Friday, January 31
Russia’s war againt Ukraine
A damaged car lies in the yard of a damaged residential building after a Russian drone attack against Sumy on Jan 30, 2025. The attack killed nine people and injured 13, including an 8-year-old child. Rescuers evacuated over 100 people from the damaged building. (Kateryna Anokhina/ Cukr.city/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine identifies Russian commanders behind deadly hypermarket strike on Kharkiv. The May 25 attack was carried out with guided bombs, killing 19 people, including two children, and injuring 46 others.
Russia’s Soviet-era military stockpile running low, faces equipment shortages, media reports. The Russian military reportedly has lost more than half of its available equipment, and unless an unexpected shift occurs, hostilities could gradually fade by late 2025 or early 2026 due to a shortage of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery.
Ukrainian defense tech company Huless raises over $1 million for tethered drone systems. Huless, a Ukrainian company developing tethered drone systems, secured over $1 million in private financing, loans, and a grant from Ukrainian Defense Tech cluster Brave1, the company said in a press release on Jan. 30.
Oil shipments on pause at Russia’s Ust-Luga port after drone strike, Bloomberg reports. A drop in shipping activity at the Baltic Sea port appears to back up the SBU’s claims that Ukrainian drones struck the Andreapol oil pumping station, shutting down the main pipeline that feeds Ust-Luga.
Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency says Bezrukova is still director after her name disappeared from state register. Maryna Bezrukova has overturned the decision to remove her name from the state enterprise register as director of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), the agency said on Jan. 30.
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Defense Ministry must resolve procurement agencies issues by February, Deputy PM says. Olha Stefanishyna added that such “aggressive public communication” is not beneficial inside or outside Ukraine.
Georgescu has ‘masters in Moscow’ — Kyiv slams Romanian politician over comments on Ukraine’s partition. Georgescu’s comments, made in a Jan. 29 interview, were dismissed by Ukraine as revisionist and contrary to international norms, the U.N. Charter, and democratic values.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry calls Fico ‘Kremlin’s mouthpiece,’ summons Slovak ambassador over recent remarks. Ukraine expressed “deep disappointment” over Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statements after he called President Volodymyr Zelensky “the enemy” of Slovakia.
Ukrainian court freezes Russian oligarch Deripaska’s assets worth nearly $50 million. The court immobilized a large consignment of industrial products and raw materials stored in the warehouses of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which a Russian oligarch previously owned.
Ukraine’s parcel delivery giant Nova Poshta invests $43 million to expand network in 2024. Ukraine’s largest private delivery company Nova Poshta invested Hr 1.8 billion ($43 million) to expand its Ukrainian network in 2024, a 35% increase from 2023, the company announced on social media.
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Read our exclusives
Ukraine war latest: 9 killed, 13 injured in Russian drone attack on Sumy
A Russian drone struck a residential building in the northeastern city of Sumy overnight on Jan. 30, killing nine people and injuring 13 others, the Interior Ministry reported. Search and rescue operations have concluded.
Photo: Kateryna Anokhina via Getty Images
Has Chasiv Yar fallen? No, say experts, OSINT analysts, officials
Reports that the embattled Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar has fallen to Russian forces have been dismissed by experts and officials speaking to the Kyiv Independent, and the latest OSINT data suggests fighting is still ongoing.
Photo: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images
What’s behind Zelensky’s sanctions on top pro-Russian politicians?
In late January, President Volodymyr Zelensky slapped sanctions on 18 people, both Russians and Ukrainians. Among them were Ukrainian politicians spreading Russian narratives, local media personalities said to be parroting Russian propaganda, suspected Russian collaborators, a former head of the now-banned Communist Party of Ukraine, and a wealthy businessman.
Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images
For Ukraine’s female partisans in occupation, hope lies in resistance
Olesia, one of the three women who founded Zla Mavka, an all-women resistance movement that operates across occupied territories, including Crimea and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, says she plans to fight as long as possible. Olesia’s name has been changed and her last name is not being disclosed to protect her identity as she lives under Russian occupation.
Illustration: Zla Mavka
Human cost of war
Rescue operations end in Sumy with 9 killed, 13 injured after Russian drone attack on residential building. A Shahed-type attack drone hit a multistory building in Sumy shortly after midnight local time, Governor Volodymyr Artiukh said.
Russian drone strike in Pokrovsk injures 3, including British volunteer. A Russian drone attack in Pokrovsk struck an evacuation vehicle on Jan. 30, injuring the driver and two passengers. The Kyiv Independent has confirmed that the driver is a British volunteer.
13 injured, including children, in Russian attack on Kramatorsk. According to preliminary information, the injured include an 8-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. Local authorities are assessing the aftermath of the attack.
8 killed, 26 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over previous day. Russia launched 81 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Thirty-seven were shot down over 10 oblasts, while 39 were lost in the airspace, according to the statement.
General Staff: Russia has lost 835,940 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,270 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Opinions and insights
Europe’s inaction on undersea infrastructure is a security time bomb
“It is clear who stands to benefit from these acts of sabotage, with Moscow being the main suspect. However, the question remains: who is directly responsible?” Arvydas Anušauskas, former Lithuanian defense minister, writes.
Photo: Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images
International response
Sweden unveils its largest military aid package for Ukraine worth $1.2 billion. The package includes 16 CB90 combat boats with weapons stations, a million rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition, 146 trucks, 1,500 TOW anti-tank missiles, as well as 200 AT4 anti-tank launchers.
EU debates restarting Russian gas purchases as part of Ukraine peace deal, FT reports. The proposal’s advocates, including Hungarian and German officials, argue that the move could give both Russia and Europe incentives to maintain a ceasefire while stabilizing the continent’s energy market, the Financial Times wrote.
PACE refuses to name Putin ‘terrorist’ in Ukraine peace resolution. PACE’s table office explained its decision by saying that “calling Putin a terrorist is against the rule of procedure because it ‘insults his dignity,’” Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent.
Lithuania open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, chief commander says. His remarks come amid ongoing discussions among Western countries about the possible deployment of peacekeeping forces if a ceasefire is negotiated.
Romania’s presidential candidate Georgescu calls Ukraine ‘fictional state,’ suggests annexing territory. “On 100% it will happen,” Calin Georgescu said in the interview with journalist Ion Cristoiu about redrawing Ukraine’s borders as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, suggesting Romania could claim some of Ukraine’s regions.
50% of Poles oppose Ukraine’s EU, NATO membership until Volyn issue resolved, poll shows. Half of Poles believe Ukraine should not join NATO or the EU until the issue of exhuming Volyn massacre victims is resolved, according to a new poll published on Jan. 30.
Tulsi Gabbard ‘offended’ by question about pro-Russian sympathies at Senate hearing. During her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Senator Jerry Moran asked Gabbard if Russia would “get a pass” from her in light of her past statements. “Senator, I’m offended by the question,” Gabbard said.
Russian oligarch held stake in Musk’s SpaceX through trust despite sanctions, Bloomberg reports. Kerimov’s investment in SpaceX reportedly began in 2017 through Heritage Trust, a financial structure managed by Citigroup. SpaceX was valued at $21 billion at the time, meaning his 1% stake could have been worth around $210 million.
Russian oligarch Abramovich underpays $1.2 billion to UK in taxes, investigation says. From 1990 until 2020, Roman Abramovich invested about $6 billion in Keygrove Holdings Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
In other news
Kyiv Independent launches fundraiser to support Ukraine’s front-line media after US aid freeze. “We couldn’t just stand by and watch our colleagues and partners lose their teams and suspend their operations while independent journalism remains one of the most crucial jobs in Ukraine today, especially near the front lines,” said Daryna Shevchenko, CEO of the Kyiv Independent.
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