Victorious news of 294th day of war: Sakharov Prize for Ukrainians, new air defense systems for Ukraine, POW exchange

The Ukrainian people were awarded the Sakharov Prize

In Strasbourg, the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought was presented to the Ukrainian people. This is an annual award of the European Parliament for the protection of human rights and compliance with international law, which was launched in 1988.

“We must honor our 2022 prize winners - the people of Ukraine in the person of the elected president, leaders and civil society, who have sacrificed so much for their freedom and our values,” the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said. 

In different years, the winners of the Sakharov Prize were South African President Nelson Mandela, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva. In 2019, the laureate of the Sakharov Prize was the Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov.

64 Ukrainian defenders returned from  Russian captivity

During another exchange of prisoners of war, Ukraine managed to return 64 defenders who resisted the occupying Russian forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions. Among them are the defenders of Bakhmut: officers, sergeants and privates.

The Ukrainian parliament ratified an agreement with Turkey on cooperation in the field of technology, which will allow the construction of the Bayraktar plant in Ukraine

The Ukrainian parliament ratified the agreement with Turkey on cooperation in the field of high technologies, which Kyiv and Ankara signed in early February 2022. It is a framework document that establishes the parties' obligations, including for "improving the investment climate for Turkish companies in the high-tech, aviation and space industries."

At the beginning of February, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov announced that the agreement would allow, in particular, the construction of the Bayraktar plant in Ukraine for the production of drones, as well as a training center.

Military rangers destroyed enemy positions near Bakhmut

Servicemen of the 71st Detached Hunting Brigade of Ukraine's Armed Forces completely defeated the Russian troops' positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region.

“Assault groups of the 71st Detached Ranger Brigade, together with infantrymen, seized enemy positions near Bakhmut. At first, the occupiers' fortifications were covered with artillery and mortar fire several times. Then the paratroopers carefully entered the enemy positions. They extinguished the final resistance of the Russians. About a dozen of the Russian soldiers were destroyed. And these are only those whose bodies were left in the trenches by their comrades,” the report says.

France and Italy will hand over SAMP-T air defense systems to Ukraine

“France and Italy will provide Ukraine with the requested air defense equipment. This is a very persistent request of President Zelenskyy, and the Italians have confirmed to us that they are ready to fulfill it. In this way, we can meet their needs,” French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins said during a hearing in the National Assembly of France.

Ukraine received 500 EUR million of macro-financial assistance from the EU

On December 14, Ukraine received the last tranche within the framework of the exceptional eighth program of macro-financial assistance of the EU (MFD) in the amount of EUR 500 million.

“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the European Union has provided Ukraine with EUR 7.2 billion of macro-financial assistance. These funds helped to cope with the negative economic consequences of the war and preserve the stability of the financial system in the face of a full-scale invasion by the aggressor. I thank my colleagues from the EU for the consistent and systematic support of Ukraine,” Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko noted.

Ukraine's Armed Forces hit 15 Russian military positions per day

During the day, Ukrainian aviation launched 7 strikes on the Russian forces' personnel, weapons and military equipment and 3 strikes on the positions of their anti-aircraft missile systems.

In turn, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' units of missile forces and artillery hit 2 control points and 8 concentration areas of enemy personnel.

In addition, the General Staff confirmed the fire damage in the area where the Russian forces  were concentrated near Verbove, Zaporizhzhia region. Up to 10 units of weapons and military equipment of various types were destroyed, and the loss of personnel is being clarified.