Russia launched 300 attack drones and nearly 20 missiles on Ukrainian targets in the first three days of 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, as cross border attacks killed three in Ukraine and Russia yesterday.
Most of the drones and missiles had been downed or intercepted, Mr Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, Russia has enlisted between 140,000 and 180,000 prison inmates to fight in the war, Ukraine’sForeign Intelligence Service (SZRU) said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
A Russian government decree abolishing the one-time payment of £2,842 to prisoners for signing a contract with the Russian Defence Ministry to participate in the war against Ukraine came into effect on 1 January.
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Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service claimed it was an “evidence of the deepening crisis in the Russian economy and the shortage of financial resources”. The Independent could not verify these claims.
It comes as Mr Zelensky lauded incoming US president Donald Trump saying he could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Vladimir Putin.
Key points
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Russia launched 300 drones in first three days of 2025, Zelensky says
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Zelensky says Trump can be decisive in helping stop Putin
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Russia ‘has recruited up to 180,000 convicts’ for war against Ukraine
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Three killed in cross-border attacks between Ukraine and Russia
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Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
05:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Russia launched 300 drones in first three days of 2025, Zelensky says
04:30 , Stuti Mishra
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said that in the first three days of 2025, Russia had launched 300 attack drones and nearly 20 missiles on Ukrainian targets.
Most, he said, had been downed or intercepted.
On Friday, attacks on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia border killed three people on Friday, local officials said. Three missiles hit a residential area near the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, killing one person, injuring five others and destroying two houses, they said.
Zelensky says Trump can be decisive in helping stop Putin
04:00 , Jabed Ahmed
President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Mr Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.
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The Ukrainian president also said a priority was to stabilise the frontline early in the new year. Mr Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.
“He’s very strong and unpredictable, and I would really like to see President Trump’s unpredictability apply to Russia. I believe he really wants to end the war,” he said. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” he said in a televised interview.
“His qualities are indeed there,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this.”
Russia has recruited up to 180,000 convicts for war against Ukraine – reports
03:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia has enlisted between 140,000 and 180,000 prison inmates to fight in the war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
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There were about 300,000-350,000 prisoners in Russian prisons in 2024, which is half as many as in 2014, according to the Ukrainian intelligence agency.
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
02:00 , Jabed Ahmed
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
ICYMI: Russia launches new barrage of drones at Ukraine, killing one, Kyiv says
01:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian and injuring four others in the Kyiv region, the military and regional officials said.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 60 out of 93 Russian drones, the air force said. It also said that 26 drones were “lost”, in reference to Ukraine‘s use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones.
One Russian drone was still in the air, the air force added.
Mykola Kalashnyk, acting governor for the Kyiv region, said that a truck driver was killed by drone debris. The debris also damaged several private houses, injuring four people, including a 16-year-old boy, he said.
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Friday 3 January 2025 23:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
ICYMI: Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing to resume diplomatic ties with Syria
Friday 3 January 2025 23:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria, less than a month after the overthrow of the Russia-backed government in Damascus.
Zelensky spoke after a visit to Syria by his Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and by Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval who said earlier Ukraine had already sent a shipment of food aid.
“We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Syria in June 2022 after the then government in Damascus said it recognised the “independence” of the Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Since rebels overthrew Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad last month, Ukraine has been moving to build ties with the new Islamist rulers there. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, was a staunch ally of Assad and has given him political asylum.
Moscow has also said it is in contact with the new administration in Damascus, including over the fate of Russian military facilities in Syria.
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
Friday 3 January 2025 22:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
Pictured: Drone attack on Kyiv
Friday 3 January 2025 21:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s wounded soldiers escape war at Putin’s favourite Greek mountain
Friday 3 January 2025 20:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s wounded soldiers escape war at Putin’s favourite Greek mountain
Russian court tells Yandex to hide images of oil refinery after Ukrainian attacks
Friday 3 January 2025 19:00 , Jabed Ahmed
A Russian court has ordered internet company Yandex to hide access to maps and photos of one of Russia’s largest oil refineries due to constant attacks by Ukrainian drones, state news agency TASS reported.
Yandex, often referred to as “Russia’s Google”, operates the country’s largest search engine and other online services like maps, translate and email, as well as ride-hailing and food delivery.
The court in Moscow ordered Yandex to exclude information about the refinery’s infrastructure from its search results by removing and editing images of workshops, compressor stations and other parts of the plant from Yandex Maps, TASS reported.
It was not clear which refinery the court decision referred to, but TASS said the facility had been attacked four times by Ukrainian drones in 2024.
Ukraine has staged numerous strikes on Russian oil storage facilities and refineries, responding to Moscow’s February 2022 invasion and repeated attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The court’s decision can be appealed. Yandex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The refinery had tried to resolve the issue directly with Yandex before taking the matter to court, TASS said. The claimant argued that the availability of information about the refinery online undermined Russia’s defence capability and negatively impacted the armed forces.
Putin has ruled Russia for 25 years – but what has he really got to show for it?
Friday 3 January 2025 17:59 , Jabed Ahmed
What 25 years of Putin has done to the world, in a presidency bookended by war
‘No heating, no light’: Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
Friday 3 January 2025 17:01 , Jabed Ahmed
‘No heating, no light’: Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
2,600 UK personnel to join Nato exercise amid ‘unshakeable commitment’ to bloc
Friday 3 January 2025 16:51 , Jabed Ahmed
More than 2,600 UK personnel are heading to Nato’s eastern flank as part of the Government’s “unshakeable commitment” to the military bloc, the armed forces minister has said.
According to the Ministry of Defence, Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 will showcase the alliance’s readiness, capability and commitment to defend Nato territories.
The UK’s 1st Division – headquartered in York – will be in command of all of the alliance’s land forces while they are in eastern Europe.
The exercise marks the first deployment under the bloc’s new Allied Reaction Force, which replaced the Nato Response Force last year to deal “swiftly and effectively” with “any threat in an evolving security environment” during peacetime, crisis and conflict.
Luke Pollard said: “This Government wants the UK to be Nato’s leading European nation.
“Exercise Steadfast Dart demonstrates our unshakeable commitment to Nato and highlights the UK’s key leadership role in the alliance.
“As we approach the three-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we must continue to strengthen our collective defences together to deter (Russian president Vladimir) Putin effectively.”
Moldova PM warns of security crisis and denounces Russian gas cut-off
Friday 3 January 2025 16:31 , Jabed Ahmed
Moldova faces a security crisis after tens of thousands of residents in the breakaway enclave of Transdniestria were cut off from Russian gas supply, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said.
Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine which supplied central and eastern Europe were halted at the end of 2024 as Kyiv rejected doing further business with Moscow.
Recean said Moldova would cover its energy needs with domestic production and imports but noted the separatist Transdniestria region had suffered a painful hit despite its ties with Moscow.
“By jeopardising the future of the protectorate it has backed for three decades in an effort to destabilise Moldova, Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies – betrayal and isolation,” Recean said in a statement.
“We treat this as a security crisis aimed at enabling the return of pro-Russian forces to power in Moldova and weaponising our territory against Ukraine, with whom we share a 1,200 km border.”
What is ATACMS? The US missiles being used inside Russia
Friday 3 January 2025 16:01 , Jabed Ahmed
There are several variants of Army Tactical Missile Systems, a long-range missile system that often carries varying amounts of cluster bomblets.
Ukrainian forces used the US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time in October 2023, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the weapons had “proven themselves.”
Ukraine likely has what are known as M39A1 Block IA ATACMS that are guided in part by Global Positioning System and have a range of 40 to 190 miles. They can carry a payload of 300 bomblets. The M39 Block IA were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Army documents, and were added to the US arsenal in 1997.
War in Ukraine: A snapshot of 2024 military warfare
Friday 3 January 2025 14:58 , Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces in 2024 advanced in Ukraine at the fastest rate since 2022, the war’s first year, and control about a fifth of the country. But the gains have come at the cost of heavy, though undisclosed, losses in men and equipment.
In 2024, Russia was invaded for the first time since the Second World War as Ukraine grabbed a slice of its western Kursk region in a surprise counter-attack on 6 August.
Russia has yet to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk despite bringing in more than 10,000 troops from its ally North Korea, according to Ukrainian, South Korean and US assessments. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“To sustain even the very slow advance in Ukraine, Russia has been forced to ignore the months-long occupation of part of its own territory by Ukrainian forces,” British security expert Ruth Deyermond said.
“Taking a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude to the loss of its own land is not what great powers do, particularly one so preoccupied with the idea of state sovereignty.”
Deyermond, in a long thread posted on X, suggested Putin’s efforts to portray Russia as a leading world power were also undermined by the toppling of its chief Middle East ally, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and its increasing dependence on China.
Mr Putin, the longest-serving ruler of Russia since Josef Stalin, said on 19 December that under his leadership the country had moved back from “the edge of the abyss” and rebuffed threats to its sovereignty.
With hindsight, he said, he should not have waited until February 2022 before launching his “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term he still uses for the full-scale invasion of Russia’s neighbour.
Watch: Russia and Ukraine swap 150 prisoners in tearful exchange
Friday 3 January 2025 14:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine navy says it destroyed over 37,000 Russian drones last year
Friday 3 January 2025 13:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s navy has destroyed more than 37,000 Russian drones in the year 2024, it said.
The downed platforms include Russian strike drones, operational and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, first-person-view drones, and Shahed-type attack drones, the navy said in a Facebook post. Ukrainian naval forces also destroyed five Russian ships and 458 watercraft, it added.
Russia’s drone losses included 35,670 destroyed FPV drones and 1,140 strike drones, the navy said. Ukraine’s naval units also eliminated 192 operational and tactical drones and another 164 Shahed-136/131 drones.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
Friday 3 January 2025 11:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Zelensky says Trump can be decisive in helping stop Putin
Friday 3 January 2025 11:01 , Jabed Ahmed
President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Mr Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.
The Ukrainian president also said a priority was to stabilise the frontline early in the new year. Mr Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.
“He’s very strong and unpredictable, and I would really like to see President Trump’s unpredictability apply to Russia. I believe he really wants to end the war,” he said. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” he said in a televised interview.
“His qualities are indeed there,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this.”
Russia has recruited up to 180,000 convicts for war against Ukraine – reports
Friday 3 January 2025 10:29 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia has enlisted between 140,000 and 180,000 prison inmates to fight in the war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
There were about 300,000-350,000 prisoners in Russian prisons in 2024, which is half as many as in 2014, according to the Ukrainian intelligence agency.
Russia launches new barrage of drones at Ukraine, killing one, Kyiv says
Friday 3 January 2025 09:58 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian and injuring four others in the Kyiv region, the military and regional officials said.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 60 out of 93 Russian drones, the air force said. It also said that 26 drones were “lost”, in reference to Ukraine‘s use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones.
One Russian drone was still in the air, the air force added.
Mykola Kalashnyk, acting governor for the Kyiv region, said that a truck driver was killed by drone debris. The debris also damaged several private houses, injuring four people, including a 16-year-old boy, he said.
Pictured: Wounded Ukrainian soldiers find solace in Greek monasteries
Friday 3 January 2025 08:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Friday 3 January 2025 08:00 , Arpan Rai
Russian gas is no longer flowing to EU states through Ukraine following the expiration of a five-year deal, closing an energy route that has existed since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the move means Russia can no longer “earn billions on our blood”.
His energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed on Wednesday morning that Kyiv had stopped the gas flows “in the interest of national security”.
“This is a historic event,” he wrote on the social media platform Telegram. “Russia is losing markets and will incur financial losses.”
Alicja Hagopian, our Data correspondent explains:
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
ICYMI: Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing to resume diplomatic ties with Syria
Friday 3 January 2025 07:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria, less than a month after the overthrow of the Russia-backed government in Damascus.
Zelensky spoke after a visit to Syria by his Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and by Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval who said earlier Ukraine had already sent a shipment of food aid.
“We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Syria in June 2022 after the then government in Damascus said it recognised the “independence” of the Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Since rebels overthrew Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad last month, Ukraine has been moving to build ties with the new Islamist rulers there. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, was a staunch ally of Assad and has given him political asylum.
Moscow has also said it is in contact with the new administration in Damascus, including over the fate of Russian military facilities in Syria.
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
Friday 3 January 2025 06:36 , Arpan Rai
President-elect Donald Trump has boasted on social media about taking over Greenland, making Canada the 51st state, and wresting control of the Panama Canal.
His expansionist rhetoric has worried allies but elated enemies, with Russians viewing the statements as evidence that Trump isn’t opposed to foreign wars of conquest, as is the Kremlin, despite what he has otherwise stated.
To Russian president Vladimir Putin’s top propagandists, Trump’s statements have revealed that he would blithely invade a country unable to fight back, according to Julia Davis, an observer of Russian media and columnist at The Daily Beast.
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
Russia lost 420,000 soldiers to gain 4,168sq km in Ukraine and Kursk last year, ISW says
Friday 3 January 2025 06:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces gained 4,168sq km of land, largely fields and small settlements in Ukraine and the Kursk region, in 2024 but suffered over 420,000 casualties in the process, an American think tank monitoring the war has claimed.
The Institute for the Study of War cited Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi’s remarks last week that Russian forces suffered 427,000 casualties in 2024.
“ISW has observed geolocated evidence to assess that the Russian forces advanced 4,168 square kilometers in 2024, indicating that Russian forces suffered approximately 102 casualties per square kilometer of Ukrainian territory seized,” it said in an assessment released on Wednesday.
Russian forces made 56.5 per cent of their 2024 territorial gains between September and November period, it added.
Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing to resume diplomatic ties with Syria
Friday 3 January 2025 05:14 , Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria.
“We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,” Mr Zelensky said after hearing the report from Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha’s visit to Syria on Monday.
Photos: Family gathers for the funeral of Ukrainian serviceman ‘Harvey’
Friday 3 January 2025 04:42 , Arpan Rai
Zelensky pushes for stabilising frontline: ‘We will do everything’
Friday 3 January 2025 04:24 , Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said stabilising the frontline was critical as Russian forces have captured village after village on the eastern front in their fastest advance since the February 2022 invasion.
“They are putting pressure on our boys, who are exhausted and that is a fact. We will do everything to at least stabilise the front in January,” he said.
Mr Zelensky, elected in 2019, repeated that new elections could not be held as long as a wartime state of emergency remained in place, but said he would consider running again once conditions permitted.
“I don’t know how this war will end,” he said. “If I can do more than I am able, then I will probably view such a decision (seeking a new term) more positively. For now this is not an objective for me.”
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
Friday 3 January 2025 04:00 , Jabed Ahmed
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
Zelensky says Trump can be decisive in helping stop Putin
Friday 3 January 2025 03:35 , Arpan Rai
President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Mr Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.
The Ukrainian president also said a priority was to stabilise the frontline early in the new year. Mr Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.
“He’s very strong and unpredictable, and I would really like to see President Trump’s unpredictability apply to Russia. I believe he really wants to end the war,” he said. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” he said in a televised interview.
“His qualities are indeed there,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this.”
Oil spill in Black Sea smaller than first thought, Russia says
Friday 3 January 2025 03:24 , Arpan Rai
Russian investigators have determined that an oil spill from two tankers in the Black Sea last month was smaller than initially thought, the transport ministry said.
The oil leaked from two ageing tankers that were hit by a storm on 15 December. One sank and the other ran aground.
More than 10,000 people have been working to shovel up viscous, foul-smelling fuel oil from sandy beaches in and around Anapa, a popular summer resort. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises and sea birds.
The ministry said experts had established that approximately 2,400 metric tons of oil products had spilled into the sea.
“This is significantly less than the initial estimate, which was based on the account of one of the tanker captains,” it said.
When the disaster struck, state media reported that the stricken tankers, both more than 50 years old, were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
Friday 3 January 2025 02:59 , Arpan Rai
By the time February 2025 arrives, marking three years since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the situation on the front line could look very different.
Currently, Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk.
That the Russians haven’t been more successful is a testament, above all else, to the resilience of Ukraine’s troops on the ground, many of whom have been fighting continuously for years. Dysfunction in the Russian military, with Mr Putin as its de facto commander-in-chief, is another.
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Ukraine’s military says it struck command post in Kursk
Friday 3 January 2025 02:56 , Arpan Rai
The Ukrainian military said it had carried out a high-precision strike on a Russian command post in Maryino, in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces hold chunks of territory after a major incursion.
The Russian military said air defence units had downed four Ukrainian missiles in the region, and the regional governor said the strikes had damaged a high-rise apartment building and other buildings in an adjacent village.
Ukrainian forces remain in the Kursk region five months after sending troops across the border, though the Russian military says much of the lost territory has been recaptured.
“These strikes disrupt the ability of the Russian Federation to conduct terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement.
Another post showed a video of what the military said was damage to a Russian base in Ivanovskoye, next to Maryino.
Kursk regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said the strike on Ivanovskoye had shattered windows in a multi-storey apartment building and in private homes. Also damaged were a school, a pharmacy and a shop.
A video showed work under way to repair damage to a facade.
Prominent scientists killed in Russian New Year’s attack on Kyiv
Friday 3 January 2025 02:00 , Jabed Ahmed
The Russian drone attack on Kyiv killed a prominent scientist couple, education and scientist minister Oksen Lisovyi said.
Prominent neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and doctor of biological sciences Olesia Sokur were killed in the attack, the minister said.
“The family devoted almost their entire lives to science,” Lisovyi said.
The minister said Zyma was a senior researcher and associate professor at the Institute for Biology and Medicine at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, while Sokur worked at the Institute as a deputy director of scientific work and a member of the Academic Council.
“My deepest sympathies to the relatives and loved ones of those killed, as well as to all those who suffer from today’s terrorist terror. Russia – absolutely evil, bringing death and destruction. The world must react harshly and principledly,” the minister said on Facebook.
Ukraine navy says it destroyed over 37,000 Russian drones last year
Thursday 2 January 2025 23:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s navy has destroyed more than 37,000 Russian drones in the year 2024, it reported yesterday.
The downed platforms include Russian strike drones, operational and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, first-person-view drones, and Shahed-type attack drones, the navy said in a Facebook post. Ukrainian naval forces also destroyed five Russian ships and 458 watercraft, it added.
Russia’s drone losses included 35,670 destroyed FPV drones and 1,140 strike drones, the navy said. Ukraine’s naval units also eliminated 192 operational and tactical drones and another 164 Shahed-136/131 drones.
Watch: Russia and Ukraine swap 150 prisoners in tearful exchange
Thursday 2 January 2025 23:00 , Jabed Ahmed
War in Ukraine: A snapshot of 2024 military warfare
Thursday 2 January 2025 22:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces in 2024 advanced in Ukraine at the fastest rate since 2022, the war’s first year, and control about a fifth of the country. But the gains have come at the cost of heavy, though undisclosed, losses in men and equipment.
In 2024, Russia was invaded for the first time since the Second World War as Ukraine grabbed a slice of its western Kursk region in a surprise counter-attack on 6 August.
Russia has yet to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk despite bringing in more than 10,000 troops from its ally North Korea, according to Ukrainian, South Korean and US assessments. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“To sustain even the very slow advance in Ukraine, Russia has been forced to ignore the months-long occupation of part of its own territory by Ukrainian forces,” British security expert Ruth Deyermond said.
“Taking a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude to the loss of its own land is not what great powers do, particularly one so preoccupied with the idea of state sovereignty.”
Deyermond, in a long thread posted on X, suggested Putin’s efforts to portray Russia as a leading world power were also undermined by the toppling of its chief Middle East ally, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and its increasing dependence on China.
Mr Putin, the longest-serving ruler of Russia since Josef Stalin, said on 19 December that under his leadership the country had moved back from “the edge of the abyss” and rebuffed threats to its sovereignty.
With hindsight, he said, he should not have waited until February 2022 before launching his “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term he still uses for the full-scale invasion of Russia’s neighbour.
What is ATACMS? The US missiles being used inside Russia
Thursday 2 January 2025 21:00 , Jabed Ahmed
There are several variants of Army Tactical Missile Systems, a long-range missile system that often carries varying amounts of cluster bomblets.
Ukrainian forces used the US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time in October 2023, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the weapons had “proven themselves.”
Ukraine likely has what are known as M39A1 Block IA ATACMS that are guided in part by Global Positioning System and have a range of 40 to 190 miles. They can carry a payload of 300 bomblets. The M39 Block IA were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Army documents, and were added to the US arsenal in 1997.
Families in tears as Ukrainian soldiers return home after Russia prisoner of war swap
Thursday 2 January 2025 20:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Families in tears as Ukrainian soldiers return home after Russia prisoner of war swap
‘No heating, no light’: Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
Thursday 2 January 2025 19:00 , Jabed Ahmed
‘No heating, no light’: Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
Putin has ruled Russia for 25 years – but what has he really got to show for it?
Thursday 2 January 2025 18:31 , Jabed Ahmed
Crisis has aided the Russian strongman’s regime stability far more than any index of economic success, writes Mark Almond
What 25 years of Putin has done to the world, in a presidency bookended by war
Pictured: Russian drone attack on Kyiv
Thursday 2 January 2025 17:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Comment: Ukraine is right to turn off the flow of Russian gas – whatever the cost
Thursday 2 January 2025 16:29 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine is right to turn off the flow of Russian gas – whatever the cost
Watch: Putin praises Russia’s soldiers in New Year’s address
Thursday 2 January 2025 15:29 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine’s military says it struck command post in Russia’s Kursk region
Thursday 2 January 2025 14:58 , Jabed Ahmed
The Ukrainian military said it carried out a high-precision strike on a Russian command post in Maryino, in the Kursk region.
“These strikes disrupt the ability of the Russian Federation to conduct terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians,” it said in a statement via the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
Thursday 2 January 2025 14:29 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing to resume diplomatic ties with Syria
Thursday 2 January 2025 14:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria.
“We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,” Zelensky said after hearing the report from Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha’s visit to Syria on Monday.
Putin orders Russian government and top bank to develop AI cooperation with China
Thursday 2 January 2025 13:29 , Jabed Ahmed
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s government and the country’s biggest bank, Sberbank, to build cooperation with China in artificial intelligence.
Putin’s instructions were published on the Kremlin’s website yesterday, three weeks after he announced that Russia would team up with BRICS partners and other countries to develop AI.
He told the government and Sberbank, which is spearheading Russia’s AI efforts, to “ensure further co-operation with the People’s Republic of China in technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence”.
Western sanctions intended to restrict Moscow’s access to the technologies it needs to sustain its war against Ukraine have resulted in the world’s major producers of microchips halting exports to Russia, severely limiting its AI ambitions.
Sberbank CEO German Gref acknowledged in 2023 that graphics processing units (GPUs), the microchips that underpin AI development, were the trickiest hardware for Russia to replace.
Pictured: Moscow welcomes 2025 amid Ukraine invasion
Thursday 2 January 2025 12:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Putin has ruled Russia for 25 years – but what has he really got to show for it?
Thursday 2 January 2025 11:28 , Jabed Ahmed
What 25 years of Putin has done to the world, in a presidency bookended by war
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Thursday 2 January 2025 10:29 , Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Russia says it struck Ukrainian energy facilities
Thursday 2 January 2025 09:49 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia has said it had attacked energy facilities in Ukraine that support Kyiv’s military-industrial complex.
The Russian Defence Ministry said that over the last 24 hours it had used its air force, drones, missiles and artillery to target energy facilities, military airfields and Ukrainian military personnel across multiple locations.
The Independent could not confirm the extent of the attacks or the damage they inflicted.
Russia regularly reports such strikes, describing recent ones as retaliation for Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied missiles to strike deep into Russian territory
The ministry also reported that Russian troops had downed a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet, 97 drones and six U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles overnight.
Halt of gas Ukraine gas transit will have ‘drastic’ impact on EU, Slovak PM says
Thursday 2 January 2025 09:29 , Jabed Ahmed
The stoppage of gas transit through Ukraine will have “drastic” impact on European Union countries but not on Russia, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said yesterday.
The pro-Russian Slovak leader has repeatedly warned that the end of transit would cost Slovakia hundreds of millions of euros in lost transit revenue and higher fees for the import of other gas, and argued it would also lead to a rise in gas and electricity prices in Europe.
ICYMI: Two killed in Russian drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine says
Thursday 2 January 2025 08:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Russia launched a New Year’s Day drone strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday, killing two people, wounding at least six others and damaging buildings in two districts, authorities said.
Explosions boomed across the morning sky as Ukraine‘s air force warned of incoming drones and Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defences were repelling an enemy attack.
Two floors of a residential building in central Kyiv were partially destroyed in the strike, according to the State Emergency Service. Two people were killed, it said.
Photos posted by the agency showed firefighters dousing a gutted corner of a building and rescuers helping elderly victims.
The National Bank of Ukraine said in a statement that one of its buildings nearby had been damaged by debris from a downed drone. Debris also damaged a non-residential building in a different neighbourhood, authorities said.
Russia lost 420,000 soldiers to gain 4,168sq km in Ukraine and Kursk last year, ISW says
Thursday 2 January 2025 07:42 , Arpan Rai
Russian forces gained 4,168sq km of land, largely fields and small settlements in Ukraine and the Kursk region, in 2024 but suffered over 420,000 casualties in the process, an American think tank monitoring the war has claimed.
The Institute for the Study of War cited Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi’s remarks last week that Russian forces suffered 427,000 casualties in 2024.
“ISW has observed geolocated evidence to assess that the Russian forces advanced 4,168 square kilometers in 2024, indicating that Russian forces suffered approximately 102 casualties per square kilometer of Ukrainian territory seized,” it said in an assessment released on Wednesday.
Russian forces made 56.5 per cent of their 2024 territorial gains between September and November period, it added.
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
Thursday 2 January 2025 07:26 , Arpan Rai
Ordinarily, it’s historians writing after the fact that identify the pivotal dates in wars when the road to victory or defeat becomes clear. Russia’s war on Ukraine is different: it is clear in advance that 20 January 2025 will change the course of the conflict.
Since well before the US election, there has been no doubt that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could be decisive for Ukraine’s continuing ability to resist Russia’s onslaught.
It’s long been apparent that the outcome of the war will be decided far from the battlefields in the east and south of the country, and in fact, not in Ukraine at all.
Both Russia and Ukraine are supported by coalitions of nations whose contributions to their respective war efforts are crucial. The key difference is that in Ukraine’s case, the biggest backer by volume may be about to pull the rug from under the country’s feet, crippling its ability to continue in its struggle to survive.
Keir Giles writes:
How 2025 could bring Putin closer to victory over Europe
Ukraine downs 47 Russian drones launched overnight
Thursday 2 January 2025 07:02 , Arpan Rai
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 47 Russian drones overnight.
Of 72 drones launched, 24 “imitator drones” had not reached their targets, the air force added. One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace this morning.
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Thursday 2 January 2025 07:00 , Joe Middleton
As of January 1 2025, Russian gas is no longer flowing into Europe via Ukraine’s pipeline.
A five-year deal between Gazprom, the Russian state energy company, and Ukraine expired at 5am GMT Wednesday morning.
The deal had allowed for Russian gas to travel through Ukraine’s pipeline networks into European countries, primarily Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
Ukraine refused to renew the gas transit deal, which has existed in some form since 1991, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that Russia would not be allowed to “earn billions on our blood”.
The move will not cut off all Russian gas to Europe, but significantly reduce it. Gas can still travel from Russia to Europe via the TurkStream pipeline, but no longer through Ukraine, cutting gas imports to the EU by around 14 billion cubic meters.
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Ukraine halts Russian gas supplies to Europe
Thursday 2 January 2025 06:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukraine has halted Russian gas supplies to European customers that pass through the country, almost three years into Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour, after a pre-war transit deal expired.
At a summit in Brussels last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that Kyiv would not allow Moscow to use the transits to earn “additional billions … on our blood, on the lives of our citizens”.
But he briefly held open the possibility of the gas flows continuing if payments to Russia were withheld until the war ends.
Ukraine‘s energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed on Wednesday morning that Kyiv had stopped the gas flows “in the interest of national security”.
Prominent scientists killed in Russian New Year’s attack on Kyiv
Thursday 2 January 2025 05:27 , Arpan Rai
The Russian drone attack on Kyiv killed a prominent scientist couple, education and scientist minister Oksen Lisovyi said.
Prominent neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and doctor of biological sciences Olesia Sokur were killed in the attack, the minister said.
“The family devoted almost their entire lives to science,” Lisovyi said.
The minister said Zyma was a senior researcher and associate professor at the Institute for Biology and Medicine at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, while Sokur worked at the Institute as a deputy director of scientific work and a member of the Academic Council.
“My deepest sympathies to the relatives and loved ones of those killed, as well as to all those who suffer from today’s terrorist terror. Russia – absolutely evil, bringing death and destruction. The world must react harshly and principledly,” the minister said on Facebook.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
Thursday 2 January 2025 05:00 , Joe Middleton
By the time February 2025 arrives, marking three years since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the situation on the front line could look very different.
Currently, Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk.
That the Russians haven’t been more successful is a testament, above all else, to the resilience of Ukraine’s troops on the ground, many of whom have been fighting continuously for years. Dysfunction in the Russian military, with Mr Putin as its de facto commander-in-chief, is another.
But US president Joe Biden has sent the final military package of his tenure to Ukraine, ending the support (for now) of Kyiv’s most heavily-armed ally. US president-elect Donald Trump will soon re-enter the White House on the promise of ending the fighting altogether, even if that potentially means rewarding Mr Putin for his illegal land grab.
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Watch: Putin makes three-word pledge to Russia’s soldiers in New Year address
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:56 , Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin made a three-word pledge to Russia’s soldiers in his pre-recorded New Year address.
In his address to the nation on Tuesday, the Russian president praised his country’s military in its war against Ukraine, telling soldiers, “We believe in you.”
Mr Putin ensured Russians that everything will be fine as the country enters the third year of fighting in Ukraine.
He directly addressed Russia’s armed forces saying the country is proud of their courage and bravery.
Millions of people were expected to watch the new address when it aired on TV as each Russian time zone region counted down the final minutes of 2024.
Putin makes pledge to Russia’s soldiers in New Year address
Ukraine navy says it destroyed over 37,000 Russian drones last year
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:49 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s navy has destroyed more than 37,000 Russian drones in the year 2024, it reported yesterday.
The downed platforms include Russian strike drones, operational and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, first-person-view drones, and Shahed-type attack drones, the navy said in a Facebook post. Ukrainian naval forces also destroyed five Russian ships and 458 watercraft, it added.
Russia’s drone losses included 35,670 destroyed FPV drones and 1,140 strike drones, the navy said. Ukraine’s naval units also eliminated 192 operational and tactical drones and another 164 Shahed-136/131 drones.
Zelensky backs Moldova over energy disruption
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:43 , Arpan Rai
The breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria cut heating and hot water supplies to households yesterday after Russia stopped supplying gas to central and eastern Europe via Ukraine.
The severing of the gas flow was felt immediately in the mainly Russian-speaking territory of about 450,000 people, which split from Moldova in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia has about 1,500 troops stationed there.
When Putin was presented with the Russian presidency more than 25 years ago, the annual gas transit through Ukraine to Europe totaled more than 130 billion cubic meters. Today, it equals 0. This is one of Moscow’s biggest defeats.
As a result of Russia weaponizing energy and…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 1, 2025
Halt of gas Ukraine gas transit will have ‘drastic’ impact on EU, Slovak PM says
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:06 , Arpan Rai
The stoppage of gas transit through Ukraine will have “drastic” impact on European Union countries but not on Russia, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said yesterday.
The pro-Russian Slovak leader has repeatedly warned that the end of transit would cost Slovakia hundreds of millions of euros in lost transit revenue and higher fees for the import of other gas, and argued it would also lead to a rise in gas and electricity prices in Europe.
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:01 , Arpan Rai
Russian gas is no longer flowing to EU states through Ukraine following the expiration of a five-year deal, closing an energy route that has existed since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the move means Russia can no longer “earn billions on our blood”.
His energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed on Wednesday morning that Kyiv had stopped the gas flows “in the interest of national security”.
“This is a historic event,” he wrote on the social media platform Telegram. “Russia is losing markets and will incur financial losses.”
The deal had allowed for Russian gas to travel through Ukraine’s pipeline networks into European countries, primarily Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
Ukraine ends Russian gas pipeline to Europe – but how much will it cost Moscow?
Putin has ruled Russia for 25 years – but what has he really got to show for it?
Thursday 2 January 2025 04:00 , Joe Middleton
Crisis has aided the Russian strongman’s regime stability far more than any index of economic success, writes Mark Almond
What 25 years of Putin has done to the world, in a presidency bookended by war
Photos: Moscow welcomes 2025 amid Ukraine invasion
Thursday 2 January 2025 03:43 , Arpan Rai
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