Wednesday, January 15
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Screenshot from a video purporting to show a fire at a distillery in Novaya Lyada, Tambov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Astra / Telegram)
Drone strike reportedly targets Russian chemical plant in Tatarstan, causing fire. The Telegram channel Vechernya Kazan claimed that the strike hit a liquified gas storage area, setting gas tanks on fire. Russian authorities confirmed that a fire broke out in the city as a result of the drone strike but claimed that it resulted in no significant damage.
Ukraine says it targeted Russia’s Engels airbase infrastructure in ‘multi-day, comprehensive operation.’ Located in Saratov Oblast, over 750 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Engels airbase is home to Russian heavy bombers.
Ukraine denies transferring Air Force personnel to infantry amid troop shortages. The Ukrainian Air Force will transfer military personnel “en masse” to reinforce the Ground Forces’ combat brigades in early 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Jan. 14, citing an undisclosed Air Force source.
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Equipping troops takes priority over lowering draft age, Zelensky says. Ukraine’s immediate focus is on adequately equipping its military, rather than further reducing the draft age, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 14, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Drone hits distillery in Russia’s Tambov Oblast, local media reports. Local residents said a fire broke out at the distillery, which is located near a military training ground in the village of Novaya Lyada.
Zelensky addresses personnel transfer controversy, orders Air Force commander not to reassign specialists to Ground Forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the controversy surrounding the reassignment of Air Force personnel to the Ground Forces, in his evening address on Jan. 14.
Read our exclusives
**Biden leaves nearly $4 billion in US aid to Ukraine unused. What will happen to it under Trump?
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U.S. President Joe Biden will be passing around $3.8 billion in the so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to his successor — Donald Trump. On the campaign trail, Trump hasrepeatedly criticized the Biden administration for providing Ukraine with military assistance, including through military shipments using the PDA.
Photo: Kent Nishimura / Getty Images
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Will Transnistria’s gas crisis lead to its collapse and reintegration into Moldova?
By halting natural gas supplies to Moldova on Jan. 1, Russia created an unprecedented economic crisis in the Russian-occupied part of the country — Transnistria. The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas?
Photo: Daniel Mihalescu/AFP via Getty Images
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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine targets Russian industrial plants, ammunition depots in overnight strike
Ukraine launched its “most massive” attack against Russian military and industrial facilities in a range of up to 1,100 kilometers (620 miles) overnight on Jan. 14, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported.
Photo: Mash/Telegram
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Human cost of war
Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 2, injure 19 over past day. Russia attacked Ukraine with 80 Shahed-type drones and various other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) overnight, Ukraine’s Air Forces reported on their Telegram channel. Air defenses shot down 58 drones over 11 oblasts, while 21 dummy drones were lost in the airspace, the Air Force said.
International response
Trump wants to meet Putin ‘very quickly’ after inauguration. Talking to Newsmax, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to meet as the war “hasn’t gone so well for him either.”
German defense minister arrives in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine aid. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv to discuss further military aid for the country resisting Russian aggression, Deutsche Welle reported on Jan. 14.
Fico will not visit Kyiv, Slovak lawmaker says. The development is the latest in an escalating conflict between Ukraine and Slovakia over Kyiv’s decision to stop Russian gas transit.
65 oil tankers drop anchor after latest US sanctions against Russia, Reuters reports. Sixty-five oil tankers paused operations in various places around the world following the recent U.S.-U.K. sanctions against Russia’s oil industry and shadow fleet, Reuters reported on Jan. 13, citing maritime tracking data.
NATO chief says alliance either raises defense spending or can begin taking ‘Russian language courses.’ “Everything I’m seeing at this moment is not nearly enough, and if we don’t do it (raise the spending targets) we are safe now but not in four or five years. So if you don’t do it, get out your Russian language courses or go to New Zealand,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
European allies grow optimistic about Trump not abandoning Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. Following closed-door talks with Trump’s team, European officials see a rising chance that the new U.S. leadership will seek to help Ukraine negotiate from the position of strength, the outlet wrote.
Germany continues talks on $3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Pistorius says. The German government is still discussing a proposed 3 billion euros ($3.09 billion) aid package for Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Jan. 14, according to Ukrinform.
Seoul to consult with Kyiv on transfer of captured North Korean soldiers, Yonhap reports. Seoul plans to hold consultations with Kyiv regarding the transfer of captured North Korean soldiers if they request defection, Yonhap reported on Jan. 14, citing South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong.
Australia making ‘urgent inquiries’ after reports of volunteer fighter’s execution in Russian captivity. Canberra is making “urgent inquiries” about the status of Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, a volunteer soldier captured by Russia in Ukraine, after unconfirmed reports of his death, the 7News outlet wrote on Jan. 14.
Germany to deploy Patriot at Poland’s key hub for Ukraine aid by end of January. Monitoring group German Aid to Ukraine wrote earlier that two MIM-104 Patriot fire units and a total of 200 Bundeswehr soldiers will be deployed to Poland for an estimated six months to protect Polish airspace.
NATO launches Baltic Sea naval operation after undersea infrastructure sabotage. The summit welcomed NATO’s “Baltic Sentry” mission, aimed at monitoring, deterring, and responding to potential threats. Up to 10 NATO vessels will patrol the Baltic Sea until April, enhancing situational awareness and protecting critical undersea infrastructure.
In other news
Putin aide claims ‘Moldova will become part of another state or cease to exist,’ Chisinau responds. Moldovan officials have condemned recent remarks by Nikolai Patrushev, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed that Moldova “will either become part of another state or cease to exist” due to its “anti-Russian policy,” Moldovan media outlet NewsMaker reported on January 14.
Biden’s aides warned Putin against Russia’s plot to smuggle incendiary devices onto cargo planes, NYT reports. Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s team delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russian intelligence’s suspected plans to smuggle incendiary devices onto U.S.-bound cargo planes, The New York Times reported on Jan. 14, citing unnamed sources.
Russian FSB officer found dead in Moscow Defense Ministry building, media reports. Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) counterintelligence officer Vladimir Feshchenko was found dead in a Russian Defense Ministry building in Moscow, Russian state-owned outlet RIA Novosti reported on Jan. 14.
Metinvest suspends operations at Pokrovsk coal mine amid security concerns. Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, has suspended operations at the Pokrovsk coking coal mine in Donetsk Oblast due to worsening security conditions and power outages, the company announced on Jan. 14.
Slovak opposition announces no-confidence vote against PM. Slovakia’s pro-Western opposition parties announced plans to initiate a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, citing concerns over his governance and foreign policy direction, TASR news agency reported on Jan. 14.
Transnistria head travels to Russia for talks amid energy crisis, Russian state media claims. Vadim Krasnoselsky, the head of Moldova’s Russian-controlled region of Transnistria, held talks in Moscow regarding the region’s energy crisis, Russian state news agency TASS claimed on Jan. 14, citing sources within Transnistria’s administration.
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