Here's what it looked like on Saturday, January 19th:
struggle
- The head of the Ukrainian military said that three people were killed in Kyiv overnight. Air raid sirens sounded, air defense crews responded to Russian ballistic missile strikes and explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital.
- Ukraine continued its drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, targeting oil depots in the Tula and Kaluga regions south of Moscow overnight. The governor of the Kaluga region claimed that several drones were shot down, and images purportedly depicting burning warehouses have circulated online.
- The governors of Russia's Bryansk and Smolensk regions reported that air defense forces shot down a total of 14 Ukrainian drones, with no reports of casualties.
- A joint investigation by BBC Russia and Mediazona shows that nearly 89,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, with the death toll rising by 3,965 since mid-December. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher because the number of dead Russian soldiers includes only those who could be immediately verified.
- Fighting was reported in the Udakhnejo coal mine region west of Pokrovsk, which is a vital resource for Ukraine's Krivoy Rog metallurgical industry, which depends on the mines.
war crimes
- A pro-Russian Telegram channel posted multiple videos online that appeared to show two Russian soldiers carrying the decapitated heads of Ukrainian soldiers on their pikes. The images also appear to show Ukrainian prisoners of war from the 155th Marine Infantry Brigade being tortured and their bodies desecrated.
Russian oil and gas
- Reuters reported that Russian oil product exports fell by more than 10% in 2024 after a wave of attacks on oil infrastructure by Ukrainian drones.
- The United States has imposed sanctions on six Russian tankers built at the Zvezda shipyard, the first such sanctions to target Russia's "shadow fleet" in the conflict, Reuters reported.
regional diplomacy
- Russia and Iran have agreed to strengthen military and intelligence ties in a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. Under the agreement, Iran did not commit to providing comprehensive military assistance to Russia, but agreed to work together to deal with common military threats.
- A French patrol plane was the target of "Russian intimidation" over the Baltic Sea after Russian surface-to-air defenses targeted the French aircraft during a patrol, France's defense minister said on social media.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted Slovak opposition leaders in Kiev amid a diplomatic spat with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has threatened to cut aid to Ukraine.
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the Nazi death camp site of Auschwitz ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust and held a press conference with Polish President Donald Tusk. Starmer made a stop on his way back from a visit to Ukraine, where he signed a security deal with President Zelensky.
- Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believes the incoming Trump administration will crush Biden-era Ukraine policy. Blinken made the statement in a wide-ranging final interview and said he hoped Washington's aid to Kyiv would be "sustainable," The Associated Press reported.