PACE passes a resolution cementing Europe’s commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Russian attacks on Sumy and Kramatorsk result in casualties. Russia plans to recruit at least 280,000 soldiers in 2025, Ukraine’s intelligence says.
PACE passes resolution cementing Europe’s commitment to just, lasting peace in Ukraine
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution on Thursday outlining its position on establishing peace in Ukraine. The document dubbed “European commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine” is a centerpiece of Assembly’s country policy adopted at the winter session.
The resolution passed by a vote of 86 to 0 with six abstentions.
In the resolution, the Assembly calls “for unwavering European commitment and unity in support of Ukraine and a just and lasting peace.”
Diplomatic efforts toward peace should come in lockstep with Ukraine’s “peace through strength” principle, PACE said.
“The principle stresses, inter alia, that sustainable peace negotiations can only be conducted from a position of resilience and robust defensive capacity, and that a just and lasting peace can only be secured by adequate security guarantees for Ukraine. Any peace negotiations must involve Ukraine and respect its right to determine its own future,” the resolution reads.
Russia poses a threat to wider Europe, not just Ukraine, the resolution states, as Russia’s hybrid warfare targets other European nations. “Hybrid warfare tactics employed by the Russian Federation through cyber-attacks, arson, disinformation campaigns and sabotage further threaten European security, including its energy and communications infrastructure. The Russian Federation’s efforts to interfere in the political processes of Council of Europe member States also pose a growing threat to democratic security in Europe,” PACE said.
The Assembly believes that “a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is indispensable for the security of the entire European continent and more broadly, the world”.
PACE “reiterates the need to ensure accountability in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression, notably through the establishment of a comprehensive compensation mechanism and a special tribunal to prosecute Russian and Belarusian leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”
PACE also passed a resolution on a sham election in Belarus, calling on the Council of Europe member states to reject legitimacy of the vote and “take decisive steps to broaden and intensify targeted sanctions against the regime and those who support its unlawful activities.”
The Assembly approved the credentials of the Georgian delegation, suspending a number of rights of its members “as a clear sign of its condemnation of police brutality and other human rights abuses” and calling for “new genuinely democratic parliamentary elections”. In response, Georgia withdrew from PACE.
Russia’s attacks on Sumy, Kramatorsk result in casualties
A Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Sumy during a nighttime attack, killing nine people and wounding at least 14 others, officials said Thursday.
Among the dead were three older married couples, men ages 63 and 64, and a 37-year-old woman, Sumy regional prosecutors’ office said. An eight-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy in critical condition were among the injured.
A Russian attack on Kramatorsk in Donetsk region wounded 13 people, including two young children, head of the regional military administration Vadym Filashkin said on Thursday. The strike targeted civilian infrastructure in the city center, head of the city’s military administration Oleksandr Honcharenko said without specifying the type of weapons used.
Russia plans to recruit at least 280,000 soldiers in 2025, Ukraine’s intelligence says
In 2025, Russia plans to draft at least 126,000 soldiers from the so-called “special contingent” for its war against Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“[Those called up] will be the Russians serving their term in prison, those under investigation, having a loan debt or facing other problems,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
Russia plans to call up an average of 10,000 soldiers a month from the “special contingent” to replace its battlefield losses, it added.
According to Ukraine’s military intelligence, Russia plans to recruit at least 280,000 new soldiers in 2025 to offset its losses in Ukraine.
Since the full-scale invasion, 835,940 Russian troops have been killed or wounded, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Thursday. Russia lost 1,270 soldiers in the past day alone.