Wednesday, January 3

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A local resident holds an icon she saved from her building after a Russian attack on central Kyiv on Jan. 2, 2024. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

5 killed, 130 injured in Russia’s large-scale attack against Ukraine. Russia’s Jan. 2 large-scale attack against Ukraine killed five and injured 130 people, the State Emergency Service reported.

Governor: Russian forces attack Kharkiv, damage educational facility. Russian forces struck Kharkiv late on Jan. 2, damaging an educational facility, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

Zelensky: Russia has launched at least 500 missiles, drones at Ukraine over past 5 days. Russia has attacked Ukraine with at least 500 missiles and drones in the past five days, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 2 during a phone call with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine downed record number of Kinzhal missiles on Jan. 2. The Air Force intercepted all 10 Kinzhals Russia launched on Jan. 2, using the U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems.

Energy Ministry: 260,000 Kyiv residents without power following Russian attacks. An overhead line was damaged in the missile strikes against the capital, after which several substations lost voltage, according to the ministry’s report.

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Forbes estimates Jan. 2 mass attack cost Russia nearly $620 million. Russian forces launched at least 99 missiles of various types and 35 Shahed “kamikaze” drones against Ukraine on Jan. 2, costing Russia nearly $620 million, Forbes estimated.

Russian missile reportedly hits Russian village amid latest mass attack on Ukraine. A Russian aircraft “made an emergency release of an aircraft ordnance” over the Russian village of Petropavlovka, Voronezh Oblast, at around 9 a.m. on Jan. 2, Russian state-controlled news site RIA Novosti reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

Lawmaker: Parliament preparing alternative bill on mobilization. The Ukrainian parliament will not consider the government-proposed draft law on mobilization and military service in its original form, Yevheniia Kravchuk, a lawmaker and a deputy head of the parliament’s committee on humanitarian and information policy, said on Jan. 2.

Ukraine rescues illegally deported teenager from Russia. Ukraine has brought back an unlawfully displaced Ukrainian Oleksandr Naumkin, now 19, from Russia on Jan. 2. He was among the 31 children deported to Russia in May 2022, also known as “Group 31.”

ISW: Putin hopes to convince West to betray Ukraine. The Russian leader sees the war against Ukraine as a war between Russia and the West, rather than a direct attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on Jan. 2.

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‘I’m in shock’: Russia’s mass attack on Kyiv shatters lives and dreams

“I’m in shock,” a local 48-year-old resident told the Kyiv Independent as he waited for first responders to allow him to go back to his apartment to recover his documents.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Russia’s latest large-scale air attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv kill 5, injures 130

Russia unleashed a new large-scale air attack on Ukraine on Jan. 2, targeting Kyiv, the surrounding region, and Kharkiv with 99 missiles, preceded by a wave of 35 Shahed drones.

Photo: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Human cost of war

General Staff: Russia has lost 360,820 troops in Ukraine. Russia has lost 360,820 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Jan. 2.

Russian attacks against Zaporizhzhia Oblast injure woman. Russian air strikes against a residential building in Zaporizhzhia Oblast’s Orikhiv on Jan. 2 injured a 75-year-old woman, Governor Yurii Malashko reported.

Governor: Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast kill 2, injure 1. Russian strikes on Chasiv Yar and Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast killed two people and wounded another person on Jan. 2, the regional governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

International response

Turkey blocks passage of British minehunter ships destined for Ukraine. Two British minehunter ships destined for Ukraine will not be able to travel through Turkish waters, President Erdogan’s Directorate of Communications announced on Jan. 2, citing an international pact.

Poland scrambles F-16s to defend airspace during Russian attacks on Ukraine. Poland, a NATO member, made the decision to mobilize fighter jets on the morning of Jan. 2, as Russian forces launched another large-scale aerial attack on Ukraine.

Baltic leaders call for more air defense systems for Ukraine after Russia’s latest attack. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics called for more air defense systems for Ukraine following Russia’s Jan. 2 large-scale missile attack against the country.

European officials condemn Russia’s massive aerial attacks. Officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the EU issued statements on Jan. 2 condemning Russia’s large-scale missile and drone attacks.

Guardian: UK oil refinery extends credit with oil company linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch. One of the United Kingdom’s largest oil companies has extended a loan facility to the arm of an oil company founded and part-owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the Guardian reported on Jan. 2.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Dinara Khalilova, Toma Istomina, Lili Bivings, Daria Shulzhenko, Martin Fornusek, Oleksiy Sorokin, Dmytro Basmat and Abbey Fenbert.

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