Sunday, January 5
Russia’s war against Ukraine
A multi-story building after a Russian strike with a guided aerial bomb in the Svesa village community in the Shostka district of Sumy Oblast on Jan. 4, 2025. (Sumy Oblast Military Administration / Telegram)
Russia launches over 300 drones, 20 missiles at Ukraine in first 3 days of new year, Zelensky says. President Volodymyr Zelensky added that the Russian army also strikes settlements close to the front line with guided aerial bombs every day.
Drones reportedly target one of Russia’s largest sea trade ports in Leningrad Oblast. Most of the drones that attacked Leningrad Oblast were shot down over the terminal of Novotrans, a Russian transportation and logistics company.
Russian soldiers near Toretsk disguise as civilians to bypass Ukrainian positions, military says. The commander’s statement comes after reports on Russian forces starting to move toward the town of Toretsk.
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Heavy Russian, North Korean losses in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky says. “In battles yesterday and today near a single village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Jan. 4.
Russian commander linked to deadly strike in Ukraine severely injured in Russia after explosion. Russian commander Konstantin Nagayko, who was involved in the 2023 missile strike on Hroza, is in critical condition following an explosion, the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported on January 4.
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As government cuts support, some internally displaced Ukrainians return home — to Russian occupation
With little to no state support, many displaced Ukrainians are living on the brink of poverty and struggle to afford rent, which is forcing an estimated thousands to move back to their homes in Russian occupation.
Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
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Human cost of war
Ukrainian educator and philologist Oleksii Halionka killed in Chernihiv missile strike. Oleksii Halionka, a 72-year-old Ukrainian educator and philologist, was killed on 3 January 2025 when a Russian missile hit his home in Chernihiv.
Russia strikes residential building in Sumy Oblast, injuring at least 10, including children. Russian forces carried out the strike using glide bombs that were dropped directly on the building and destroyed one of its blocks.
Woman injured in Russian Jan. 3 attack on Kyiv Oblast dies in hospital. Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on Kyiv Oblast early in the morning on Jan. 3. The attack killed one person and injured four others, including a 16-year-old teenager.
Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 2, injure 21 over past day. Russian forces launched 81 drones at Ukraine overnight from the Russian cities of Bryansk, Kursk, Orel, and Primosk-Akhtarsk, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
Drone kills Russian journalist in occupied Donetsk Oblast, wounds 5 others, Russian media reports. Russia’s Izvestia newspaper reported on Jan. 4 that a Ukrainian “kamikaze” drone attack killed one of its freelance reporters, Alexander Martemyanov, while he was traveling on a highway in occupied eastern Ukraine.
International response
Slovak state energy company to continue supplying electricity to Ukraine despite Fico’s threats. Slovakia’s state-controlled transmission system operator SEPS said it will continue supplying electricity to Ukraine as part of an emergency assistance contract.
German opposition suggests Scholz could meet Putin before end of February. “There are increasing indications that Chancellor Scholz will travel to Moscow and meet Putin before February 23,” Roderich Kiesewetter, defense spokesperson for Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said on X.
In other news
Georgian businesses and employees to carry out nationwide strike demanding new elections. Georgian citizens are being urged to participate in a nationwide strike on Jan. 15 to demand the release of detained protestors and to call for new elections, Protest 24 posted on Facebook.
Over 20 foreign citizens to be deported from Georgia for participating in protests. The Migration Department of the Georgian Interior Ministry has initiated expulsion proceedings against 25 foreign nationals.
Transnistria urges residents to heat stoves with wood amid significant gas shortages. Some 1,500 high-rise buildings in Transnistria are currently without heating and hot water, and nearly 72,000 homes are without gas.
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