmut, seized in May by Russian forces after months of heavy fighting reduced it to ruins.

The village, known to Russians as Artyomovskoe, had a pre-war population of about 1,000. Unofficial accounts and bloggers acknowledged that part of the village was held by Russian forces, but dismissed any notion it was fully under Russian control.

For our live updates from Wednesday (November 29), click here.