Vadym Filashkin said five children were among those killed in the missile strike on Pokrovsk, a city in Ukrainian-held territory about 80 kilometers northwest of Donetsk city, which lies in the Russian held center of the region. However, all these states recognized travel documents issued by authorities in Kosovo. The others are Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Romania. Spain is among five EU states that do not recognize Kosovo's independence. "This does not imply in any form formal recognition of Kosovo as an independent state," the document states. Visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo came into effect on January 1, but Spain was the only country in the Schengen zone that was excluded.Ī document published on January 5 on the website of the European Commission's Department for Migration and Home Affairs said that from January 1, Spain recognizes ordinary passports issued by Kosovo. Kosovar Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz thanked Madrid in Spanish for the decision. “So we can travel without visa to this country.” “Spain now also recognizes the passports of the Republic of Kosovo,” he said. Kosovo’s deputy prime minister on January 6 welcomed a decision by Spain to recognize Kosovar passports five days after citizens of Kosovo were granted visa-free travel within the European Union’s Schengen zone.ĭeputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said on Facebook that Spain’s recognition of passports issued by Kosovo was “more good news” for Kosovo. Another, smaller branch of Ukrainian Orthodoxy remains loyal to Moscow, and the two sides have squabbled over control of the Kyiv monastery. Ukraine’s Orthodox Church broke away from centuries-old control by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2019, although the rift has not been fully resolved. Zelenskiy’s order was a further sign of Ukraine’s effort to push away from Russian-dominated traditions, amid a devastating war whose full-scale invasion is nearing its second anniversary. In Ukraine, where a majority of Christians identify as Orthodox, this was the first Christmas that was officially designated by the government to be observed not on January 7, but on December 25, in line with Roman Catholic and Western Christian traditions.ĭespite the official designation, made by President Volodymr Zelenskiy in July, thousands of Ukrainians crowded church sanctuaries across the country, including at the renowned Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery, for midnight services. In Russia, home to the largest number of Orthodox Christians, believers joined overnight services January 7 at churches in Moscow and across the country. Millions of Orthodox Christians attended midnight masses marking the Christmas holiday, a celebration overshadowed for many by the conflict in Ukraine. With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service officials said that Russia had begun using North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles as part of its aerial attacks on Ukrainian sites. At least five Western-supplied Patriot missile batteries, along with smaller systems like German-made Gepard and the French-manufactured SAMP/T, have also improved Ukraine’s ability to repel Russian drones and missiles. Ukraine’s air defenses, meanwhile, have improved markedly since the months following Russia’s mass invasion in February 2022. On December 29, more than 120 Russian missiles were launched at cities across Ukraine, killing at least 44 people, including 30 in Kyiv alone. Over the past two weeks, Russia has fired nearly 300 missiles and more than 200 drones at targets in Ukraine, as part of an effort to terrorize the civilian population and undermine morale. In the central city of Dnipro, 12 people were injured by the drone attack there, regional authorities said in a post to Telegram, and several buildings including a school dormitory were damaged. Russia made no immediate comment on the attack. "The enemy is shifting the focus of attack to the frontline territories: the Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions were attacked by drones," air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian TV. In a post to Telegram, Ukraine’s air force claimed that air defenses destroyed 21 of the 28 drones, which mainly targeted locations in the south and east of Ukraine. Though smaller in scale than other recent aerial assaults, the January 7 attack was the latest indication that Russia had no intention of stopping its targeting of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, often far from the front lines. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. RFE/RL's Live Briefinggives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians.
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